Jamie Barber, senior implementation consultant, Taleo

Following on from my comments last week regarding why recruitment and retention are of real importance in a downturn, just this last week we have seen another great example.  The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), has been benefiting from the fallout from its beleaguered US rivals, taking on the talent that was insecure at its rivals.  The chief executive of RBC commented, “Over the past year, we’ve strengthened our global businesses, particularly in the US, by selectively hiring top talent from other firms.”

Now UK firms need to see these benefits and take action to secure them for themselves.  If the reasons were clear enough already, here are my next two reasons:
 
1) Get inside the minds of the competition

You’re not the only one worried about the impact of the credit crunch on your workforce. Other organisations in your industry (and further afield) will be engaged in much the same thought processes, looking for any leverage which might give them a competitive edge. One such advantage, should they be able to get their hands on it, is your top talent.

In a recent KPMG survey of nearly 200 senior executives of UK firms, 83% felt that human capital was key to maintaining commercial advantage. And the competition may already be gearing up to move in. A survey conducted late in 2007 across small to medium-size businesses in the UK, US and Canada found that 90% were looking to add full-time employees by the end of 2008. And this with their respective economies in a downturn!

But where you see a threat, don’t forget there can also be an opportunity. Putting yourself in the position of gamekeeper turned poacher, you should be looking to profit from any weaknesses shown by your competition. In a time of arguably fewer job opportunities and a surplus of candidates, you may even find that you can tempt top talent into your organisation more cost-effectively than at the boom times when the situation is reversed.

2) Think globally

It’s no longer just the national economy that should be a factor in your recruitment and retention strategy. With global mobility now more and more a feature of everyday life, it’s no longer sufficient to assume that your top talent will remain local. Indeed, some global organisations such as HP are actively encouraging the best of their workforce to take short and long-term placements abroad in order to prevent career stagnation, as well as spreading their expertise around the organisation.

While you may be in the doldrums locally, remember that not every economy globally will be experiencing the same simultaneous ups and downs on the world economic roller coaster. The tiger economies of the Far East for example are currently basking in the economic sunshine. Australia has just reported the sixteenth consecutive year of economic growth, partly as a result of strong commodity prices and the development of key export partners in Japan and China. The result is that large numbers of Australians are returning home, 65% citing job opportunities as their principal motivation for moving.  While emigration is not a new phenomenon, the world – and the job market that goes with it – is becoming an increasingly smaller place.

The ‘how to’ of positioning your organisation to recruit and retain top talent would form an article by itself and indeed there are many internet sources and forums which can give guidance on precisely this. Despite the short-term economic climate, the benefits of taking a long-term view when looking at those assets which add the most value to your organisation – your top talent workforce – seem clear. By taking careful stock of the situation it may even be possible to profit where others flounder.

And surely it doesn’t get any more strategic than that.