The Executive Guide to High-Impact Talent Management

Recent studies show that in the next few years many companies could have only about half the leaders and skilled workers they need–and that these talent shortages will be particularly acute in the critical sectors like engineering, health care, energy, government, manufacturing, and aerospace and defense. As a line executive you need to ask yourself one question: Do we have who it takes to drive business performance in the future?

In The Executive Guide to High-Impact Talent Management, David DeLong and Steve Trautman combine wide-ranging research and real-world expertise to chart a clear and efficient path for senior leaders. They show how to not only reduce the risks of talent shortages but also maximize the payoff of workforce and leadership development investments.

Sharing their findings based on more than 70 interviews with senior executives and top-rated talent experts and their own experience as leaders and consultants, DeLong and Trautman show leaders how to translate their belief in the importance of investing in people into concrete actions that will improve business performance. Most important, it shows you how to get started today!

Learn how to accurately diagnose talent-related risks that threaten performance; efficiently evaluate and measure workforce and leadership investments; ensure your staff is aligning talent processes to support business strategy; accelerate leadership development and the transfer of critical knowledge; communicate cultural principles that will drive recruiting, development, and retention programs; and assess the talent management IQ of your leadership team.

David DeLong

David DeLong is president of Smart Workforce Strategies, a consulting firm that helps organizations improve performance by solving problems created by changing workforce demographics and risks of knowledge loss. A former researcher at both Harvard Business School and MIT’s Sloan School, and adjunct professor at Babson College, Dr. DeLong is also a research fellow at the MIT AgeLab. He has a doctorate in organizational behavior from Boston University and an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. An acclaimed keynote speaker, Dr. DeLong is author of the widely-praised Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce (Oxford University Press, 2004) and co-author (with J.F. Rockart) of Executive Support Systems: The Emergence of Top Management Computer Use. He has lectured in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and South America, and is a widely-published writer whose work has appeared in journals and magazines such as Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Newsweek International, Organizational Dynamics, Computerworld, and Inc. Magazine. His work has been widely cited in the New York Times, Fortune Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CIO Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and the Boston Globe. He has also been interviewed on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “Talk of the Nation.”

Steve Trautman is the founder of the Trautman Company, a consultancy offering talent risk and knowledge transfer solutions. His other books include Do You Have WHO It Takes?  (Greenleaf Press, 2017). Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveTrautman.