Business Implications of the New Reality 2008: - Stanton Chase ...

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The New Reality 2008
The true foundation of an ability to compete in the New Reality is the actual and
perceived value of working for the enterprise itself. If a company does not have an
employment value proposition that differentiates itself from its competitors,
candidates and employees will not join the company or continue working there. The
employment value proposition can be called an employer brand. Companies can use a
successful brand to tell a better story to attract and retain higher-quality talent.
Branding also furthers employee engagement by aligning the values of the employee
base with the messages and actions of the corporation. 8
One problem is that many people do not discuss employer branding because they are
not sure exactly what it is or how to create an authentic, strategy-relevant brand. 9 For
almost half of our respondent population, that could well be the greatest obstacle of
the New Reality.
Moreover, the top three personality attributes enterprises seek in future leaders are
not necessarily those one might expect, such as reliability, prudence, dominance, goal
orientation or ambition. Rather, they are the ability to be strategic and futureoriented,
the ability to inspire and be emotionally positive and the ability to be
resourceful and adaptable—hardly the profile of the hard-driving, ruthless titan of the
industry or the scion of a business empire.
How to Win
The next steps for enterprises that want to thrive in the New Reality and win The War
for Talent include:
• Engaging trusted advisors at the top levels of the enterprise for attracting and
hiring talent from all age groups as a routine and ongoing process;
• Making an enterprise-wide commitment starting at the executive level to:
o attract new talent ahead of a crisis of exits
o preemptively retain valuable top talent already in the organization;
• Rapidly developing processes for recognizing and developing leaders within the
organization; and
• Utilizing deep and valid personality assessments to aid in both leadership
identification and development and executive coaching.
8 Schaffer, Janet. “Building an Authentic Employer Brand.” Human Capital Institute, Aug. 1, 2007.
9 Ibid.