At a time when the question of talent has been on the lips of millions from John O’Groats to Lands End, with the devastating news that John Sergeant has decided to hang up his dancing pumps in the talent contest which is Strictly Come Dancing, you could say that ultimately real talent has won the order of the day. But has it? In these bleak economic times we all needed something to brighten our spirits and John definitely had something, if not a qualifying quick step, to add a bit of sunshine to our increasingly greyer days.

In our cover story (see page 12), Stephen Hoare looks at the similarities, if any, with the 1970s recession and how organisations can actually benefit from this economic downturn. Adversity can be an extremely good opportunity to look at current processes and roles with fresh eyes. Mike Holbrook, director of organisation and people development with PricewaterhouseCoopers, sums it up: “We’re focusing on the mobility of our people and helping them retrain and move into new roles.”

This could involve reassessing and stretching further those individuals considered high potential. Breaking down each person’s role into specific skills and competencies (see Workshop on page 31) is a starting point and can ultimately help align people and their skills against the broader organisational goals.

We are privileged this issue to have an interview (see Profile, page 9) with world-leading management educator and guru, Professor Dave Ulrich. Fresh from the Annual Congress of the HR Leadership Alliance, he is adamant that it is HR that can really make the difference to driving the intangibles contributing to shareholder value. But, he adds, success in a tough economy also comes through the presence (physically) and the essence (emotionally) of our leaders.

Success is critical to NASA. They have taken time out from celebrations to mark the 10th birthday of the international space station, to discuss an ambitious study they carried out to pinpoint the vital qualities that make up a successful systems engineer, the person who brings hundreds of people and thousands of parts together to achieve mission success – with fascinating results.

Moving from outer space to thinking space in the workplace. Sally Watson (see Thought leader on page 5), argues that more ‘experienced’ and mature talent should be given time for personal reflection to reframe their talent and focus on a new challenge. And no one is addressing this more Strictly than our own John Sergeant.

Katie Pattullo
Editor