Book Review: Common Sense Talent Management: Using Strategic HR to Improve Company Performance

How can strategic human resource processes help me in building a more productive, healthy, efficient and sustainable work environment? In case you are looking for an answer for any or all of the above, this book is meant for you. This book walks you through the common talent management fundamentals which create impact however are often overlooked. It is a well-known fact that there is no one best way of doing things; however, there is always a best way of doing things for an organization considering its contextual factors. The author believes in it and hence the book is not prescriptive in nature but it will still help you find the best possible solution for your organization by answering the thought provoking questions put forth by the author which brilliantly reflect upon his rich and varied experience as a professional.

The author chose this attention-grabbing title in reaction to the penchant of some people overcomplicating the field of strategic HR. This book is a blend of psychological research, studying factors important to workforce productivity and author’s practical experience. It takes a comprehensive look across all of the major strategic HR processes use to hire, motivate, develop and retain employees throughout the employment life cycle. The author has made interesting and intermittent use of space in the chapter itself for ‘Discussions’ incase a practice or concept requires further explanation. It is done under discussion space which keeps the rhythm of the chapter intact.

Dr Steven T. Hunt is a renowned orator and author on strategic human resources. This is his second book on strategic HR process design and deployment. In his first book, Hiring Success: The Art and Science of Staffing Assessment and Employee Selection, the focus was on one of the strategically important processes ‘Hiring’. However, in the current book most of the strategic HR functions are included, namely, talent acquisition, goal setting, performance management and talent development.

This book has 10 chapters which are linked, especially the first three chapters, rest can be read and understood standalone as well. It is linked because the author has used a unique connotation to define various functions (4Rs of strategic HR based on well-established psychological principles: 1–Right People [Hiring]; 2–Right things [Goal Setting]; 3–Right way [Performance Management and merit based compensation]; 4–Right development—[Learning and development]) and six key business execution drivers, namely, alignment, productivity, efficiency, sustainability, scalability and governance, and these terms are used in subsequent chapters and are linked with business strategy.

The first chapter ‘Why Read This Book’ starts with the motivation to study this book. The author has started with an interesting example by giving reference of the book, Good to Great and a company which was considered to be exemplary then, however 10 years after the book was published the company went bankrupt.

The second chapter ‘Strategic HR’ starts with reference of the book War for Talent, comparing the number of knowledge workers required then and now. 4Rs of strategic HR are introduced in this chapter.

The third chapter ‘Business Execution and Strategic HR’ introduces the six general categories of business execution drivers and strategic HR process maturity model, that is, five levels of 4Rs maturity and integration at the top.

In chapter four, ‘Right People: Designing Recruiting and Staffing Process’, the key points highlighted are extension of accountability and responsibility of quality of hire with respect to performance and retention, having a control measure at the end of selection process and amending the strategy accordingly, need to keep hiring managers and other line manager actively engaged in the hiring process. An interesting suggestion regarding allowing co-workers to participate in the interview process is made which is worth exploring; also emphasis has been given to integrated talent management. Flip side of using time to hire metrics is discussed and more meaningful metrics have been suggested.

Chapter five ‘Doing the Right Things: Becoming a Goal Driven Organization’ explains the importance of goal-setting exercise and its linkages with other HR functions. SMART way of goal setting has been compared with commitment, outcomes and deliverables (COD). Proper balance between goals and competencies and intent of goal setting have been discussed.

Chapter six ‘Doing Things the Right Way: Using Performance Management to Increase Business Execution’ highlights how can performance management be helpful in increasing the workforce productivity, why employees dislike performance management evaluation process and discusses whether it should be replaced by performance coaching. Skills and competence have been compared. Mix and match competency model is discussed. Interesting suggestions of giving descriptive labels to the rating scale have been made to make the process more accurate and robust. COACH method of enhancing the performance is discussed. This is the lengthiest chapter of the book and discusses various useful concepts and basic practical aspects of effective performance management.

Chapter seven ‘Creating the Right Development Experience’ talks about the importance of understanding talent requirement and deep-rooted problem of identifying solution first and then finding the problem. Integrated perspective on talent development have been suggested rather than individual departments working in silos. Very common perception of development being taken as an extra work has been highlighted and possible ways to break the notion are discussed. History of how classroom training started, difference between development and application of knowledge have been discussed.

An interesting observation that the author has highlighted and questioned is how many times do we reward a manager who developed and promoted people out of their teams?

Chapter eight ‘Creating an Integrated HR Strategy’ details out the concepts related to designing and implementing strategic HR initiative also change as process has been discussed. ‘People fear change’ is a myth, in reality people dislike uncertainty and fear changes that they do not fully understand. It also discusses the benefits of integrated strategic HR.

Chapter nine ‘Strategic HR Process Deployment and Adoption’ reviews major issues that affect whether the organization should adopt strategic HR processes to drive business execution or as an administrative activity. Change management and branding HR processes are also discussed.

Chapter ten ‘Improving the World through Strategic HR’ explains how companies now need to focus on HR and workforce as it impacts the bottom line. Author has mentioned that HR professionals have the knowledge and tool to significantly improve company performance and happiness of employees; we need to just ensure that we use it in a manner that will make a difference.

The book also talks about the role of technology in strategic HR and includes many explicatory examples of effective and ineffective strategic HR practices that author has experienced in his work tenure or learned from peers. This book is particularly very helpful for working professionals who are responsible for business performance and organization development and is intended for the readers who are already aware of the fundamentals of talent management and strategic human resources.

Goal management is the base for performance management; however, author has treated it as one of the four Rs of strategic HR and has not clubbed it with performance management, the probable reason could be to highlight the importance of goal management exercise. Compensation as a strategy has been given limited focus. This book can serve as a ready to use guide for working professionals. Concepts discussed in this book are not path breaking hence is of limited interest for researchers and academicians.