Area Development
This month, Deloitte released its "Six guideposts to managing talent out of a turbulent economy," part of its Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy survey series. The six guideposts are: The problem may look familiar, but the solutions are not; there is a paradox of scarcity amidst plenty; companies using the recession as their retention strategy do so at their own risk; understanding your people is as critical as understanding your customers; show me the money, but show me the love, too; and follow the market leaders.

In conjunction with Forbes Insights, the survey results showed that 20 percent of executives queried plan to return to old recruiting methods when the recession abates. Only 39 percent have an innovation-focused recruiting plan. There were 14.9 million unemployed Americans at the time of the survey, but there exist 2.5 million jobs for which companies are actively recruiting but cannot fill.

Sixty-five percent of companies are worried about losing high-potential employees, and perhaps for good reason: Nearly 50 percent of employees are considering leaving their current jobs. Employees said they were attracted by retention initiatives, especially better pay, benefits, and flexible work arrangements.