A system that works

Workforce, Sept, 2003 by Dave Dahl

THIS IS A TRULY OUTSTANDING ARTICLE. ("Dead Man's Curve," July 2003, on forced ranking). As a former HR executive with an operating division of one of the largest private companies in America, I have been struggling with this issue and process for years. There are no easy answers. If an organization believes it needs to continuously increase the "relative talent" of its leadership team, this is the only way to consistently make sure it happens. As with any process that forces executives to make tough decisions about people, it is only as good as the executives implementing it and the quality of the data they are working with. This process works, and until someone comes up with a better way to make the tough people decisions, it will continue.

Your article is a great heads-up for anyone who wants to understand all the things that can go wrong before they jump into the process. As we move more into the knowledge economy and talent continues to become an even greater source of competitive differentiation, I think you will see even more of these types of systems. Thanks for sharing Ibis very timely information.

Dave Dahl

Principal,

Talent Strategy Consultants

Minneapolis, Minnesota

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