Talent Management in Lean Times!

Talent Management in Tough Times


What everyone agree upon is that the world economy is in recession. Opinions differ only in the severity of the downturn. My take is that things will get tougher after the Chinese New Year and the escalating middle east crisis will make things worst. Already, some of the world’s benchmark setting companies are reeling from the first wave of the downturn. This downturn is no longer some nebulous dooms-day scenario by an economists. It is a real and present phenomenon.

While we are fretting over the state of the economy and vis a vis it, companies’ financial performance, lets remember not to throw the baby out with the bath water. It frightens me at the speed of how some companies are laying off workers. I reckon out goes with these redundant workers, some key talents that the companies have spent a huge sum of money and time developing!

So, my advise to all HR decision makers is this : Hold your horses!

Listen, the recession may be knocking on our doors. Yes. But all critical data shows that Asia Pacific will show growth in 2009; albeit at a slower pace. In fact yesterday (6/1/08) the major bursars in Asia did better than expected. That means, things may get tougher but not entirely hopeless. Also, notice any difference between the current downturn and the previous one? I can see one major difference: The remarkable speed at which the major economic powerhouses acted! The Americans of course immediately took the bull by the horn as they always do but look at the Japanese. They sat on their butts while the previous downturn was eating away into their economy. This time around, they were up and running at the first sign of trouble. China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and even Malaysia announced mitigating efforts quickly and decisively. India may even reveal a supplementary economic stimulus soon. I suspect a few other countries will follow suit.

What this means is that, there is a possibility that this downturn will not be as deep as we think. Yes, demands for products and services has already declined from the US and Europe but it may be temporary in nature. Besides, most companies today are so lean and mean in nature that removing any part of its workforce will surely have a negative impact on its overall operation. I doubt that there are much fat left to trim since the last trimming in 1997.

Another worry for me is that companies may forget about their Generation Y employees. This will be their first major, conscious ‘difficult time’. They have had it good these last few years with companies and business leaders bending over backwards (because the economy was good) to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of these Generation Y employees (I like to call them the Starbucks Generation). Undoubtedly, businesses finally bought into the idea by social scientists that Generation Y employees are typically different and more fickle than their predecessors. This facebook-google-ipod generation was recognized as an entirely new ‘employee-type’ that needed to be managed differently. The old command and control style would just not work. A more laissez-faire management style with ample room for creativity and expression of individuality was seen as the preferred style for them. And, organizations found it to be absolutely true. Take the case of a grocery store chain in the US. This company wanted to enhance its web presence and its on-line sales. An external IT consultant quoted a couple of million dollars to get the whole thing off the ground. When some employees heard of this, they set up an impromptu team and presto! They had the whole thing done for less than USD250,000. One of them later, during her spare time, developed a mobile version of the website and on-line sales portal! Enter the Starbucks sipping Generation Y!

In some of the local companies that I have had the pleasure of servicing, I find extremely talented and ambitious young people. It’s almost like throwing ropes around them to keep them down as they are just too fast and too ‘clever’ for the current state of the company. In fact, yesterday I met a gentleman who has been in the same industry for 15 years and in his current company for about half of that. I can see that he loves his job and he is good at it. He has surpassed his performance target for 4 consecutively years. These are the talents that the company knows it will need a few years down the road. Some companies have worked hard and invested much in its HR framework to accommodate these employees. All in all, the system is primed and ready. Everything is in place. To throw all these out in a knee-jerk reaction will be such a waste and ultimately unnecessary.

Also, the Starbucks Generation don’t forget easily. They will remember how they are being treated right now. If they are treated well, they will show their gratitude later when the situation is such that they are able to perform at their best.

However, this is not to say that HR people should just sit down and wish all these bad vibes away. No! There are definitely steps to take and strategies to put in place.

Firstly, freeze all non-critical hiring but keep the doors open for some good talents that are out in the market.

Second, use the downtime for re-skilling your employees. Send them for both soft skills and technical skills training. Also, provide them with career management skills. Trust me, in my years of consulting experience, career management is something that employees truly appreciate and feel grateful for. For you and me that are seeds of loyalty.

Third, take an audit of your talent pool. If you haven’t done so, this is the best time to do it. Identify your talents and match them with what your company has strategized to do to weather this storm. Redeploy them if need be. Somewhere in that office there are people who are exactly the type you need when times are bad. These are the quiet but resilient ones. They may have stayed below the radar, but now you can leverage on them.

Finally, the one absolutely critical thing you need to do is to keep all communication lines open. Make sure that your people are in the know of the company’s performance. They need to be told the reasons behind what ever tough decisions you are going to make. Keep an eye on your hi-po’s. Notice any sort of restlessness and immediately arrange for a one-on-one coaching session to understand why and provide reassurances.

Whatever it is, I sincerely hope that your competitors are not the ones who are going to benefit from your talents a few years down the road. Also, I am sure you have given much business to consultants like me over the years when times were good. Now is the time to get some pay-back! Call your consultants and pick their brains for ideas and strategies. Make them your sounding board. In fact, I have been sending out emails to that effect to some of the senior HR people I know. Nothing beats sharing and two heads sitting down together to tackle a problem.