Employees waltz in at work,
take a seat at their respective
desks that are nestled in a shimmering, sleek and
"made-of-glass" cubicles and get ready
for their daily grind. But the question that begs an answer is: Will the
employees give in their best to propel the company forward? Will the
employees give the collective push to the company so much so that it
can be catapulted into a big league? Are they committed, engaged
and charged enough to help the company outwit the competition
and leapfrog its way to the zenith of success? Or will they just cool
their heels and wait for better opportunities so that they can leave
in search of greener pastures. On the face of it, answer to all these
questions may sound deceptively simple, but it has a profound and
far-reaching implication for the organization's future and
survival. Little wonder, the corridors of the leading companies are
resonating with a seductive buzzword called `Talent Management.'
Arguably, talented people are the strongest assets and a rich
source of competitive advantage. The best- of-the-breed talent possess
"sharp-as razor" intelligence, oodles of
confidence and a strong analytical acumen to boot. Besides being
strongly motivated, they thrive on stratospheric level of challenges
and adrenaline rush. People high on transferable skills are the
most prized, much sought-after, highly mobile but equally scarce. Call it
a peculiar paradox, irony or esoteric "stuff", the labor market is
swarming with legions of people up for grabs of which a few possess
the critical employable skills. Organizations have to contend with
the most formidable challenges than ever before. At one level,
ever-increasing skill shortages, overhanging demographic time bomb,
cross-generational and diverse employees and yawning leadership gaps are
affecting the organizations. At another level, issues like cost
pressures brought to bear by competitors, increasingly demanding
customers and emergence of whole new markets are
combining in a manner that is lending a greater sense of
urgency and immediacy to the subject called `Talent Management'. |
