Are external economic uncertainties affecting your operations and bottom line? Must you reorganize and realign your workforce? Increase productivity and save costs?

You may think that talent management will become less of a focus in an economic downturn. In fact, the opposite is the case. Research shows that companies that endured times of economic crisis have the most well-developed strategies to manage their talent. The reason is simple: Successful talent management is a major driver of organizational performance and competitive advantage. As a result, many organizations are planning to increase their budgets for managing and developing their talent pool in 2009.You, too, can prevent loss of key talent by offering the right mix of career opportunities, compensation, and training programs.

Consider the following questions to see why an integrated talent management strategy matters even more these days:

Recruiting

• Can you efficiently adapt to business changes and ensure organizational flexibility by leveraging an internal talent pool?
• Can you quickly attract and onboard the best talent from outside the company?
• Do you know how your fluctuation rate, upcoming retirements, and time savings accounts impact your recruitment plans today?

Learning

• Do you need to retrain your employees for new tasks and anticipated business changes?
• Do you believe that providing essential training to your key employees will have a positive impact on their motivation and confidence in the future?
• Are your learning and development programs integrated with performance and succession management?
• Can you save money on training personnel, travel, and facilities by making use of e-learning and virtual classroom capabilities, especially in the case of a global workforce?

Succession

• Do you know all key positions in your organization and what their bench strength looks like?
• Do you have the required insight into the skills of your workforce?
• Times of uncertainty may lead to key employees leaving the company. Do you know with whom to close the gaps in your organization?

Performance

• As your business objectives change, are your employees aligned with the new objectives?
• Does each and every employee know how to contribute to your corporate goals individually?
• If need be, do you know whom to keep and whom to lay off?

Compensation

• Do you know how to allocate tight bonus budgets to the right people?
• Who of your employees are committed to the company by long-term incentives? Who are not?
• Can you simulate the cost savings of laying off employee A versus employee B?

Talent management with SAP ERP HCM helps you answer questions like these quickly and with confidence. A holistic solution that is integrated with core business processes provides a solid basis for making informed decisions in an ever-changing economic environment.