Talent Development at IBM

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Sam Ladah is the HR vice president for IBM's rapidly growing cloud business unit. He also leads the talent organization for IBM globally, including talent acquisition, workforce management, workforce analytics, performance management, and professional development.

Sam Ladah is the HR vice president for IBM's rapidly growing cloud business unit. He also leads the talent organization for IBM globally, including talent acquisition, workforce management, workforce analytics, performance management, and professional development.

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How does IBM define talent development?

How does IBM define talent development?

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You often hear talent defined organizationally. In fact, when industry professionals get together there's always a discussion about what's in and what's out. But I encourage my team to think about talent in terms of outcomes and not to be bound by which functions are in or out of talent.

You often hear talent defined organizationally. In fact, when industry professionals get together there's always a discussion about what's in and what's out. But I encourage my team to think about talent in terms of outcomes and not to be bound by which functions are in or out of talent.

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For a company like ours in the rapidly changing technology market, we need to think about how to accelerate and improve performance. And increasingly that means using data and analytics either to reinforce a leader's gut instinct or put a proposition on the table that may seem counterintuitive. So, I would define talent development at IBM as accelerating and improving performance in a rapidly changing market, increasingly using data and analytics.

For a company like ours in the rapidly changing technology market, we need to think about how to accelerate and improve performance. And increasingly that means using data and analytics either to reinforce a leader's gut instinct or put a proposition on the table that may seem counterintuitive. So, I would define talent development at IBM as accelerating and improving performance in a rapidly changing market, increasingly using data and analytics.

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Talent development is also about helping people improve themselves and perform at the top of their game. Often that's about helping people get skills and expertise and putting them into the right roles. So, we build talent programs and systems that scale and deliver outcomes that are good for IBM's business and for our employees.

Talent development is also about helping people improve themselves and perform at the top of their game. Often that's about helping people get skills and expertise and putting them into the right roles. So, we build talent programs and systems that scale and deliver outcomes that are good for IBM's business and for our employees.

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How has the definition of talent development evolved for you and for IBM?

How has the definition of talent development evolved for you and for IBM?

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Early in my career, I adopted the balanced scorecard approach of Kaplan and Norton. Today, we use it to measure progress toward our goals and if they are having the intended impact. If the answer is no, we quickly iterate.

Early in my career, I adopted the balanced scorecard approach of Kaplan and Norton. Today, we use it to measure progress toward our goals and if they are having the intended impact. If the answer is no, we quickly iterate.

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Talent is so broad it allows us to work across HR and across different functional areas and missions on whatever we think will have the greatest impact.

Talent is so broad it allows us to work across HR and across different functional areas and missions on whatever we think will have the greatest impact.

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The great thing about talent today is there's so much opportunity in front of us. Because we have access to so much data now, we can develop a hypothesis about an age-old problem, test it, and build a program to change the outcome. So, I think we're at a real turning point for the function. We've built much of the foundation, and now it's a question of what we're going to do with it.

The great thing about talent today is there's so much opportunity in front of us. Because we have access to so much data now, we can develop a hypothesis about an age-old problem, test it, and build a program to change the outcome. So, I think we're at a real turning point for the function. We've built much of the foundation, and now it's a question of what we're going to do with it.

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Where does talent development fit into the org chart?

Where does talent development fit into the org chart?

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I have two roles at IBM. I'm a generalist for one of our high-growth business units, the IBM cloud business unit, and I'm also the head of the talent organization at IBM.

I have two roles at IBM. I'm a generalist for one of our high-growth business units, the IBM cloud business unit, and I'm also the head of the talent organization at IBM.

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There are officers in corporate roles and officers in unit roles. These are the senior VPs of our largest units, such as global business services, global technology services, or my unit, cloud. My manager, Diane Gherson, as CHRO reports directly to IBM CEO Ginni Rometty.

There are officers in corporate roles and officers in unit roles. These are the senior VPs of our largest units, such as global business services, global technology services, or my unit, cloud. My manager, Diane Gherson, as CHRO reports directly to IBM CEO Ginni Rometty.

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Read more from CTDO magazine : Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.

Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.