Streamline Training & Documentation: Talent Management at Steelcase

Monday, June 04, 2007

Talent Management at Steelcase

As a follow-on to yesterday's post dealing with talent management, I'd suggest having a look at the highly organized way in which Steelcase is handling this part of their business.

The best practices Steelcase recommends:

Process comes first — Before you adopt any sort of computerized tool, such as a learning management system, to capture and store data relating to your employees' skills and development, be sure that your processes for talent management have been comprehensively updated.

No turf wars — Make the employees whose talents are being fostered the focus of attention. Reach agreement on common terminology.

Clear roles — For instance, at Steelcase the corporate university and the HR department had to agree on who would do what, and then adopt collaborative practices that fit with the partnership they had set up.

Manageable dimensions — For instance, Steelcase did not attempt to define a set of competencies for every single one of the job positions their employees fill. Instead they sorted the myriad positions into six job families and then defined competencies for each family.

Communicate benefits — Show how participating actively in the talent management processes benefits the individual. For instance, Steelcase "let everyone know that this system would be used in all decisions surrounding internal selection, promotion, and succession planning, as well as for selection of candidates to participate in global cross-functinal project teams."

As for results, George Wolfe, VP of global learning and development at Steelcase University, reports that since Steelcase set up its talent management system, "Our ability to identify talent and determine what our talent around the globe is capable of doing has increased dramatically." He goes on to note, "The fact that we all have the same direct access to the same direct database allows the company to leverage the best talent, no matter where the talent is located. As a result, we are filling more positions in general — and more key positions (e.g., those at the highest leadership level) — within the company from different parts of the globe than ever."

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Labels: Employee development, Management practices, Quality

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