The “talented” business knows how to turn a spark into a flame

“Speed is the new currency of business”, according to Marc Benioff at Davos 2016. Many businesses have adopted the notion that in a complex world, talent is a driver for speed, agility and performance. In fact, a better way to consider and nourish talent in individuals and teams is to invest in all aspects, to ensure a long-term dynamic of individual and collective success.

It’s therefore interesting to ask what we understand by talent, in part to understand its internal mechanisms and in part to link it to a wider idea of a healthy business evolution, one that aligns employees around a desire to succeed and a continuing development and achievement dynamic. We’re a long way here from the complicated nomenclature that aims to measure, harness and normalise “talent”, with negative consequences for the energy of the collective.

SMEs and multinationals provide us with similar feedback and pragmatic insight about talent and its mechanisms. Three inseparable key drivers seem important to us when deeming an individual, a team or a business “talented”.

  1. The motor, the deep-seated motivations, determination to move forward, capacity for action and animal drive that can be applied to a project.
  2. The fuel, the knowledge, experience and accumulated positive conditioning, validates and feeds value creation in the project.
  3. The spark, the desire, passion for the subject and hunger for action that bring joy and resilience and trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin that are vital to transcending one’s existing abilities.

To achieve speed, and then more speed, on the winding road to an unknown destination, the motor, fuel and spark need to be carefully cared for. Talent is therefore a combination of factors, inseparable, connected, evolving, valuable but also complex and fragile. Which is why companies spend so much energy nowadays to attract and keep it.

How to do this is less evident, and yesterday’s answers are not necessarily tomorrow’s solutions. Companies still too often rely on a job history or CV, failing to give enough weight to the fuel, the experience and knowledge that is in fact the only measurable factor in evidence.

How too can a company leverage the two other powerful drivers that comprise “talent”, the motor and the spark, to become a “talented” business, one that inspires and engages each of us to give our best and achieve miracles as a result?

Link to the original article (in French) in Agefi (26 November 2019): https://agefi.com/actualites/acteurs/lentreprise-talentueuse-sait-nourrir-letincelle