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Also See:
What Really Motivates Employees?
How To Attract Qualified IT Candidates
IT Management Forum: Does Your HR Department Use Metrics?
By Ellen Pearlman
Strategic Thinkers: Richard Rawlinson, Walter McFarland, Laird Post
Credentials: The authors all work at Booz & Company: Rawlinson is a partner in the London office focusing on leadership; McFarland is a vice president in the Herndon, Virginia office focusing on learning strategies and systems; Post is a principal in the San Francisco office focusing on human capital management.
Big Idea: Human capital strategies need to be modernized to meet competitive needs.
Article: "A Talent for Talent" published by strategy + business, fall 2008.
By Ellen Pearlman
In many companies human resources falls short of aligning its agenda with the needs of the business. But some forward-thinking companies are placing great stock in their human capital strategies and are looking for ways to modernize their HR function.
Driving this are several global challenges: an aging workforce, concern about finding the skilled workers necessary to replace them, and a desire for a more flexible and satisfying work experience from younger workers. In "Talent for Talent" an article in the fall issue of strategy + business magazine, the authors detail some of the innovations that companies are coming up with to attract and retain talent.
One strategy is employee segmentation or creating customized career alternatives for your workforce. Shannon Brown, senior vice president for HR at FedEx Ground, says, "Work is going to be more reflective of the individual." Some employees may seek global work experiences; others might want to work at home. Some might need periods in their career when part-time hours will work; others will want flexible schedules.
Managing different needs will force companies to prioritize their commitments to employees, say the authors. Professor John Boudreau of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business says, "Organizations should manage human capital like a portfolio," focusing learning and development activities on their most pivotal employees.
Employer branding can also help attract and retain talent. Workers are drawn to companies that have "a clear shared purpose that rises above the profit motive," the authors say. In order words you have to satisfy people's emotional needs, not just their wallets (read more about this subject at "What Really Motivates Employees").
In tight labor markets companies also need to plan ahead and predict their future needs. They should also be prepared to hire talent when they find it, not waiting until a job slot is open. Says Christoph Danzer-Vanotti, chief HR officer at Germany's energy service provider E.ON AG, "This might cause a temporary managerial 'underload,' in which some of our managers are not sufficiently occupied. But when the rapid expansion comes, we can hit the ground running." In fact, ThyssenKrupp set up a special hiring fund in its technologies business to build that business' talent pool, not for traditional hiring. "When we find great people, we'll hire them first and then look around to see what they should do," said Ralph Labonte, executive board member of ThyssenKrupp and its labor director.
If you're working for a fiscally challenged company, it might be difficult or impossible to do what Labonte recommends, but you can put more emphasis on developing the talent you already have within your company. ThyssenKrupp also created a central placement process for its top 300 managers to provide mobility among leaders in its five business segments.
Next: What HR Must Do
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