Hrm Assignment 1
Assignment #1: Talent Management Program: McDonald’s Case Study
Sharifa Toomer
April 26, 2013
Talent Management- HRM 532
Dr. Zelphia A. Brown , SPHR, Instructor
1. Outline the talent management program that led to success for the company. Talent management is a human resources concept that is utilized by several organizations. Silzer and Dowell (2010) define talent management as, “a subset of human resource (HR) processes, programs, and tools designed to identify, assess, develop, and retain talent.” (p.75). McDonald’s revamped their talent management program in 2002 to better identify and develop their employee’s talent. This change resulted in very positive results for McDonald’s not just according to their internal metrics but overall for the company.
Goldsmith and Carter (2010) stated that McDonald’s redesigned it talent management program because in the fourth quarter of 2002 for the first time in the company’s history they had an overall loss. They were unsure how this could be because the ratings of the higher level employees were exceedingly high. They found that there was no correlation between inflated employee ratings and the overall success of the company. They also found that even though the company noted very high ratings of employees’ potential, when key leadership position became available, senior managers had a hard time finding people to be a right fit for the position. It was these issues that made the senior management at McDonald’s decide that it was time for a change within the talent management system throughout the entire organization. Dewhurst, M., Hancock, B., & Ellsworth, D. (2013) state that, “Companies must be explicit and precise in defining their must-have skills.” (p.60). Goldsmith and Carter (2010) wrote that McDonald’s decided to do just that by laying out a five step plan to revamp their talent management program. The first and second steps were to redesign the performance development system (PDS) for
Sharifa Toomer
April 26, 2013
Talent Management- HRM 532
Dr. Zelphia A. Brown , SPHR, Instructor
1. Outline the talent management program that led to success for the company. Talent management is a human resources concept that is utilized by several organizations. Silzer and Dowell (2010) define talent management as, “a subset of human resource (HR) processes, programs, and tools designed to identify, assess, develop, and retain talent.” (p.75). McDonald’s revamped their talent management program in 2002 to better identify and develop their employee’s talent. This change resulted in very positive results for McDonald’s not just according to their internal metrics but overall for the company.
Goldsmith and Carter (2010) stated that McDonald’s redesigned it talent management program because in the fourth quarter of 2002 for the first time in the company’s history they had an overall loss. They were unsure how this could be because the ratings of the higher level employees were exceedingly high. They found that there was no correlation between inflated employee ratings and the overall success of the company. They also found that even though the company noted very high ratings of employees’ potential, when key leadership position became available, senior managers had a hard time finding people to be a right fit for the position. It was these issues that made the senior management at McDonald’s decide that it was time for a change within the talent management system throughout the entire organization. Dewhurst, M., Hancock, B., & Ellsworth, D. (2013) state that, “Companies must be explicit and precise in defining their must-have skills.” (p.60). Goldsmith and Carter (2010) wrote that McDonald’s decided to do just that by laying out a five step plan to revamp their talent management program. The first and second steps were to redesign the performance development system (PDS) for
References: Caul, R., Harvey, P. (2012, December 01). The art of managing talent. Training Journal, 25, Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com Dewhurst, M., Hancock, B., & Ellsworth, D. (2013). Redesigning Knowledge Work. Harvard Business Review, 91(1), 58-64. Goldsmith, M., & Carter L. (2010). Best practices in talent management: How the world’s leading corporations manage, develop, and retain top talent. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Silzer, R., & Dowell, L., (2010). Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership imperative. San-Francisco: J Jossey-Bass.