Introduction
Developing countries are abounding with diverse talent; owing to the multiplicity of ethnicities in most of these countries. The many ethnicities are prolific with different cultural activities which form the base for talent development from a tender age. However, due to lack of talent management companies, most of the talents in the developing countries go undiscovered and by extension untapped. This is very unfortunate in countries that require talents, skills and expertise to spur economic development.
The upside is that some of these talents are spotted by talent scouts from developed nations and expatriated. The downside is that such talent is not used to develop the mother country. This paper will analyze talent management in two countries in the context of two companies from different regions. The paper will also delve into the strengths and weaknesses of the aforesaid talent markets and the solutions that the companies have put in place to counter the weaknesses.
Discussion
An analysis of the talent management program ant the Kenya Institute of Management in Kenya
Kenya, the economic hub of East African is a country with a myriad of talents amongst its populace. Kenya’s place in the international scene is reinforced by recording breaking performances by its top athletes in various fields in, international fetes, and globally recognized artists like the sculptor whose piece of art beautifies the entrance of the United Nations headquarters situated in New York. The Kenyan talent market is as diverse as it is unstructured. There lacks infrastructures to channel the talents into income generating activities that can benefit the individuals and the economy at large.
Strengths and weaknesses
One of the strengths of the Kenyan talent market is its diversity. The market boasts of very talented individuals in different fields like athletics, art, inventions and innovations, entrepreneurship and music to name but a few. The Kenyan talent market is also demarcated by many opportunities to improve the talents. For instance, The Kenya Science Congress is a meeting where top talented high school students conglomerate to show case their innovation and invention capabilities to a panel of seasoned judges in the field of science.
The country also hosts festivities in music and drama where elementary and high school students showcase their artistic skills and talents. This offers a motivation and an opportunity to fine-tune the talents from a tender age. Regular competitions at the school level are held in various sports to sample the talents in various fields of sports. Conversely, the talent market lacks infrastructure and mechanisms to absorb the identified talents and transform them into economically meaningful ventures.
This is the biggest challenge that the Kenyan talent market faces. Consequently, the talents are expatriated into other developed economies. For instance, Kenyan top athletes have changed their citizenship in the past after getting lured by other countries where their athletic prowess is appreciated in an economic sense (Njororai, 2010). Through brain drain, the Kenyan relent market has lost skilled individuals to developed nations where the latter go to pursue higher education qualifications.
Solutions
The Kenya Institute of Management acknowledges the rich nature of human capital I the Kenyan talent market. It is also aware of the challenges that dog the market. Consequently, it has tailor made solutions into countering the weaknesses and benefiting from the talent market. Top among the solutions includes aligning the talents to a business strategy. In order to effectively do so, the institute has developed talent management cultures that culminate in the attraction of top talents in various fields, nurturing the leadership qualities in them in order to grow a high-potential talent pool.
Through collaborations with relevant agencies in the region, these talented individuals are referred for jobs. This move ensures that the nurtured talents are absorbed into economically viable activities. The sole challenge of the solution is its focus on talents in the field of academics and less on sports and art. Diversification of the program is warranted in order to offer direction to the myriad of talents available in the market (Wafula, 2010)
Talent Agents’ Organization; a talent management company in the Philippines
The talents Agents’ Organization is a conglomerate of professional agents in the Philippines. The company specializes in professionalizing talent agencies in the developing country. It also aims to maintain a constant supply of talents to the ever growing demands from its different set of clients. The company seeks forestall unethical behavior among its member talent agencies. It also seeks to strengthen and unify the talent management industry and the Philippine modeling industry in order to establish leadership in the Asia Pacific region.
Various companies in the Philippines are grappling with an acute shortage of talent. This is attributed to expatriation of its human capital to other developing nations in the region and elsewhere globally. Due to better opportunities in other countries, the human capital in the Philippines has ‘moved’ into these countries to enjoy the top notch opportunities available there. Owing to this, companies are losing valuable expertise in various fields to other economies.
Strengths and weaknesses
One of the Strengths inherent in the Philippine talent market is the convergence of a multiplicity of factors that offers opportunities for talent management agencies in the country to spur growth in talent development. Changes in workforce expectations also offer opportunities for companies to perpetually redefine their employee value propositions so as to keep up with the conditions in the talent market. Another strength is the diversity of abilities in the talent market. The diverse abilities if nurtured well can be sources of expertise in different fields.
One of the weaknesses in the Philippines talent market is the ever increasing attrition rate. Since 2008, the attrition rates have increased from 8% to 13%. These trends are projected to keep increasing over the coming years. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly harder for managers to look for and keep the required individuals to run different organizations. The high attrition rates are particularly worrisome because the unemployment rates are still high. The high attrition rates are attributed to outsourcing and transfers to subsidiaries of local firms in other regions (Liakopulos & Douglas, 2007).
Solutions
In order to counter the weaknesses affecting the talent market in the Philippines, the Talents Agents’ Organization is seeking to forestall unethical activities that undermine the development of talents in the country. This is done through the provision of a general direction for the top talent agencies in the country to follow. This move will effectively unify the initiatives for talent search ad development in the country (Tan, 2008).
In order to counter the increasing attrition rates, the Talents Agents’ Organization is out to recruit more persons for talent determination and development. This entails scouting for individuals with different abilities, expertise and knowledge in order to have their value increased. This will increase the talent in the backdrop of acute shortages.
Conclusion
Developing countries require expertise and technocrats to spur the much needed development. In order to obtain the expertise and the technocrats, these economies need to tap into the different talents available and nurture them. It is also important that these developing economies hold on to the talents that they have heavily invested in. Expatriation to other economies and attrition deals these developing economies a heavy blow. It is therefore important that talent management agencies to not only nurture talents but also come up with ways of absorbing them into the economy.
References
Liakopulos, A., & Douglas, S. (2007). Playing to Win: Talent Crisis Impact on Employee Benefit Management: Aflac. Deloitte
Njororai, W. W. S. (2010). Global inequality and athlete labour migration from Kenya. Leisure/Loisir, 34(4), 443-461.
Right People, Manila,
Tan, A. (2008). Talent Management : A Burning Corporate Priority. Paper presented at the War for the
Wafula, L. V. (2010) Effectiveness of strategic talent management practices in professional services firms in Kenya. Available at . retrieved on 10 January 2013
