Talent Management - Icarus

Talent Management & The Icarus Effect : 

Talent Management & The Icarus Effect Avoiding Crash & Burn

Stage 1 - Scanning : 

Stage 1 - Scanning Talent thinks about how to get noticed Considers the best companies to work for Networks and spreads his profile Gets close to key players Plans out the career path

Stage 2- shortlisting : 

Stage 2- shortlisting Talent gets new suit for assessment Goes through a battery of tests and interviews Sees rigour of assessment as reinforcing challenge of the company

Stage 3 – job offer : 

Stage 3 – job offer Talent gets the call they’ve been waiting for Reinforces self belief and enhances already pumped perception of the company and the role Sends out waves on social networks so others can share in his success / become jealous

Stage 4 – on-boarding : 

Stage 4 – on-boarding Talent goes through induction Talent receives on-boarding coaching Talent already starts to identify big changes they can make Talent reorganises work-life balance in favour of the company

Stage 5- development : 

Stage 5- development Talent starts working with team members Attends prestigious development centres Given challenging projects Moves around the globe to build culture experience Begins to feel high expectations not being fully met

Stage 6 - impatience : 

Stage 6 - impatience Wonders when succession opportunities will arise Scans internal (and possibly external) options Starts to feel undervalued and stressed

Stage 7 –over-extended : 

Stage 7 –over-extended Talent is in big demand across the organisation Begins to feel stretched in too many directions Discovers the company image is less golden than first appeared Senses his wings being clipped

Stage 8 – the crash : 

Stage 8 – the crash Fear of failure sets in Disillusionment Early support dissipated Finds he can’t fly Starts taking calls from headhunters

Slide 10: 

Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son Icarus so they could escape from exile in Crete. Before they took off Daedalus warned his talented son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared through the sky but came too close to the sun, which melted the wax. So, Icarus fell into the sea. So…….. Maybe his father wanted him to crash – successor jealousy Maybe the talent didn’t listen to the wisdom – mentoring is key Maybe talent needs to be supported – people can’t fly (on their own) Email: Douglas Young