How Does Talent Strategy Lay the Path for Transformation?

In times of change and disruption, whether acquisitions, strategic pivots or reorganisations, Harvard Business Review reports that employees feel a strong need to know where they stand and how to succeed.

This is supported by research from KPMG which shows that attrition rates double after an acquisition announcement as firms overlook the technical and functional talent who keep the business running, leading to loss of hard-to-replace people.

Reorganisations can involve leadership changes, which frequently bring changes in strategy across multiple business areas.

According to recent research by The Conference Board, CEO turnover is rising even among higher-performing companies and the rate of external hires is increasing.

Ariane Marchis-Mouren, Senior Researcher at The Conference Board, says that the rise in CEO departures among strong performing companies, reflects the overall higher CEO turnover.

Boston Consulting Group research published in October aligns with this, showing that the average tenure for outgoing CEOs in the first half of 2025 was 6.8 years, down 7.7 years in the same period of 2024.

But with the potential to directly threaten performance and therefore put transformation strategies at risk, leaders must find ways to keep employees engaged and enthusiastic about where they work throughout any company changes.

Building-up talent retention 

HBR says that adopting development-centred strategies can help leaders build a more adaptable workforce through integrating talent strategy intro transformation.

Gallup, a workplace consulting and global research company, reports that employees whose managers involve them in goal setting are 3.6 times more likely to be engaged.

According to HBR, a development-first retention strategy must prioritise specific areas in order to improve morale and therefore create measurable business impact. These areas are:

• Equipping leaders to navigate change so employees receive consistent and credible signals
• Providing engaging development opportunities that employees see as relevant and attainable 
• Building systems of internal mobility that connect development to real business outcomes

Frontier Communications faced putting this into action in September 2024 when Verizon acquired the company.

Marlette Jackson, Senior Director of Talent Strategy at Frontier Communications, and Ariel Leonard, Senior Vice President of Talent at the firm, are the co-authors of the report. They said: “We had to wait for the necessary approvals, which we knew would take more than a year.

“To keep employees engaged during this time, we accelerated an already underway initiative called Frontier Forward: a structured, company-wide programme focused on upskilling, internal mobility and engagement.”

The goal of this programme was to integrate development into employee experience at every level to ensure both excellent business performance and people retention through four key pillars.

1. Leadership development

Frontier invested in development exercises for employees at multiple levels of leaderships: executives engaged in assessments, coaching and multi-day change summit; directors and managers completed development programmes on change and trust; and Employee Impact Group leaders piloted sessions where participants completed coursework in advance and used it for collaborative problem-solving.

2. Professional development 

Quarterly workshops at the company on AI adoption, change agility and career ownership drew more than 6,000 attendees, helping team members feel valued and addressed their need for development. 

The authors wrote that 81% of participants, found from feedback in a quarterly survey, believe the programme would help them build new skills.

3. Internal mobility 

A “talent marketplace” is described in the report as a place where employees can create talent profiles, apply for internal roles and take on short-term “gig” assignments, and encourage employees to move and grow in a company through enhancing engagement.

Frontier has seen that it reduces external hiring costs, surface underutilised skills and link development directly to the business outcomes.

4. Communications and engagement

Through engagement campaigns - newsletters and video spotlights for example - visibility and participation can be increased, treating communication as core to execution.

This encourages employees to see talent retention programmes as a path forward for their careers, not just a HR initiative.

Companies that focus on these key areas will put talent at the centre of their business strategy, resulting in higher returns, greater resilience and performance, and a team that helps deliver successful transformation.