In a prior post, I noted that talent management’s role in engaging top talent was not related to the processes that are so popular in systems and magazines today. Instead, managing the most talented has more to do with changing how our managers relate to talent, and ensuring a collaborative culture that exposes talent to wider ranges of possibilities than any process we can put in place.
There is one major problem. As Harvard Business Review states, your top talent does not want to be managed or lead. They know they are smarter, they know they are more innovative, and that you depend on them. They also know that they will get the job done, probably better than the expected result. What your top talent wants is to be respected and to stay close to work that is meaningful, productive, and continuously challenging to them.
What this means is there needs to be a massive shift in how we manage top talent compared to the rest of the employee population. The critical management concept here is that “management” does not work. So if HR’s best talent management strategies are ineffective and management’s ability to manage is irrelevant, what’s left to do?
Leaders should provide challenging and meaningful work with opportunities for career advancement. Most people want to do new things in their job. Good leaders challenge employees; but at the same time, they must instill the confidence that the challenges can be met. ((Goffee, Rob and Jones, Gareth, March 2007. “Leading Clever People.” Harvard Business Review. Retrived from http://www.hbr.com.))
I’ve also been writing quite a bit about collaboration and innovation networks. I think for HR to be really impactful to the organization, it’s time for us to step outside to box and start playing with the strategies and technologies that really make a difference to work and the workforce. As our knowledge economy evolves, increasingly knowledge workers are less motivated by titles and compensation. Instead, knowledge workers want constant stimulation, which is created through having a great culture that supports the same.
Last but not least is the culture component.
It is not the job of a CEO to make employees listen to what you have to say; it is about setting up the system so that people want to listen. The combination of the right environment and a culture that creates wants instead of requirements places few limits on what employees can achieve. ((Ibid))
5 responses to “Leading Top Talent”
systematicHR – Human Resources Strategy and Technology » Leading Top Talent
[…] recent post at Systematic HR entitled Leading Top Talent hit the nail on the head with their assessment: Top Talent does not want to be […]
[…] recent post at Systematic HR entitled Leading Top Talent hit the nail on the head with their assessment: Top Talent does not want to be […]
DD what does Top Talent mean in terms of collaboration and innovation networks ? How are those meanings impacted by strategies used to keep Top Talent interested and respected ?
What about the wide range of affective perception of boredom? One woman’s whirlwind is another’s still water…..
Can Top Talent be developed or only discovered ?
What about brute force efforts like WW2 or the Apollo Program, where superior performances are occuring in the thousands and individual satisfaction/reward/comfort is taking a back seat to the Goal, often explicitly ?
What about those times in the lives of businesses, people, and nations when things are tough on the outside- e.g. the Great Depression, just after 9/11, or just out of college? Is Top Talent still a viable concept or does everyone take a bite of the shit sandwich together ?
Could the star system, in the end, cause harmful infection among the masses ?
Is dependance on stars a shortcut to real talent development (i.e. a good farm system vs. good free agency deals) that is too random and timing oriented to be counted on?
This is may be an important subject across Amercian life right now….not just in business.
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