Talent, Attitude
John Bury already tried to make an approach to the idea of progress in the 1920s[1]. This was a key element to drive western civilisation forward. Many years have passed but it is obvious that progress is still present nowadays and seems limitless. A good deal of this progress and evolution is due to talent, as a key factor people use to improve. When we talk of talent, we refer to “the ability a person has to learn things and develop them easily in an activity.” This is manifest in the corporate world in what Klaus Schwab-Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum has said:
"TALENT, NOT CAPITAL, WILL BE THE KEY FACTOR LINKING INNOVATION, COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY. (…) COMPANIES, PARTICULARLY, SHOULD RECONSIDER THEIR ROLE AS CONSUMERS OF “PREFABRICATED” HUMAN CAPITAL TO PROACTIVELY SEEK, PARTICIPATE IN AND DEVELOP PEOPLE’S POTENTIAL”
This idea leads us to an obvious reality: the importance of talent as the driver of the evolution of any social and corporate structure. This leads us to state the most important capital any company has is people themselves. We see then working tools should serve human beings and not the other way around. And another no less important thing: it is human talent what has created these tools which make our lives easier.
Moreover, we should take into account talent is what provide us with ideas, what is at the forefront of innovation and this means an improvement, competitiveness and productivity input for the companies. Therefore, a key element should be the capacity to promote this talent, this is, to contribute with training and incentives which help employees develop their qualities. This will improve their work and motivate them. It is also fundamental this pervades leaders as they are key elements for a good organization and functioning of the company. We can, therefore, state human capital and its talent are the drivers of any business activity. This should not make us forget another aspect, their “attitude”, their interrelation system, their communication skills, their personality…
Therefore, if we are able to combine talent and attitude, the functioning of any social or corporate structure will achieve top performance, since we will have people able to adapt to each moment, each situation, to changes, able to reinvent themselves and contribute with solutions and ideas which help them progress and improve. In this process we cannot forget a new element which is used for better working, encouraging and promoting talent: new technologies. This is due to the fact that younger generations are used to work and live in a technological world. Therefore, they seek companies which invest in technological tools which help them do their work better and where employees’ motivation is appreciated.
Thus, the talent + attitude + new technologies, such us Big Data or Artificial Intelligence, equation has become a paradigm companies should not forget, a bandwagon they should jump on, since the interaction of the three is what can lead them to business success and progress in so competitive a world as ours.