Does your organisation recognise and reward talent or does it just think it does? Does it in reality reward self promotion over talent? In many organisations those who climb the career ladder faster and who get paid more are not the most talented. Talent goes unrecognised and unrewarded unless the talented, or someone on their behalf ,broadcast their achievements . Most organisations don't do enough to discover the real talent and end up rewarding those who claim credit for the work of others. This is clearly not in the best interest of the organisation and yet it is all to common. In part this is due to a failure to appreciate the need for talent spotting, in part it is to do with "group think " the tendency for like mined people to dominate an organisation, resulting in a lack of diversity of ideas and ways of doing things. The really talented ones, challenge, take risks, question and often do things differently. As such they are not well viewed by the hierarchy, they are considered lose cannons and not the much valued “safe pair of hands”. Their successes are under reported because they are obliged to operate under the radar. This gives the self promoters the opportunity to over state their contribution and the chance to take credit for the work of others. Don't leave talent spotting to the benevolence of individual managers. Do promote real diversity. Do encourage people to broadcast their successes. Do check that success is being correctly attributed. Blair McPherson former director of community services, author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
