HR and Talent Management

Publications

Executive Action Reports

August 2009	Will You Want to Hire Your Own Kids? (Will Anybody Else?) Workforce entrants are caught between an educational system that teaches and measures one set of skills and a rapidly evolving workplace that demands another. But who will close the gap? File size: 275KB
July 2009	Relieving Pressures to Eliminate Jobs Smaller companies are finding ways to "redeploy" employees rather than lay them off. Three models for surviving recessions without losing your investment in human capital. File size: 183KB
June 2009	Mission Accomplished? What Every Leader Should Know about Survivor Syndrome This Executive Action report explores the concept of "survivor syndrome," how it materializes, and what to do about it. File size: 192KB
March 2009	Changing Attitudes to Work - What Should HR Do? Participants at The Conference Board’s European Human Resources Council Summit issue a set of management recommendations to deal with changing work attitudes. File size: 238KB
November 2008	Can They Take It? What Happens When Older Employees Work Overtime Overtime is a key to profitability for many employers, and a boost to the paychecks of their employees. But is there a concomitant cost when, as is often the case, senior employees work extra hours? File size: 258KB
September 2008	Promoted to Fail? How Executive Coaching Can Improve Performance in Newly Promoted Executives Promotion to a new position with increased, often corporatewide responsibilities can be a tremendous challenge. The following narrative explains how executives in one organization used coaching to prevent a manager from "derailing" in a new position. File size: 108KB
August 2008	Salary Increase Budgets Holding Steady for 2009 Companies are responding to a sluggish economy by remaining disciplined on labor costs. Salary increase budgets for 2008 are below 4 percent and seem destined to remain near that level in 2009. File size: 109KB
July 2008	On The Record with Ivan Seidenberg The CEO of Verizon Communications, Inc., New York, New York, explains the importance of developing global managerial talent and implementing cost control methods. File size: 235KB
July 2008	Women's Leadership: Revitalizing Women’s Initiatives Key indicators of gender in the workplace suggest that women's advancement in corporate America has plateaued or even slipped over the past few years. Still, many companies remain committed to initiatives designed to support women in the workplace. File size: 88KB
July 2008	On the Record with J. Doug Pruitt The CEO of Sundt Construction, Tempe, Arizona, explains the importance of managing change, fostering innovation and the need for diversity and multi-generational knowledge sharing in today's competitive business environment. File size: 229KB
June 2008	Smart Sourcing: A Boost to Sourcing Value Creation Why do so many sourcing initiatives fail to create the value the organization expected? In many cases, it's because managers lack a true understanding of the resources necessary and the risks that are involved. File size: 307KB
May 2008	Shifting the Focus: Updating Your Work-Life Approach to Integrate Employee Engagement and Talent Management In order to engage and retain employees, companies will need to modernize their work-life approach. This means moving beyond flex-time and taking a holistic approach. File size: 229KB
May 2008	Speaking with Authority—the Case for Teaching English Language Proficiency on the Job As foreign-born workers become a larger share of the overall U.S. workforce and companies rely more and more on immigrant communities to supply their labor, employers are going to have to deal with language limitations in one way or another. File size: 430KB
April 2008	HR Challenge: Staffing Up to Expand Overseas You don't have to be a huge company to establish a presence in foreign markets. You do need to develop global leaders and learn how to recruit local talent. File size: 119KB
April 2008	Human Resources: Changing to Drive Business Strategy Huge transformational changes taking place in business have demanded that human resources professionals adapt their strategies and operating procedures. File size: 101KB
February 2008	How CEOs Turn Themselves (and Others) into True Leaders As never before, leaders of small-to-midsize companies must master softer, more intangible skills, such as the capacity to build relationships and maintain a strong culture. File size: 260KB
February 2008	Investing in the Future—the Importance of Cross-Sector Partnerships in Improving Workforce Readiness With talent gaps looming, businesses have a strong incentive to focus on workforce readiness. File size: 419KB
January 2008	Working at the Intersection of Human Resources and Business Ethics – the Need for Collaboration When it comes to the implementation of an effective ethics and compliance program, corporate culture, performance incentives, and disciplinary systems must be closely integrated with standard human resources and talent management processes. File size: 126KB
January 2008	Can Continuing Changes in Pension Management Provide a Secure Retirement? With 77 million baby boomers headed for retirement, it's no surprise that nearly every facet of pension plan structure and financial management is being reevaluated. File size: 233KB
December 2007	The 2007 Report on Top Executive Compensation—Key Findings The Conference Board 2007 Report on Top Executive Compensation—Key Findings indicates that CEOs of the largest companies hold a substantial amount of company stock. File size: 407kb
September 2007	Unlocking Speed and Agility If mid-market companies want to remain strong competitors and avoid complacency, they need to rediscover the speed and agility they had as start-ups. File size: 120KB
July 2007	Growing Globally in an Age of Disruptions — How India's Top Companies Are Meeting the Challenge What tools do Indian companies with global ambitions need to compete effectively? File size: 424KB
July 2007	Designing Organizations That Execute New Strategies and Create Capabilities for Change Since organizations are experiencing constant change — driven by today's global and hyper-competitive environment — they need to build an internal design capability to realign organizational components on an almost continuous basis. File size: 253KB
June 2007	Women and Leadership: Creating Opportunities for Advancement With smaller numbers of U.S. workers expected during the next decade and increasing numbers of women entering the workforce, more business leaders are realizing that competing globally will require making good use of all their human resources. File size: 224KB
June 2007	Finding a Definition of Employee Engagement Executives are beginning to realize that "employee engagement" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone in every company. So what is the proper definition and what does it mean to have an engaged workforce? File size: 218KB
March 2007	Becoming Skilled at Painting with Two Brushes What are Asian and Western-based companies doing to develop the kinds of leaders that are badly needed in Asia and elsewhere today? File size: 295KB
February 2007	How to Make Executive Coaching Work for Your Company and Executives The field of executive coaching continues to evolve today, but in general, successful coaching agreements are based on a high degree of professional integrity on the coach's part, and a coachee willing to embark on the "coaching journey". File size: 138KB
January 2007	Bridging China's Talent Gap Finding talented managers in China is difficult. For multinationals, it is now a challenge not only to recruit the best people, but also to develop and retain them. File size: 113KB
November 2006	Faith at Work: What Does It Mean to Be a “Faith-Friendly” Company? Though in its early stages, the "faith-at-work movement" is demanding serious attention from employers. How companies frame their response will determine if the issue becomes a legal minefield or a source of competitive advantage. File size: 153KB
October 2006	Leadership Challenges for Indian Companies Tomorrow's Indian business leaders must be master strategists, able to manage change as well as relationships and networks, and perhaps most importantly demonstrate the ability to develop new leaders. File size: 193KB
September 2006	Global Talent Management: How Businesses Attract, Develop, and Retain the Best As baby boomers head towards retirement and birth rates decline globally, how will companies handle the available talent pool shrinking? File size: 101KB
September 2006	Growing the New Business Leader Are companies doing enough to anticipate their future leadership requirements? Are they instilling the right experiences and skills for the future in their talent of today? File size: 128KB
August 2006	How to Hire Top Performers (Hint: They Already Have Jobs) Smaller companies don’t have to settle for less. Get an edge in the talent wars with shrewd targeting and robust retention strategies. File size: 116KB
July 2006	Building a World-Class Workforce: Two Case Studies This report details how Rockwell Collins and PricewaterhouseCoopers are innovating recruitment and retention strategies to ensure a skilled, motivated, and diverse workforce. File size: 107.02KB
June 2006	Women of Color: Strategies for Leadership Success This Executive Action report offers some strategies for personal success for women of color. File size: 360.6KB
June 2006	On the Record With.... Dr. Gerhard Cromme An exclusive in-depth interview with Dr. Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, ThyssenKrupp AG, Düsseldorf, Germany. File size: 227.36KB
June 2006	On the Record With.... Dr. Stephanie A. Burns In this exclusive in-depth interview, Dow Corning President and CEO Dr Stephanie A. Burns, explains why the notion of an innovative organization must extend far beyond the development of new products into processes and strategy. File size: 226.5KB
June 2006	On the Record With.... Sajjan Jindal Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel, Ltd.; Mumbai, India, explains his philosophy for corporate success, particularly the importance of maintaining a long-term business view in the face of short-term pressure. File size: 219.81KB
May 2006	On the Record With.... Bertrand Collomb An in-depth interview with Bertrand Collomb, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lafarge, France, on current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends he expects to face in the future. File size: 232.1KB
May 2006	On the Record With.... Lim Chee-Onn An in-depth interview with Lim Chee-Onn, Executive Chairman, Keppel Corporation, Ltd., Singapore, on current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends he expects to face in the future. File size: 218.45KB
January 2006	What Do We Really Know about Effective Leadership in Change Management? While the need for effective leadership is seen to be one of growing importance, the means to achieve it are far from clear. So where does one turn for guidance, and where do efforts get focused? File size: 107.4 KB
January 2006	Diversity and Profitability: Making the Connections Demographic changes in Europe, combined with government regulations, are putting pressure on companies to increase the diversity of their workforces. File size: 122.3 KB
December 2005	Looking for Employees in All the Right Places The buzz may be about the Internet and job boards, but recruiters shouldn’t write off that old stand-by—newspaper help-wanted print advertising. File size: 244.7 KB
December 2005	Globalization: Will Your Company Be Left Standing? New market realities may compel mid-market companies to adopt a business model that powers growth through product innovation, as well as improved operational effectiveness. File size: 151.8 KB
December 2005	Fatal Attraction: The Job Candidate That Is Too Good To Be True What are the possible consequences of hiring the wrong person, and how can companies protect themselves from making hiring mistakes? File size: 98.3 KB
October 2005	Managing Talent in Asia: Leadership Challenges in a Time of Transition Numerous differences exist in Asian society both cultural, generational, and technological which has lead to new challenges. How can business leaders successfully overcome these differences? File size: 132.1 KB
September 2005	Managing Paradoxes in Change: Six Steps for Building a Balanced Culture Change in initiatives and strategies happen constantly in large companies. But, how often do company leaders address the most critical success factor in sustainable change—changing people’s behavior? File size: 140.1KB
September 2005	HR’s Role in Building a Culture of Innovation Encouraging innovation is a high priority among CEOs. How can HR professionals gain a place at the strategy table by overcoming obstacles and fostering an innovation framework? File size: 209.02KB
August 2005	Women in Leadership: The Diversity Imperative—Supporting Actions for Change There are considerable gender gaps in employment status, pay levels, and career outlook in Europe despite roughly equal numbers of well-educated males and females. Are senior executives willing to take steps to correct the imbalance? File size: 110.6KB
June 2005	Going Global: Challenges for Indian Business At The Conference Board 2005 Global Leadership Development Conference a number of top Indian CEOs shared their experiences as emerging global leaders in the business marketplace. This piece highlights some of the key discussion points from said meeting. File size: 179.0KB
June 2005	Go Ahead: Sweat the Small Stuff Microinequities among your fellow workers are more damaging than one might think - both to the left out employee and to the company itself. File size: 100.6KB
May 2005	Business Is Evolving - Just Not In The Ways You Might Think Is there anyone out there who hasn't heard the warnings that business is evolving? Modern business is perhaps the most evolutionary environment to ever exist and natural evolution has much to offer in understanding the challenges faced by management. File size: 96.4KB
May 2005	Why Ethical Leaders Are Different What makes an ethical leader different? An ethical leader welcomes open and contentious debate and understands that this is essential to making the best possible decisions. File size: 82.3KB
May 2005	Consumer-Driven Healthcare: Cost Shift or Paradigm Shift? Consumer-driven health plans are the latest trend being presented as a promising solution to rising healthcare costs. This topic was discussed during The 2005 Employee Healthcare Conference held by The Conference Board in February and March. File size: 118.6KB
April 2005	Why Organization Design Is Critical To Global Leadership Development Talented individuals cannot contribute to their full capacity and potential in a top-heavy organization that stifles initiative. Why is the crucial connection between effective organization design and successful leadership development often ignored? File size: 115.0KB
February 2005	Take This Job and… A new study finds that only half of all Americans are satisfied with their jobs -- nearly a ten percent decrease from ten years ago. Is there trouble ahead for employers? File size: 97.0KB
February 2005	On the Record With...Julien De Wilde An interview with Julien De Wilde, CEO, N.V. Bekaert S.A., Kortrijk (Belgium), regarding current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends expected to be faced in the future. File size: 572.4KB
February 2005	Redefining the Employee Value Proposition: New Developments in Asia-Pacific How can a company develop an Employee Value Proposition fit to recruit, develop, inspire, and retain people in the talent-hungry Asia-Pacific region? File size: 125.4KB
December 2004	Succession Planning....Without Tears Rather than putting off succession planning and then rushing to hire from the outside when the time arrives, small companies would be better served by grooming leaders from within the firm. File size: 108.6KB
November 2004	Forget the Free Sodas – They Don’t Motivate Anyone The real key to employee productivity lies in passion. What five things can managers do to make employees care? File size: 81.5KB
November 2004	On the Record With...Stan Shih An interview with Stan Shih, Chairman, CEO, and Founder, The Acer Group, Taipei, Taiwan, regarding current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends expected to be faced in the future. File size: 563.9KB
November 2004	Work-Life and Diversity: Local Needs and Business Relevance Drive Success Spurred on by the new European Union-wide anti-discrimination legislation, inclusion policies and practices are being adopted by Europe-based organisations. Which approaches will succeed? File size: 88.0KB
September 2004	The Unique Challenges of Developing World-Class Business Leaders in Asia Pacific Although leadership development is a concern for CEOs worldwide, some of the challenges are exaggerated in the Asian Pacific context. File size: 100.9KB
September 2004	Coaching Creates Relationships Essential to Business Success Part one of a two part report finds that coaching should not be used to boost low performing employees, it should be reserved for those with potential. (See Executive Action 113 for part two.) File size: 90.2KB
September 2004	Building Executive Coaching Capability That Delivers Business Results The second part of a two piece report asks: Does coaching really work? Can the end result justify the financial means? (See Executive Action 112 for part one.) File size: 192.4KB
August 2004	Making Over Leaders and Leadership Styles Are the requirements of leadership changing? That is the question being asked as a new generation rises in the workplace. File size: 110.4KB
August 2004	Women in Leadership: Putting Diversity Policies into Practice Most large companies have diversity policies in place that include targets for recruiting and advancing more women into leadership roles, but they still face the challenges of implementing the policies successfully while growing their business. File size: 97.3KB
July 2004	The Evolving Role of the Board in CEO and “Back Bench” Senior Executive Succession Boards of Directors are becoming more involved in overall management succession. How can they ensure that the right leaders are in place to steer the company to be lucrative and principled. File size: 105.9KB
April 2004	Redesigning HR for Mid-Sized Firms Human Resources departments - of both large and mid-sized firms - choosing to outsource routine administrative tasks, are going through the same transitional pangs. File size: 87.8KB
March 2004	Recruitment, Retention, and Ethics . . . Can You Interview for Integrity? Many managers feel there is no way to scout out integrity when hiring employees. However, this report shows that there are questions that can be asked and simple steps taken during the interviewing process to prevent the hiring of unethical employees. File size: 112.5KB
December 2003	The Entrepreneurial Flame: How to Keep it Burning Brightly in Your Company Maintaining the enthusiasm and motivation of your most creative, entrepreneurial-minded employees is difficult even in the best of times. Learn how some successful companies manage to always keep the entrepreneurial spirit flourishing. File size: 90.7KB
November 2003	The European Perspective: Using Diversity and Work-Life Solutions to Retain a Competitive Edge This report finds organizations that master the ability to effectively address the needs, challenges, and opportunities that diversity represents will be the ones that thrive globally. File size: 97.4KB
October 2003	Closing the Revolving Door: How To Ensure New Hires Stay Here is what employers and employees need to do to avoid the “set-up-to-fail syndrome.” File size: 75.4Kb
September 2003	Job Satisfaction Continues to Whither A new Conference Board survey finds less than half of workers are satisfied with their jobs—and the discontent is growing among all age groups and income levels. File size: 83.2KB
August 2003	The Brain and Experience Drain: Are You Prepared for a Retirement Tsunami? The mass retirement wave is not far off in the future—it is already here. What should you be doing to cope? File size: 97.3KB
April 2003	Putting Women on Equal Footing For women, the road to gender parity in the corporate world is potholed with "microinequities," such as being interrupted or ignored, having ideas credited to male colleagues, being excluded from activities, and having to deal with jokes that target women File size: 91.9KB
April 2003	Designing a Healthy Regional Headquarters The key questions to answer when designing a regional headquarters are: How does it add value to the subordinate business unit? And how does it differ from the corporate office? File size: 148.8KB
March 2003	Travel in Uncertain Times This report provides background information, along with tools and tactics for traveling safely and economically during periods of conflict and military action—and the accompanying heightened risks. File size: 160.4KB
February 2003	Change—It's Getting Serious!! Change efforts seem out of control and fraught with excessively painful repercussions. However jaded from experience, leaders everywhere still seem to hope for a better way. File size: 124.5KB
September 2002	Emphasis on Developing Leaders: Despite Hard Times Companies View Leadership Development as a Priority Even during corporate belt-tightening leadership development is a necessity, not a luxury. File size: 85.9KB
August 2002	One Year After: The Leadership and Communication Dilemma of 9-11-02 For corporate leaders on the anniversary of 9/11, listening may become more important than speaking. File size: 67.7KB
July 2002	Mission Critical: Controlling Costs ... Compassionate Downsizing: Making the Business Case for Education and Training for Transitioned Employees Few organizations consider (or have the ability to quantify) the longer-term hidden costs of downsizing to their corporate reputation, customer loyalty, and employee morale, incentive, and productivity. File size: 67.8KB
July 2002	Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Arrive: Are Capital Markets Addressing New Business and Investment Risk Factors? Perhaps the only thing that is certain today in global capital markets is that traditional performance measures are not capturing important investment risk factors. File size: 78.7KB
July 2002	Women in Leadership: A European Business Imperative When an organization puts women in key leadership positions they become a magnet for talented women and men. File size: 63.2KB
May 2002	High Performers: How the Best Companies Find and Keep Them best practices--all resting on important changes in what employees value--for finding and keeping high peforming employees. File size: 70.0KB
March 2002	Human Resources—Doing More With Even Less Describes the competing priorities HR departments are currently faced with, evidence for the resilience and excellence of HR contributions, and the outlook for HR. File size: 50.8KB
December 2001	Dealing With Employee Travel Fears Discusses travel safety concerns, how companies can assist employees in overcoming them, new airport safety measures, components of a comprehensive disaster plan, travel tips for individuals, coping with anxiety, and online resources. File size: 48.2KB

Research Reports