Companies that do not promote R&D&i lose capacity for growth and even put their survival at risk
Spain will suffer in 2020 a significant talent deficit. And if retaining the most qualified employees is essential for companies, the shield can go through innovation, which is a great asset as part of the emotional remuneration of the worker and as a source for the sustainability of the company itself.
The salary is fine as a professional retention lever. But, as Maslow reflected in his famous pyramid, once the minimum needs are met, the individual seeks other types of goals. The best prepared employees want social recognition, power and autonomy to feel challenged by new adventures. “Innovation brings those challenges that build loyalty in their commitment to the organization. A company that does not allow and encourage innovation within it is causing the flight of talent”, points out the “he-adhunter” Arancha Ruiz.
Fernando Guijarro, general director of Talent Management at Hudson, points out that "if a professional feels that he belongs to a company that is setting trends, visualizing the future needs of its clients and permanently questioning the 'status quo', it will be difficult for him to be attracted for other proposals.
Talented professionals are not conformists. They constantly seek excellence. They are usually allergic to routine. And, due to their scarcity, the recovery of the labor market is stirring the movement of these workers. "Talent usually has a very high component of openness, curiosity and learning." Guijarro details that, due to their pronounced proactive attitude, they appear to have a maturity superior to the age or professional category in which they work. “These professionals are happy to seek opportunities and take risks. An environment that encourages and allows making mistakes, testing, researching and achieving exceptional results is the best breeding ground for talent.
For his part, Ricardo Bacchini, Director of Human Resources and Organization of Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution, asserts that the company is immersed in a profound process of change to face the new ways of working that digitalization will bring. And, to this end, it is creating flexible structures, redefining its competency model and promoting the digital content of its training itineraries.
Likewise, the general director of Talent Management at Hudson points out that they are usually generous when it comes to sharing and exchanging experiences. “They evolve and gain in employability at the same time that the people around them grow. The more qualified their colleagues are, the more they develop and apply all their knowledge », he adds.
Loss of competitiveness
Ruiz, for his part, highlights an effect linked to the loss of talent: the decrease in competitiveness. The word innovation refers to the fight against complacency and conformism, to the desire to continuously improve... «It is to develop the explorer that we all have inside and that brought us out of the cave. When companies kill that innovative spirit in their employees and in the search for technologies that help them solve problems and needs, they are eroding their very existence", highlights the also author of "What a Headhunter is looking for" and "The Map of your Talent ».
The boundaries between functions and roles are blurring, challenging traditional hierarchies by removing layers of company management. Collaboration, work and flexible team structures have become a necessity. “Flexibility and transformation are two elements that the most talented employees value. They require that autonomy and confidence in their abilities to make decisions and manage their projects”, says Guijarro.
Beyond the impossibility of defining a specific type of innovation, the continuous learning of professionals must be protected. Thus, Ruiz considers that the ability to acquire new skills and maintain an open context that promotes the development of skills is the most effective way. Similarly, he says that organizations that create processes to spark continuous learning for their employees and environments in which to test new ideas
They are the ones that best retain talent. "Innovation must be part of the DNA of the entire organization."
The "headhunter" confesses that in her professional career she has never encountered a person without talent or a leader without a personal brand. However, she acknowledges having observed, very often, talents located in environments where they do not develop. The sad thing, she thinks, is that in an employment market as rigid as the Spanish one, no one wants to risk leaving a job for fear of not finding the next one quickly. The same thing happens in business, but for a different reason. Ruiz highlights the habit of "selecting quickly and firing slowly" -instead of doing it the other way around-, and of taking time and resources to ensure that the professional is the ideal and power, in case it is not. make a dizzying change. In this way, talented workers are sometimes considered "professionals with little potential" simply because they are not in an environment where they can develop their skills and abilities.
