Strategic HR Review, 2008
"Taking off the harness"
by Julia Middleton
Talent is an organisation’s gold, its future, its ideas, its flexibility but it shouldn’t be harnessed. There is a danger that ‘high potentials’ are seen as merely a reliable pair of hands who will get work done quicker and more effectively than others.
Not only is it short-sighted not to take full advantage of all of the abilities, ideas and energy that high-achieving staff can bring to an organisation, it is risky too. It is usually the most able who want to stretch and test themselves, so if you don’t they will look for an organisation that will.
The frequently used term ‘harnessing talent’ captures this mistake. There is a misconception that people must start their careers in a box and that it is only in the limited space of their job description that they can grow and develop. This linear and prescribed path might be fine for some, but think about what a harness looks like. It is a thick leather strap that restrains and keeps people in their place. That is the effect that a lot of talent management programmes which aim to ‘harness talent’ have on people who are bursting with creativity and enthusiasm.
This leaves them bewildered and discouraged, as was brought home to me recently, when my daughter, who has just started her first job after university came home from another frustrating day at work. She has come to realise that she is expected to confine herself to following processes and carrying out prescribed tasks for the next six years when she will then be expected to dust down her leadership abilities and begin using them. What is most perplexing for her is that it is these very leadership abilities that she was hired for in the first place, and she can’t understand why they are going to wait six years before she uses them.
A new organizational approach
However, the biggest danger is not the squandering of talent, but the organisational rigidity that it will create. The future is already here, it is just unevenly spread. To survive, let alone thrive, in this fluid and dynamic environment, and to find new markets and grow, organisations need to be ingenious and adaptable. They need to be flexible enough to avoid the hazards while being able to grab the opportunities at the same time.
This means that organisations needs to start thinking outside the box and look for new ways that will allow new staff to broaden as well as focus. So, while it is important that emerging talent have focus and get the job done, this should not be at the expense of context. From the start and beyond it, they need to be given the chance to see the bigger picture for the organisation, not just their department or section, and to have ideas heard on the strategic direction for the organisation. They should be encouraged to connect with other parts of the organisation and given scope to test novel ideas and trial original projects.
The possibilities for what this could lead to are exciting and limitless. Ditching the harness analogy and giving talent the freedom to fly, will mean that talent is no longer squandered just because it doesn’t fit into what is narrowly expected of it. Neither will there by a haemorrhage of talented people looking for something more stimulating and challenging. Above all, it will put talent where it should be, at the vanguard and not the rearguard of change.
(C) Strategic HR Review
