Posts Tagged ‘Talent Organisation’
The Talent Organisation – Do we really need it?
Talent management is a notion of the MNC and not the luxury of the Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Talent management is the prerogative of the HR and not the job description of a business manager. Talent goes where the money draws it to. Connect the statements….
All myths!
Talent Management in today’s scenario is not restricted to a particular type of organisation or a particular function in an organisation. Talent management is not as simple as doling money to attract good employees. It’s much more than that. Talent Management (TM) has undergone evolution to emerge as the competitive differentiator among equals. TM today includes an entire gamut of activities that are wide and highly impacting in both scope and depth. It is an organisation wide phenomenon ferociously being driven by senior management to ensure that the organisation braces itself for the tremendous opportunities and more importantly for the deepening economic crisis the world faces today.
Like any other beliefs, the belief in TM and its impact on business can be superficial or realistic. Lip-talking organisations tend to tow the line of Talent Management purely to portray themselves as a short-term attractive destination for good talent. It is perhaps the tactical ploy of the management to create an atmosphere of talent recognition and development while all the way believing that if situations get worse, the initiative will be the first in the line of cost cuts. The outcomes of such short-term strategy are equally miniscule. Perhaps, the short term attractive proposition may actually result in fresh talent acquisition; the retention of the same will be a lost cause. Organisations such as these result in demoralising the workforce and driving them towards their own competition thus spelling doom on themselves. Such organisations fall prey to their short-sighted action plans and complete lack of strategic thinking.
High employee turnover rates are not a rare phenomenon nowadays as organisations struggle to retain talent. Turnover rates among CRM companies in India are bordering around 30%. It is interesting to note that smaller turnover rate along with low labour costs were the competitive advantage as far as competing with the US firms was concerned. But this advantage seems to be waning away at a scorching pace. Companies today are deploying task forces and external consultancies at a premium to understand this very phenomenon and the causes that lie beneath. Most companies today are aware that their workforce is the only differentiator when capital, assets and focus on cutting-edge technology are becoming rapidly duplicable.
Talent Management is more of a necessity than luxury if an organisation expects to thrive looking at a long term perspective. And this long term perspective is very important given the distortion caused by the severe downturn in the economy. Companies are developing their Talent Management frameworks tailored to the business needs and working on roadmaps to develop and sustain talent in the organisation. While some companies have put their hiring plans on hold and are busy cutting costs, the talent conscious organisations are seizing the opportunity to acquire quality talent at cheap prices (given the level of frustration at B Schools). While some short-sighted organisations blame the recession on the wrong doings and flamboyance of so called ‘Talented MBAs’ from premier B schools, the more established and strategically planning companies are cutting hiring at lower value chains and are concentrating on acquiring best MBA minds who they believe can lift their organisations out of the slump. It is this mindset of the companies that will see them sustain and retain talent over a longer period of time. Walk the Talk is the name of the game. If a company does not display and practice its focus on Talent earnestly, it will not be able to create a successful marriage with the talented lot, who will turn out to be the differentiating factor in such troubled times.
Bill Gates was not wrong when he quipped “Take away our 20 best people, and I will tell you that Microsoft will become an unimportant company.’’



