Talent as a driver of change

 The Encounters with Talent conference organized this Tuesday, May 23 by Foment del Treball and Nortempo has given us interesting reflections on talent as a driver of change in a world in constant evolution. With a first presentation by Xavier Marcet and his management of the XXI Century and a round table of experts in leadership, the reflections are as follows:

Xavier Marcet (Management at SXXI)

• Tension between present and future: Managing a company is taking care of the future and giving results in the present.
• Awareness of fragility – companies are fragile (large companies disappear: Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, Abengoa, Kodak…). But it should not paralyze us, but keep our guard and energize us.
• Consistency – evolve with customers half a step ahead. If you go 15 steps ahead, they applaud you and call you a pioneer, but you don’t sell anything.
• First observe your customers and detect their needs. And then, look for the technology. And not the other way around.
• Not everything changes. There are things that will not change; others will be  mere adaptations; and others will be new. We must build our own criteria on how we approach the future.
• The sum of roles (executive, manager, leadership): must do 3 things at once: 1) give results (executive). 2) Combine the above with managerial mentality: put the future on the agenda of the present (which is full. Problems and  day-to-day life are like “gas”). Look at your schedule and see how much future there is. Do not fall into short-termism. 3) Grow people (leadership)
• Exploding: is not just about creating, but about getting the most out of it. And beware, it is not a matter of billing a lot, but of controlling the margin.
• Innovate yes, but avoid falling into the perversion of infinite exploration. Innovation is in the spotlight, technology comes later.
• Humanistic management: people at the center in a world defined by technology. You have to give results, but not at any price.
• Talent are people who in their career, consistently, gives more results than excuses.
• 4 great moments in Management: 1) Efficiency and productivity, 2)  Strategic planning, 3) Quality, 4) Innovation (willingness to differentiate and singularize yourself in an environment of growing commodity). And now it’s time: 5) Learning (that people learn and grow. If you think, you can put technology in your favor. Otherwise, technology takes you where it wants and where everyone goes.)
• To lead is to serve, not to serve yourself. The leader does not have people working for him, but works for the people. It’s inspiring and humble.
• Grow by making (customers, the community, shareholders, society).
• Have substitutes. If you see your substitute as threats, you have made a pact with mediocrity.
• Building a legacy: the difference between a company and a business.

ROUND TABLE

Guillermo Pérez, Jose Luis Casal, Isabel Salas, Pablo G. Ruiz de la Torre.

• World increasingly fragile, anxious, non-linear, incomprehension.
• We need self-confidence, and the ability to lean in (collaboration). Move from complaining and lamenting, to adding and building.
• Privileged situation of talent war.
• Talent = humble person, generous, who share, and who also get results.
• How does a smaller company compete with the big ones?
  • Purpose
  • Organizational culture – values and rules of the game
  • Promotion of well-being (holistically: physical, financial, spiritual, etc.)
  • Flatter organizations (fewer organizational charts, more ecosystems)
• Humility is key. You need others, and you need people better than you.
• What can I do for my company?
• It is the moment of “self”: Self-responsibility, self-leadership, self-knowledge.
• Changing your little world
• What do you have to do to fall in love with talent?
  • There are no magic formulas
  • We are not going to retain talent forever. The cycles are shorter, and you have to maximize them.
  • How to accompany talent according to the life cycles of each person. Coffee for everyone is no longer worth it. HR itineraries and policies need to be customized.
  • Co-create values with employees. Let them emerge from below and rise upwards.
  • Not everyone wants to be a boss, but they do want to be important. The management of the “why”. Give people meaning.
  • Give psychological security and sense of belonging.
  • A company has to generate the environment for individual motivation to flourish (everyone is responsible for their motivation).
  • Eliminate labels and criticism of others.
  • Encourage people to get to know each other and create empathetic environments.
  • From the command of responsibility, make shine and give visibility to talented people. Losing fear.
• How to work innovation in companies?
  • Let people’s ideas flow. Do not create environments of “fear”.
  • Promote recognition systems.
  • Environments of trust, environments where people have the tools, and environments where people know they can make mistakes. Do not point out the error as what you do not want; Error is part of the process and necessary.
• What is the vision about Artificial Intelligence? Is it going to take our jobs?
  • No. It must be an ally to eliminate tasks of little value and be more efficient.

• The challenge is to integrate this technology into our daily processes.