We all know talented people; In reality we are all talented, but in some people it is easier to observe the development of that talent, through the application of their skills or competences in their work, personal or professional environment.
Observing the Talent of others is many times easier than trying to demonstrate ours; which would make us little humble before the others. Perhaps it is one of the paradigms that we must break with more precision, since that false humility often forces us to let the development of our talent go unnoticed and only pay attention to the strengths of others; Perhaps it is also a matter of Self-Esteem.
The Management of Human Talent responds to an innate need of people; However, it is a personal decision. No one can be forced to apply and / or develop their talent; in any case, it can be motivated and incentivized, to provoke what is called “The Self-Management of Human Talent”
Regarding the personal or professional sphere, the Self-Management of Human Talent is much more visible to others, since it responds to interests and tastes that are developed more easily, in environments defined by the same people; such as: sports, music, culture, hobbies, etc.
Regarding the workplace, it is different, because normally the interests and tastes of people do not represent the raison d'être of the organization, therefore they are in the background or third, or being realistic they may be non-existent or irrelevant.
The development of Human Talent responds to a contemporary approach; that it cannot be achieved under the premises of Traditional Human Resources Management, which is based on people as Resources and where Talent Management as such cannot be guaranteed.
In traditional Human Resources Management it is easy to force employees to comply with norms, policies and rules; that facilitate the fulfillment of the objectives of the jobs.
Within these norms, policies and rules we can highlight all those that facilitate compliance with work schedules, delivery dates, task execution within procedures, including related times and movements; standards and indicators of performance or productivity; as well as goals and objectives.
This type of management can become very simple, if the normative and descriptive scheme of the jobs is well designed, or on the contrary, it can become complex and ambiguous as a consequence of the weaknesses of the design process.
Anything normative and descriptive can become obligatory; therefore, the personnel of the organizations can comply, but they will not necessarily be convinced and committed to what they do (with what they do).
Under this premise , traditional Human Resources management can become as simple or as complex as its normative and descriptive scheme is. But what about Talent Management; Can you regulate? Can it be forced? Can it be measured and controlled?
The answer is as simple as NO, you cannot; You can regulate everything related to compliance with the functional aspects described in the Job Description, but not with respect to the aspects intrinsic to the person (Job Profile); Talent is accompanied by attitudinal aspects, which although observable, cannot be compelled. Simply if the person wishes to develop her talent she will do it, otherwise she will not do it.
If it is a matter of decision, what can be managed are the reasons that provoke the decision; most of them being specific and different for each of the people.
Talent Management responds to traditional management practices, with a contemporary approach, designed to support (motivate and incentivize) Self-Management of Human Talent; among them, the practices of Leadership, Coaching and Mentoring can be highlighted; among other.
According to Pilar Jericó, who describes in his book "The New Talent Management", the role of the Human Talent Manager is aimed at Identifying, Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Talented people within organizations; This is not an easy task; on the contrary it is a complex task if it is done well; because although it has technical bases and foundations, the power of decision of the people will be more decisive than any method that is used for this purpose.
In this scheme, aspects related to Culture and Organizational Climate are decisive, so that people make the decision to apply their talent in the workplace and thereby go further than what the norms, policies and rules could compel them to comply with.
These aspects related to Culture and Organizational Climate are those that must be Managed, through contemporary administrative practices that facilitate the fulfillment of personal objectives and as a consequence the fulfillment of organizational objectives, through Strategic Alignment that seeks the scope of purposes (personal and organizational), through satisfaction (of people and the organization).
The need for Human Talent Management is a relatively new need in contemporary organizations, it implies Productivity Management and Organizational Development as the only means that guarantees the achievement of Organizational Objectives (translated into budgets) and with it the future business.
Until a few years ago, Human Resources Management had made great strides in the context of Productivity Management and the achievement of Organizational Objectives (budgets); The design and implementation of Performance Evaluation processes aimed at strengthening jobs has facilitated the achievement of results; The radical changes have been impressive in some companies that invested efforts and resources to reach productivity standards, managing to observe growth trends, through the measurement of results, using predefined indicators under technical criteria.
These contributions are recognized and valued, however, also in recent years there has been a stagnation in the aspects inherent to the Humanization of Companies; Approach that has been weak and little used in the Human Resources Administration; The reason is unique and unquestionable; Human Resource Management that seeks Productivity as an end, sees as satisfying the needs of the human being, "What is called Humanization"; So measurement systems are firmly focused on productivity and not on People.
At the other end; The contemporary approach also seeks Business Productivity, but seeks it as a "Consequence" and not as an end; Within this scheme the Humanization of the organization is essential to overcome the objectives and not simply to achieve them; therefore the conviction and commitment of the people is the most important.
In Conclusion: If the Management of Human Talent is a personal decision; where the protagonist will always be the owner of the Talent; And Human Resources Management must ensure the Productivity of the jobs; there cannot be a divorce on the grounds of both practices; reason why the main challenge must be to align Talent with Productivity.
Perhaps many of us think that this has always been the case, the reality of our organizations is different; The reality is that between Talent Management and Productivity there is a gap that grows larger every day.
