What advice would you give to local minority students regarding what is the most important thing to be able to find a job immediately upon graduation?
One of the most important things is to ensure you have a strong resume and that your LinkedIn profile reflects strong academic achievements and relevant experience you’ve acquired. Secondly, making contacts before graduation is critical. Such as building strong relationships with professors and talent acquisition departments who may have information about job opportunities that would be perfect for you.
How has the world of ‘talent management’ changed since you began in 2001?
The one major growth we have seen in Talent Management is how organizations are using talent analytics to inform business decisions. The overall function of Human Resources recognized the need to be able to inform business decisions through data and talent management was no different. In fact, the ability to measure and evaluate the results of investments in talent management and people are critical components in today’s business environment.
For any large organization, a lack of communication can be a major problem. What are some of the strategies you have found to create successful, efficient and effective internal communications?
Monsanto has found great success with using multiple technologies and internal channels to improve the effectiveness of communications. For example, employees can opt to receive some of our communications by email, text message, or phone call. Employee ambassadors can also be a great tool to spread messages to other employees and their friends and family when resources are committed to putting great tools in their hands.
What are some of the greatest challenges for large-scale talent management for global companies?
Developing a robust leadership pipeline is one of the greatest challenges in talent management for global companies. Finding external talent to fill this pipeline lacks the breadth of necessary for global leadership. It’s easier to identify and assess specific functional or technical skills, but much more difficult to determine whether those individuals have the people skills, leadership capabilities, breadth of perspective, and global diversity sensibility required for the evolving nature of leadership.
What brings you the greatest personal satisfaction in your professional life?
My most cherished role, greatest accomplishment and the thing that brings me the most satisfaction is being married to Arnel Hammond and mothering two wonderful twin daughters, Moriah and Miah.
In my professional life, I have found great satisfaction in seeing employees at all levels develop into their professional best. Additionally, during a 2009 acquisition, for example, I supported the critical business integration between Emerson and the new acquisition by fostering constant communication with employees and establishing understanding of the company’s core values. An additional selected accomplishment has been building a talented workforce through a culture of learning, discovery and engagement resulting in increased employee satisfaction and engagement scores and ultimately business profitability.
