In most surveys where CEO's and CHRO's are asked about their current priorities, Talent Management tops the list. Unfortunately, if the capabilities of HR teams are assessed, TM capabilities are most often not rated as the strongest ones.Earlier this year Laszlo Bock, the senior VP of People Operations (not HR!) at Google, published a very inspiring book: `Work Rules!´ This book contains many important lessons for the HR community.Lesson 1: at Google good people management is not rocket science; it is very important to base your actions on facts and scientific insights, and not on your gut feeling (Chapter 5 is nicely called "Don't trust your gut!").Lesson 2: focus relentlessly on improving the quality of your Talent Acquisition.It’s a great time for people in HR and TM. Big data creates enormous opportunities to increase the speed and quality of HR/ Talent analytics. In the 9th Excellence in TM seminar you will have the opportunity to learn from colleagues, academics and service providers. The goal is not to provide the ultimate solution to good TM, but to inspire you to use the opportunities in the best possible way to increase the impact of TM in your organization.