Assignment 1: Talent Practices at Home Depot

Talent Practices at the Home Depot

Sandra Brown

Strayer University

Hrm532- Talent Management

April 21, 2011

Question: Discuss how the leadership at Home Depot intended to use its organizational talent to gain a competitive advantage in the Do It Yourself industry.

The process that is utilized to prepare key talent in leadership positions for this corporation is one including world class development programs, comprehensive leadership curriculums, annual assessments and semiannual talent reviews according to Silzer & Dowell (2010). Talent management is quite significant to Home Depot’s mission because this company is the second largest retailer in world that places approximately 17,000 leaders each year along with tens of thousands of retail associates annually. This corporation acknowledged that talent was the differentiator for this company to remain competitive because it helped to build their reputation and business with a focus on having associates that are knowledgeable, possess problem solving skills and outstanding customer service skills.

The business began growing quite fast with opening stores both stateside and outside of this country and it became necessary to increase its leadership pipeline to include diversity and maintain readiness necessary to stay ahead of the competitors. Multiple channels were created because a philosophy prevailed that lead them to believe that the greater the number of channels, it was more likely to find talented people. Some examples of the talent channels includes radio, TV media, recruiting firms, partnerships, print and on campus recruiting (Silzer & Dowell, 2010).

Home Depot’s goal was to established help for the consumer to originate dream homes whether they were doing the work or hired professionals. In helping them, specialized support was available along with services to include contractors and trades people to ensure that they had the correct tools and supplies for the job. A new target...