The booming US stock market is hiding a problem that everyone knows is there but no-one knows how to fix. Most Western business leaders are inadvertently stifling the natural talent in their teams and departments.
The complaint that ‘I’m not valued’ or that ‘the organization won’t let me contribute my best’ is either #1 or #2 reason for resignations according to websites like:
Social Talent: Recruitment – Why Employees Quit
Glassdoor: 10 Reasons Employees Resign
and books like The 7 Hidden Reasons People Leave
(See reason #2: 80 percent of workers feel they are not using their strengths on a daily basis.)
The financial cost of frequent resignations and job changes is punishing every business. But the opportunities lost by not bringing talent to bear are even greater.
Future generations will look back on our time as the Stone Age of Talent.
During the ancient Stone Age valuable iron, copper and tin lay everywhere about but no-one knew how to use it. In our age valuable human talent that can move businesses out of the doldrums and bring purpose and meaning to tired, beaten lives is lying everywhere about but no-one knows how to use it.
We’re not as sophisticated as we think. The future will be owned by those organizations that discover the talent lying around in offices and corridors and put it where it will be valued and make a huge contribution.
