RPOlosophy

Feelings probably range from utter relief to wild celebration (but not on company expenses) and certainly 2010 looks like being less troublesome for HR, if not yet entirely predictable.  The “bloodbath” that was predicted a year ago was realised in many businesses, with redundancies and down-sizing rife across the board. Many businesses have changed shape and direction, had to develop new product and service offerings fast and have had to compete much harder with leaner work forces and often with different skill sets. HR has had to respond like at no other time in its history, suddenly back-to-back fire fighting and with less time for strategic planning. Employee engagement and recruitment dropped down the priority list as attrition rates plummeted and organisational development work rose to the fore as businesses tried to fit their new leaner, meaner work force to their new world that was emerging.

In Ochre House’s HR Network events this year we generally saw two types of HR functions emerge: those businesses at the harsh end of the down turn that had stripped HR of resource, and those businesses that were less harshly affected and managed to start to plan for the “new norm” of 2010, often through strategic partnerships to avoid most – or any – capital or fixed cost investment.

This second group mentioned are in the minority but are well placed for the coming year.  They typically have leading products and services that need little immediate modification, let alone complete re-engineering, so the workforce impact has been lessened. They have invested in redeployment of staff, have developed their Employee Value Proposition and have built robust talent programmes from acquisition to development and retention. They have been able to legislate for what we all know is coming; the easing of the employment market and rapid re-mobilisation of the skilled worker.  And this isn’t HR’s fault, or indeed the business’s, this is unavoidable as a false norm had been created for a limited 18 month period, that quite simply will expire in the next six months.

About our guest blogger:

Damien Stork – After starting life as a professional rugby player Damien has developed a highly successful career as a talent management professional and was the co-founder of one of Ochre House’s key divisions.

Pinstripe’s Anne Bucher, back from a Global Resourcing Workshop in London, discusses an RPO technique of implementing talent acquisition and management into recruiting departments.