Dealing with true talent

Am I bragging? Yes, intentionally, so you will read on.

Talent is rare. People in this category not only perform brilliantly in their jobs, but also generate greater return on investment than others. A classic example was provided by JW Glock, who, in the 1950s, conducted experiments on teaching rapid reading, and learned that students who read the fastest made the greatest gains. Those who read slowly, also gained but to a lesser extent. 

This rare commodity is becoming rarer amid heightened global competition. Naturally, a trend in the human-resources business is shifting from “headhunting” to “talent management”. It is basic demand and supply. When the pool of talent is relatively small – such that external acquisition becomes too costly – an alternative strategy is to grow your own talent in-house and, more important, retain them.

Unfortunately, few HR managers seem to get it right.

The first thing you need to know: Talented people are complicated creatures. In the same way that I won’t fully understand great minds like Alan Turing or Stephen Hawking, it will take time and effort for HR departments to understand their talent pool effectively. 

It goes back to Organisational Behaviour 101. HR should understand the motivation behind each talent. Some may be driven by money or intellectual inquiry; others may aim to contribute to society. A good friend of mine, who is a capable treasurer, made a career move because she wanted to take her mother out more often. Clearly, there is no single formula.

My first observation suggests several implications. For instance, while putting everybody in a “training course” appears to be a popular approach to talent programmes, it’s hardly effective. A career “handbook” won’t do justice either. 

Most talents I know have clear visions about career goals, and have already gone far beyond those basics. For what it’s worth, a well-tailored one-on-one session that serves unique needs will be far more productive, but it won’t be cheap. Yet if talent management were easy, it wouldn’t pose serious challenges to businesses these days. 

Another concept I’d like to put forward is that of “collective intelligence”. While motivation must be solicited on an individual basis, the actual management process doesn’t have to follow the same pattern. 

Most people tend to think that talented people are solo players. On the contrary, I believe a team of talents, with the right chemistry, could create great synergy. A team-based approach allows both repercussions of ideas and cross-functional sharing of experience. 

Bring together a humanitarian and an architect, and we have “universal design” that promotes equal accessibility to all. A scientist and an entrepreneur could work together on a high-tech start-up. I believe this lesson is applicable to talent management too.

Last but not least, I think HR needs to stay ahead of the curve. Sharp minds require acute responses, and it is only then that talents may gain confidence in so-called talent management. This might mean re-branding HR management altogether. It has become quite clear that HR is no longer a support unit, but a strategy unit, which helps drive company.

Research has shown that the best organisations tend to leverage the power of their human capital (John H Fleming and Jim Asplund, 2007). HR managers must therefore know their “customers”, which, in this case, are the talents. 

Another good friend of mine is working on heat-tolerant crops – plants tend to produce lower yields when the weather is hotter, and you can imagine the impact of global warming. The project is potentially revolutionary, but I doubt his HR department is aware of it, still less of its possible commercial impact. 

So here is my feedback to the HR industry. Although I might not speak for all talents, I believe I do for mid-career younger people – so-called Generation Y – who will soon assume the majority of critical positions in most organisations. In the eyes of these talents, the world is their oyster, and you would want to make your organisation appear to be so, wouldn’t you?

 

Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of TMB Bank or its executives. The author, |Dr Warapong Wongwachara, is vice president of TMB Bank and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Asset Management. He can be reached at [email protected].