Your Talent Strategy is Personal and Financial

Every year during budget planning season, I’m reminded how much time we spend planning for things like equipment, technology, cash flow, and growth. But one of the biggest drivers of whether those plans actually work is often treated more casually: our people.

The longer I’ve been in finance, the more convinced I’ve become that talent strategy isn’t just an HR topic. It’s one of the most important financial conversations an organization can have.

The Cost Shows Up Either Way

When a key role sits open, the cost doesn’t simply pause. Someone else picks up the extra work. A project slows down. A customer may not get the same level of attention. And when a strong employee leaves, we lose more than a name on the payroll. We lose experience, relationships, and the knowledge they carried.

Those things don’t always show up neatly on a financial statement, but anyone who has managed through turnover knows they are very real costs.

Plan for People Like You Plan for Risk

In finance, we’re used to thinking about risk. We plan for shifts in interest rates, supply chain disruptions, unexpected costs, and changes in demand. Talent deserves the same kind of attention.

That means being honest about the places where we may be too dependent on one person. It means knowing where turnover would hurt the most. It means thinking ahead about the people we’ll need if the business grows the way we are planning it will.

To me, those aren’t separate HR questions. They are business planning questions.

The Payoff Takes Time

The challenge is that investing in people rarely gives you an immediate return you can point to next quarter. But it matters. It matters when a leadership role opens and someone is ready. It matters when a strong employee stays because they can see a future with the company. It matters when a team has the stability and confidence to serve customers well.

That kind of return is harder to measure, and no organization wants to pay for excess capacity.  However, talent planning may be one of the most important investments a company makes.

Making It Part of the Conversation

At Landrum, this is something we talk about often with business leaders. Your people plan and your financial plan are closely connected, whether they are discussed together or not.

I’d be interested to hear how other leaders are approaching this. Are you building talent risk into your planning conversations, or does it still tend to sit off to the side?

If this is a conversation your organization is having, or needs to have, we’d be glad to participate in the conversation with you.

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