In lock step with layoffs is news of less robust recruiting functions and recruiter layoffs.

Google laying off recruiters describes how the former top employment brand has made changes to recruiting.

Headhunters get the ax explains that less hiring demand means less need for recruiting supply.

Out-of-Work Sourcers describes how some HR staffing functions are being cut.

Are there alternatives? How about repurposing recruiters into other initiatives such as succession planning, performance management, and retention of top talent to mitigate the costs of turnover? After all, recruiters are people specialists.

The Human Capitalist makes the point well in: Should Recruiters Be Planning Succession?

And Josh Bersin outlines Five Reasons to Focus on Recruiting in 2009.

Wholesale purges of the recruiting function are bad for the employment brand and bad business. Because when the economy recovers and your company needs people, who will be there to recruit them? Your renewed growth will be hamstrung by a significant delay in hiring the recruiters who will hire the rest of your innovative talent.

Instead of incurring that cost, apply recruiters’ skills to today’s organizational talent needs and stand ready for tomorrow.

Many companies are surviving the economic turmoil and looking for opportunities, according to McKinsey Global Survey Results: Economic conditions snapshot, November 2008. In particular, there's a renewed focus on innovation which may be a key driver of economic recovery. Innovation occurs in many ways: the development of new products or services, or in new ways to approach challenges. Here are some interesting examples:

Why an Economic Crisis Could Be the Right Time for Companies to Engage in 'Disruptive Innovation' describes the difference between incremental and disruptive innovation and how real transformation comes from challenging the paradigm with creative destruction, powered by teamwork and human knowledge.

Speaking of teamwork and human knowledge, A New Odd Couple: Google, P&G Swap Workers to Spur Innovation explains how two leaders in completely different markets are doing an informal talent exchange with people in the areas of planning and training.

Assessing innovation metrics: McKinsey Global Survey Results shows that organizations with the highest returns from innovation use metrics to assess innovation more comprehensively.

Employers innovate to reduce job losses shows how European companies are getting creative with alternatives to across the board jobs cuts and retaining their top talent.

And, as we outlined in Don’t Lose Your Head When You Tighten Your Belt:
Upgrading talent says that downturns put your whole talent strategy at jeopardy due to knee-jerk downsizing, but also offer opportunities to upgrade talent and boost your employment brand at a time when top talent becomes available.

What’s the Take on Innovation and Talent Management? Talent Powers Innovation, and is the best way to fuel business performance and value creation.

News of mass layoffs is everywhere and you can start using the official R word– the recession in fact started in December 2007. But you’ve been here before if you experienced the economic downturns in 2000-2002, 1991-1993, and 1981-1983.

The significant talent management question then is: how does your organization adjust your talent management practices for success in a recessionary economy and in the following economic recovery?

Corporate actions in past recessions, especially around layoffs, left negative impressions of many corporate brands, and caused erosion in employee loyalty and productivity. Those lessons learned from past mistakes apply during these more transparent times.

But this recession may be different due to factors such as:
• A more interconnected global economy.
• Having to manage four generations at work.
• Instant global communications which can impact an employer brand.
• Ubiquitous technology for networking that gives top talent easy access to more employment choices.
• More local and global virtual work.
• The breadth of business sectors worldwide affected by the downturn.

Taleo Research and HCI will present new research findings and discuss the strategies to get through these times and position organizations to accelerate as the economy improves. Register for The Economic Impact on Talent Management webcast on Friday, December 12, 2008 / 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. ET.

In past recessions, corporate layoffs were announced in press releases that were strategically positioned as cost reductions for Wall Street. As an HR professional and steward of your employment brand, you should be equally interested in how your company is perceived by current employees, potential candidates, and consumers on Main Street.

Today, organizations are not in sole control of the published information and responses to their actions. This economic downturn is different. The article Blogs put new spin on layoffs offers insights into how all your workforce practices are now out in the open, making them transparent and critical for both your employment and corporate brands. Some smart companies like Taleo customer Tesla choose to strategically pre-empt the coverage by delivering the news on corporate blogs to proactively control the message.

So, although it may not be profitable to lose your head when you tighten your belt, know that how your organization handles workforce reductions will be a public discussion.

Talent drives business performance and superior employment branding attracts top talent. But what about the connection between talent management and a company’s brand perception?

BusinessWeek recently posted their Best Global Brands 2008 list. Six of the top ten and more than half of the top 50 have used talent management initiatives to attract the top talent they need to distinguish their brands. On the magazine’s Best Places to Launch a Career 2008 list, seven of the top ten employ talent management. (We know because they are Taleo customers.)

SHRM’s study, The Employer Brand: A Strategic Tool to Attract, Recruit and Retain Talent, says that organizations that define and align their employment brand will attract and retain people with a tighter culture fit.

Another talent and brand connection is employee satisfaction. In The Value of Being a Best Employer, Peter Cappelli cites Knowledge@Wharton’s Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices that says research connects how good a place is to work and the employment brand to a 2X+ return compared to the overall market.

Although any good news on the stock market is hard to come by these days, here are some bullish words of encouragement. Wells Fargo’s Chairman Dick Kovacevich takes a more positive view of the economy and the market’s immediate profit-focused misperception of relationship of talent to stock price:

“There may be doubts how long (the recovery) will take, but it will get done and sooner than most people think…Why do stock prices go up with layoffs? Why is it good to lose good people?”

Maybe more CEOs and boards will take a long-term holistic talent view that upstages short-term financial thinking?