Book Review: Data-Driven Talent Management by Kristin Saling
Using data to put people first.
The relationship between people and data - and how to manage both effectively within an organisation - can seem complicated and daunting.
Kristin Saling’s book, Data-Driven Talent Management: Using Analytics to Improve Employee Experience, sets out to demystify this challenge and show how data can drive more motivated, inclusive, and high-performing individuals and teams.
Drawing on her experience in director-level roles in people and innovation for the US Army, Saling offers a practical guide to applying data-driven approaches to talent management - even within the super-hierarchical, often uniform environment of a military organisation. Her experience brings a unique and credible perspective to a subject that is increasingly relevant across sectors.
Billed as “a new approach to the age-old problem of how to recruit and retain your most talented employees,” the book delivers on this promise. It’s especially valuable for anyone in a people management role looking to integrate data more systematically and ethically into their work.
At the heart of Saling’s approach is a compelling question: How can I use insights from people data to develop an inclusive, engaged, and high-performing workforce? She is clear that her focus is not just on better performance for the organisation, but on better experiences for employees.
“Human beings are not interchangeable,” she reminds us. The more managers understand individuals through data, the more they can personalise recruitment, development, and retention efforts.
Structured in 13 chapters, the book introduces a concept in each, then outlines how to collect and apply data to implement and measure it effectively. Rather than dwelling on specific tools, Saling focuses on principles and techniques, ensuring the book retains its relevance even as technologies evolve.
There is a helpful primer on data and analytics terminology, alongside a particularly strong section on the practical applications of AI. Saling addresses one of the most common challenges faced by people managers: how to develop meaningful metrics and indicators. She explores frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and demonstrates how they can be utilised to support creativity, inclusion, performance, and diverse working styles.
Her frameworks for talent management are well-articulated, and there is especially insightful guidance on how data can support innovation. It’s an area that might seem at odds with metrics, but which Saling convincingly argues is enhanced by them.
Saling’s upbeat, accessible writing style helps build the confidence needed to take on complex tasks such as driving engagement or tackling data-related challenges. A lightness of touch, punctuated by comic book references, keeps the tone engaging, even when the content becomes conceptually dense.
Make no mistake: this is a detailed and thoughtful book that benefits from multiple readings. However, it rewards that effort with a wealth of actionable advice, fresh thinking, and a clear philosophy that prioritises people, even when working with data.
For internal communicators, people managers, HR professionals, and anyone seeking to use data more effectively to support human potential, Data-Driven Talent Management is a book to return to again and again.
Data Driven Talent Management: Using Analytics to Improve Employee Experience
Kristin Saling
Kogan Page
August 2024
About Claire Munro
Claire Munro Chart.PR, CMktr is a multi-award-winning communications professional and manager with almost 20 years’ experience in the public, private and third sectors, and is currently working in telecoms.
Claire has served on the Committee of CIPR Scotland, launching the Path to Chartership initiative and holds a CIPR Diploma in Internal Communication and the AMEC International Certificate on Measurement and Evaluation.