Companies have to create a giant talent pool to survive
in a shrinking labour market and against a background of
downsizing.
Bruce Tulgan, founder of business
consultancy RainMakerThinking, told delegates at the annual HR conference in
Barcelona that companies must staff the work, not simply the job.
He said, "If your core of
permanent employees gets smaller and smaller, HR needs to have a reserve talent
pool to call upon. HR’s role is absolutely critical – it needs to be a partner
to managers in their day-to-day battle to find the talent to do the work."
Tulgan also advised HR to adopt to
negotiate customised employment contracts with talented staff in order to keep
them.
He said, "One great person is
worth a whole bunch of mediocre people."
By Karen Higginbottom
