The Management of Human Talent is a historical issue; one of the oldest examples is the Parable of the Talents (Saint Matthew 25, 14-30). Although the description of Talents in this story has a different meaning, since it refers to "Unit of Weight or Money".
The Management of Human Talent is an activity that in most cases we carry out, without prior knowledge, it is normally a hierarchical activity, we carry it out as Bosses, as Teachers or as Parents; seeking that others, who are normally under our charge, can give their best. However, doing it empirically does not guarantee us to obtain the best results, sometimes reaching more frustrations than results.
The Parable of the Talents describes the amount of money received by the servants of a man who was going on a trip, which he distributed according to the ability of each of them to make productive investments.
It is important to highlight in this story that this man knew perfectly the abilities of his Servants, since he gave each one of them a different amount of Talents, according to their abilities; As a good businessman, he was concerned with knowing the skills of his collaborators to minimize the risk in his investments and to take advantage of the capabilities of each one of them and thus obtain the best return on his money.
The Parable also teaches us that the distribution of Talents was not equitable; The first of the servants received five talents, the second received two and the third only one.
The results were also different; The first of the servants negotiated, invested, and consequently doubled the talents, returning ten talents to his employer; The Second of the servants did the same and won two others; However, the third made a hole in the ground and hid the money from his master, he did not want to take risks and therefore did not produce results either.
The man who distributed the talents among his servants was cunning and strategic; He risked as little as he could, aware of the capabilities of his servants, he left less to the one who he knew would not produce successful results and left more to that servant who he was sure could negotiate and invest to achieve the highest profitability.
For their part, the Servants accepted the challenge, according to their own expectations and the conviction of what they could achieve. The first two servants described in this parable did not doubt their ability, they immediately measured the risk and invested the talents, consequently managing to duplicate them and return to their employer the fruits of that investment.
The last servant described in the parable, was afraid to invest and to avoid any risk, he decided to bury the talent and return to his employer exactly the same amount that he left on his departure; as a logical consequence, he received a call for attention for not even having invested in the Bank and obtaining the minimum expected return, he was subsequently fired.
The Parable of the Talents is a story that clearly represents our business reality, but also represents our personal reality. It is worth analyzing and concluding in this regard.
From the business perspective; the distribution of tasks and functions according to the potential and talent of the collaborators, is a consequence of the knowledge that we have of each one of them, the knowledge of their competences, their abilities, their interests and personal objectives. The comprehensive knowledge of each one of them, makes the management of the coach much easier to obtain successful results.
The successful distribution of tasks and functions in relation to the talent and potential of the collaborators is a true organizational development strategy; it is undoubtedly the highest representation of Human Talent Management.
From the other perspective, personal application; The Parable describes the self-use of human potential and talent to achieve personal development, through what we can call Self-Management of Human Talent. Being ourselves the best Coaches of our potential and talent, represented in our knowledge, competencies, abilities and skills, which, when aligned with our personal interests and objectives, help us achieve our purposes and exceed our results.
In conclusion; the Parable of the Talents clearly describes the main actors within the practice of Human Talent Management, or traditionally known as Human Resources Administration; since it describes the entrepreneur's strategy based on the knowledge of each of her collaborators and also describes the productivity results of each of the collaborators in relation to their performance.
It is worth asking; if as entrepreneurs we use this reference in practice and as collaborators "What are we doing with our Talents?".
