Wait for Mr Right

The recipe for success is to have sufficient quantities of the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles.

As a result, there is pressure on companies to be constantly on the lookout for exceptional talent, even though in the Dubai market, demand usually far exceeds supply.

Nowadays, talent management is one of the most pressing issues facing senior F&B and HR executives. Improving international economies and the globalisation of markets and labour forces - combined with standard business imperatives such as the need to increase turnover and cope with aggressive competition - have intensified the need for foodservice operators to address the issues of acquiring, developing, deploying, motivating and retaining key talent.

This new focus is embodied by the growing popularity of industry catchphrases such as "people are our biggest asset", but what does this really mean?

Talent management is the strategic management of the flow of talent through an organisation. It is a lot more than just another HR process - it is a mindset that goes beyond rhetoric towards an integrated approach that leverages the greatest competitive advantage from people.

The talent mindset must be embedded in the entire organisation, and it must be championed by the leadership, modelled by the management, and supported by a range of initiatives in order to be successful.

To manage talent within an operation, employers first need to clearly define who the key "talented" individuals might be - do you want people who can change the way the business operates, or are you only interested in future board members? Are you looking for the best people or the right people? And - importantly - how will you manage poor performers?

There are no right answers, and indeed some hospitality organisations have taken the view that all of their people are talented and that talent management initiatives should be applicable to everyone.

While this is undoubtedly a generous approach, however, it may not be practical.

In actual fact, the word "talent", which is synonymous with "aptitude", "flair" and even "genius", by its very nature refers only to the abilities of the few, not the many. In light of this, successful talent management should be about developing key people as leaders and role models for others.

Sarah Gain is the editor of Caterer Middle East.

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Talent V/s Skill is there a difference in the corporate world?
Posted by clyde, Dubai on Friday 23 May 2008 at 11:58 UAE time

I regard "talent" and "skill" as essentially a similar asset.
While I know in the literal sense this does not make sense... in the real world there is a very subtle difference. A talented "painter" is called an artist, but a skilled painter is still a painter. Granted.

However, that is in the art world, in an organization there is a common goal and both talented and skilled individuals contribute towards it. That is why I guess the hospitality industry is being 'generous' in its classification.

There is no place for poor performers. period.

On a side note.. in this region, at the risk of stereotyping, I personally feel that talent/skill is rare, with employees lazy and not interested in longterm "settlement" in the region. Only being here to extract as much oil wealth (figuratively speaking) as is allowed, before leaving like a swarm of locusts.

So what's sometimes now perceived as an apparent "brain drain" in the region, is actually no more than the swarm moving on.. (excuse: vat, rent etc.)
When employees being to treat the region as a place worth living in, and not as an oilfield, then all the revenue being sent overseas "back home" will stop and be used to settle themselves in right here. Again - the above was a side note only, but worth considering to HR and talent managers.

Regards

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