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Working at Cornell

Talent Talks

Planning for tomorrow's leaders today.

Graphic, text in a "talk" bubble: Working at Cornell Talent talks: plan, develop, advance.

Talent Talks is an innovative new program that aims to:

  • Create a pool of internal candidates ready to step into Cornell positions when vacancies arise, reducing the time and expense of external hiring.
  • Provide intentional advancement opportunities for employees - a lack of which drives turnover and job dissatisfaction.
  • Retain & transfer institutional knowledge for units and departments, resulting in more efficient transitions to minimize disruption to workloads and project timelines.

In other words - a win for employees, a win for units and departments, and a win for the university!

The Talent Talks program is currently a pilot within HR. As we move forward with the process and receive feedback and data, it will be offered to other schools and units across the university. Please contact Maria Wolff, Employee Experience, with any questions.

How Talent Talks Work

People Leaders connect with peers to collectively identify development opportunities spanning across departments, colleges, and units, to support broader individual development goals.

Please follow these steps in order, from start to finish:

  1. Talent profile

    People leaders request their team members create an Individual Talent Profile, and then schedule a career aspiration conversation with each direct report. 

     

  2. Career aspiration conversations

    People Leaders and team members review the Individual Talent Profile together during the conversation, and mutually agree to development goals and next steps. See the second page of the form for prompts to help guide the discussion.

     

  3. Talent identification

    People Leaders identify 1 - 3 individuals with development interests outside of what their current department can offer to add to the Talent Talks Profile form. Organizations with multiple management layers may identify up to 5 individuals for the Talent Talks. Please see FAQs below for more information.

     

  4. Talent Talks with HR

    Employee Experience will facilitate Talent Talks with department leads as needed to discuss ways to support staff development across departments, colleges, and units.

     

  5. Follow through

    People leaders follow up with team members to:

    • review development opportunities discussed at the Talent Talks
    • talk through development logistics with individual team members
    • update the Talent Talks profile to include development plans

    Tip: logistics to consider might include timing, current and anticipated workload and responsibilities, delegation of tasks during development, any potential costs, etc.

    Team members will:

    • contact and partner with opportunity sponsor to work through development logistics
    • complete their Individual Talent Profile and review with people leader

Next steps: 

The second Talent Talk will include a report-out by participants and sponsors to share learnings and feedback.

Resources

 

FAQs

Why are we having Talent Talks?

  1. In support of our mission statement to enrich the employee experience and cultivate a celebrated work culture through a commitment to engagement, inclusion, wellbeing and opportunities for growth;
  2. And in response to topics highlighted through listening sessions with HR leads across campus which identified the need and desire to focus more purposefully on developing internal talent within HR.  

Almost all HR leadership roles continue to be filled by external candidates, while current HR employees have aspirations to grow and advance at Cornell.

What can I do to prepare for Talent Talks?

  • Review the talent talks profile ahead of the meeting
  • Think through development opportunities you may be able to offer
  • Talk with your team about opportunities they believe the department can offer, some may even provide your team with some development (ie, hosting a gig can provide some management experience)

What if I don't have staff to review at the Talent Talks?

Not all employees will have development goals that can only be met outside of their current department. Having a conversation with each team member to understand how best to support individual career aspirations and development goals will help determine "who needs what" to feel engaged and valued.  If no one is seeking development outside of your department – that’s completely fine. You can re-visit development goals for the next Talent Talk to see if things have changed.

Can I include any team members in the Talent Talks, or just my direct reports?

Yes. You can include any team member within the organization you supervise, not just the people who report directly to you.

How will I know who else to include in the Talent Talks if they don't report directly to me?

All team members should complete a talent profile. Managers at every level in your organization should be having career aspiration conversations with their team members. As the organization's lead, you should have conversations with each of your managers about development goals their team members have that cannot be met within their current department. During these conversations, you may be able to suggest development opportunities that exist in a different part of your organization, or you may offer to review one of your manager’s direct reports at the talent talks. 

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