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Talent Management Perspectives

Published April 2009

Top Priorities in 2009: Develop Existing Talent, Reinforce Company Culture

  Agatha Gilmore

In a veritable sea of layoffs and other workforce turbulence, a new study from Camden Consulting Group reports some 81 percent of talent managers surveyed said in 2009 they would focus on developing talent and 76 percent said they would work on retaining talent, while nearly half of respondents cited building or maintaining organizational culture and values as a key priority this year.

"Employers today are going to be doing more with less, so they need to make sure they're developing and retaining people so they can emerge stronger," explained Susan Miele, a senior partner at Camden Consulting Group and head of the talent management practice.

"What's really particularly interesting about that is the whole area of culture," she said. "Culture and values are often key to the success of the company — how they market themselves, how they do business, how they attract employees. It gets very rocked and unsteady during downsizing or restructuring. It's sort of like the foundation of a house being compromised."

Companies that are downsizing or restructuring should reinforce their cultures by maintaining core programs and values, Miele said. She gave an example of one client that had undergone mass layoffs.

"One of their key cultural pillars is their commitment to leadership development," she said. "So they had a six-month major reduction, [but] they came back and said, 'OK, now we're going to be getting back on our leadership development.' So they didn't cut that. They're really continuing to reinforce that pillar. Actions that support culture are what people are looking for now."

Talent managers should ask themselves what their companies' core values are — social responsibility, leadership or communication, for example — and make sure they continue to invest in those areas.

"If a value is that you develop your leaders and then you cut your leadership development program — never to be seen again — it doesn't help people to trust that the old culture is still there, underneath the rubble," Miele said.

The concept of company culture gets a little more complicated when the scenario involves a merger, however. Suddenly, two companies are expected to act as one.

"For companies that have gone through a major merger, where now it's kind of unclear who they are, they have to do more on the definition side," Miele said. "They may need to do something different in terms of really re-examining their culture, and getting out there and saying, 'What was our culture, what is it now, what do we want it to be?'"

Talent managers can facilitate this by enlisting both front-line employees and senior executives from both companies to articulate their respective organizations' cultures. Then, the group should decide what they want the culture of the new company to be — and it has to be a realistic goal.

"[It should be done] in an informed way, a collaborative way, where it's top-down and bottom-up, so they can come together," Miele said. "Then, you've got to put your actions behind it."     

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