Talent Upgrading

Talent upgrading is the process of identifying employees who are no longer valuable to a company in their current position. Whether an employee should leave the firm or simply move to another position, in either case he/she should vacate their current position.

For successful talent upgrading, companies should have periodic performance evaluations that identify those employees who are not performing satisfactorily and therefore are receiving low performance ratings. In addition, firms should have a rigorous process of reviewing those employees annually and preparing for their eventual removal through mobility planning, which means finding employees who can potentially replace them.

Now we have all the pieces in place for a successful talent management process:

• Rigorous performance evaluations identifying those employees who need to be upgraded,

• Mobility screening to identify potential candidates for positions soon to be vacated,

• Mobility chain planning to ensure that candidates are identified a priori for all positions to be filled, and

• Mobility strong-link candidates are identified, ensuring that several mobility chains do not depend on the same candidate.

When a low performing employee is removed from his/her position, a chain reaction of well-planned employee moves then follow, often leading to an infusion of talent into the firm. Through careful and rigorous planning, we have achieved talent upgrading, internal mobility and good turnover for the benefit of the firm.