Best Practices in Talent Management: How the World's Leading Corporations Manage, Develop, and Retain Top Talent

ECOLAB’S TALENT MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

Human resources embraced the challenge of developing the leadership talent required to run a company that would double its size, and began to develop the details, plans, and tactics they needed. Several critical decisions were made to guide planning and crystallize the talent management philosophy they had adopted. Most importantly, Ecolab leaders determined that the company’s HR plan would become the third leg (with their five-year strategic plan and the annual operating plan) of a comprehensive organizational blueprint for growth.

The HR plan was grounded in a philosophy that included five key operating principles:

1. Talent is shared. Ecolab’s human talent is a company resource, not something that ...