Managing Talent in Tough Times: A Tipping Point for Talent Management?

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As the global economy moves toward recovery, companies face some tough challenges and complex choices about how best to retool for growth. In the year since the financial markets collapsed, most organizations have streamlined, downsized and restructured to varying degrees, trying to stay on an even keel until the economy stabilized. The well-worn phrase “lean and mean” took on particular resonance — a badge of honor for many in reacting swiftly to market conditions.

Now, however, a different set of questions are emerging. Have organizations cut too far too fast — beyond “fat” and into “muscle”? If so, have they inadvertently slowed a fast return to growth? How easily can they correct course and close emerging gaps in capacity and capability? Are we on the brink of a new round of “talent wars”?

To begin exploring these issues, we recently surveyed over 200 HR and business executives across a broad range of midsize and large U.S. companies on emerging talent management priorities and strategies. We wanted to understand how organizations are defining talent and talent management, what activities they’re focusing on, how effective they think their processes are, and the degree of alignment between their talent management approach and their overall strategic goals.