Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty [Hardcover]

Peter Cappelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2008

Executives everywhere acknowledge that finding, retaining, and growing talent counts among their toughest business challenges. Yet to address this concern, many are turning to talent management practices that no longer work?because the environment they were tailored to no longer exists.

In today's uncertain world, managers can't forecast their business needs accurately, never mind their talent needs. An open labor market means inevitable leaks in your talent pipeline. And intensifying competition demands a maniacal focus on costs. Traditional investments in talent management wind up being hugely expensive, especially when employees you've carefully cultivated leave your firm for a rival.

In Talent on Demand, Peter Cappelli examines the talent management problem through a radical new lens. Drawing from state-of-the-art supply chain management and numerous company examples, he presents four new principles for ensuring that your organization has the skills it needs--when it needs them. In this book, you'll discover how to:

· Balance developing talent in-house with buying it on the open market

· Improve the accuracy of your talent-need forecasts

· Maximize returns on your talent investments

· Replicate external job market dynamics by creating an in-house market that links available talent to jobs

Practical and provocative, Talent on Demand gives you the ideas and tools you'll need to match the supply of talent to your demand for it--today and tomorrow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Managing supply chains is about managing uncertainty and variability. This same uncertainty exists inside companies with regard to talent development. --Knowledge @ Wharton, February 20, 2008

Cappelli addresses one of the most significant challenges a business must face: How to ensure that it will be you who reaps the benefits of your investment. --CRM.com, May 1, 2008

About the Author

Peter Cappelli is a professor of management at the Wharton School, Director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (April 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1422104478
• ISBN-13: 978-1422104477
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Planning & Forecasting

More About the Author

Peter Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management and director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford, and he conducts research in human resources practices, talent and performance management, and public policy related to employment. He is also the editor of Academy of Management Perspectives.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read, May 9, 2008

By 

William McPeck "Coach/Consultant" (Maine) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (Hardcover)

This is one of those books that I believe can be either read independently or used as a textbook for a college course in talent management. As an independent read, if you are in a position that hires or develops employees, or if you must talk with your CEO or other C-suite team member about your organization's hiring and talent management philosophies, then this book is a must read for you. This book will give you a good grounding in the area of hiring and talent management.

As our economy continues to evolve towards becoming a creative/knowledge based economy, talent management continues to rise in importance. Today's environment requires more than just the physical presence of the employee. Today's employees not only need to be physically present, they need to be totally engaged. Managing employee talent has become a critical organizational strategy and individual managerial skill. And then there are the costs:
* The costs associated with acquiring employees
* The costs associated with developing employees
* The costs associated with managing talent management risks

This book is about the basic challenge of talent management - Identifying the demand of talent and then establishing a system or process that just meets that demand. Hitting the demand target must be accomplished while taking into consideration today's complexity and uncertainty during the planning and development processes.

This book is comprehensive in that it presents an historical overview and puts the talent management issue into context. The talent management process is one of buying vs. developing talent. The making vs. buying cycle is driven by the larger product, economic and available labor cycles. Using the theories and practices from operations research, the author looks at how the talent management process could be made more efficient and cost effective. According to the author, by using innovation and execution talent management can become a source of competitive advantage.

If you read just one talent management book this year, I would recommend that it be this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, April 6, 2009

By 

Anthony Cerquone (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (Hardcover)

Cappelli's work is a must read for the TM practicioner, if for no other reason than the terrific historical overview he gives to TM and the origins of workforce planning and succession mgmt, to name just two. Beyond that, the book is worthwhile due to Cappelli's provocative stance that TM needs to rethink it's own way of doing business. TM has too long been self-justifiable. Cappelli argues that over-producing talent, that eventually ends up in the competition, is as bad as under-producing, and that our task is to work on supplying just the right amount, taking cues from supply chain mgmt. The work is long on history and explanation and a bit short on actual practicality, but a must read nonetheless.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid take on talent management strategies, November 11, 2008

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (Hardcover)

Talent management, like every other aspect of business, has changed so dramatically that decision makers aren't sure where to turn. For years, corporations used "traditional succession plans" to ensure smooth leadership transitions. Those plans are no longer effective. Hiring from the outside, a trend that once rapidly gained popularity, did not turn out to be a panacea. Author Peter Cappelli believes companies cannot eliminate unpredictability - they can only contain it. He finds that supply chain management approaches can cut the expense and boost the effectiveness of talent management. The keys to managing talent, he says, are reducing your exposure to risk and being responsive to your employees. You may not find a complete solution to your future leadership issues here, but getAbstract believes Cappelli's approach is a significant step forward.