Helen co-lead McKinsey & Company s groundbreaking research on The War for Talent in 1997. The book The War for Talent, published in 2001 presented a easy to read and powerful wake-up call for executives and hiring managers. The title and the content of this work have been quoted thousands of times since. This research, performed by a firm of McKinsey & Company s statue, has received the attention necessary to affect change.
About:Helen Handfield-Jones
Helen Handfield-Jones is an independent consultant on leadership talent strategy. Through her company Handfield Jones Inc., she helps companies build a stronger pool of leadership talent through disciplined talent management, creative recruiting and retention and thoughtful executive development.
Helen co-wrote the book The War for Talent which was published in 2001 by Harvard Business School Press, and co-lead McKinsey & Company s groundbreaking research on this topic in 1997. Articles on her research and thinking have been published in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Leader to Leader, The McKinsey Quarterly, and the Ivey Journal. In 2000 her team received the PRO award which honors individuals who made a major contribution to the development of the HR management field from the International Association of Professional and Corporate Recruiters.
As a Senior Practice Expert with McKinsey & Company, Helen spent the last seven years focused exclusively on talent and performance management - conducting research, writing, and serving clients. Before that she spent four years managing strategy and organization engagements at McKinsey.
Based in Toronto, Helen has conducted workshops with numerous senior leadership teams and has advised more than fifty clients around the world on talent strategy. She regularly speaks to a variety of forums on talent management, including the Conference Board of Canada, Cornell University s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Wharton s Leadership Conference, and Harvard Business School Press Burning Questions 2001 Conference.
Helen graduated as the gold medallist from the MBA program at the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and studied Liberal Arts at Glendon College, York University.
