Recently, Ron Thomas, an American specialist in human resources issues, analyzed in an article published on the TLNT portal the perspectives that any company must be facing at the beginning of the year1. He cited an article describing the fundamental questions that Samuel Palmisano, CEO of IBM, asked himself to lead his company toward excellence:
• What is it that makes my company so unique that people spend their money on our products and services?
• Why should society allow my company to operate in its territory?
• Why should someone invest their money in my company?
• Why should someone work at my company? two
Thomas concluded that companies could generally be prepared to answer the first three questions, which are, after all, those that relate it to their environment, that is, to the market. But, she wondered, what would happen if, for example, in a job interview the applicant asked "Why should I work in your company?"?.
Companies often ignore or neglect the importance of their human talent. They forget that this, with their knowledge and learning, is what makes it possible to obtain the income of a company. Therefore, having policies that attract and retain the best human capital and that make companies an attractive place to work, must be a primary task within organizations.
Gary Becker, Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992, stated that in knowledge societies the greatest asset is the human capital that they possess, represented in the knowledge and skills that are part of people, their health and their work habits, since the productivity of modern economies is based on the creation, diffusion and use of knowledge3.
For companies, it is therefore essential to understand that their greatest assets are their human capital, which is what differentiates them and gives them a competitive advantage over their competitors in the market. How many times does it happen that a restaurant is successful because of its chef and his team and that when any of them leave, the service deteriorates and the clientele does not return to the restaurant? Good business results will depend, to a great extent, on good talent management.
The importance of human capital becomes even more latent if it is taken into account that in the medium term the demand for talent will be greater than the supply. Companies will compete fiercely among themselves for the most talented employees, either to retain them or to attract them, because as already mentioned, they will make the difference. In fact, the point will come when people will choose which company they want to work for and not the other way around (new generations are already doing so today). Therefore, having a clear and attractive offer of value to employees will motivate them, on the one hand, to stay in our companies, making them pay for what we have invested in their training and preparation for the position; and on the other, to work motivatedly, offering the best of themselves for the progress of the organization.In this sense, it is necessary to ask ourselves about the policies and strategies that companies are applying to retain their employees, mainly those belonging to the so-called 'Generation Y'. This generation, for example, is more interested in having a connection to social networks, access to cutting-edge technology, incentives for good returns, among others; But sometimes it happens that companies maintain traditional retention policies, with standard benefit packages and human management policies from a decade ago.
This leads to the conclusion that having a clear company philosophy that takes employees into account; offer emotional remuneration that allows them to excel in the work and personal fields, have good internal communication, offer opportunities for professional growth, balance the personal life-work relationship, adequately remunerate employees and have a clear policy of social responsibility and adjusting the value offer towards employees according to the specific needs and expectations of each one of them are some of the strategies that companies must follow in relation to their human capital, whose application will result in greater ease and lower costs in recruitment processes and mainlybetter performance that favors obtaining better business results.
Notes:
1. “What to ask as you star 2012: Why would somebody work for you?”, By Ron Thomas at www.tlnt.com: http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/what-to-ask-as- you-start-2012-why-would-somebody-work-for-you /
2. Steve Lohr's “Even a giant can learn to rum” at www.nytimes.com:
3. "The importance of human talent", by Clara Origaza, director of library development at the Autonomous University of Nayarit:
