Case study

Talent Strategy

Company Industry – High Technology Company

  • 18% → 13%

    Overall turnover reduced

  • 30% → 75%

    Employee engagement in the first year

The Situation

  • Worldwide component selling prices dropped 34% in the preceding two years

  • The competition was faster to market and had better focus on customer needs and solutions

  • The organization was experiencing high turnover with key Sales and Marketing positions particularly during the first and fifth years of employment

  • Internal research indicated that high performers stayed with the company not only because of good pay, but also interesting work and growth opportunities

  • The company’s short-term strategy was to focus on building a great Sales and Marketing organization while working on bringing cutting-edge solutions to the marketplace.

What We Did

Analyzed the organizational capabilities needed to deliver on the short- and long-term strategies

  • Defined the psychological contract required to attract and retain high performers (i.e., If you give me X, I’ll do Y)

  • Identified key improvements to HR programs required to deliver on this new implicit contract many of which involved learning & development and career opportunities

  • Designed new HR programs and created tools for managers to deliver on the new promise, including:

    • Critical competencies for each role

    • Career paths

    • Success (role) profiles

    • Promotional criteria

    • High-performer acceleration process and programs

    • New selection tools to select the best (and the best fit)

    • New performance management process

  • Trained managers so that they could understand and explain the new implicit employment contract and new tools to aid in recruitment, selection, recruitment, & promotion

  • Trained hiring managers how to conduct a behavior-based interview

The Outcome

  • Decreased turnover overall (from 18% to 13%)

    • Significantly less undesired turnover

    • Higher proportion of desired turnover

  • Increased rate of acceptance on job offers extended (from 30% to 75% in the first year)

  • Increased interest in organization at campus recruiting events

  • More effective reviews by managers

  • More focused training and development initiatives (including a new corporate university)