For Immediate Release:
Leaders Play Crucial Role in Retaining Top Talent In An Economic Downturn, says
Human Capital Expert
Toronto, December 18th, 2008: Marty Parker, the country’s leading expert on human
capital, says 2009 will be a critical test of Canada’s corporate leaders and their ability to
retain top talent in an economic downturn.
“Seeing your organization through an economic downturn will require a healthy and
vibrant corporate culture,” says Marty Parker, Managing Director of Waterstone Human
Capital. “Leaders will need to continue to derive the best performance from their top
employees – even when times are tough.”
According to Waterstone’s 2008 Canadian Corporate Culture Study™, 81% of
Canadian executives surveyed said that their current leadership has lead to the creation
of their organization’s culture.
“Leaders should be hired because they’re the right ‘fit’ with the existing values and
behaviours of an organization, or, because they exhibit the traits of the evolving or
desired culture of an organization,” says Parker. “And when times get tough, the true
measure of a successful leader will be how he or she handles a crisis.”
Marty Parker’s Top 5 Recommendations For Retaining Top Talent In An Economic Downturn:
1. Lead By Example: Leaders should exhibit the behaviours they expect from their own
employees.
2. Be Clear and Consistent in your Communications: What aligns employees to an
organization’s culture is clear and constant communication. Leaders should keep
employees informed with regular communication, even if it’s just a weekly email from the
CEO’s office.
3. Invest in Top Performers: The best employees are the most vulnerable in tough
economic times. Leaders should use creative compensation schemes (such as short,
medium and long-term incentive plans) to motivate top talent and to ensure that in
difficult times, top performers have new learning opportunities.
4. Focus on the Future: Leaders should be clear about their vision for their organization
and should give top performers new challenges, keeping them focused on what comes
next.
5. Take Action: Sage leadership knows that downturns are an opportunity to grow
market share. Leaders should act with confidence, invest in their key customers and give
top performers the opportunities to lead new and exciting initiatives.
“A corporate culture should be healthy enough to survive good and bad economic
times,” says Parker. “The greatest test of a leader over the next 12 months will be his or
her ability to keep employees motivated and performing in a weak economy.”
About Marty Parker, Managing Director, Waterstone Human Capital:
Marty is the Managing Director and Founder of Waterstone, and is the country’s leading
expert on Human Capital. Formerly, Marty was Managing Director and Partner with The
Caldwell Partners International. He also held the role of Executive Vice President of The
CCL Group, one of Canada's leading marketing communications group of companies.
Marty's earlier career was with Johnson and Johnson and Labatt Breweries, where he
held progressively senior sales and marketing positions. Marty is a member of
Entrepreneur's Organization and a former Director of VON Canada and Junior
Achievement. He has Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees from The
University of Guelph.
About Waterstone Human Capital:
Waterstone is a retainer-based search firm that recruits at the leadership level across a
variety of industries and functional areas for some of North America’s leading
organizations. Waterstone’s unique process and approach to executive search is
designed to maximize "candidate fit" to client organizations while providing new levels of
performance accountability in the executive search industry. www.waterstonehc.com
