Talent is a splendored vibrancy. We seem to recognize talent immediately when someone breaks a new Guinness Record in an event, or brings out an innovative new theory, or wins a Noble Prize for contribution to any discipline. Ever-increasing global competition today has placed much greater challenges in not merely recruiting talents but subsequently nurturing and retaining them per se. The river of talent flows perennially. It is only those extraordinary skills from the selected few HR professionals the world over that eventually spell magic. This article attempts to discuss the nitty-gritty of the activities which are fundamental to successful talent management.

Talent, in brief, is the sum total of abilities, skills, knowledge, that is ever remained short in supply against its demand. Talented employees possess knowledge and innovative skills, creative and positive aptitude. They are obviously `high fliers', brave in taking risks with potential to assume leadership positions.

As the economy is on a recovering spree, the HR executives around the world, of late, are witnessing a sudden spurt in the demand for talent. These bunches of recruiters today acknowledge that finding, retaining and growing talent counts among their toughest business challenges ever. Yet to address this concern, many are turning to talent management practices that can simply be termed as temporary tactical calls like short-term retention plans with quick incentive payments, increasing compensation by the quarter or half-yearly instead of the traditional annual increases, etc.

In today's uncertain world scenario, managers must be firm in their real quest and should never fall prey to any quick-fix talent solutions. One needs to shun this compartmentalized halo and go for a long-term talent strategy that would facilitate to form a robust talent bench. Sometime in our over enthusiasm, we may end up copying the best practices of a slew of great companies, which then result in a hotchpotch of misaligned initiatives and systems. So let's be cautious. A globalized labor market obviously means inevitable leaks in one's talent pipeline. Besides, intensifying competition demands a maniacal focus on cost front. Therefore, one has to face this catch-twenty situation and come out unscathed too.

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