The Power Within: How Human Capital Management Helps Organizations Achieve High Performance

To overcome challenges of globalization and economic volatility, Accenture believes that organizations must take steps to unleash the talent of their existing workforces. Accenture High Performance Business research confirms that talent is one of the engines of high performance. In this article, Accenture outlines the actions to take in survival mode, reposition mode and growth mode.

Podcast: Accenture Human Capital Management Solutions
In this podcast, Martin Braun, managing director-Accenture Human Capital Management Solutions, discusses the pressures facing HR departments in today's economic climate.

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While globalization and economic volatility are placing pressure on organizations, these challenges actually present a real opportunity to achieve high performance by looking inward and unleashing the potential of their workforces. Accenture High Performance Business research confirms that effective talent management underpins an organization’s ability to respond effectively to changing markets and plan for the longer term.

Improving talent management has an important role to play in helping companies meet today’s challenges. At the same time, operational and IT issues must also be resolved in tandem. Accenture sees organizations using one of three modes:

• Survival mode, in which the focus is primarily on short-term actions to manage costs, cash flow and revenues.
  
  
• Reposition mode, in which there is a strong balance sheet and healthy, if reduced, revenues.
  
  
• Growth mode, in which organizations are building market share through mergers, acquisitions, international expansion, adding customers and strengthening their brands.

Companies can move from survival mode to accelerate growth and ultimately attain high performance by addressing the needs of their people, operations and processes.

When in survival mode:

• Review and redefine the HR-ITstrategy, making use of existing systems and taking advantage of emerging technologies.
• Achieve a lower total cost of ownership through system harmonization and consolidation.
• Change to a more cost effective service model through IT transformation, including using offshore opportunities.

• Introduce business analytics capabilities to help to manage repositioning.
• Make use of the latest human capital management offerings, especially around performance management, compensation and succession planning.
• Define and implement a modern HR operating and service delivery model.

• Develop business cases for global human resources support.
• Seek out global process design and system harmonization by teaming with an experienced supplier with an asset driven approach.
• Make use of leading-practice processes and implementation templates for SAP and Oracle.