Nik Kinley - Talent Intelligence: What You Need to Know to Identify and Measure Talent

Table of Contents

More Praise for Talent Intelligence

Attracting, selecting, and retaining the right talent is a critical competitive edge for organizations today. In this sometimes shocking and eminently useful book, the authors lay out some of the challenges and complexities of talent measurement and show how by choosing the right combination of methods and toolsand implementing them consistentlybusinesses can produce good talent intelligence.

Dr. Nandani Lynton, leadership development director, A.P. Mller - Mrsk A/S

Practical and provocative, this book provides a clear and comprehensive road map for cutting through the complexity and myths surrounding talent measurement. Essential reading for all HR professionals who want clear guidance on what to measure, how to measure it, and most importantly how to turn the data into genuine talent intelligence.

Ryan Eagar, Global Learning and Development, HEINEKEN International

This book is revelatoryit challenges commonly held beliefs about talent measurement and clarifies what is and is not possible. It will change the way you think about what you do.

Alan Arnett, head of Talent Development, XL Group

This book is essential reading for all HR professionals and managers who care about the management of talent in their organizations. It is a highly practical guide to talent measurement that makes this complex subject easy to understand and more possible to implement.

Martin Jahn, head of Global Fleet Sales, Volkswagen AG

This intelligent book resets all assumptions and expectations about talent measurement and shows how businesses can better identify truly global potential in individuals in our search for an Asian way to corporate globalization.

Toyohiro Matsuda, head of Human Resources Development Asia, Mitsubishi Corporation

In this highly accessible and useful guide to finding and evaluating talent, the authors have succeeded in simplifying the science of measuring talent for business readers. Although grounded in research, the book avoids much of the jargon typically found in research literature and focuses on what is most relevant to companies trying to identify talent. The authors summarize what works and what does not, highlight the problems associated with measurement tools, and offer practical and clear advice on how to approach this daunting task.

Nancy Tippins, senior VP, CEB Valtera; past president of the American Psychological Association's Organizational/Industrial Psychology Division

This compelling book brings a scientific and systematic approach to a critical but previously underdeveloped element of talent managementnamely, how organizations can make sure that the people they are hiring, retaining, and promoting are the best ones for their business. Arguing that companies cannot just leave this issue to chance or the natural skills of their managers, the authors show how firms can achieve a real competitive advantage in the talent market through a more sophisticated and effective approach to talent measurement. Informative, enlightening, and essential reading for business and human resources leaders.

Jackie Wong, executive director and CEO, Temasek Management Services

Cover image: Thinkstock

Cover design: Adrian Morgan

Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kinley, Nik, date.

Talent intelligence : what you need to know to identify and measure talent / Nik Kinley, Shlomo Ben-Hur. First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-53118-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-64008-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-64028-9 (ebk); 978-1-118-64007-4 (ebk)

1. Personnel management. 2. EmployeesRating of. 3. EmployeesRecruiting. I. Ben-Hur, Shlomo, 1962 II. Title.

HF5549.K4994 2013

658.3'01dc23

2013007356

To Connie, for her love and support.
For keeping the world turning while I wrote this.
And to Lukas, for his patience and for reminding me that
there are other things than writing books.
Yes, Papa can play now.N.K.

* * *

To my beloved sisters Orly, Yula, and Inbar,
each talented in her own very special way.S.B.H.

Acknowledgments

As with any other such undertaking, many people have contributed to this book. There are some without whom this book would never have happened. There are others who have helped us develop our thinking and form our ideas, both recently and over the years. And then there are those who have helped us write and hone the text. It is a long list, and we are grateful to them all.

Unfortunately, there is not enough space to name everyone, but there are some we absolutely must mentionpeople who have directly contributed time and effort to help us write this. At the top of this list has to be Lindsay McTeague, our brilliant copyeditor at IMD, and the fantastic Kathe Sweeney, Alina Poniewaz, Bev Miller, Carol Hartland, and Alan Venable at Jossey-Bass. Then, in alphabetical order, are Alan Arnett, Laurence Barrett, John Bassett, Georg Bauer, Stephanie Bird, Bill Byham, Jacqueline Davies, Ryan Eagar, Samantha Halverson, Peter Hartmann, Helen Hopper, Christopher Howarth, Martin Jahn, Fiona Laing, David Lawton, Andrew Lopianowski, Nandani Lynton, Rab MacIver, Mikkel Madvig, Farzana Maudarbaccus, Laura McKeaveney, Shauna McVeigh, Gabby Parry, Eyal Pavel, Elisabeth Pircher, David Ringwood, Peter Saville, Robert Sharrock, Nancy Tippins, Caroline Vanovermeire, and Jackie Wong.