P&G calls for an increased emphasis on people talent

Gianni Ciserani, VP & Managing Director UK & Ireland for Procter & Gamble, has today said it was the responsibility of all senior managers to invest in talent to grow the business.

Speaking at the 2006 Institute of Directors Annual Convention in London, he outlined his leadership in talent development, and how this emphasis is vital to any business, and to an increasingly successful economy. This, combined with cultural diversity, drives new ideas and enhances innovation.

People talent
He told the audience of UK business leaders:

ìI believe that in the long term, the organisation that wins is not necessarily the one with more money, or more people, or even more brands. I believe that the one who wins is the won with more people talent.

ìNot only this, I also believe that in the long run Sales and Profit growth is directly proportional to talent growth in your total Organisation.

ìThink of a hypothetical index which is the summary of all the skills of your Organisation could be updated monthly.

ìLet’s call this hypothetical Index the Total Talent Index or TTI. Well, if your Corporate goal is to grow top line by 5 to 7% a year (like P&G does), you have to grow your TTI by 5 to 7% each year.

ìThe real question is how to do it. Yes, we could increase our headcount by the same amount, but we know that this is not economically viable. Increasing the number of people around us is not enough to increase the TTI.

ìThe best way to increase TTI is to improve the quality of our people. First find the right talent, then develop it. Our task is to identify the best people, train them and stretch them to reach their full potential.

ìI personally find this, one of the most satisfying parts of my leadership role. It is so great to see my team grow, and know I have helped them. Recruitment and training are not just an HR responsibility. They are our responsibility. Senior Management is in charge of TTI, and I passionately believe we should not delegate this downward.î

Cultural diversity
Gianni also explained how cultural diversity was important to inspire the workforce, and allow innovation across the business:

ìA cultural change requires cultural diversity. It requires fresh ideas and people with new perspectives, people that are coming from a different context, from different sectors, with different experience, so that they can bring a new way to deal with old problems.

ìWe’re making a lot of progress on diversity within P&G. In the group managing our UK and Ireland business today, we have over 30 different nationalities. About 50% of our management is female.

ìWe have made significant progress on our internal diversity, but, again, this is not enough. What we need now, is to make the same progress in terms of external diversity and we want to work with a wide range of partners, offering a variety of approaches.î