Hack:
Reframe traditional Talent Management (TM) process, as a Triune Talent Management (TTM) process, for effectively transforming human capital into financial capital

With human capital seems to be emerging as the single most important capital of the 21st century, the general consensus, among most management practitioners is that, it happens to be one of the most misunderstood capitals, among the pack as well. Part of the reason for that misunderstanding is that, unlike the other capitals (e.g. financial capital), human capital is so nebulous in nature, that organizations, often  end up not exploiting its potential to the fullest. While that might sound trivial on the surface, the ultimate outcome is that human capitals are not effectively transformed into financial capitals, which by the way, happens to be one of the primary purposes of businesses, in the first place. Yet another complication is that, human capital is often misunderstood to be same as human capital management(HCM) process or Talent management (TM) process as well.

Before we go too far into the solution part, let us first establish some context, in the form of definitions.

First things first...

Human capital, for the purposes of this hack, is a qualitative value (that is often expressed as a metric) managed by HCM and TM processes . In other words, HCM and TM processes, happen to be the  variations of the same human capital value creation process only, which then brings us to the next question of, why do we need two processes?

While we can answer this question, in multiple ways, one of the simple ways, we have learned to answer is, as follows -

• When we execute the human capital value creation process with an individual lens, it is Talent Management (TM) process, whereas, when we execute it with a collective organizational lens, it is HCM. On the other hand, when we execute the human capital value creation process, with a leadership lens, it is called Triune Leadership Quotient (TLQ ), as explained in one of our earlier hacks.

With these definitions, let us first establish the problem space, before getting into the hack part.

Problem space

• There is no standardized causal linkage, established between human and financial capitals, at the value creation level.
• There is no clear distinction of definitions, when it comes to HCM, TM and TLQ  processes,  at the management process discipline level.
• There is no standardized  definition of Talent available in the market place - is it a capability, competency or an advantage?
• While talent is often associated with an individual,  the real value (in the form of human capital) is realized, only when that talent is applied within the context of a role within an organization structure. This is where, most leaders miss the boat, as they fail to assign the right type of talent to the right type of role, within a right type of an organization structure, before assigning it to a person. Why? There is no formal automated system available in the market place, to help leaders do that job effectively and that precisely is one of the main reasons for us attempting this hack as well
• Last, but not least, the upper case TALENT is made up of three sub components (skill, lower case talent and gift) and they must be mapped properly to the three sub components  (EQ, CQ and IQ) that make up, what we call as the Triune Leadership Quotient(TLQ), which we will explain, in a minute, what we mean by it, in the solution section.

Solution

To meet our primary objective of translating human capital into financial capital effectively, we suggest that organizations to take a big picture view, and implement an Integrated/automated Triune Talent Management(TTM) solution, on top of  their big data platforms. More specifically, we suggest they address the five challenges identified in the problem section. In other words, any such big picture solution, at a minimum must have the following 5 solution dimensions.

• Manage the human capital value creation process at an individual level with a Triune Talent Management lens (TTM)
• Manage the human capital value creation process with an collective organizational structure lens with HCM
• Manage the human capital value creation process with an collective organizational roles lens with HCM.
• Manage the human capital value creation process with an collective Industrial structure lens (with our firm's VOS)
• Manage the human capital value creation process with a Triune leadership Quotient lens (our firm's TLQ, as explained in one of our other hacks).

That being said, for the purpose of this mini hack, let us keep the focus just to TTM only, by reframing the traditional TM process as a Triune Talent Management (TTM) process.

What do we mean?

The  triune TALENT, in our opinion, has three sub components as explained below -

• A skill is a capability that we learn (like driving a car) and it is highly critical for mature/lights on type CORE businesses, and that must be easily “trained” within the talent management process.
• A lower case talent is a competency that comes naturally (like singing, writing or public speaking, creativity or transformational leadership) that is highly critical for EDGE businesses, and it needs to be “encouraged/nurtured” within the talent management process.
• A gift is an advantage that is given to us, from a Higher Power (e.g. wisdom) that needs to be “treasured” for all structures and must be used in right proportion at the right time for the right purpose.

In other words, let me see, if I can get this point  across with an analogy: Skill is an ingredient, whereas the lower case talent is a recipe, and gift, on the other hand, is the way, one mixes those ingredients, in the TIME (duration) and SPACE (e.g. sautéing  the ingredients with the right temperature) dimensions, as per the recipe.

What does this analogy tell us from pragmatic standpoint?

Well, it is time for organizations to implement  an automated Triune Talent Management (TTM) solution, by establishing  a clear cut causal/correlation linkage to the big data driven BSC style, real time Corporate performance Management (CPM) system. At a high level, we suggest that a typical TTM system to have a minimum of 10 elements, as outlined below.

1. A database of all the skills, lower case talents and gifts within an organization
2. A linkage map of STG (skills, talent and gifts) at an individual level with weight factor(e.g. 50% skill + 30% lower case talent+20% gift).
3. A linkage map of TLQ  (EQ, CQ, IQ) at an individual level with weight factor(e.g. 50% EQ + 30% CQ case talent+20% EQ).
4. A causal/correlation linkage map of STG to TLQ  at both role and at the individual level.
5. A well defined Organization structure, with an ideal mix of STG and TLQ mix  that is needed to make the organization structure successful.
6. A well defined role structure, with an ideal mix of STG and TLQ  mix  that is needed to make the role(s) within the structure successful.
7. A well defined Industry structure (static and dynamic) with an linkage to organizational structure and roles, with an ideal mix of STG and TLQ, that is needed to make the organization structure and roles to be successful, within an industry structure.
8. "what if scenario dashboard" with a mantra of  "match the right STG, TLQ mix to the right role first, before matching it to the right person", within the context of right organizational structure/industry structure, and then to an initiative, that is directly mapped to business strategy.
9. Resource allocation outcome in terms of near term impact
10. Resource allocation outcome in terms of long term impact

Conclusion

While there are multiple ways one can skin the cat, we have developed a TTM approach, with a mantra "identify the right talent for the right role, before identifying the right person for it " , that is syndicated at the confluence of three distinct talent components (i.e. skill, lower case talent and gift), within our larger VOS  umbrella of frameworks. The key implication is that, matching the right type of STG and TLQ  components, to a role, before matching them to an individual within an organization and industry structure,  is absolutely critical, for successfully translating the human capital into financial capital, the primary objective of businesses, in the first place!