In a few days I will be meeting with a group of senior HR executives to discuss talent management strategies in a down economy. One could argue that in an economic downturn talent management becomes increasingly important; nevertheless, it can also quickly become a lower priority in the minds of some businesses that are faced with pressures to cut costs and do more with less.

Here are some of the questions we will be exploring together:

· What does talent management mean? Is it just a trendy phrase – repackaged traditional HR strategies – or something new, more strategic and integrated?

· Is talent management more or less important during a down economy? If it is more important, what exactly do you invest in? How has the recession changed your approach to talent management?

· What are some of the talent management strategic opportunities that have opened up as a result of significant job losses from large employers?

· What are you doing to retain and develop critical and high potential talent? What’s the consequence of not keeping your talent engaged? What will happen when the economy improves if you treat people badly now?

· Do you understand what matters the most to your critical talent? Why is that important?

· How is the recession impacting the relationship between employers and Generation Y?

· Are companies trying to understand their workforces better in light of the changing economic climate? Are we becoming more methodical and strategic about looking at what skills we need and actually have?

· What are the results/outcomes of effective and sustainable talent strategies?

Do you know how to answer these questions for your organization? Do you have a strategic HR leader advancing an executive-level discussion?

What other questions can you think of that we need to ask ourselves vis-à-vis talent management in this environment?

Stay tuned for an update next week.