The client was a German group from the process industry with more than 12,000 employees worldwide. The company, which has been successful in very different niche markets for many decades, is facing increasing economic pressure due to substitution effects and margin pressure. In this context, talent management, the filling of key positions with top talent, is becoming increasingly important in order to increase efficiency and open up new areas of growth.
In the past, the company had introduced a process for assessing performance and potential, but only within the various divisions, with inconsistent standards, uncoordinated timing and no binding consistency. This was now considered insufficient by the management. The overarching goal of the interim mandate was to significantly reduce the external filling of key positions and make better use of internal employee potential.
Breaking down patterns of loyalty
The understanding of the economic challenges and the established structures and processes ensured continuous alignment and buy-in during the concept phase for the new talent management framework. Objectives, definitions and processes were closely coordinated with other HR projects in the areas of recruiting, performance management and job grading. The particular challenge was to break down proven loyalty patterns of the past and establish a new view of talent management - as give and take across divisional and national boundaries, for the benefit of the company as a whole.
The new talent management framework was introduced via the executive board and the divisional management teams, accompanied by group-wide, time-coordinated talent reviews. The HR Interim Manager moderated the first international cross-divisional discussions, which spontaneously resulted in opportunities for the international deployment of managers. Succession planning and the development of high potentials to support growth targets are now based on a generally accepted new foundation. Gaps in succession planning have become visible and the development of high potentials can be driven forward in a targeted manner. In the next step, the defined processes will be mapped in an integrated HR IT solution.
