A friend recommended the Navy Seal book on the firsthand account of killing Osama Bin Laden. In reading the book from a human capital perspective, it highlighted the Navy’s:
- Selection Process – a rigorous program to find candidates who had what it took (aligned knowledge, skill and aptitude with the job requirements);
- Learning & Development – a thorough preparation and training before going to the battlefield (simulations to mimic real life scenarios);
- Succession Planning – a formal chain of command, where the 2nd is ready at a moment’s notice when the leader is removed (in this case, due to battle injury);
- High Potentials – the best of the best pulled together to form the elite team that would handle this specific mission.
Of course, it also highlighted the bureaucracy that slows down any well-functioning process with multiple checks and balances.
It is not easy to have an integrated talent management process in a corporation, yet the Navy Seals seem to have a model that we can all aspire to.
Are you able to attract, develop and retain your corporate “Navy Seals?”
