Make your people before making your products: How to maximize the potential of an inclusive workforce

Abstract

Purpose

Considers the challenges facing people developing talent strategy in global organizations and ways of overcoming them.

Design/methodology/approach

Describes how to maximize the potential of a multi-generational, multi-cultural, cross-organizational, inclusive-talent workforce.

Findings

Examines the importance of: highlighting the value of people to organizational success; making the business case; ensuring that the whole organization buys into the concept; having an inclusive/selective talent strategy with equal emphasis on each area; making the chief executive the chief talent officer; joining up talent-management activity with business activity and other people-management strategies; delivering talent management well; and making sure there is involvement from all of the organization’s stakeholders.

Practical implications

Considers that people management works best when the interests of the organization coincide with the interests of individual employees. For the organization this, means achieving its stakeholder objectives. For the employee, it means satisfaction at work, a balanced life and visible career prospects.

Social implications

Advances the view that the focus on talent has rarely been sharper and so the concept of “make your people before you make your products” is important.

Originality/value

Emphasizes that the attraction, development, management and retention of talented people is critical to the success of all organizations.

Citation

Turner, P. and Kalman, D. (2015), "Make your people before making your products: How to maximize the potential of an inclusive workforce", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 28-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-12-2014-0162