The recent economic downturn has left many organizations in a quandary. A few years ago, the main issue was the victory in the so-called "war for talent": how to attract, motivate and retain the best and the brightest. But then the current recession it appeared that thinks on its head. Now many organizations are doing their best to figure out how best to restructure and cut costs without sacrificing valuable human capital that they built during the previous period of growth. To help such companies, the authors have developed a framework that unites the seemingly paradoxical practices of talent management and reduction. Framework looks at two important aspects. The first type of reduction, either reactive or active. The second aspect of the framework is the approach to managing staff or control-oriented or specific commitments. These two types of size reduction and approach to talent management, can be combined in a two-by-two matrix consisting of four quadrants. Each quadrant represents a different strategy, a different philosophy, focus and key HR and reduction best practices. The authors argue that there is no "one size fits all" approach to reducing and that managers should develop an approach that makes the best sense for their particular company, depending on its position in the quadrants of the matrix. "Hide
by Christopher Zatzick, Mitchell Lee Marks, Roderick Iverson Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 10 pages. Publication Date: October 1, 2009. Prod. #: SMR335-PDF-ENG