Nowadays no one contests the idea that managing always involves managing people - and that a substantial part of the challenges managers face are the difficulties of managing different personalities, ways of being, visions and values, and maximizing and enhancing the talent available. But managing talent is not an easy task.
Article by Pedro Neves | Reading time 2 minutes
There are several strategies that have been discussed and tested, such as providing coaching, giving employees opportunities for development, clarifying roles and expectations, and many others (if you want to deepen these strategies, I recommend reading The Talent Management Handbook, edited by Lance and Dorothy Berger, whose third edition will be available in December this year). However, it is easy to fall into traps when trying to translate these strategies into practical actions.
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor and consultant, points out in a 2014 Harvard Business Review article five traps commonly found in talent management. Of these, I would like to point out two that are particularly relevant and yet scarce addressed.
1. Deciding based on favoritism, taking the leading role of others' work, and create internal divisions
Firstly, to ignore the harmful effects of the company's politics, which involve actions not sanctioned by the organization (therefore illegitimate) and with a very self-centered nature (deciding on favoritism, taking the leading role of others' work, create internal divisions). The realization that these are the rules that guide the operation of an organization has a toxic effect that tends to undermine any attempts to create a good working environment and to reduce both organizational effectiveness and efficiency, resulting in growing cynicism regarding any initiatives that may be promoted.
2. Confusing commitment with happiness at work
The second trap is to confuse commitment with happiness. Happiness is surely important and we must all make choices that make us happy and seek to be happy with the choices we make. But from a talent management point of view, this is a potentially misleading goal, as a person can be happy at work for being undemanding, having friends in the workplace to talk to, or knowing how to go with the organizational politics - goals that may not contribute to the better functioning of the organization.
Commitment reflects the emotional bond that people develop with their work and is reflected in an increased willingness to help the organization meet its goals. Being committed means that you are available to face more difficult and risky tasks (which do not necessarily contribute to happiness, at least in the short term) because you "put on the organization's shirt".
Summing up and concluding
Good talent management also means identifying and acting on these and other traps, signaling employees that talent management is taken seriously and is indeed a key goal for your organization.
Article originally published in Forbes Portugal magazine
