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Jul
2 2008 | What Does the Price of Gas Have to Do With Talent Strategy?According to a recent conversation with John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas– a lot. “The country is coming to terms with permanently higher gas prices,” Challenger says. Employees are hurting, and companies are responding by offering compressed work schedules, four-day weeks, telecommuting, gas cards and car-pooling. These are more than short-term fixes, Challenger says. They are the beginning of a revolution in the office that will result in productivity being the central value of work, rather the number of hours logged by employees. They also dovetail with other trends like globalization and a 24-hour view of the workday that accommodates all time zones—Asia, Europe and the United States.
Tom Knight, a partner with Axiom Consulting Partners in Chicago agrees. His recent study with Mark Masson highlights the need for companies to develop creative compensation in the face of an impending recession. In this paper that speaks specifically to sales professionals, Knight notes “as the administrator of the sales compensation plan, HR professionals are uniquely positioned to leverage these insights to develop contingency plans. When designed and executed well, contingency plans not only optimize sales costs, but also motivate and retain sales professionals, thereby enabling the company to emerge stronger and more competitive from a down economy.” A recent conversation I had with a senior account executive highlights the need for creative planning. Faced with a 60 mile round trip commute and little increase in 2008 base salary, he struggled with the decision to take a job closer to home. A savvy HR department caught wind of this and set up a plan for him to telecommute 3 days a week. He stayed with the company; they averted the need to recruit a new sales star. A smart decision all around– attract, retain, motivate. Isn’t that our mantra? Let’s start a conversation– what is your company doing to be creative in a tough economy? What best practices can we share?
Tags: Axiom, compensation, economy, sales |
3 Responses to “What Does the Price of Gas Have to Do With Talent Strategy?”
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July 2nd, 2008 at 10:57 am
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
July 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Just wanted to say HI. I found your blog a few days ago on Technorati and have been reading it over the past few days.
July 16th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Serendipity might be the word I am looking for to describe this! It seems that for far too long we have been preoccupied with those who are ‘active’ - you know who I mean…the people that are always running around, attneding meetings and often great self-promoters. They often prosper at the expense of those who are ‘productive’ Ultimately, shouldn’t we only be interested in outcomes & outputs (provided they are delivered ethically & legally)? Does it really matter where I sit and what ‘competencies’ I can demonstrate? Isn’t the ultimate ‘competency’ that I deliver what has been agreed and deliver it on time? Perhaps the gas price crisis might be one of the best things that ever happened to how we understand work and jobs!