Transforming Workforce Performance in the New Reality Accenture Point of View on Performance Management

The world today is a different place, thanks to the recent recession, which had a significant impact on organizations across the globe. One of the biggest changes engendered by the recession involves how organizations think about and manage workforce performance. Following cutbacks and redundancies, organizations now have “leaner” workforces and rely on a smaller, more effective pool of talent.

In these challenging times, organizations are more reliant on their ability to motivate each individual employee to put forth discretionary effort and realize their full potential. Furthermore, as organizations look for sustainable and profitable growth in the future, they are facing new challenges managing new generations within the talent pool.

These are all parts of this new reality.

As the full impact of the recession becomes clearer and early signs of growth begin to emerge, organizations find performance management will play a greater role in their ability to achieve their business objectives. According to one recent survey, the importance of performance manage-ment has grown in the past year, with 40 percent of companies naming it as their top priority.1

However, despite this growing importance, most organizations still struggle with infrequent, remedial and poorly embedded approaches to performance management that are counter-productive and inadequate for dealing with shifts in talent pools, new generations of employees and the demands of managing a global employee base.

To help organizations address these challenges, this paper explores performance management practices from leading organizations that enable leaders to create and sustain a cycle of performance multiplication. In particular, it considers how performance management can be:

Strategic: how enterprise and individual performance can be dynamically aligned.

Engaging: how performance manage-ment can be a positive, strengths-based experience that motivates the workforce.

Commercial: how the costs of poor and variable performance can be managed.

Integrated: how performance management drives optimized talent management.

Segmented: how performance management can be adapted to increase adoption and impact.

Introduction

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Figure 1: Performance management cycle

Performance Management

Planning

Recognition and

RewardPerforming

Feedback and Review

Monitoring & Managing

Developing & Coaching

What is Performance Management?Before delving into the practices mastered by leading organizations, we need to agree on exactly what performance management is. In simple terms, performance manage-ment can be defined as managing employee performance toward the achievement of individual, team and organizational objectives. Key factors underlying this definition are employees’ capacity and ability to perform in their roles and teams; their motivation to perform with discretionary effort; how their leadership and other factors support their performance; and how well their efforts are aligned to the organization’s overall objectives.

Performance is primarily about results, output and productivity. However, it is also about understanding the impact individuals have on these achievements and the way in which they are achieved (e.g. professional conduct).

Many people think of performance management in terms of formal systems of annual appraisal that are monitored and managed by HR. Our performance management approach, however, considers it a more pervasive part of working life and organization culture. It is a continuous cycle of setting expectations, managing, coaching and developing, as well as providing regular feedback, review, recognition and rewards (see Figure 1). This paper explores some of the practices leading organizations have employed that move beyond traditional performance management systems and processes.

Planning: setting expectations and objectives with individual employees and teams and planning for how these will be met.

Monitoring and Managing: tracking performance levels, motivating and addressing issues in performance.

Developing and Coaching: developing employees’ skills and the capacity to perform in current and future roles.

Performing: individual employees taking responsibility to deliver results against objectives and standards.

Feedback and Review: providing regular informal feedback and periodic review of performance.

Rewarding: formal and informal recognition and rewards for effective performance.

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Individual Objectives

Department / Business Strategy and Objectives

Corporate Strategy

Performance Management in Leading Organizations

Performance Management Is Strategic Organizations must have clear direction, but also be able to change quickly in response to disruptions or opportunities in the market. However, in many organizations, company strategy and individuals’ performance are disconnected. How can this be addressed?

In leading organizations, there is a dynamic link between enterprise and individual performance management. Such organizations have clear strategies and values cascaded down to both team and employee objectives (“what”) as well as into behavioral competencies and standards (“how”) (see Figure 2). In these organizations, individuals understand the strategy and key success factors and managers have an important role in building the ”line of sight,” bringing the vision to life for their teams. Business results are communicated clearly and profession-ally to employees in a way that the commercial language and realities of the organization are shared, not just the realm of investor briefings and

board meetings. In a recent Accenture study, 48% of leading firms provided clear “line of sight” of strategy to their employees vs. 29% in laggards2.Corporate strategy and values remain a relatively constant set of goals to align performance. However, teams and individuals also need to adjust their objectives to align to more frequent shifts in business priorities and meet commitments made to share holders, regulators, customers and the public. Cascading of objectives should be coordinated across business units with common messages and measures to bring the strategy and values to life for each level and part of the organi-zation, but also to reflect immediate business priorities.

‘What’…

Performance Management

Figure 2: Cascade from strategy and values

Individual Behaviours

Role, Team and Job Family Competencies

Corporate Values

‘How’…

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The cascade starts at the top of the organization and moves rapidly downwards, remaining closely aligned to the business planning cycle. A key challenge is to keep the objectives relevant to individual employees and their reality (for example, their sales territory). Setting realistic targets can help focus efforts, especially when these targets are broken down further into interim objectives (such as interim project dates or sales quarters). The alignment of individual and organiza-tional performance should be ongoing, allowing for updates to objectives at any time (especially for new hires/transfers or new opportunities).

The recent global recession has increased the complexity of both setting and cascading objectives. For many organizations, objectives had to change quickly following rapid strategic shifts resulting from events such as mergers or turnarounds. Organizations now are much more concerned about financial and risk management, but also must renew their focus on innovation and business development efforts to restore growth while managing environmental sustainability as a business priority. Underlying these shifts are longer-term trends toward roles that are increas-ingly global, multiskilled, matrixed, project-based and collaborative. Setting objectives is getting more complicated and can no longer adhere to a “one size fits all” approach. All of these factors are increasing the importance of prior-itizing objectives, defining measurable targets, collecting the data required to assess progress and developing ways to recognize shared results.

Balanced scorecards3 can be an effective tool for dealing with these complexities and are widely used for executives and

senior managers. They clearly highlight the connections between short- and long-term performance as well as between results in areas of perform-ance such as financial, operational, customer, innovation and people, and increasingly, areas such as sustainability, social responsibility and collabora-tion. Even for the most results-driven workforce, short-term targets must be balanced by objectives that support sustainable performance (for instance, continuous improvement).

A common pitfall is the tendency to include too many objectives, reflecting everything on the business agenda or in an individual’s job, rather than prioritized key objectives. Instead, objectives should be focused on areas of discretionary effort, or areas where workforces can clearly make an impact. Between five and seven objectives in a performance cycle is a good rule of thumb to follow. Formal reviews of objectives should occur at least twice per year, with more frequent reviews or adjustments for specific workforces such as sales or research and development, or after significant business events.

Another pitfall is the excessive use of standardized objectives (a “photocopier approach”), which may accelerate cascading and teamwork toward common objectives, but weaken the planning conversation and the relevance of objectives to individual employees. When dealing with large-scale work-forces, a good alternative can be the adoption of a modular choice “objectives bank” that provides high-quality objectives content that can be selected and then tailored to the specific needs of the employee.

Successful cascading and performance management requires a clear feedback loop and, in particular, timely, accurate and meaningful data to assess progress. Performance data can be a significant enabler for change and a motivator of

increased performance as it creates visibility and transparency. Accenture has collaborated with a number of organizations to develop “perform-ance workspace” solutions, customiz-able to individual employees, which bring together key performance tools, resources and data in a compelling way. However, many organizations use the wrong measures, driven by data availability, not impact, or fail to share data in a meaningful, timely way with employees. To achieve high performance, the measures and data used must drive the right behaviors and results as well as promote increased transparency and accountability regarding performance.

Introducing new leadership objectives and cascade process

A global consumer goods company needed to improve its cash flow and integrate recent acquisitions, while trying to instill operational excel-lence, innovative behaviors, new sustainability plans and stronger people development capabilities.

Accenture helped the company develop a new cascading process as well as a set of performance objectives, measures and informa-tion structures. These enabled the company to cascade and realign its leadership objectives, create clearer line of sight and encourage dialogue between managers and employees.

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Performance Management Is Engaging In many companies, it is not uncommon for a large segment of the workforce to be disengaged or unmotivated. In such organizations, it is critical to change the perform-ance management process from a box ticking exercise for managers to a tool that can help improve engagement.

Employee engagement levels are at all-time lows. According to a recent survey from the Conference Board4, less than half of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with their job–the lowest percentage since the survey first took place in 1985. In the United Kingdom, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Develop-ment reported similar results5, with a sharp dip for younger employees experiencing a recession for the first time. It is clear that organizations need to start rebuilding engagement, and performance management plays a key role in this task.

Yet managers and employees often view performance management as a disempowering and negative experi-ence. Performance management should motivate employees and provide them with the opportunity to both own and develop their performance. The key to this is frequent, honest and constructive

conversations that empower employees to take accountability for results and play to their strengths. Performance management is particularly motiva-tional when employees have a strong say in, for example, the type and frequency of feedback given.

This is particularly relevant for what is being called the “net generation” of employees who have grown up with new forms of communication and technology. While previous generations are used to formal communication and traditional social networks, new generations expect frequent, imme-diate communication with much wider networks. In the context of a work-place, this can create both challenges and opportunities.

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Social networking tools (such as Rypple, a software solution that uses social networking to promote a more active and engaging feedback process) can enable employees to provide, receive and share frequent, light and honest feedback; outside of more formal review systems and with a more diverse group than just their manager. Such tools can also provide greater opportunities for self-management, especially long-term development that can move job-to-job (for example, looking at career paths taken by others, or gaining input on personal development areas). Most significant of all is the performance-enhancing social capital that individuals can derive from a more diverse and active network—for instance: instant access to global specialists; membership in communities of practice; or obtaining information about similar projects.

Managers create the prevailing climate for performance and engagement within an organization and are often the single-biggest influence on an employee. Increasingly, managers will need to play a role in bridging the net generation’s expectations with work-place realities. Leaders need to show sustained commitment to performance management, acting as role models and placing it clearly on the business agenda. They can “walk the talk” with their direct reports by holding them accountable against minimum standards

of performance management within their areas of the organization (as defined in their objectives, reviews and ratings). Responding to these concerns, leading organizations include interven-tions at each step in the performance management cycle.

Setting objectives should be a shared process of agreeing on expectations and building commitment toward objectives. For many organizations and workforces, it is beneficial for employees to develop or contribute to their objectives before they are reviewed with their manager. In this way, they take ownership for their objectives and targets, and start to plan toward achieving them. Employees should be encouraged to identify the support they require and how they can add to the performance of their team.

Frequent informal conversations and feedback within the workplace (outside formal reviews) are used to shape and motivate performance in a way that is directly and immediately related to the actions taken and the results achieved. A common practice is the “stop, start, continue” approach, which provides early feedback to highlight negative behaviors that should be ceased (stop), identify gaps where new activity, effort or behavior is required (start), and reinforce where the employee is doing the right things already (continue). This approach creates a much closer feedback loop to reinforce success, address performance issues as early as possible and improve employee learning. As noted above, social networking tools and techniques can enable this practice—especially for global organizations—but ultimately,

managers and employees need both to provide and request honest, clear and constructive feedback.

Periodic performance reviews are essential in order to document progress and allow for changes to individual roles or business conditions. At a minimum, these should occur at mid-year and year-end intervals—and more frequently for some workforces and new joiners, or after significant business events. The emphasis of these reviews should be on the conversa-tion and an impactful performance message, rather than solely to fill in a form or give the employee a rating.

In line with manager reviews, self-assessment by the employee can help promote self-awareness and evaluation. This is especially effective where performance notes or logs are kept regarding key events or feedback received between reviews. A number of leading organizations, including Microsoft, HP and Intel have taken this approach alongside their more formal performance review process. Some organizations also encourage feedback from sources including matrix managers, peers and customers. However, formal 360 degree feed-back can be complicated and time consuming, so it is often better for the manager and employee to seek this more informally and frequently.

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Coaching can further create ownership of outcomes by enabling individuals to identify their own objectives as well as take action to overcome obstacles and achieve these objectives. However, a coaching relationship takes time to develop and is based on techniques such as open questioning, visualization or reflection. Some managers are naturally gifted coaches, but others are ill-equipped and require training to become proficient. Coaching relationships can also be developed with colleagues other than managers (including career counselors, mentors, global specialists and sales coaches).

Building a culture of high performance

A complex global financial services group had a weak performance culture and low engagement scores related to performance management. A performance transformation initiative won backing from the board, and a clear vision was set and communicated to the stock market.

Within months, the project had delivered balanced scorecards to the top executives, creating significant momentum. With help from Accenture, HR and the business developed and rolled out a new global approach, system and process. The approach was “tough, but fair and consistent”, promoting strong minimum standards and management accountability. Also, for the first time, employees were able to define their own

objectives, keep performance notes and complete self-assessments. Alongside this, significant training initiatives boosted skills and the quality and frequency of discussions and reviews.

The new approach was introduced to more than 300,000 employees and quickly increased engagement scores (an over six percent gain in some measures in one year), while also having a strong positive impact on financial and strategic results.

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Performance Management Is Commercial

Many organizations have undergone significant restructuring in the past 18 months. However, executives may be unsure that the workforces their companies are left with are performing at a higher level or have the skills required for the recovery. These companies can use perform-ance management to help under-stand what they have.

Performance management cannot be divorced from commercial reality. All organizations should optimize and sustain the return on investment of their human capital assets—and not tolerate substandard or inconsistent

results. In terms of immediate people costs, detrimental impact on business performance (such as customer service) and negative impact on workforce engagement, poor performance is an avoidable cost.

However, poor performance is often weakly managed by managers who are not confident in handling these difficult situations and therefore avoid confrontation. For example, in one global organization, the areas about which employees were most dissatis-fied were the management of poor performance and the inconsistent application of performance manage-ment. The early warning signals are ignored and poor performers are simply shifted around. Poor perform-ance should be addressed in a timely, transparent and positive way through clear processes and by confident managers. In this way, early coaching can address performance issues before they become a problem. If required,

managers should be able to instigate a formal, written performance improvement plan with clear targets and timescales as well as conse-quences for failing to meet them. The focus of both of these interventions should be to seek a sustained and adequate improvement. Once reason-able efforts have been taken, the manager should be supported by HR should formal disciplinary proceedings or a managed exit be required.

So how does an organization review and rate different levels of perform-ance—especially poor performance?

Some organizations consider both absolute performance (against objectives or targets) and relative performance (against peers or top performers). Opinions are split regarding relative assessment

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techniques, such as ranking, laddering or peer comparison and rating distribution curves. For many organiza-tions, these are necessary disciplines for differentiating top and bottom performers. For instance, in one public sector organization, over 97 percent of staff were rated three or above on a five-point scale, and in another financial services organization, over 30 percent of one country was rated as exceptional (on a five-point scale). At a minimum, we recommend that managers deliver a clear performance rating against an appropriate scale (which should be simple, with clear titles, definitions and examples; and consistently applied) and that calibra-tion discussions take place within teams and business units—even if a performance rating distribution curve is not applied to ratings.

Clear ratings help identify poor performance not already being addressed and help track poor performers through subsequent cycles. Such information has been especially important in the past few years as many organizations have undergone restructuring and redundancies. Where redundancies are required, perform-ance data is essential to ensure the right selection decisions are made (for instance, not resorting to criteria such as “first in, first out”) and that decisions are less open to challenge. In one US-based retailer, a lack of performance data created delays and uncertainty in restructuring decisions, resulting in the loss of a number of top performers who took a voluntary separation offer.

Achieving strategic objectives and regulatory compliance through performance management

A large European utility company had identified performance manage-ment as a crucial enabler in its business transformation program to improve its core performance and comply with stringent regulation targets. Almost half of the company’s employees lacked objectives aligned to it strategic business goals and only 40 percent of them received mid-year reviews—and these were based solely on their managers’ opinions. Accenture renewed the company’s entire performance management process and introduced governance and measurement structures to monitor performance and ensure follow-up actions are taken. As a result, the company achieved 95 percent of its objective setting goals in 2010 and 92 percent compliance with its ratings provi-sion and performance feedback targets. Furthermore, the objectives and reviews are of a high standard as well as being consistent and fair due to peer comparisons and management training. In addition, peer comparison has helped increase the company’s focus on managing poor performance by providing a forum for managers to discuss and compare individuals. Poor performance is now managed more explicitly through the introduction of specific and tailored performance improvement plans.

Knowing who and what defines poor performance is certainly part of the solution. However, in many organiza-tions there is significant performance variation and significant value in

shifting the performance curve up for the majority of the workforce. To do so, organizations must understand top performing employees and how to emulate their behaviors across the workforce.

Calibration dialogues and the comparison of performance across the organization help leaders better define and communicate top performer profiles, including the results and behaviors exhibited by these indi-viduals. Conducting research on top performers can identify further factors that enable performance within organizations. Some common tactics to increase overall workforce perform-ance include:

•Providingclearminimumtargets and acceptable levels of performance.

•Definingtopperformerprofilesincluding extraordinary results and behaviors.

•Removingobstaclesandconstraintsto performance (such as poor systems or processes).

•Improvingthevisibilityofindividualperformance and results (such as employee dashboards).

•Creatingtransparencyofperform-ance relative to peers (such as league tables).

•Usingtopperformerstocoachandspread leading practices.

•Aligningtalentmanagementleversto motivate and develop performance.

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Performance Management Is Integrated

It is not uncommon for performance management to be a standalone process in many organizations. These organizations can generate greater value from performance management by integrating it with their talent strategies.

Improvements in performance management on their own can have an immediate and direct impact on the current workforce. However, a more coherent and engaging employee experience and a “performance multiplier”6 effect are created when performance management is integrated with strategies for attracting and developing talent over the longer term.

The links to rewards is particularly important. Leading organizations pay for performance—as recognition for past results, and also to motivate future performance and retain top performers. They look at total rewards in a strategic way, making investment decisions regarding the future of the business by assessing both impacts and returns. In many organizations, this link is weak. At one global telecommu-nications firm we found the economic value added by the top 5 percent of the sales workforce was more than 20 times that for the bottom 5 percent—but their difference in pay was only 1.5 percent.

It is essential that a clear link between performance and reward is well-communicated to employees (for instance, by redesigning total reward statements and communicating pay reviews effectively). For many frontline roles, short-term incentives are more effective than bonus payments or base

salary increases, paying more frequent rewards based on performance against key metrics. Implemented well, incen-tives can complement performance management and motivate performance by creating clear and highly-visible links between effort, results and rewards.

With regard to resourcing, it is essential to be clear on what defines a top performer. Organizations must identify the skills, knowledge, behaviors, experience and other attributes required; and reflect these in their selection criteria. Furthermore, organizations should make devel-opmental roles available to internal talent. For example, many organiza-tions use job rotations and global assignments to stretch and develop top-performing future leaders who are fluent in running the entire business. When hiring externally,

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organizations should ensure that new joiners have clear objectives set in their first month, regular feedback and the induction training and support required to become competent in their role in the shortest time possible.

Equally important is to understand the core competencies of the organization and the future demands on resources and capabilities that will be created through executing the business strategy and changes in the external environment. Strategic, long-range workforce and succession planning can help identify the resources and capa-bilities required for high performance in the future, as well as the resourcing strategies (build, buy, borrow or rent) required to achieve it. For instance,

in one global organization, aggressive expansion plans in emerging Asian and Latin American markets demanded the development of top-performing local management, alongside the focused use of a globally-mobile manager pool.

Integrating performance management with other talent management levers to drive long term results

A global organization was under-going a phase of organic growth and wanted to improve competency across its workforce. Accenture helped the organization define and develop a new performance management approach that brought together the ‘what’ (objectives, balanced score-card) and ‘how’ (competencies aligned to values) of performance. Performance management and learning management systems were in place already (not integrated). In addition to tracking performance against objectives, the performance

management system was used to evaluate performance against competencies and for individual development planning. Employees could then turn their development plan into action by adding events to their curricula on the learning management system and accessing relevant learning content and assessment. The client integrated their performance management system with a pay review system, promoting a greater differentiation of reward based on performance (within grade and market param-eters). The integration of these talent levers has made them more relevant for the business and has been a major factor in helping to drive strategic change.

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Performance management should help organizations identify top performers as well as potential top performers by considering not only current perform-ance, but also performance trends, potential and readiness. In this way, calibration sessions can be extended to incorporate promotion decisions, talent identification and succession planning processes.

To maximize future workforce performance potential, the link between performance and development needs to be exploited. Indeed, a recent report found that companies with high-quality devel-opment plans realized twice the revenue per employee.7 For the sake of simplicity and time, it is often best to combine the objectives-setting and development-planning conversa-tions. This should help address gaps and development areas from previous performance reviews, but more impor-tantly, also address the requirements of the role and support the employee’s achievement of their objectives.

Performance Management Is Segmented

While a “one size fits all” approach to performance management can be simpler to manage and administer, it is not always the best approach. Organizations need to strike the right balance between consistency and providing the ability to tailor by employee or employee segments.

In most cases, there is a strong case for the core elements of the perform-ance management policy and process (for example, the calendar, system and rating scale) to be aligned across an organization. This consistency provides a common “language” for discussing and comparing performance between employee groups as well as over time. Such an approach also enables management of employees who are matrixed or mobile between different business areas or countries.

Instead of treating all employees and workforces as a single entity, leading organizations are building on a common foundation by tailoring their performance management practices to different individual and employee group needs to maximize impact and increase adoption. “Workforce of One pioneers” such as P&G, PepsiCo, Microsoft and CapitalOne are using segmentation to help increase fit with an organizational sub-culture or to drive specific outcomes in a particular employee group.8

The approach may need to be tailored for different employees or workforces (by demographic, workforce purpose and job family / roles) as well as businesses (by business needs or industry cultures).

For instance, consider the different expectations of the net generation (individual career paths, flexibility and rapid feedback) against previous generations. Another common differ-ence is the needs and preferences of a sales workforce (who are driven by quarterly targets, league tables and incentives) versus a finance team (who are more focused on professional development and annual bonuses) versus a call center environment (in which metrics-driven management and frequent onboarding of new hires are priorities).

The combination of a shared founda-tion with a segmented approach will support organizations returning to growth through globalization or mergers—especially given the diversity of emerging-market cultures. For example, the most effective perform-ance management approach in a relationship-based country culture (such as Mexico or Brazil) will be different to that for a country that emphasizes respect, authority and hierarchy (such as China). It is impor-tant to remember that each individual and the relationship they have with their manager will also be different.

Performance management systems, especially those that employ social networking, can lower the costs of customization at an individual scale. As the next generation of workers increasingly expects to be able to define their own preferences and work in their own way, employee-defined personalization can be expected to continue as a growing area of innovation in performance management systems.

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One of the easiest ways of promoting personalization is to allow managers latitude to manage and empower employees to manage their own performance. Organizations should be clear on what aspects of the perform-ance management process determine the minimum standards, but then allow employees the freedom to find what works best for them and to develop their own performance struc-tures with support from their manager.

Segmentation across distinct workforce and career models

One large US retailer recognized that workers in different roles could be motivated differently. For example, the factors that moti-vate and retain managers are often quite distinct from those for tech-nical professionals. By looking for groupings of employees with shared needs and then asking them what they wanted, the retailer created customized offerings better suited to specific segments of employees—ultimately resulting in a happier and more productive workforce.

The retailer also used these insights to tailor its performance management practices through an innovative profit-sharing program that benefits employees with different financial needs. Other factors that can be used to segment workforces include generation,

geography and behavior. Growing markets like India and China often have particularly great cultural variances. In India’s family-based culture, for example, some compa-nies have been known to foster loyalty by encouraging parents of employees to visit the workplace and by sending them letters of thanks and recognition regarding their children. Companies can help maximize the performance of their employees by tailoring the work experience based on any of these factors, or combinations of factors.

ConclusionThe global downturn has shifted the economic, organizational and indi-vidual landscape, changing the way organizations think about and manage performance—and these changes are here to stay. In this new reality, with leaner workforces and commercial challenges, performance management practices are increasingly important as an enabler of high performance.

Effective performance management is a central part of the business and talent strategies of high-performance businesses. It is embedded into their organizational DNA and helps to drive their success through engaged and motivated individuals and teams. It is a continuous cycle of setting expecta-tions, managing, coaching and devel-oping employees, as well as providing clear feedback and rewards.

However, many organizations still struggle with weak or bureaucratic approaches to performance manage-ment. Each organization has different requirements and the right approach varies, but there are some leading practices that are key for organizations in all sectors:

Strategic: aligning enterprise and individual performance to improve business results.

Engaging: creating a positive, strengths- based experience that motivates the workforce and encourages individual and managerial responsibility.

Commercial: lowering the costs of poor and variable performance, as well as maximizing the impact of top performers.

Integrated: integrating performance management with talent management practices to create a multiplier effect.

Segmented: increasing impact through choice and customization against individual employee preferences or group needs.

No one organization has mastered all these areas and practice is still evolving rapidly, in many cases triggered by changes in technology and the external environment. The organiza-tions who are bold enough to adopt practices in these areas will move beyond simply monitoring whether employees meet expectations to ensuring that they attract, develop and engage the individuals and teams who will help them take the lead during the next economic cycle and beyond. These are the organizations who will succeed in the new reality.

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Notes

1. Bersin & Associates, 2009 Talent Management Factbook. 2. Accenture High Performance Workforce Study, 2006. 3. Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, “Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System,” Harvard Business Review (January-February 1996). 4. "Can’t Get No...Job Satisfaction, That Is: America’s Unhappy Workers" (2010) The Conference Board. 5. "Employee outlook: Emerging from the downturn?" (2010) Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.

About the Authors

6. Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas and Elizabeth Craig, The Talent Powered Organisation, Kogan Page (November 2008) 7. Bersin & Associates, 2009 Talent Management Factbook. 8. Susan M. Cantrell and David Smith, Workforce of One: Revolutionizing Talent Management through Customization, Harvard Business Press (May 2010).

Catherine Farley leads the Accenture Talent & Organization Performance practice in North America. With more than 20 years of experience, Cathy helps clients align their organizations’ talent and human capital strategies and processes with their business goals.

David Gartside leads the Accenture HR & Talent Management practice. He has over ten years of experience in helping clients architect their future HR operating models, set out their journeys to reaching those models, defining the business cases associated with those journeys and then delivering them through transformation programs.

Accenture senior managers Neil Frye and Andrew Young and manager Iris Martens contributed to this article.

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The Accenture Talent & Organization Performance service line provides solutions that enable clients to improve the performance of their people, their organization and their business. This group of skilled professionals has extensive experience across a range of talent, organization, human resources, change management, analytics, learning and collaboration capabilities. Backed by a comprehensive research program, global resources, and unparalleled tools and assets, Accenture collaborates with clients to multiply their workforce talent and organizational capabilities into a strategic force that can drive high performance. For more information, visit www.accenture.com.