Sap nakisa-article-insider profiles-april-2012

Building a winning team is all about bench strength. If you look at the composition of any sports team, you’ll see all types of talent: veterans, who think

about retirement and post-career; up-and-coming mavericks, focused on excelling and obtaining the next endorsement deal; and

rookies, attempting to learn all they can in their first year. As leader of this motley crew, the coach is responsible for keeping the play-ers engaged, building a strong bench, and ensuring every position on the field is filled or ready to be filled with capable talent at any given time, despite injuries or trade deals — all in an effort to win the season.

Managing Talent and Organizational Bench Strength: Are You Game-Ready?by Oliver Conze, Vice President, Solution Management, SAP and Lillian Reaume, Vice President, Human Resources Center of Excellence, Nakisa

SubScribe today. ViSit inSiderProFiLeS.wiSPubS.com.

This article appeared in the APR MAY JUN 2012 issue of insiderPROFILES (http://insiderPROFILES.wispubs.com) and appears here with permission from WIS PUBLISHING.

As any sports fan knows, every season endures a

range of highs and lows. And most often, it’s not the

team with the strongest individual player that wins,

but the team with the best bench strength. Build-

ing a strong bench can be just as important as

creating the starting line-up. Just like sports

coaches, today’s human resources (HR) depart-

ments face similar challenges. So, where does

your organization stand in the rankings?

Meet Your Newest Team Members: The Millennials We are entering an unprecedented era comprised

of a multi-generational workforce, which calls

for new approaches to management. Workplace

demographics now include three different genera-

tions, meaning that fresh-out-of-college recruits will

find themselves working alongside colleagues the same

age as their grandparents. As 72 million Baby Boomers

(born between 1946 and 1964) prepare for retirement,

members of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980)

and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 2000) are

getting ready to fill their shoes. The impact of these

changes will be significant; Generation Y, also known as

the Millennials, is the biggest demographic to start work

since the Baby Boomers, and is expected to make up 30%

of the workforce by 2013. So how can HR prepare for

the different working styles of a multi-generational

workforce? Just like sports coaches, HR profession-

als are responsible for managing this diverse mix.

Inside every organization, the Millennials

are demonstrating new ways of working. This

technologically savvy generation is mobile,

connected, f lexible, and f luent in social net-

working. As social media becomes an in-

tegral part of the work world, on the field

and off, mobile devices are emerging as the

dominant communications and interaction

platform, allowing employees to manage al-

most every aspect of their professional life.

There are almost 1 billion people on Face-

book, and over 4.6 billion cell phones are

in active use. Millennials sometimes refer to

their mobile device as their “command center”

and can’t imagine a day, much less a week, be-

ing disconnected. For some, the work morning’s

first task is to check Facebook on a smart phone.

As these trends (often referred to as “business social”)

continue to grow, so will their impact on HR.

In past generations, loyalty to the enterprise was

paramount; the ultimate goal was to attain a “job for

life.” However, newer generations are a different breed

that switch jobs on average every two years.1 Millenni-

als are career-focused with high expectations for their

development, and if their employers don’t meet their

expectations, they won’t stick around for long.

91% of employees are willing to change jobs, but 55% of leaders are not expecting it.

A multi-generational workforce calls for new approaches to management. Is your organization toeing the line?


Fighting the Global War for TalentWith the ability for people to easily and readily

collaborate and network, and with about 50%

of people able to work remotely, it’s not a

huge surprise to see a decrease in employee

retention. In a recent survey, Express Em-

ployment Professionals found that 77% of

leaders say retention was not a problem or

only a slight problem in 2011.2 Yet, accord-

ing to a recent survey by CareerBuilder,

91% of employees are willing to switch

jobs, and 55% of leaders are not expecting

it.3 In fact, according to a recent Employee

Performance Survey, 21 million Americans

are considering changing jobs in the next

year.4 With the cost of employee turnover

estimated at up to 250% of the annual sal-

ary per exiting employee, such effects could

be detrimental to employee retention and

organizational growth.

The global war for talent is continuing to be an

issue in various regions and industries. While the

spike in growth has slowed somewhat in China, Aus-

tralia, India, and other parts of Southeast Asia, the over-

all demand for talent everywhere has not. With talent

already in short supply, ensuring you can develop and

keep what you have and win over the talent you don’t

have is critical to your organization’s success.

We have all heard the stories of CEOs of large

companies leaving with no replacement. Total

chaos ensues. Stock prices drop and share-

holders are angry. This scenario is a night-

mare for an HR professional. But with the

right strategy and tools, you can avoid

this scenario and identify which positions

are at high risk, define how many people

should be ready if and when the need

arises, and have clear insight into what

talent can fill them.

What’s Your Game Plan for Stepping Up to the Talent Management Plate?Evidence shows that many organizations

are not prepared for succession manage-

ment. According to Bersin & Associates, 77% of

organizations have little or no view of existing

talent gaps in their business.5 This is not surpris-

ing, considering that only 35% of organizations do

any succession planning at all — and of that 35%,

planning is only performed for the top 10% of the busi-

ness. In a 2011 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, CEOs

rated talent management as the number-one area where

they expect dramatic change during the next year.6 Given

this increased attention, it’s even more critical that HR

executives set aside time to identify where they are and

Employees are increasingly willing to switch jobs. What

are you doing to keep them?

Social media has and will continue to play a

role in finding, retaining, and developing talent. Organizations

must speak the language of tomorrow’s top talent.


where they need to be. It’s time for HR to step

up to the plate.

What factors should organizations consider

when developing an effective talent pipeline?

It starts with understanding how to engage

the next generation of talent. As we’ve iden-

tified, Millennials are digitally aware, hyper-

connected, and in control of their careers.

They are demanding more input into their

advancement, and if they don’t receive this, they

won’t hesitate to switch teams. When developing

talent management strategies, organizations

must consider these new work styles. So, what

should HR organizations do to create an effective

talent pipeline?

Build bench strength you can count on. Not only

should you plan for emerging technologies like social

media and mobility, but HR organizations must also

ensure an iron-clad strategy for the age-old cliché:

have the right people, with the right skills, in the right

place (including remote workers), at the right time. To

do this, you need the right information. And as we all

know, with so much information out there, we can’t

do it on our own. Choosing technology that caters and

adapts to your business processes, not vice versa, is

key. We need technology that has effective analyti-

cal capabilities built-in so that we can construct

the best strategy for our organization. With this

technology, we can predict, execute, monitor,

and analyze to make the correct decisions for

our organization’s success.

Choose the right tools for a winning

succession plan and talent pipeline.

Choosing tools that speak the language

of the Millennials, while still supporting

your Generation Xers and Baby Boomers,

will help you retain and nurture talent.

Solutions that allow your next-generation

talent to interact with the latest technolo-

gies, such as motivational games and social

networking sites, will enable them to col-

laborate and work in ways familiar to them.

Flexible access to data anytime, anywhere,

is also vital to maximize user adoption across

all generations. Web-based, real-time solutions,

delivered through a single, intuitive user inter-

face and available on multiple devices, prove to

be the most successful. Tools that incorporate these

modern technologies will make talent easier to de-

tect throughout the organization by creating a unique

way for your employees to regularly chart and share

their developmental aspirations. This will ultimately

lead to higher engagement levels, better perception

Effective talent pipeline management begins with effective information management.

HR must become a strategic business partner, driving executives to develop a strategy that engages the entire enterprise in an ongoing, flexible talent management process.


Oliver Conze ([email protected]) is Vice Pres-ident of Solution Management at SAP. He leads the team responsible for strategy and

Go-to-Market for SAP’s global portfo-lio of talent management solutions, en-abling organizations to attract, retain, develop, and better engage top talent. Oliver has been with SAP for over five years in various positions in corporate strategy, portfolio management, and product management. Prior to SAP, Oli-ver worked for an international manage-ment consulting firm. He holds master’s degrees in management science from Stanford University and Karlsruhe Insti-tute of Technology, and a PhD in busi-ness administration from the University of St. Gallen.

Lillian Reaume ([email protected]) is the Vice President of Human Resources COE at Nakisa. Her scope is to provide thought leadership and as-

sist with the development of solutions for Nakisa’s global portfolio, enabling organizations in their strategic human resources efforts. Lillian also leads the HR team at Nakisa and has over 17 years of diverse senior leadership expe-rience in the automotive, financial, and high-tech industries. Lillian holds a mas-ter’s degree in business administration from the University of Windsor and is nearing completion of a PhD in business administration from Capella University.

of the value add of HR services, and increased

retention rates.

Develop a “people-centric” approach. It’s

not just about employing the latest technologies.

Organizations must develop a “people-centric”

approach to succession planning in order to

secure the commitment of talent. Research shows

that Millennials expect regular and transpar-

ent feedback on their progress and a clear idea

of where they are going and how they will be

rewarded. Embedding career planning into the

succession planning process will provide valuable

information for HR professionals, enabling them

to highlight potential multi-generational talent

from all areas of the organization.

Stay Ahead of the Game: Integrate Succession and Career Planning with an Enterprise-Wide Talent Management StrategyTo build a sustainable talent pipeline, succes-

sion planning can’t be managed as a standalone

administrative HR activity, but must be part of

an integrated and enterprise-wide talent manage-

ment program with career planning weaved into

the process. By integrating recruiting, compen-

sation, and performance management systems,

learning and development programs, and men-

torship and recognition programs, future maver-

icks can be identified and cultivated at all levels

of the company, leading to a much more sustain-

able bench.

To stay ahead of the game, HR must continu-

ally have its finger on the pulse of business needs

and make talent pipeline management part of

the company culture. HR departments must con-

centrate on developing a strategy and a range

of tools that provide real-time functionality and

engage every member of the enterprise in an

ongoing, f lexible talent management process. By

doing this, organizations can ensure they have the

best talent in the best place at the best time. Only

then can HR “bring it home,” earning its seat in

the board room by delivering bottom-line bene-

fits and a sustainable, committed bench of players

that will keep the organization on top of its game

for seasons to come.

1 Kaye, B. and Jordan-Evans, S. “Love ‘em or lose’em, getting good people to stay.” San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. (2008).2 www.cioinsight.com/c/a/IT-Management/Employee-Retention-Failures-Revealed-145261/ ; http://employers.expresspros.com/ca/3 www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/retention--a-top-concern-for-employers-130731538.html4 http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/act-now-to-prevent-a-talent-exodus-in-20125 www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?id=1033115996 www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/ceo-survey/pdf/15th-global-ceo-survey.pdf


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