business opportunities and possibilities. “Government’s responsibility is not to create jobs, but rather to facilitate a climate in which businesses can grow and thrive,” she says.
In terms of the private sector’s responsibility,
Maroun believes that it’s the role of companies to create jobs. “The private sector should create opportunities for our youth and should be able to assist in career stability and progression for experienced and talented workers. If we are to halt the movement of top talent out of our country then government and private sector should be held accountable for delivering on their role expectations,” says Maroun.
Because of this, many women feel forced to
move to areas where they are treated more equally and fairly. “We need to address gender inequity seriously and immediately otherwise it will continue to create instability in talent retention if left unaddressed.”
A further issue contributing to the movement of top talent is gender inequity. This will remain a reality in South Africa as long as highly capable women are treated differently to their male counterparts in behaviour and compensation.
Apart from the increase in talent migration, what adds to the risk of losing talent is the changing definition of talent. According to Maroun, what is considered talent today may very well be out-dated tomorrow. What this means is that organisations need to be building robust approaches to attracting and developing talent that stands the test of time. Talent of the future will be truly diverse; leadership styles that worked in the past will no longer be as effective in the future. They will need to be digitally confident, integrators who can manage diversity of thought and work styles, and who have the ability to craft a higher purpose and build sustainable and inclusive models of growth for the business. Managers and leaders who have
the foresight to see this and adapt their styles f She says it’s time for a change in strategy. “Organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain specialised talent as knowledge and industry is changing so rapidly. Leaders should be focussed on attracting knowledge workers who are capable of rapidly acquiring knowledge and skill, and converting it into meaningful performance. Once the business has attracted these people, it needs to ensure that it keeps its finger on the pulse in terms of understanding what it takes to retain them at all cost.”
The final contributor is that talent as a concept is difficult to define. This causes instability and confusion in Human Capital Management departments that are tasked with attracting and retaining top talent. “How can they fulfil this task if they don’t know what talent is to begin with?” Maroun asks.
According to Maroun, a solid departure point
in terms of defining what talent is, is Marcus Buckingham and Curt W. Coffman’s excerpt on how great managers see talent. In their book First, Break All the Rules, they state that talent [is] a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behaviour that can be productively applied. And therefore every role, performed at excellence, requires talent because every role, performed at excellence, requires certain recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour.
“While there is no silver bullet or quick fix that will see our talent risk corrected overnight, we will experience a vast improvement should government and the public sector begin to work together to stabilise the environment and create job opportunities. In addition, if we can get gender equity right and find ways to define what our talent is, we will make significant progress in attracting and retaining it.
If we don’t do anything, we can expect to see talent attraction and retention risks remaining as is, or even becoming worse in South Africa – a country that is filled with some of the most highly-talented, motivated and skilled people in the world,” she concludes.
August 2011 | Management Today 109
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