Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions about Talent

by John W. Boudreau

Overview

HR professionals have made major strides toward becoming strategic partners. But they need to do more - by generating value through savvy decisions about talent. HR leaders typically assume that, to make such decisions, they must develop sophisticated analytical tools from scratch. Even then, the resulting tools often fail to engage their peers.

In Retooling HR , John Boudreau shows how HR leaders can break this cycle - by adapting powerful analytical tools already used by other functions to the unique challenges of talent management.

Drawing on his research and examples from companies including Google, Disney, IBM, and Microsoft, Boudreau explains six proven business tools leaders already use. And he shows how HR can apply these tools to talent management. Examples include:

· Using engineering tolerances to find pivot points that job descriptions miss

· Using inventory and supply-chain analytics to ensure a ready supply of the right talent

· Applying logistics tools to optimize succession planning and leadership development

· Adapting consumer research tools to find untapped value in total rewards

Retooling HR builds on Boudreau's bestselling book Beyond HR , which traces HR's evolution as a decision science. For HR professionals seeking to sharpen their decision-making prowess, this provocative new book blazes an innovative new path.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781422130070
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	07/01/2010
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

John Boudreau is Professor of Management and Organization at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and the Research Director at USC's Center for Effective Organizations. He has published more than sixty books and articles and consults to clients in a wide range of industries.

Editorial Reviews

managers in any function will surely miss out if they overlook this read” - Human Resource Management

“Boudreau strikes again. This new book from one of today’s best thinkers on human resources and organizational performance shows how the application of frameworks used in other fields can give human resources professionals greater analytical rigor and enable them to have a truly significant impact on business results.” - Lucien Alziari, SVP, Human Resources and Corporate Responsibility, Avon Products, Inc.

“For many organizations, effective talent management remains the Holy Grail. John Boudreau’s latest offering will challenge the best organizations to evolve and modify their approach to talent.” - Kevin Cox, Executive Vice President, Human Resources, American Express Company

“A very timely book! In today’s competition for talent, traditional definitions of job and employee are increasingly outmoded and HR leaders must develop new ways of analyzing work, workers, and performance. The tools and ideas in this book meet the challenge by adding rigor to HR systems and helping HR executives communicate effectively with stakeholders by taking advantage of concepts already in place in other parts of the business.” - Libby Sartain, former CHRO, Yahoo!, Inc., and Southwest Airlines

“ Retooling HR brings fresh insight into long-standing talent issues using insight and logic that will engage thoughtful HR and line leaders alike.” - Pete Ramstad, Vice President of HR and Business Development, The Toro Company

“Roll up your sleeves and get ready to dig in to some serious business issues. Under John Boudreau’s smart, fact-based guidance, HR moves from fluffy art to hard-nosed management science. Take a huge step forward in the sophistication and rigor with which you tackle the most important factor in tomorrow’s success—your workforce strategy. - Tammy Erickson, author, What’s Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want

“John has long been at the bleeding edge of HR thinking, and Retooling HR undoubtedly keeps him there. The notion of ‘return on improved performance’ that features throughout the book is, in my view, the next big idea.” - Sandy Ogg, Chief Human Resources Officer, Unilever

From the Publisher