Talent Management in Emerging Markets: 1 Insight to Act on Today (Part 7, Be Evidence Based!)

This article is written by James Eyring

Increasingly, companies rely on Emerging Markets for revenue growth; this is particularly true given slow economic growth in the US, Europe, and Japan. One of the greatest challenges to capturing growth in these markets is having the right leadership capability. Based on our on-going research on Talent Management in Emerging Markets and experience with companies, one insight into Emerging Markets that you can act on today is: Practice Evidence Based HR!

Building talent in an emerging market is tough. Leaders depart for a myriad of opportunities, growth requires more spend just to cover the basics of leader development, and resources spent on development often are scarce.

Companies must ensure what they are doing really works. Unfortunately, HR teams in emerging markets often spend time and resources on practices that are not evidence based and don’t yield results. Making evidence-based decisions means that you are making choices based on the best that science and practice have to offer to implement practices with real outcomes.

A few examples of non- evidence-based practice we often see:

•	DISC and MBTI as Selection Tests. Many companies use the DISC, MBTI, or similar tests to "hire people with the best fit." Unfortunately, these tests are not valid for predicting job performance or other post-hire metrics. The tools can be useful, but not in selection
•	NLP for Leadership Development or Coaching. There is a small amount of evidence that Neurolinguistic programming helps individuals overcome their phobias. Decades of rigorous research shows that NLP does little beyond this
•	MBA Hires to Fuel Leader Pipeline. Many companies hire MBAs to give them a stronger leader pipeline, but academic research shows that having an MBA does not result in more promotions, higher performance, or higher pay. MBAs have good skills, but having more of them will not solve your leadership pipeline challenges
•	Formal Mentoring Programmes. Formal mentor programmes (those that assign a senior leader to mentor a manager) can have a slight positive impact on mentees. However, these programmes can have a negative impact if not implemented well. Understand how much impact a programme has and its success factors before implementing!

To be evidence-based, consider the following tips:

•	Before you buy tests/assessments, ask for technical reports that include concurrent or predictive validity of tests on job performance. One hundred years of research show that cognitive ability tests are valid predictors of job performance, so start with these first!
•	Read magazines and journals that are more evidence-based (e.g., Human Resource Management)
•	Learn about and apply experimental design inside your company to study the impact of programmes
•	Hire HR team members who can interpret research and make sense of an evidence-based set of knowledge

(c) 2011 Organisation Solutions Pte Ltd.

About the Authors: Dr. James Eyring is the chief operating officer of Organisation Solutions, a global consultancy specialising in organisational design, development and change solutions worldwide. James has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Organisational Development and his areas of expertise lie in large-scale organisation design and change, leadership development, and the design and management of distributed organisations.