Cydcor Reviews The War for Talent

Title: The War for Talent

Author:  Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod

Review by:  Suzzanne Fleet

Description of this book:  This book uses information from thousands of executives from dozens of companies on how to keep a high level of talent and performance from employees.  Acquiring, retaining and developing talented individuals is essential for companies to succeed.  It is important to pinpoint high performers and low performers, reward high performers, and move low performers out of the organization.  The book talks about keeping a “talent mindset” that keeps recruiters and managers focused on developing talented employees.  It is also important to bring in talent from other companies at multiple management levels.  The book details how to design performance reviews for team members, as well as a recognition system.  Authors also discuss how create incentives to make your company attractive to top level jobseekers. Cydcor works to develop our talented team of sales professionals, which is why we are frequently chosen as on of L.A. County’s Best Place to Work

Why read this:  Managers and recruiters alike will benefit from this book by refreshing the priorities of developing people within their organization.  In an age where many employees bounce around in their career, fostering talent is an easy and important aspect of both retention and productivity.

My favorite part:  There are some great case studies in the book that provide real life stories and philosophies.  For example, Dee Hock, founder of Visa, tells the authors, “Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind.”

About the reviewer: Suzzanne Fleet is the director of human resources at Cydcor, so managing talent is her area of expertise.