Developing Executive Talent: Best Practices from Global Leaders

The systematic management of executive talent is a key strategic challenge for most large corporations. This is an emerging field and, consequently, there is a lack of consensus about what is involved and a variety of approaches have been adopted. In Developing Executive Talent Jonathan Smilansky, Ph.D. summarises the key activities and concerns of large businesses in the USA and Europe that are focused around the identification, development and effective utilisation of executive talent. In doing so, he provides even the most experienced Human Resource executive with a much broader array of inputs about what today's leading organizations are doing in this area.

What quickly becomes clear is that even the best businesses are still developing their talent management processes. There are no 'right' answers and different organizations, with different levels of commitment, at different stages of development and in different environments produce different approaches. Developing Executive Talent is a map that lets you compare your organisation's approach with what others are doing in this area. It also grants you a close-up view of alternative processes designed to identify and develop the leaders of tomorrow. By learning from the experience of others you can become an 'educated consumer' of talent management services, and help both your organization and your own career.

With quotations from Heads of Human Resources describing their experiences and concerns, specific tools and processes used by large businesses to identify and manage the leaders of tomorrow, Developing Executive Talent offers the clearest and most coherent picture to date of how leading organizations are tackling this critical business challenge.

Jonathan Smilansky, a PhD psychologist, started his career as an academic and then moved into Human Resource consultancy with a focus on individual and organisational development. Prior to founding Hydrogen (a talent development consultancy), Jonathan was the Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources for Universal Music Group (based in New York). He held similar positions at Forte/Meridien Hotels and Visa International and has also been a Partner in Hay Management Consultants (UK) and in Pilat HR Systems. Jonathan’s interests focus on talent and organisation development and the role of Human Resources in improving business performance. He has written a number of books and articles for professional publications including The New HR, Thompson Publishing (1997) and Talent Management, Wiley (2006).