NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's (PwC) newly released "10Minutes on Rethinking Pivotal Talent" provides insight into how organizations can maintain their pivotal talent -- those employees positioned to add the most value and determine the success of a company -- in the midst of the economic downturn. PwC says pivotal talent can provide a major competitive advantage over the next 18-24 months.
"Today, companies are finding it difficult to retain talented employees even in the recession," said Jeffrey Summer, principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory practice. "Many companies have lost skilled employees during a slow economy by failing to identify that, even in a difficult market, the top talent has opportunities to go elsewhere."
PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that companies rethink "talent myths" -- such as 'in a downturn, my pivotal talent will stay because offers won't be forthcoming' or 'if we treat employees well, they'll be loyal to our organization' -- and instead align talent priorities with business objectives in light of changing economic conditions. Organizations need to recast the talent issue from administrative to strategic; a fact-based approach to talent management, based on industry research and rigorous self-examination, is one critical key to success.
The latest edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' 10Minutes Thought Leadership Series, "10Minutes on Rethinking Pivotal Talent," states that organizations can take the following steps in order to overcome talent challenges during an economic downturn:
* Reassessing business objectives in light of changing market
conditions
* Implementing changes to existing organization models -- and then
finding people with the right knowledge and skills
* Recalibrating headcount while focusing on the pivotal talent
needed to achieve business objectives
* Understanding how the external talent market has and will
continue to change
* Positioning for growth through a fact-based, focused set of
talent priorities
Opportunities exist for companies that can quickly recalibrate their talent priorities and succeed at retaining pivotal employees, as well as attracting the many high-quality candidates now entering the market. When the economy emerges from the downturn, these organizations will be better positioned to flourish.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that few companies set their talent priorities based on organizational needs and CEOs are not blind to this misalignment. According to the 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers CEO survey, 62 percent of CEOs "agree" or "strongly agree" that their company needs to change the way that talent is recruited, motivated and developed. Only 43 percent endorse the ability of their human resources organizations to compete for talent. Instead of a laundry list of conventional programs that nearly all employers provide, savvy companies are investing in solutions that will dramatically differentiate them as they try to attract, develop, promote and retain employees with critical skills.
"This is game-changing for the HR discipline," added Mr. Summer. "HR has the opportunity to align talent priorities with business objectives through upgrading its strategic focus on setting talent priorities, differentiating programs, delivering cost effective services, and integrating technologies."
About the PricewaterhouseCoopers 10Minutes Thought Leadership Series
The 10Minutes series provides PwC's perspectives on critical business issues of interest to senior executives in crisp, to-the-point language and a simple format that requires about 10 minutes of an executive reader's time.
About PricewaterhouseCoopers' Advisory Practice
PricewaterhouseCoopers' business advisory professionals provide clients with the confidence to succeed by helping them anticipate, create and manage change. Whether clients are proactively implementing change or reacting to an unplanned event, we leverage our Firm's resources, deep industry experience, and functional acumen across the areas of operations, finance, organizational strategy and structure, process improvement, human resources optimization, technology integration and implementation, risk mitigation and crisis management to help organizations effect sustainable change.
About PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 155,000 people in 153 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.
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