"Talent Management" has become one of the most important buzzwords in Corporate HR and Training today. In this article we will explain the history, principles, and processes of talent management and help readers understand our research agenda in this important area. From Personnel to Strategic HR to Talent ManagementTo understand why Talent Management has become so important, we must first look at the evolution of corporate HR:Stage 1: Personnel Department: In the 1970s and 1980s the business function which was responsible for people was called "The Personnel Department. " The role of this group was to hire people, pay them, and make sure they had the necessary benefits. The systems which grew up to support this function were batch payroll systems.
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 This week we introduced an important new set of research and recognition, the HILO 80® - the top 80 organizations we benchmarked in high-impact corporate learning through our High Impact Learning Organization® research program.   Methodology:   On an annual basis, we investigate the highest impact best-practices in corporate learning, looking at more than 50 different elements of the corporate learning strategy, organization, systems, processes, and governance.   In addition to understanding how these companies manage and implement their learning strategy, we also look at their performance:  performance in workforce readiness, in adapting to change, in talent management, and a variety of other business measures. The result of this research is a set of modern and actionable best-practices which truly drive results.   These results are summarized in our Top 17 best practices, as well in the High Impact Learning Organization® research.
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One of the important lessons we have learned from our High Impact Learning Organization® research is the simple but profound fact that learning is part of a corporate business strategy.    While many HR and business leaders still believe that “training” is department which improves workforce productivity and should be treated as an expense item, our research clearly finds otherwise.   Corporate learning is a critical part of any enduring business strategy, similar to finance, marketing, sales, and manufacturing. Consider the following: Change is the biggest challenge organizations face:  There are five distinct phases of any business - startup, rapid growth, maturity, decline, and rebirth (or death). Figure 1:  The Lifecycle of a Business Every company we talk with is going through this cycle - whether its Apple with the i-Pod, Starbucks in Coffee, AIG with its insurance business, Fidelity in 401k, or Target in retail.
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