Talent Management

WHAT

This practice defines the talent management process which ensures sufficient talent is available for TVA to achieve a competitive advantage, enhance corporate performance, and maximize the productivity of its talent pool. This process will allow TVA to develop diverse leaders throughout the company by gaining a better understanding of management talent, addressing concerns with ongoing attrition, developing benchstrength, and effectively dealing with workforce issues.

WHO

All TVA organizations.

WHY

This process will provide for continuity of leadership by identifying and developing future leaders of TVA and where necessary, recruit externally. This process will mitigate risks associated with leadership gaps.

HOW

A Talent Management (TM) Team in each TVA Strategic Business Unit (SBU) has responsibility for process implementation. The TM team should include the SBU leader and his/her direct reports, as appropriate. The TM process includes the following steps:

Assess Management Talent

Each TVA SBU will inventory current talent in the areas of leadership potential and performance to identify the top, middle, and bottom talent. TVA’s Leadership Competencies provide the foundation for the talent assessments.

Identify Succession Planning Positions and Determine Organizational Benchstrength

Each organization identifies positions for inclusion in its succession plan. Using the results of the talent assessments, key managers nominate employees for participation in the succession planning program. Candidates should demonstrate high potential/ability to achieve success at higher levels and may be assigned a mentor to help guide their development. Candidates will be placed on succession planning matrices based on their readiness using the following distinctions:

Ready Now (RN)– candidates who currently possess the necessary qualifications and credentials to assume the responsibilities of the succession planning position immediately;
Ready Longer-term (RLT)– candidates who currently lack the necessary qualifications or credentials for immediately assuming the responsibilities of the succession planning position, but possess the potential to obtain these requisites within two years;
High Potential Candidates – candidates with high leadership potential who are more than two years from being succession planning candidates. (These candidates will participate in development activities to increase their readiness for future succession planning positions.)

Prepare Individual Development Plans

All succession planning and high potential candidates will prepare an individual development plan (IDP). (Manager and specialist (M&S) and excluded schedule employees are also required to complete development plans. Developmental plans are optional for other employee groups.) The specific content of the IDP will vary depending on the specific needs of the candidate. The IDP should reflect the candidate’s development needs which may include managerial, leadership, operational, and/or other technical needs with an associated timeframe for completion.

Develop Workforce Action Plans

Each organization will develop a Workforce Action Plan to identify and address critical and strategic workforce issues for the organization. The action plan will include trends, gaps, successes, potential critical knowledge loss threats, and other special initiatives (i.e., Fast Track Programs, Employee Development Programs, special recruiting efforts, etc.) to build benchstrength. The Action Plan should also include a strategic assessment of leadership depth, identification of rotational opportunities to further develop candidates, and a description of allocated resources (compensation, training, coaching, etc.) to employees based on their actual or potential contribution to organization excellence.

Conduct Talent Management Offsite

At least annually TVA will convene a meeting of its senior leaders to discuss talent management. The focus of these meetings will be to discuss topics such as development options for top talent, organization succession plans, and other critical workforce issues. Because the strategic management of talent is a critical driver of TVA’s performance, these meetings will be used to reinforce the responsibility and accountability of TVA’s senior executive team for developing talent.

ROLES

SBU Leaders

Establish TM Teams for their organizations
Sponsor and own the process
Provide resources required for program implementation
Ensure talent management information is communicated to management, succession candidates, and other employees as appropriate

Talent Management Teams

Assess management talent
Identify succession planning candidates and determine whether they are ready now (RN), ready long-term (RLT), or high potential
Promote/seek to develop diverse succession candidate pools
Assign mentors (if appropriate) to succession planning candidates for assistance in guiding their development
Monitor developmental progress of succession planning candidates
Review and revise candidate development plans as necessary to ensure all developmental needs are addressed
Ensure a sufficient number of candidates are identified for each position or that appropriate action has been initiated to identify acceptable candidates
When a succession planning vacancy occurs, work with HR Consultants and line managers to ensure the selection process appropriately considers succession candidates
Prepare organization’s Workforce Action Plans
Identify benchstrength gaps (or organizational gaps) and develop initiatives to address gaps

Mentors (Optional)

Take personal interest in candidate's career development
Share knowledge, materials, skills, and experience with those they mentor
Support, challenge, offer patience and enthusiasm--guiding candidate to higher level of competence
Work with candidate and supervisor to determine appropriate development activities for inclusion in development plan
Meet regularly (frequency to be determined by candidate and mentor) with candidate to assess progress, remove barriers, and offer coaching advice

Succession Planning Candidates

Express career interests and objectives to supervisor and/or mentor
Working with supervisor/mentor, establish IDP
Complete activities in development plans
Self-manage development process
Willingly accept developmental opportunities identified in development plans

Human Resources

Facilitate the implementation of TM for TVA
Serve as a member of the organization’s TM Team
Ensure consideration of Succession Planning candidates when succession planning positions are filled
Assist TM Teams in developing strategies to increase diversity of candidate pools
Assist TM Teams in developing strategies to address issues (i.e., benchstrength gaps) and concerns identified by the team
Serve as a resource to TM team members and line management on TM process information and development opportunities
Evaluate the effectiveness of the TM process
Manage a database of succession planning information on all succession planning candidates

RESOURCES

Human Resource Representatives
TVA Leadership Development Organization

INTEGRATED STAFFING
PRACTICE 1

Talent Management

5/07