Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

HR strategyWorkplace Issues and AdviceTalent management

How I made a difference: talent management

by Personnel Today 5 Dec 2008
by Personnel Today 5 Dec 2008

I joined Yahoo Europe as head of talent in August 2004. We had just bought Overture – our paid search arm – and were about to buy Kelkoo, the online price comparison site. We had no talent function and were relying on a handful of part-time recruitment people to help out. We had no training and development function, either.


By the end of 2005, we had doubled our headcount across Europe, both organically and through acquisitions, and sales revenue had jumped, within a year, from $350m to $600m.


I was brought in to support growth and to rebuild the talent infrastructure. My first priority was recruitment. I had to grow our headcount by 550 employees over the year, so I had to reduce the cost per hire and put in place a robust recruitment process. We looked into providing an in-house recruitment facility, but that would have been expensive and time consuming, so we partnered with Capital Consulting, who provided us with recruiters across Europe, working on site. The team reported to me on a day-to-day basis. I had to set their targets and measure their performance. We introduced a very effective ‘war room’ type concept.


At the same time, I built up the training and development function. That’s my core expertise. I developed a learning and development infrastructure and a suite of programmes, the bulk of which were designed and delivered locally.


One of the key areas was performance management training for our managers. I was able to really use my own knowledge and expertise in allowing people to play to their strengths. We put a lot of people through a strengths assessment tool, then fed the results back to training and development, so that we could help them play to their strengths while at the same time allowing management to identify weak areas.


It was a particularly busy time. We kept executive recruitment in-house, so I brought on board an executive recruiter. I was also able to hire a training and development consultant and an administrator – by the end of 2005, I was heading up a team of 10, with a $4m budget. When I left, I recommended that the talent function was split from training and development.

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
My mentor: Christine Aymes, group director of organisational development, New Charter Housing Trust Group
next post
Woolworths cuts half its support jobs

You may also like

‘Low flight risk’ designer wins £100k age discrimination...

5 Jul 2022

Chief financial officers now more involved in HR

1 Jul 2022

Talent management for a hybrid workforce (webinar)

15 Jun 2022

CIPD Festival of Work: ‘Use crises as catalysts...

15 Jun 2022

Does a four day week work? Charlotte Lockhart...

1 Jun 2022

Davos 2022: ‘Invest in social jobs to save...

27 May 2022

Davos 2022: Upskilling workers necessary to overcome business...

26 May 2022

Davos hears that ‘wages can rise’ without creating...

26 May 2022

Adapt culture to hybrid work: do not force...

20 May 2022

Women in FTSE 350 leadership: ‘A lot of...

20 May 2022
  • The ultimate guide to payroll for small businesses PROMOTED | You’ve started a business that has expanded to the point of requiring more staff to meet demand. Congratulations!...Read more
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+