“Intangible assets – How much does it really worth?

“Intangible assets – How much does it really worth?

Organizational entry isn’t just about finding the right person at the right time for the right job. It is also about keeping the right person. But how can we keep such valuable asset amidst the growing industries that promises to offer a fun place to work with plus perks together with extremely high starting rate? This is just one of those deep-seated questions being thrown now days by HR executives in every round table brainstorming there is. This has been one of the reasons why thinkers such us J. Collins & Porras adopted “built to last concept”, R.M Kanter urged executives to become “change masters” & Welch embraced “boundaryless” organization initiated with an open-book strategy just to encourage innovation and creativity to better position their respective organizations. To borrow one CEO’s statement “Take away my assets and leave my people.” This is one proof of how valuable these intangibles are to every organization striving to keep its pace in the new emerging economy.

Decades ago applicants use to offer commitment, loyalty, trust & conformity to our standards but sudden paradigm shift has emerge that lead to employers approaching talents offering them career path, security, training & development and benefits of which other industries could not match. This is the reason why I’m encouraging young job seekers alike to be a “company of their own” just to keep abreast with the demands of the new economy as discussed on my previous article. This is a good opportunity rather to better equip themselves with the necessary tools & competencies before exploiting the new global mindset of every recruiter and employer i.e. blitzkriegs. Job seekers should never rely too much of what their institution has offered them for things they taught us are mostly outdated proven by emerging practices in the new business arena. You should be responsible of your growth as discussed on my previous article. On one hand, this has been the reason why some multinationals or even local companies resorted to strategic collaborations with known institutions for strategic advantage. Some global corporations have even built their own institution and pooled the best professors at large just to help them breed new emotionally intelligent leaders – Hybrid performers. If you belong to these types of organization then so what if you’ll jump-ship. But still, they’ll bleed in silent and morn for the loss such talent for along with it was an enormous amount of tacit knowledge of which we can’t write nor explain. This led me to embrace the fundamentals of knowledge management before your think tank’s runs dry. Now, are you scared? Is your company still willing to push the game plan with your clear and concise operating system together with your ambitious or measurable goals? Then I would suggest you check your talent management program if it could counter your future knowledge management initiatives.

To make the matter worst, loyalty has never been this expensive. This subject was already highlighted on my previous article as well. If given a chance your employees would surely jump-ship for better opportunities just like the construction industry of which I belong. We really can’t match what overseas employers can afford and aside from that we really can’t hold people because we wanted them to grow. Grow? Are these just an excuse that we can’t really afford them? Even leading BPO’s can’t buy this one though they are known for buying even your soul just to get you on board. What’s interesting is that these geeks, wonks & skunks opt to transfer because they neither were emotionally disturbed or left from the dustbin wherein Team Leaders fails to see them or simply don’t care about them. That’s the worst boss I could ever imagine. This is where common pitfall rests why some organizations end up empty handed with extraordinary talents awaiting to be molded.

Talent management has been a core initiative by global corporations recently to cope with the war for talents. Some locally based organizations adopted this strategy with out realizing that they lack a certain ingredient to fully succeed in this initiative i.e. culture. Culture has been very vital to every organizations success. This is why Mr. Knight of Nike was convinced that his friend would write Nike a book for the author was so certain that no matter how they divulge their process and systems still It wont be a guarantee that you’ll excel like Nike. Another proven scenario is how we patterned our Constitutional System to Uncle Sam’s Constitution. We lack something that the Americans posses.

Hundreds of company’s has already dissected Toyota’s DNA just to find out that they’re no extraordinary company but rather packed with extraordinary leaders and people that some company’s could not match. Are we using the right program for the right organization? Or are we just duplicating the platform or stage not realizing that we have different dancers on board with different music in mind. Shall we be transparent enough with our Talent Management Program just to inspire low class performers? Studies shows that management only utilizes 20% of what a certain employee can do. So let’s do simple math as to what percentage are these high potentials compared to those untapped potentials. You’ll then get an idea as to how you can be a great company to work with using these untapped or unchallenged potentials. Sometimes it’s so ideal but if it’s ideal then it’s the right thing to do. Present them opportunities, encourage them to be innovative & creative and provide them specialized trainings to unleash their innate talents and for them to be employable when crisis strikes because no great company can promise a lifetime employment to its employees and that’s certain.

Every employee has its own mission in life. Companies have also their own mission in such a way that a few exploited their employees just to realize it. So what then is the challenge for HR? I may be an idealist but still I’m offering you this challenging task i.e. to align every fiber (mission) to your organizations mission for you to encourage innovation and creativity from within. In this way we can tap unrecognized potentials after which you can set back and relax. How do we do it? That will be the next topic I’ll be discussing in the series of this self taught reviews.

Going back, I’m really an advocated of open-book strategy and transparency towards every initiative that a certain organization undertakes. Some would argue as to what’s the point of showing it to them who are those identified potentials or what are the criteria for you to qualify to undergo a rigid training for possible promotion? I guess your elementary teacher can answer you that as to why he wanted you in front of the class when you were so neat and well groomed. We need models and models are the ones responsible why some excel and succeeded in various fields.

Past performances are sometimes not a guarantee for future success though some schools of thought would still argue that it is a good indicator of how he will perform in the near future. This has been one of the criteria as to why we chose them as to what we want you to become and how employers wanted you to perform. And so, are leaders born or made? Leaders are born and honed in my opinion as much as talents are being cultivated.

Employment branding has also been a long-term strategy to provide every organization a steady flow of potential applicants. Every body is aiming to be the employer of choice but a few only were recognized. This has also been brought about by scarcity of talents that we recruiters and employers resorted various gimmicks just to attract and retain talents. And yet still we end up empty handed. The way I see it? Happy employees are the one’s responsible for bigger profits.

It’s really so daunting that attrition rates of various types of industry has been this high lately. Even call centers of which this topic was inspired is not excused from this trend i.e. skyrocketing attrition rates. So what is needed to be done and how to do it? There are various initiatives and best practices from around. These came from various industries that are proven and tested. All you have to do is look for one that fits your organization’s culture. Refine it, remodel it and be consistent with it.

Rodelio Lagahit
www.Lagahit.com