JOSÉ MANUEL HERNANDO: “WAR FOR TALENT (OR WHY TWO DON’T FIGHT IF ONE DOESN’T WANT TO)”

There are concepts that, like the length of pants or the width of sideburns, become fashionable and, as such, companies and individuals rush with the fever of the convert to adopt them and incorporate them into their story and, thus, be the best of the best. 

This is why, as in a silent pact, they all seek to be agile, resilient, digital, sustainable or glocal at the same time. And depending on the fashion of the moment, they all transfer the same communication action request to the agency; quarter and half of an employee journey with a mix of value proposition, a large portion of sustainability but please take away the green washing, give me one of diversity but for the moment only of gender, or change the training in occupational safety for one of artificial intelligence. 

Well, it seems that now what is really hot is engagement, a much cooler way of saying that we want more committed and therefore more loyal employees. But of course, engagement, like love or respect, is neither asked for nor demanded; it has to be earned. And this is where most of the approaches to motivate and retain that unruly staff that at the slightest change… they change. And the problem is that the problem is not you, it is not you, it is not you, it is me, and I assure you that contrary to what Luis Fonsi said, the best thing to do is not to forget and leave it at that? 

If we talk about talent, retaining talent is a relatively new need, because with our parents there was no such problem. Today, getting a job for life is at the antipodes of the desire and priority of any professional with a minimum of ambition and perspective. It is no longer the companies that choose, but the chosen ones. And in this dance of changing partners, no one wants to do it with the ugliest one, or the ugliest one. 

To understand this social and cultural change, it is also interesting to look at the etymology of the word. Work comes from the Latin “Tripalium”, a kind of trap made up of three pieces of wood where the prisoners were tortured. The reason for naming this activity that supposedly dignifies the person is that in its origins back in the sixth century BC work referred to the activities associated with slavery, or more precisely, the punishment for not complying with it. Thus, when we say that work is very slave-like, we are not exempt from truth. 

The reality is that nowadays we do not even seek to work to live and even less, to live to work. Fortunately, the spirit of suffering boasted by previous generations has hardly transcended. 

The vast majority of mortals need a salary to live, but this is not the only reason that moves us, especially the new generations. My friend Rebecca, who despite her young age knows a lot, always talks about what motivates us to get up in the morning, and yes, that is precisely what engagement is all about, knowing it and encouraging it. No more, no less. 

Times have changed a lot, for better and for worse. Before the digital revolution, the ways to find a job were very limited; either you had to rely on relatives and friends, or the job offers in the newspaper, or you became a candidate for a competitive examination. There were also headhunters, but they were very marginal and usually reserved for the cream of the labor cream. 

At that time, after publishing the job offer, the mere power of the brand name of the job offeror was more than enough reason for them to sit quietly and wait for the candidates to come via mail or fax.

More push than pull 

Today, the ease of offering, meeting and connecting with potential talent has made it more push than pull, which has normalized the misnamed talent theft. “Even the bad guys steal from me” a well-known acquaintance told me the other day…. 

And well, yes, the reality is that we talk about how we put people at the center, that we listen to them and take an interest in them, that we want their well-being and that of theirs, that we care about their needs… but if we have a suspiciously high rate of departures, undoubtedly we are not doing something right, or worse, we are doing something wrong. 

I don’t think that in the case of engagement there is a golden rule applicable to all cases, but that the key is in that simple reflection of Rebecca; look for what makes us get up in the morning, and make them find it. This is the only way to avoid feeling trapped in the literal sense of the word “job”, and to ignore the siren songs via LinkedIn. 

Click here to go to the original article in Dircomfidencial. 

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