Who is the Best at Talent Management, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle or SAP?
To determine which of the leading computer software companies, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, or SAP, is the most effective at talent management we compared their workforces’ production of sales and cash flow between 2005 and 2009. Microsoft’s workforce significantly outperformed the workforces of IBM, Oracle, and SAP. However, it appears that Microsoft’s talent acquisition function is unable Read more…
How to Calculate the ROI for Training and Development Programs
Most organizations operate under the assumption that investments in training and development programs payoff by improving employee performance and employee retention, yet a number of employee training decisions are made using intuition or industry “best practices” without consideration for measurement of program outcomes nor their alignment with business strategy. Over time investments made this way cause learning and development to look like an expense center rather than investment center, which makes it highly susceptible to cost reduction initiatives. Calculating the expected ROI, or financial value, of investments in learning and development programs is not easy, but it is ideal for Read more…
Who’s winning the ‘war for talent’ in Auto Parts Manufacturing, MGA, DNZOY, ALV, ARM, or TRW?
Between 2005 and 2009 ArvinMeritor’s human capital generated the most in top line revenues per employee, but Denso Corporation’s human capital produced the most operating profits per employee. Denso also had the best average operating margin and was the only company to grow its workforce every year of this study. This implies that Denso was able to Read more…
Discover who’s winning the ‘war for talent’ in Marketing and Advertising, IPG, WPP, Omnicom, or Publicis!
Between 2005 and 2009 Omnicom Group’s human capital generated the most revenues on average among major marketing and advertising agencies. However, its human capital produced about the same operating income as Publicis Groupe’s human capital even though Publicis Groupe’s human capital generated around 20% less in revenues. This is why we believe Read more…
Discover who’s winning the “war for talent” in Chemical Manufacturing, Dow, DuPont, BASF, or Akzo Nobel!
Because its human capital produces the most operating profits we believe BASF is winning the ‘war for talent’ in chemical manufacturing. However, Akzo Nobel appears to be the only firm improving the productivity of its human capital in this industry. Between 2005 and 2009 Dow Chemical had the best performing human capital when it comes to top line productivity, but Akzo Nobel’s human capital is Read more…
Who Has the Most Productive Workforce in Heavy Equipment Manufacturing?
Between 2005 and 2009 Joy Global’s human capital generated the most profits among leading heavy equipment manufacturers, but Bucyrus’ is currently in the lead. Between 2005 and 2009 CNH Global had the highest average sales per employee at $540,872. However, Joy Global had the highest average operating income per employee at $48,754. Even with workforce reductions in 2009, Read more…
Why Exit Interviews are a Poor Strategy for Improving Employee Retention
In a recent post titled “Exist Interviews, Try This New Twist” author Dick Finnegan suggests organizations can improve exit interviews by having the manager of the person who supervised the employee that quit interview that supervisor to gather data about the reasons the employee quit. This suggestion, while grounded in good intentions to hold supervisors accountable for the engagement of those they supervise, is a really bad idea for one simple reason. Read more…
What causes the ‘dangerous pattern of rewarding failure’ within America’s leadership culture?
In a recent post on Harvard Business Review’s blog Ron Ashkenas highlights the ‘dark side’ of America’s leadership culture, rewarding failure. You can find his blog post at http://bit.ly/ak7I9h. While I agree with Mr. Ashkenas that this is a problem, and that it seems to reflect our leadership culture, I disagree on the cause of the problem. In my opinion rewarding failure is a symptom of a narrow minded approach to selecting talent, albeit an approach that is successful. The narrow mindedness I am referring to causes boards to define leadership positions in such a way as to severely limit the candidate pool for the most senior jobs, which causes demand for talent to drastically exceed supply, putting all the negotiating power into the hands of the candidates, who are smart enough to negotiate away all the risk they can from the employer employee relationship (or hire someone smart enough to do the negotiating for them). Read more…
Who’s winning the ‘war for talent’ among Pharmaceutical Manufacturers?
AstraZeneca is winning the ‘war for talent’ among pharmaceutical manufacturers, and investors appear to have noticed. AstraZeneca’s human capital produced almost the same in operating income per employee as Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson while producing $100,000 and $70,000 less in sales per employee respectively. This suggests AstraZeneca’s human capital is much more efficient than its competitors, which is reflected in the fact that is had the highest operating margin of any company included in this study. To put this in perspective Read more…
