Do we really have talented people in our organisations?

By Niroshan Silva

As insulting as that question may sound, the answer is a definite yes! Obviously we have talented people, yet are they indentified and utilised so they can realise their true potential. That is what this article questions. The article is not about talent management, but about realising and realigning one’s processes to enhance productivity through the use of our employees and their talents.

Rhetoric dapples with fancy words and theories to talk about a plain truth – We don’t have a talent map. Many don’t even know what that is. Ask yourself the question, even if you are an HR professional, what do you really have the ‘knack’ of doing? Are you good at conceptualising, or presenting and getting agreement, or are you a process driver?

What special talents do you possess? Are you good at designing? Or perhaps acting? On one side we may be underutilising the human capital we possess, on another, we may be depriving the employee of an opportunity to display his/her talents.

Another angle to the discussion is when we hire the wrong person or have not checked the behavioural components in terms of talent. We do have the opportunity even at a later stage to re-align, if we can identify the person and the talent he possesses.

For example, a risk assessor was hired recently with high credentials pertaining to the job. Two months into the job, in spite of his excellent analytical skills, his inability to change the mindsets of people got him nowhere. As a result, all the change management ideas he had were swept under the rug.

Having come from a ‘finance background,’ we saw the ability he had to analyse and conceptualise. Today he is the deputy internal auditor of the company and is very happy with his job. His talent and personality fit the current job although his credentials vary.

Where do we start?

1.Build an assessment tool to identify the current talent within the organisation. One way is for the organisation to formulate competency definitions and a measurement scale. There, the core institutional competencies are transposed to measure the capability of individuals. While some companies presently manage this tedious task, the true results come from analysing the data in a way that it can be interpreted as a talent scale and/or a ‘talent potential forecast’. Another is to build a tool out of multiple sources and index it. E.g. Appraisal system (trait based, behavioural based or knowledge/skill based), 360 degree evaluation report and the like. Knowing the skill level is vital. For example, if one were to question how many people in the organisation have MBAs, many companies may have the data ready, yet if we were to question how many in the company know Tamil, how many organisations would have the answer? This is because the competency of linguistics has not been properly defined for the assessment of talent.

2.Coaching and training to enhance skill. If the organisation spends time and effort in developing the talent of the employee the benefits would be worthwhile. For example, organisations that added an incentive in the appraisal, and also provided the facility to learn Tamil are today reaping benefits in the north and east expansion programmes.

3.See how the talent can be utilised within the organisation. Measure and check the possibility of using the talented people in CFTs (Cross Functional Teams) or future job requirements or job enlargements. Recently a prudent HR manager of a company found out that an employee was good at video editing. At the time, this employee was working on recruitment and selection back end processing. He was sent for a short three month programme on professional video editing and today manages a special division that supports the training division with in-house built motivational movies for people development. He also went on to help the organisation with other design features. Two weeks ago this young guy got the opportunity to join the ‘Employer Branding Team’. The time he spends at work has increased by 20%, but his satisfaction levels have shot up even further. For this young man, every day is like the textbook case of an employee coming to Google to work. This may not happen always, but for many it would help to bring out the best in them. The practical fact is that when one’s natural talent is being used, the employee enjoys dispensing the competency.

A human being is God’s greatest creation. That strength can be utilised for productivity or dispensed negatively. Our ability to strive to support this talent is vital for the sustainability of our future. Take steps to look at and address talent management issues in the company and see the motivational levels of the people at work rise exponentially.

(The writer – B.Bus. (Mgt) (HRM), MBA, MAHRP, NLP Master Practitioner, BELBIN – is Immediate Past President and an EXCO Member of the Association of Human Resource of Professionals.)