Talent retention in high gear in Silicon Valley, according to IMD

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, July 14, 2004 ñ As the US economy continues to rebound technology companies are increasing their efforts to attract and retain talent, according to IMD Development Director Jim Pulcrano who recently met with management at many leading Silicon Valley companies including Intuit, Logitech, Intel, Yahoo!, Electronic Arts, Adobe, Cisco, TiVo, Blue Coat and 3Dconnexion as part of IMDís Executive MBA program.

ìThe general consensus is that during the Internet boom a lot of companies got sloppy because things were just moving too fast, so they brought in whomever they could, threw a lot of money at them, and didn’t think about other forms of retention so they are going to lose people quickly as the US economy rebounds,î said Pulcrano. ìCompanies in Silicon Valley with strong employee retention are those that treat their employees with a sense of fairness and integrity, in addition to paying well and developing them. Management at high retention companies show employees that they are committed to sustaining a culture that makes people want to stay.î

According to Pulcrano, technology companies and those in other industries can improve their recruitment and retention of talent by adhering to a few key strategies:

Involve executive management. The CEO or line executives should drive employee retention efforts by ìwalking the talkî by being involved in employee-related events, programs and communications. ìPeople remember stories, not the ’company values’ posters on the wall, so when executives show up at company events, their presence and actions demonstrate their commitment to employees and shows they care, and people remember this,î says Pulcrano.

Make human resources part of your companyís business strategy. Many human resource departments are ìislandsî within their company and disconnected from key decision-making at the executive level. ìTo overcome this void, human resource executives must get better acquainted with their companyís business operations, financial statements and customer needs, says Pulcrano. ìThe closer that human resources gets to the companyís business strategy, the closer it will get to the CEOís agenda, and if they’re not on the CEO’s agenda, then they don’t have an agenda themselves.î

Eliminate barriers that hinder employee training and development. Build a culture that requires managers to share their professional resources. ìTalent doesnít grow unless itís cultivated ñ and itís cultivated best by circulating it to other departments,î says Pulcrano, and if this is part of the culture, not only does the talent benefit, but so does the company.

Build a talent pipeline before you begin to fill it. Establish incentives, performance metrics and a philosophy that fosters teamwork. This will place human resources in a good position to move revenue-generating ideas down the pipeline. ìMost companies are not good at building team environments which is why thereís continual focus on team building,î commented Pulcrano.

Be consistent in your employee training and development plans. Many companies cut back on their employee training and development initiatives as soon as a downward blip appears in their earnings, because they are too focused on short-term performance. ìInsightful companies make their employee training and development programs an important part of the companyís long-term growth strategy,î says Pulcrano.

ìThe most important element to training and development efforts today is to stick with them, and make sure they are linked to the business,î added Pulcrano. ìCut your programs back if necessary, but do not abandon your programs. Consistency and coherence are what all employees want and is what they respond to best in the workplace.î

IMD is an independent not-for-profit foundation located in Lausanne, Switzerland. For over 50 years it has trained managers of leading international companies. Its proven ìReal World. Real Learningî philosophy is designed to enhance leadership in every area of management. IMD helps executives and companies find new and innovative ways in which to sustain global competitiveness.

For further information please visit our website www.imd.ch or contact:

Anna Lennman
Communications Team
Tel: 41 21 618 0636
Fax: 41 21 618 0318
Email: anna.lennman@imd.ch