Citigroup invents a new job title - “Chief Talent Officer”

Posted by Jim Stroud

January 16, 2008

A sign of things to come? Check this article out from Workforce Management. Interesting…

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A struggling Citigroup announced Monday the creation of its first-ever chief talent officer position, and on Tuesday, January 15, chief executive Vikram Pandit told employees worried about possible layoffs because of multibillion-dollar losses from mortgage-related securities that changes at the company are meant to move the business forward.

On Monday, the bank announced that Paul McKinnon, formerly senior vice president for human resources at Dell, would become the company’s first head of talent management. The appointment represents a lesson learned for the company since it fired CEO Charles Prince without having a ready successor and reflects the new priorities of Pandit, who was named CEO in December.

In a memo announcing the position, Pandit wrote: “Attracting, developing and retaining people at the most senior levels of our company is one of my top priorities and requires concentrated attention.”

McKinnon will be responsible for recruiting, developing, reviewing and retaining Citigroup’s senior talent, Pandit wrote in the memo.

READ: Citigroup Names First Talent Chief to Help Address Financial Woes