Are people’s capabilities diminishing? Our own observations would suggest
otherwise. Likewise science would probably point to the opposite. So why has
talk of the “War for Talent” come to the fore over the past 15 years? How can
there be a shortage of talent in a world that has more people than ever before?
Something has to be wrong somewhere.
The root of the problem lies in the implicit distinction between talent and
people. You can’t actually separate the two. Think of it like this: if your car
runs out of fuel the only way you can get it restarted is to refuel. So why do
we view 'talent' differently? If you have a shortage of talent the only way you
can alleviate that lack is to develop new talent. I am sure you will agree that
seems pretty obvious. Yet many people still don’t ‘get it.’ Unfortunately
management seem to top the list. They still seem to remain adamant that it is something
you go out and buy.
There is a great paradox here. People and their talents are the life-blood
of the organisation. To fulfil its potential, the organisation has to maximise
the effect of its people. Likewise, to fulfil their potential, individuals need
to maximise their personal potential. And, in order to do this people have to
maximise their talents.
If you have somebody in your organisation who is not continually developing
their capabilities to reach their potential you have someone who is effectively
wasting their life. You could picture this diagrammatically as follows:-
So for every individual who is not fulfilling their potential you have that
much ‘waste.’ But that is only the micro-economic picture for your
organisation. Multiply that across the number of people in your organisation to
get a ‘macro-economic’ picture for your organisation. How much “human economic
waste” do you think you have?
Now think about “lean management.” As you know it is all about eliminating
waste. Yet do you ever look at this? Do
you ever consider how much human potential – how much talent – is actually wasted
in your business? The likelihood is that in all your efficiency drives you
never even consider this. It remains an untapped seam of riches.
And the great irony is that both you and your people would benefit if you
were to think this way. Remember the three primary intrinsic motivators –
autonomy, mastery and purpose? If you help your people in those three areas, they
would enjoy more fulfilled lives and get closer to realising their full
potential. This would ensure that you get the greater employee engagement that
you are finding so elusive and the organisation would get closer to fulfilling
its potential. It is a win-win for you both. Now instead of having “industrial
conflict” you will have “industrial partnership.”
And all as a result of thinking about talent waste rather than talent wars!