RPO and Talent Management Blog by Ochre House | Ochre Talk

The leadership conundrum for 2010

Over the past months an urgency has developed in the area of pipelining for senior talent with many of Europe’s leading businesses. And I don’t mean debating it (which has happened for years), I mean suddenly realising that without new, best-fit talent at the top level over the coming year, the business will not compete.  So what has caused this immediate change in strategy with regard to senior talent and what has led “pipelining” to the fore at this point in Q1 and Q2  2010?

During boom times, many businesses have had to hire quickly, perhaps (dare I say) in some cases at the expense of them not necessarily being the best for the business. During the recession it has been a case of redundancy and redeployment. And now, as we head into 2010, many firms are faced with having to compete harder and leaner than they ever have, and in order to do so, have had to re-engineer their brand, products and services to the point that a new type of leader is critical in moving forward. Other businesses, more fortunate, are simply looking to new leadership to take advantage of some of the great opportunities that are starting to emerge, by capturing new market share or perhaps entering new markets where gaps have been created.

The first problem is that skills are no less scarce than they were before the recession (in most areas) and sourcing the best fit people is no easier than it was.  In fact many would argue it is even harder as the “chaff” to “wheat” ratio is even worse.  Secondly, there is reticence to add to headcount right now, when there is still the real threat of a flat (or worse) economy ahead.  So businesses have been left with the conundrum that currently exists:  how to attract and engage the best people for the future of the business without necessarily bringing them on board immediately, but perhaps in the next 3-9 months.  

First, the good news!  The good news is that the candidates are open to “bench” positions in the right business if the process is managed well and the EVP strong.  These candidates haven’t moved for a while and are not yet ready to leap at the first good opportunity to present itself.  Engage them early and consistently and you can create strong loyalty before the markets start to shift in earnest and competition for top talent increases.

The bad news is, it isn’t a simple task and that it does take investment.  If you consider what is necessary to pipeline effectively; the profiling of the new roles, external benchmarking, EVP development, research, search and prospect management, not to mention the software and process for managing such a pool, then you won’t be surprised to hear that many businesses are finding their incumbent (and smaller) resourcing functions not geared up to deliver such services to the business. Coupled with that is fact that short-term investment is needed in order to be able to compete effectively in the latter part of this year, but that credit, cash flows and balance sheets might not allow for investment for the medium/long term.  One answer put forward by Deloitte showed strategic partners to be one of the keys and it could be that with the right partner and leveraging the incumbent resourcing team, that the investment need not be so great.

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Comments

1. Jacob Sten Madsen says:

   January 14, 2010 at 10:48 pm

   The issues raised in this article are very true indeed. Responsible for recruitment across all areas and levels of a local subsidiary of a top 3 global brand, even that is not necessarily enough to attract the right candidates. People know what they have and not necessarily what they will get, why they will sit very tight until such time that their position is either under threat or they have an urge/need to move. Good people are indeed still very difficult to identify, and they will be reluctant to move and forsake their well paid jobs, bonus and the status and portfolio that they may have built and enhanced over time.
   For that reason the work of identifying, attracting and getting good people on board is a tough challenge and one that has to be handled from a different perspective than the the usual tried and tested methodologies.
2. Damien Stork says:

   January 15, 2010 at 5:22 pm

   Hi Jacob, thanks very much for your comments above, its great to hear “real-time” from someone who is at the sharp end. This whitepaper I thought said it all pretty succinctly, and news like this is rife; really making our clients sit up and take action! http://bit.ly/5hTiqy