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University of Michigan · on Coursera

Managing Talent

Beginner English SpecializationFREE
SkillsTalent managementOnboardingPerformance evaluationCoachingPeople developmentLeadership

Is this course right for you?

Our take
Part of Michigan's well-known Leading People and Teams specialisation, this course covers the full arc of getting strong performance from a team.

Good for: Managers who want to select, develop and coach their people well.

Skip if: You want HR administration, or you are not in a people-leading role.

It walks through selecting and onboarding the right people, evaluating performance honestly, and coaching individuals toward their potential — the day-to-day craft of managing talent, taught heavily through case studies so you see the ideas applied. That practical, manager-focused framing is the point, which means it's aimed at people who actually lead others; if you want HR administration, or you're not in a people-leading role, it won't land the same way.

Free to audit on Coursera; the certificate sits behind a subscription (about $49/month) or Coursera Plus, with financial aid available, and records completion rather than a professional credential. Good management of people is a durable skill (as of 2026).

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About this course

Managing Talent walks through the complete arc of getting strong performance from people: selecting and onboarding the right talent, measuring and evaluating performance, and coaching people to reach their potential. From the University of Michigan, it's part of the well-known Leading People and Teams specialization and leans heavily on case studies and practical examples.

Browse all Leadership & Management courses Browse all Coursera courses

Instructor

MS
Maxim Sytch
Coursera instructor

Taught by Maxim Sytch and Cheri Alexander at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. The pairing brings academic research and real corporate HR experience, which shows in the case-study-driven approach.

Frequently asked questions

Not really. It is about managing and developing people as a leader — attracting, developing, evaluating, and retaining talent — rather than the operational HR functions like payroll or compliance. Part of a University of Michigan leadership specialization, it takes a management and leadership view of talent, so it suits people who lead teams more than those handling HR administration specifically.

No, though it is aimed at current and aspiring managers. It assumes no formal management experience, teaching how to think about developing and retaining people — useful whether you manage a team now, expect to soon, or simply want to understand talent management. Existing managers get the most immediate application, but the concepts are valuable groundwork for anyone heading toward leadership.

Yes. It is a course within a University of Michigan specialization on leading people and teams. You can take it standalone for the talent-management material, but it is designed within that sequence, which covers broader people-leadership topics, so the wider specialization builds naturally around it if managing and leading people is your focus.

Yes, you can audit it on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments and the certificate require a subscription, with financial aid available if you apply. Since much of the value is understanding the talent-management concepts and reflecting on them, auditing gives you the substance if you want the ideas rather than the credential.

As a single course within a specialization, it typically runs a few weeks at a modest weekly pace. It is concept-and-reflection focused rather than a hands-on build, so the time goes into absorbing the talent-management material and considering how to apply it, with the wider leadership specialization a longer commitment if you continue.
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