Global Talent Management at HSBC

Organization Development Journal, Summer 2007 by Gakovic, Anika, Yardley, Keith

Abstract

Global talent management is an organizational development solution that supports the HSBC vision to be the world's leading financial services company. This article will describe how the global talent management solution aligns to our business strategy and how we developed, refined, and implemented our global process in the context of our culture and core values. We will share best practices, challenges, lessons learned, and results from implementing our integrated talent identification and development system. The unique contribution of this work is the examination of ways to address complexities involved in executing people strategy in a global, matrixed, and results-focused business environment.

The Business Need

HSBC Group is one the world's largest financial institutions. It has 284,000 employees and 125 million customers in 76 countries producing earnings of $13.1 billion in the first half of 2006. Two characteristics make HSBC unique in the financial services industry. Both drive our growth and differentiate our business from competitors. They are our brand and our 150-year old culture which is founded on core values of Integrity, Collegiality and Diversity. We strive for cultural continuity by exemplifying the core values in our relationship with shareholders, clients, and employees. At the same time that we are aware of our value to our customers which is reflected by our pride in our continuity, we are also cognizant of our need to change in order to build our business by leveraging emerging markets, new customer groups and technology. Consequently, our challenge is to continually reinvent ourselves while maintaining cultural continuity in order to remain customer-focused, community-driven, and economically profitable. As our retired Chairman Sir John Bond said in 2005:"HSBC has to be flexible to succeed. Companies today have to reinvent themselves constantly ... and maintain essential character while doing it."1

Our evolution was initiated three years ago with a shift from our previous acquisition-based strategy to a Managing for Growth business strategy. The new strategy focused on driving organic revenue growth especially in the Emerging Markets, and continued cost containment. Today, this focus on Emerging Markets creates a need for leaders who understand both local business context and global strategy. From an organizational development perspective, one way to achieve continuity around core values and create global alignment with business strategy is to fully leverage human capital within the organization.

To help accomplish this, we implemented a global talent management process as one stream of a people strategy aimed at attracting, motivating, and retaining the very best. In our view, our global business strategy needed aligned people and talent management strategies. The first step was to identify the Senior Business Manager talent pool, including both general managers and worldclass specialists. The next steps were to expand the talent pool beyond the senior business manager level, implement development programs for future leaders according to levels of experience and seniority in the organization, and ensure we had a customized solution to retain our talent through the employee value proposition

Identifying the Talent Pools

Integrity. Human Resources used robust, consistent and transparent methods for talent identification to ensure the integrity of our process. Specifically, we relied on multiple sources of data including 360 degree feedback instruments, interviews, panel reviews, self and manager assessment) to review capability ratings for all talent nominations globally. The capability framework was constructed to identify behaviors at HSBC that distinguish our outstanding performers and will drive our business strategy. The result was six capability clusters with defined competencies that provided a basis for measurement and decisions about talent recruiting and development. These six capability clusters are:

1) Driving business vision and brand: visionary thinking, aligned strategic thinking, differentiating HSBC's business and brand, driving change and innovation

2) Commercial judgment: judgment and decision making, entrepreneurial and commercial thinking

3) Leading performance: inspiring trust, driving execution and performance, inspiring and developing others, courageous leadership

4) Customer drive: leading a customer driven organization, winning new customers

5) Working with others: building relationships and listening to others, valuing diversity, influencing others, managing collectively, sharing knowledge and fostering open communication

6) Drive, commitment, and personal development: continual learning, driving self to achieve collective goals, adaptability

Assessing the Talent Pools

These six capability clusters provided the basis for talent assessment as well as the foundation for other people decisions and strategy. To properly aggregate data to identify talent for both current and future potential from different perspectives, the Group Chairman endorsed three non-negotiable measures: capability rating, performance rating, and self-reported career development aspirations. To illustrate how the information is aggregated for an individual, a talent pool member would need: