Make your people before making your products : How to maximize the potential of an inclusive workforce

Purpose – Considers the challenges facing people developing talent strategy in global organizations and ways of overcoming them. Design/methodology/approach – Describes how to maximize the potential of a multi-generational, multi-cultural, cross-organizational, inclusive-talent workforce. Findings – Examines the importance of: highlighting the value of people to organizational success; making the business case; ensuring that the whole organization buys into the concept; having an inclusive/selective talent strategy with equal emphasis on each area; making the chief executive the chief talent officer; joining up talent-management activity with business activity and other people-management strategies; delivering talent management well; and making sure there is involvement from all of the organization’s stakeholders. Practical implications – Considers that people management works best when the interests of the organization coincide with the interests of individual employees. For the organization this, means achieving its stakeholder objectives. For the employee, it means satisfaction at work, a balanced life and visible career prospects. Social implications – Advances the view that the focus on talent has rarely been sharper and so the concept of “make your people before you make your products” is important. Originality/value – Emphasizes that the attraction, development, management and retention of talented people is critical to the success of all organizations.