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Mercer's sustained commitment to leadership development helps the firm meet a multitude of changes and global business requirements.
AS A GLOBAL PROVIDER OF CONSULTING, outsourcing, and investment services, including human capital and talent optimization, Mercer understands the value of talent management. Our clients rely on our inlellectual capital - our expertise, advice, and solutions - and as such, our greatest asset is our people. We piace a premium on growing, protecting, leveraging, and investing in this asset.
As part of our talent management program, our firm has long been committed to developing leaders within our company by equipping our current and future leadership population with the tools it needs to succeed.
However, it took two relatively recent events - a change in our topmost leadership and a significant shift in our operational model - to create the current robust talent review process that enables us to identify leaders, as well as the multitiered leadership development program that helps us grow them.
A great leader champions great Leadership development
Shortly after Midi eie Burns joined Merceras chairman and CEO in 2006, she and I mei io discuss the direction of our firm's talent management program. I was pleased to learn that one of the first things she wanted to speak about was leadership development.
Following some initial discussions with her, I presented a proposal ro provide1 globally consistent development at the top levels of the organization. I was also ready to make a formal business case with hard numbers, but Michele did noi need that. She clearly understood lhe payoff of investing in people and was already eager to sponsor leadership development from her office.
New organizational structure; new talent management needs
Just before Michele was appointed, Mercer had changed its geographically based structure to a global line of business structure. This, in limi, altered our management organization and operating models. These changes liad a number of implications for how we manage talent and succession planning:
* New roles and skills. The new business model fueled growth, which created a greater demand for management and leadersliip talent as the organization expanded. Being a global line of business leader is different from being a global practice leader. Wc had good people playing the existing roles, but...