Finding, building and keeping talent key to global competitiveness

Financial capital has been replaced by human capital as the most important resource of any organization. According to Carol Dominguez, president and CEO of John Clements Consultants, the country’s leading talent management consulting firm, the long-term success of any organization, whether it be located in the Philippines or any other part of the world, will be determined by its capacity to find, retain and develop its talent base.

This view was echoed by executives and industry experts speaking at Talent Management Conference 2008, conducted recently. “Research shows a direct link between talent management, leadership development and business success in terms of higher productivity and higher shareholder return,” said Peter McAteer, vice president and managing director of Corporate Learning Harvard Business Publishing (HBP). “Market leading companies are investing in key capabilities – including talent management, strategy execution, change management and innovation — that allow them to strive in challenging economic times.”

McAteer, along with executives from companies such as Nestle, Accenture, and Procter & Gamble, in addition to more than 30 experts in fields such as human resource management, organization development, and marketing, spoke at the watershed forum.

Discussions revolved around topics including the globalization of competition for talent, which many executives believe is a key determinant of success for any organization.

“The intense competition for talent in the BPO sector is only a reflection of things to come in as the war for talent becomes global,” said Dominguez. “New technologies are transforming how talent is recruited, retained and developed. The skills required, and the ways in which people collaborate are all changing, forcing organizations to understand and source talent more systematically.”

In the Philippines, intense competition for talent has driven those at the leading edge to look at technology-driven HR, using social technologies such as Facebook as a means of sourcing talent.

According to Dominguez, employment branding has also become a critical factor for success highlighting the convergence of HR and marketing as human capital becomes the most critical asset of the company.

“Successfully hiring talented employees is only a facet of HR as a competitive advantage. While it’s important to build a strong workforce via recruitment, it is more important to keep talented people within the organization.” In the face of a rising attrition rate, Dominguez asks, how does HR tip the scale to balance efforts and investments between recruitment and retention?

“You have to increase retention in order to increase investment,” said Peter McAteer. “Put yourself in the position of the employee. Figure out what makes people stay and what drives loyalty. Have a source of attraction that brings people to you,” he advised. A talent management strategy, according to him, should be distinctive enough to differentiate one from his colleagues and competitors. It should be able to build loyalty; and to do this, one should be sensitive to the needs of the non-traditional worker, which is a vital part in closing the employment gap.

Beth Lui, country and managing director of Accenture in the Philippines said that Human Resources Management is now employee-driven, instead of supervisor-driven. Passion about work and respect for each other, and not just to the bosses are two of the things which distinguish Accenture from other firms. Web-based training, international certification programs, leadership development programs, and internal job postings keep Accenture employees.

For employer branding, Nestle Philippines chairman and CEO Nandu Nandkishore stressed the importance of emotional drivers over rational ones.

Believing that “comfort is the enemy” and that an employee is most inspired when he is “hungry”, Procter & Gamble Philippines president and general manager James Lafferty thinks that Filipinos have the best ratio in the world in terms of talent. According to him, continually challenging employees and assigning them to new tasks keeps employees on their feet.