Although a focus on the impending workforce demographic effects of Baby Boomer retirement is out of fashion during the current economic turmoil, a chart in PwC Saratoga’s 2009/2010 US Human Capital Effectiveness Report starkly illustrates the cause for concern.

Even if managerial and executive retirement is delayed in the short term, a critical group of corporate leaders will be exiting organizations soon. This undercurrent in the workforce requires renewed attention to talent management practices for succession planning and leadership development.

According to this data, you need to prepare today for one of every three managers and one of four executives to be gone tomorrow. A formal succession planning initiative will decrease your business risk while increasing engagement and retention of top talent waiting on the bench.

Having a safe workplace seems like an obvious top ten item for both employees and organizations. Towards that end—as well as to reduce organizational risk and liability— 92% of organizations perform background screening, according to the 2009 HireRight Background Screening Benchmarking Report. The findings demonstrate significant impact on the hiring process and business performance:

Up to 18 percent of background screening results and up to 19 percent of drug screening results adversely affect hiring decisions.

So background screening is valued and valuable, yet there are two noticeable aspects which need improvement:

1. Lack of Extended Workforce and Recurring Screening Undermines Protection

2. Screening Integration is Inconsistent within Screening Programs
Furthermore, 71% report their organization's screening is not integrated with other systems, applications, programs or processes.

Opportunities exist to improve background screening practices with ongoing screening and integrated technologies that streamline processes. Integrated background screening could drive the twin benefits of greater effectiveness and higher efficiency for your company.

Peter Drucker’s Paths to Creating an Engaged Worker outlines how the Father of Modern Management perceived engagement and how to make it happen. Drucker called out a four prong strategy for engagement that can now be supported by the latest in unified talent management technology:

1. Careful placement and promotion
Job and cultural fit assessment information captured in the recruiting process can now be combined with an enterprise performance management, internal mobility and succession planning system. That structured consistent approach helps ensure that promotions are determined by fair and collective decisions based on experience and performance.

2. Demanding high standards of performance
Performance management that measures goals with performance reviews combined with ongoing goals/reviews rather than annual performance cycles help foster a culture of performance. Challenges are then considered the collective norm rather than the individual exception.

3. Providing workers with information
Performance management that aligns goals from the top down and bottom up provides the continuity of business thought that all employees need to find relevance in their daily tasks. Systems that support cascading goal alignment, ongoing feedback, mobility, and dialogue create an information channel where all employees can measure themselves, their colleagues, and ideally own their part of the business.

4. Encouraging workers to acquire managerial vision
In addition to cascading goal alignment across the enterprise, unified talent management provides visibility into succession planning, career development, and internal mobility. This transparency helps workers understand where the company is going and how their current and futures roles align to the business.

Motivating people: Getting beyond money in McKinsey Quarterly points out that cash is not always king. For those with satisfactory monetary compensation, you can unlock hidden performance with three engagement keys:

“…praise from immediate managers, leadership attention (for example, one-on-one conversations), and a chance to lead projects or task forces…”

All three relate to Drucker’s points when formalized in ongoing performance processes, transparent succession planning, and aligning individual goals with business goals.

At Taleo World 2009 and at a seminar in Chicago, a Taleo customer presented their story of practice and Taleo technology implementation driving “Success with Succession.” Beyond the benefits of our next-generation user interface, focus on users and managers, tight integration, and self-service configuration, there was an underlying revelation.

The increased visibility that technology brought to their process meant managers could see each other’s people and a company-wide succession pool. That visibility created the need for—and in itself drove—change management. Because the walls of department silos were made transparent. Which in turn broke down each manager’s silo mindset. It made them start thinking of the company as a unified talent pool, not a collection of city states. One talent pool. One company.

This is an example of extended visibility enabling extended thinking. No department is an island. In terms of succession and internal mobility, that visibility creates free talent trade across department borders. You offer people opportunity or risk losing top people to another company. In return, people exhibit stronger engagement with transparent career paths and internal opportunities.

What’s the overall benefit? People work better in glass silos. You get a more holistic approach to talent because you have data, process, and visibility aligned in a unified manner—driven by technology. Got unified data? Get a united company.

Employee volunteer programs make employees feel good by contributing, help positively position the company in the community, and enable development of new employee skills. Volunteer programs can also connect employees to a more diverse social network that can offer referral recruiting opportunities.

A strategy for diversity recruiting will encourage your organization to draw from a wider candidate base, build teams that foster innovation, and more accurately reflect your local as well as global customers.

Likewise, the buzz phrase “employee engagement” is important to your company because your workforce will be happier, more involved, and productive.

Obviously, these are all nice to have. Now think about it this way:

The Impact of Corporate Volunteerism study, which analyzed responses from 450 survey participants, found that a significant correlation exists between high-performing companies and the presence and support of a formal employee volunteer program. Moreover, EVPs are more likely to be seen as an integral part of the internal culture of high-performing organizations, based on self-report data.

Highly engaged employee companies enjoy 26% higher employee productivity, lower turnover, higher talent attraction, and greater shareholder return; see findings in Watson Wyatt’s 2008/2009 WorkUSA Report.

The business performance these kinds of talent management initiatives can drive move them from nice to have to need to have. The ultimate proof is in the execution, which requires the processes and supporting technology platforms for effective talent management.