What price talent?

Love him or loathe him, Jonathan Ross is big news at the BBC. In a month that has seen the corporation defend themselves for what some see as extortionate remuneration, it has highlighted the issue of how far organisations are prepared to go to lure the biggest and best talent out there. Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, claims that Ross is “outstanding” and to have “the very best people on the BBC means appropriately high salaries”.

This may be the case in the entertainment industry, but other sectors have a very different take on the issue. PricewaterhouseCoopers, for example (see cover story, page 12), carried out a staff survey among its 14,550 staff and  found that salary was definitely not the most important consideration. Charles Macleod, head of engagement at PwC, said: “Money doesn’t buy talent, but recognition does.”

So pehaps recognition is the reward. It is an area where KPMG Australia (page 19) made a significant impact as part of its People First strategy. With an objective to create an environment where their people could flourish and realise their true potential, and on the back of a people survey where their employees felt they were not appreciated, more effort has been made to acknowledge a job well done – with pleasing results and a significant drop in employee turnover.

It wasn’t so much employee turnover as much as leadership turnover that worried Vodafone (page 16). All it took was an unexpected repositioning of managers, both externally and internally, where they were put in a position where they lacked the right candidates to fill the necessary vacancies. It gave them the opportunity to address where they could develop their talent internally – and which positions required searching outside the business.
Never underestimate the power of your line managers in developing your talent for this leadership pipeline. Gareth Chick (page 22) offers tips on how your line managers can coach their team so their talent’s long-term development meets the short-term needs of the business, concurrently cultivating a corporate culture that values the individual.

So, perhaps achieving the right corporate culture is the key to retention. Last year, ITV entered into a bidding war with the BBC over Jonathan Ross but, despite ITV’s bid being higher, Ross chose to remain with the latter. Maybe Ross is right, there is more to a job than the cash – even at a, reportedly, £6m a year. Whether the BBC licence payer feels the same is another question.






Katie Pattullo
Editor