Email - Talent management: Resilient to the downturn?
This newsletter is News of a Letter - or rather of two letters.
The current issue of People Management includes a letter
by Charles Woodruffe urging HR practitioners to show a full appreciation of the current dire economic backdrop when making their case for investing in talent.
Charles recommends accepting the reality that there will be cuts to talent programmes for many employers and trying to ensure that such cuts are well-considered and orderly. This month's newsletter considers this advice in the context of
an open letter published on 23 October by the Chairs of BT, M&S and Standard Chartered that urges UK Employers to 'keep investing in the skills and talents of our people'.
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Human Assets Survey
To clarify how talent management is actually being affected by the downturn, please tell us by taking part in our fully confidential and straightforward survey. It takes no more than 10 minutes and all respondents will get a copy of our report. The survey can be accessed by clicking here. We will be compiling and sending our report by mid-November.
Trim the Sails or Full Steam Ahead?
How should talent managers respond to the direst economic backdrop anyone can remember? On the one hand there is a strong case for keeping the faith and not letting the immediate crisis disrupt a long-term strategy. There is plenty of ammunition for such a response. For a start, there is the open letter published on 23 October on behalf of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills urges UK Employers to 'keep investing in the skills and talents of our people'. The letter is signed by Sir Michael Rake (Chairman of BT), Sir Stuart Rose (Chairman of Marks and Spencer), Mervyn Davies (Chairman of Standard Chartered) as well as Richard Lambert (DG of the CBI) and Brendan Barber (General Secretary of the TUC).
Secondly, there is a raft of articles such as that by Guthridge and Lawson (People Management 18 September) that regrets the impact of 'short-termist mindsets' on talent management. In particular, they cite the pressures from shareholders and investment analysts as helping drive the short-term focus.
However, laudable as the path of unwavering commitment to investment in talent might be, it must be simply unrealistic for many employers. In a letter published in the 30 October issue of People Management, I comment that, in the present economic conditions, HR practitioners need to show a full understanding and acceptance of the short-term realities facing their businesses if they are to enjoy the genuine credibility sought by Guthridge and Lawson. Specifically, for many CEOs the most pressing issue today must be the short-term survival of their businesses. Advice by HR to stick with a long term focus seems destined to put us into the parallel universe that many CEOs complain about.
The fact is that organisations depend upon talent to thrive. Equally, while that talent is the most important asset, it is also generally the most expensive. Organisations faced with the conditions we are currently experiencing have to cut costs especially when credit is unavailable. That typically means cutting people and questioning programmes for people's development. The key issue becomes making cuts in a way that does not lose the most critical talent.
In order to do this, organisations require a carefully devised talent management strategy firmly rooted in business reality and focussing on assessing people in each talent pool - Being incisive on what is wanted from people and clearly determining those who demonstrate these behaviours and who will be priorities for the development budget and retention efforts.
How Can Human Assets Help?
Human Assets helps clients devise and maintain their overall strategy for talent, including:
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Adjusting to the prevailing economic conditions to maintain the talent pipeline within the constraints of affordability.
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Segmenting talent into key pools.
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Identifying the real stars in each pool - Being incisive on what you want from people and clearly determining those who demonstrate these behaviours.
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Focussing development on people who are critical to the business - those you really want to keep.
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Retaining people at all stages of the succession pipeline.
To discuss how we can contribute to your thinking and action on talent management, please contact Charles Woodruffe on charles.woodruffe@humanassets.co.uk or call +44(0)20 7434 2122