Fast take on Talent Innovation Thriving during downturns

Fast take on Talent Innovation
Thriving during downturns
There are five megatrends that are
shaping business and society, and
these macroeconomic forces will have a
significant impact on global mobility.
Rapid urbanization
Shift in global
economic power
Demographic and
social change
The upside of downturns: With the right talent,
you can break through at your breaking point
Market volatility can come from anywhere. An economic downturn. A disruptive
competitor. Global trends that shake up the very way organizations do business.
A firestorm of factors
These great forces of transformation are leading to market volatility for many
organizations—even disrupting entire sectors and industries. When volatility
strikes, many companies get serious about rethinking existing business and
operating models. But to survive and thrive through any kind of downturn, they
must go deeper than that. They must match their new business strategies with
equally transformative talent strategies. That’s the way to create the capability
and agility necessary to stay competitive in challenging times.
How to rethink talent?
Climate change and
resource scarcity
1. What new and innovative talent approaches can we take to perform
under volatile market conditions?
2. How can we continue to identify, retain and develop our top talent?
Technological
breakthroughs
PwC: Five megatrends and possible
implications
3. What is our fit-for-growth transformation model that will provide
direction on where and how to build selective capabilities to improve our
ability to win while simultaneously wringing efficiency from non
differentiated parts of the organization?
4. How can we shift our capability and talent investments to align with
our redefined business priorities?
Organizations typically take one of two talent
approaches during a downturn.
Austerity
In volatile or down markets, most
organizations take this approach.
It can include across-the-board
headcount cuts, incentive freezes
and talent-investment reductions.
The fast financial results make this
a seemingly attractive option—but
it’s short-sighted and often leads to
unintended consequences: the potential
loss of top talent, the creation of a
leadership gap in future years and a
sluggish performance during recovery.
Investment
Although less traveled, this is the better
road. It requires cuts in non
differentiated parts of your business
operations to fuel investments in talent,
information systems and other assets
that will strengthen your sources of
competitive advantage and enable
breakthrough performance in the face of
the downturn. This will require making
difficult, strategic choices on what skill
sets and critical roles in your
organization will be central to becoming
a market leader and invest accordingly.
Thriving during downturns | Talent Innovation
“
In the wake of a layoff, voluntary attrition spikes by as much
as 31%, and precisely the wrong people—those who have the
strongest track records and bright employment prospects even
in a recession—are the ones who leave.
”
Academy of Management Journal
Breaking through at your breaking point
Harvard Business Review conducted a year-long study of 4,700 companies to
analyze strategy selection and corporate performance during the past three global
recessions (1980, 1990 and 2000). Only 9% flourished and achieved what they
termed “breakthrough performance”—outperforming their rivals by 10% or more
in sales and profits. The “investment” approach to talent—making the right mix of
strategic decisions around talent, operations and investment—will position you to
be one of the rare companies that know how to weather an economic storm and
come out the other side even stronger.
Turn downturn into opportunity…
…by leveraging innovative talent practices that help you retain and develop
key capabilities that drive business performance, while achieving operational
efficiencies, managing costs and mitigating risk.
Use this three-pronged approach:
1. Assess
Work with your strategy
and operations teams to
identify the capabilities
you need today and
tomorrow. Leverage your
assessment to
develop—or validate—the
organization’s capability
and talent requirements to
maintain long-term
competitive advantage.
To explore the entire
Fast Take series visit:
www.pwc.com/us/fasttakes
2. Deploy
Shift critical talent to your
high-demand areas.
Provide ongoing
developmental and
leadership opportunities
to your people while they
execute on your top
business priorities.
3. Motivate
Offer non-monetary
incentives—from
recognition to flex
time—to retain top talent
while positioning them to
lead your organization
now and into the future.
How PwC can help
For a deeper discussion about talent strategies that can fuel business performance
during a downturn, contact the PwC Talent Innovation team:
Jeff Hesse
Principal
(312) 298 6881
[email protected]
Vinay Couto
Senior Parnter
(312) 578 4617
[email protected]
Marvin Mendoza
Director
(713) 356 5751
[email protected]
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