Submitted to:

Asfia Salahuddin
(COM-402)
Institute of Business
Management.

TO DETERMINE THE NEED FOR

TALENT DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM

Prepared by : Bilal Ahmed

Shaikh(20212-29205), Dania
Shaukat(20212-29459), Khadija
Mir (20212-29144), M. Osama
Mohsin(20212-29278)
Abbott laboratories
4/18/2021
 Abbott Laboratories

Table of Contents

 Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………2
 Introduction …………...………………………………………………………………….3
 Problem Background and Purpose ……………………………………………………….4
 Findings and Analysis……………………………..………..…………..………..……….5
 Recommendations………………………………………………………………..……….8
 Conclusion……………………………………………………..………………………….9
 References………………………………………………………………………………..10

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Purpose
To determine the need for talent development program.
The Abbott Laboratories need talent development program because according to our survey their
hierarchy is not well developed and they are hiring people from outside due to the voids that is
present in company’s hierarchy

Background
 The organization we selected is Abbott Laboratories, it was founded by
Chicago physician “Wallace Calvin Abbott” in 1988
 Currently Abbott Laboratories Ranked – 3rd all over Pakistan

Analysis
 External environment: Labor market is one of the component of external environment,
if labor market is tight an organization might find it hard to hire the right person, so it
eventually damages the company hierarchy
 Internal environment: Employees are the part of internal environment, if proper training
and development is not there for current employees then they will lack certain
skills/qualities which will impact company’s growth
 Power Difference: Power difference occurs when hierarchy is not well defined at every
divisional level.
 Inadequate staffing: When you do not hire people at right time then it will exert
pressure on existing employees and eventually effect company’s growth and perception.

Recommendation
 Leadership Programs needs to be there in order to prepare young guns at the time of
need.
 Training and development strategies need to be implemented in order to make your
employees grow either professionally and personally.
 Hire, Retain and Promote raw talent so that your hierarchy established in ways that
will surely benefit your company.

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Conclusion
 Maintain a talent pool of future leaders so that if one of the value able asset leaves or
promoted to higher level than a professional ready and competent substitute is there to
take his place.
 Develop hierarchy at divisional level because you need fighters that will going to shape
your company in future so or them hierarchy should be well defined and established.
 Targeted training & Development Programs will prepare you own warriors with skills
and qualities that company demands and one more advantage that you can get from this is
that there won’t be any need to hire people from outside.
 Merit based career advancement opportunities will help to strengthen company’s
internal environment and also develop hierarchy and fill voids inside hierarchy.

INTRODUCTION
Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company
with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The organization was established by
Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888. Abbott came into Pakistan in 1948 and was
the only pharmaceutical company around then, who got the advantaged to get the principal
registration in Pakistan. Abbott's core businesses focus on the following:

 Medical gadgets

 Diagnostics

 Pharmaceutical medicines

 Nutritional products
These have been enhanced through acquisitions. Abbott’s businesses are growing and
developing globally. Thus setting up the standards for other organizations. Looking beyond the
horizon, Abbott presage the health burden across the globe.  

Abbott’s global mission:

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 Abbott Laboratories

“LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE”

From their global mission it is clear that Abbott is working tremendously to provide the best
possible solutions to health care problems and is constantly improving step by step as per the
arising issues to encounter them.

PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 Problem identified: Need for talent development program.

 Organization: Abbott laboratories

 The organization is unable to hire young talent and develop competencies in their
employees, and hence they are unable to fill vacancies for senior resources.

 As a result, either there are voids in the hierarchy, or they have to hire people from
external labor market.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

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After a detailed survey of the employees of the organization we were able to conclude that there
exists a need for talent development program, which is beneficial not only for the employees but
also for the organization.

Results of the survey

A simple majority strongly disagree for organization maintain reservoir of successors at every
level of hierarchy.

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Poor succession planning: Out of 45 responses, majority of the employees were unaware of the
succession planning in the organization, which reflect poor succession planning practices.

Absence of management trainee program: Majority of the employees strongly disagreed for
the organization having well structure management trainee program.

Limited professional growth: A vast majority i..e 62.2% people sees less opportunity for their
professional growth in the organization, due to the fact that there are limited internal promotions
and more external hiring

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A simple majority i.e.26.7% shows dissatisfaction with their chances of promotion within the
organization.
Analysis of findings
The findings reflect and emphasize on the need for effective talent development programs. The
organization is unable to hire and develop new employees, in a way that they can become the
future leaders for the organization or take the leadership in the organization. Absenteeism of
such programs can have certain consequences on the organization’s growth and success,
therefore it is the need of time to introduce such programs. Some of the consequences are listed
below:
 Limited change and innovation
o This problem leads to limited change and innovation, not hiring new talent results
in limited innovation in product and processes. The conventional employees are a
product of corporate environment and they do not think out of the box as
compared to a freshly hired employee. Also there is fear of change, the
experienced employees are less open to changes and challenges as compared to
freshly hired employees. Experienced employees have fears of uncertainty and
there might also be a conflict of self-interest whereas the freshly hired employees
can be molded the way organization want and are more adaptable to changes.
 Hiring becomes difficult in tight labor market.
o Hiring in tight labor market, where the employment is high and employees have
option to switch, the salaried offered are quite high. Hiring from outside labor
market in such an environment is difficult as compared to promoting the
employees from within the organization. [2]

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 Low employee loyalty

o In majority of the cases, it is difficult to infuse a sense of loyalty in the new
employees as compared to promoting employees within the organization.
 Greater power distance among employees
o Power distance among the people also plays an essential role in organization
success. Having a high-power distance i.e. inequality among the employees can
lead to demotivation. Whereas low power distance can be beneficial for the
organization.
 Culture difference for new employees
o Adjusting in the new culture of an organization can also become a challenge for
some employees. Whereas by promoting and developing the existing employees,
this problem can be avoided.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

 Improve Graduate Recruitment Strategy

 Succession Planning

Improve Graduate Recruitment Strategy

 Abbott should develop an organized and structured Graduate Recruitment strategy.
 In recent surveys shows about 1/3 of the new hires leave their position before hitting one
year.
 Biggest reasons they quit job are following;
• Lack of confidence
• Misaligned Job expectations
• Insufficient research
• Few Development Opportunities
• Absence of Mentor ship

 Abbott can take following steps to improve graduate recruitment strategy;

• Set clear requirements, expectations and benefits
• Provide Development and Educations Opportunities
• Create an Employer Brand
• Mentorship
• Use Multiple Recruitment Methods
• Internship program
• Track and monitor recruitment data
• Feedback system
Graduate Trainee Program
 A simple structure of the graduate trainee program contains:

• A rigorous hiring system to attract and filter the finest young talent for the
company.
• The graduate program shall span over a 12 months’ time period.

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• The trainee shall be placed in multiple departments on rotational basis to give

them a 360-degree view of Abbott’s business and help identify the trainee’s
strong suits.
• The trainee shall be paired with a mentor, a senior member from each division,
who will work on the development of the trainee.
• The trainee should be trained and tested to achieve a pre-decided set of
behavioral, analytical, and analytical skills.

Succession Planning

• Defined program that an organization systemizes to ensure leadership continuity for all
key positions by developing activities that will find personal talent from within.
• It is a process by which employees are scanned to pass for leadership roles within a
company.
• Abbott must develop a comprehensive framework across the organization.
• The expected behavior to be demonstrated by employee should be categorized in 5
proficiency level pertinent to the leadership roles they are entrusted with in organization.
[Basic, Intermediate, Advance, Master, Expert]
• Employee's appraisal to be carried out against this framework and HIPOTS (high
potential candidates) to be identified.
• Succession plans help prepare successors at every step of the corporate ladder which
promise the smooth and efficient running of the organization.
• Therefore, succession plans provide opportunity to internal employees to stay motivated
and grow within the organization.

Succession Planning Process

Step 1: Identification of HiPOTs
The first step in implementing a succession plan is the identification of HIPOTs. HIPOTS are
high potential individuals who need to be identified based on a defined set of KPIs to avoid any
biasedness.

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Step 2: Validation Assessments

Organizations often rely on the manager’s feedback to assess an individual’s performance for
appraisals and promotion-based decisions. This practice is mostly subjective, prone to bias, and
can be detrimental to the process of high-potential identification. Therefore, the second step is
the assessment and evaluation to validate the selection of the HIPOTs.
These assessments are conducted through assessment centers where the HIPOTS are tested
through different psychometric tools, like the Thomas psychometric tests as well as assessed for
their performance.

Step 3: Develop Career Paths

Finally, the candidates who pass these assessments are shortlisted. The HR prepares a plan for
the career path of the individuals over the next 5 years based on their potential.

The PDCA cycle also plays an important role as the employees should align themselves with the
plan. Then they should do whatever is needed to be done to achieve the plan. They should check
their momentum, progress, and direction. Subsequently act upon any corrective measures which
might be necessary.
Then this process of assessments of HIPOTs is to be repeated every 2 years.

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9 Box Overview:

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9-box overview is another commonly found method of identifying high-potential employees is

evaluating the current performance.
Many organizations confuse performance with potential, two concepts that are often used
interchangeably but don’t always mean the same thing. While performance considers past
accomplishments, potential, on the other hand, is about the capabilities an individual hold for the
future.
The best employees to consider for HIPOTS are the employees who have a balance of high
potential and high performance. Ideally, the stars.

CONCLUSION
1. MTO Programs – To maintain a talent pool of future leaders
It is of utmost importance that Abbott introduces a graduate trainee program. This will
allow Abbott to develop a pool of future leaders as well as incorporate young minds into
their ranks. These programs will help young graduates to transition from the university to
the professional life. The programs will further provide a structured learning approach to
acquaint the new recruits about the values and culture of Abbott.

2. Develop hierarchy at divisional level

Introducing a graduate trainee program will help develop hierarchy at divisional level.
Having a proper hierarchy from the graduate trainee officers up to the director of the
division helps induce diversity and reduces the power gap within the division. Further,
this will promote a healthy competitive environment which will help Abbott thrive.

3. Targeted training & Development Programs

Targeted training and development programs, e.g. succession planning, can be the major
difference that distinguishes a successful organization from a non-successful one.
Succession planning will bring in more opportunities for the internal employees
ultimately increasing their levels of motivation and commitment towards their work. It is
a known fact that developing an internal prospect into a future leader takes less
investment compared to hiring an external candidate. With the company investing in

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employees through training programs and defined career pathways they’ll be able to
inculcate an emotion of goodwill among their employees.

4. Merit based career advancement opportunities

Employing, identifying and promoting candidates with the highest potential will result in
the career advancements of the most deserving candidates with minimal chance of
undeserved promotions.

REFERENCES:
 [1] Richard L. Daft, Management 12th edition, Chapter 7 Managing Change, and
Innovation
 [2] Richard L. Daft, Management 12th edition, Chapter 1, The Environment
and Corporate Culture
 [3] Richard L. Daft, Management 12th edition, Chapter 2 Managing in the Global
Environment

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