Everyone awaits a ‘Messiah’ that will end this catastrophic burden on humanity; a time when man and religion now depend on science for survival, waiting for the invention of vaccines and other medical supplies. But it breaks the heart to see that the globe is at a halt, standing like a withered tree, wigging no leaves or branches, already facing flaccidity.
Companies are folding up, corporations are temporarily locked down even as the government rolls out policies, palliatives and lockdown measures throughout the 36 states. Businesses are struggling to compensate workers, hence, downsizing no longer becoming an option but a necessity.
The common question on board tables, Zoom conferences and lips of both employers and employees is: how do we weather the storm? How do we keep the tide rolling? So many questions are being asked with divergent views; some come with wrong answers, alternatives with a little of the right answers in between.
This brings a flash in my memory, about an infamous Warren Buffet’s quote that says, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked”. This is when we’ll know the primus inter pares in the various sector of the economy. How will they survive the test of time? How will they thrive against economic tides? Apparently, pandemic has caused the tide to roll out; the hour has come to see the naked ones.
Having considered the gigantic hits of COVID-19 and its effects on the global economy, we go back to entertain the big question which is how companies and businesses in this clime would thrive. How can they come out strong from the pandemic and, most importantly, how can they go trans-generational?
The answer to this lies in the acquisition of the best professional talents: the talents you need versus the ones you want. There’s a clear-cut disparity between need and want where need is a product of necessity that is needed to survive and want, a product of managerial choice needed for the smooth running of bureaucracy. An organization can do without ‘want-full’ talents but they can’t do without ‘need-full’ talents, hence the former crumbles.
It is this umbrella of wants and needs that makes so many companies prioritise their employees in their order of importance, thereby laying off the less important ones. It’s a very tough decision to make but when the going gets tough, the decision makers will also have to be tougher.
In other words, the value of the HR i.e a talent acquisition executive, comes to play and must not be overlooked in this sensitive era. The future of the company lies in their hands, to create a refined and transparent selection process for strategic positions which must be outside of sentiments and emotional attachments, but with capacity to produce outstanding results.
Furthermore, the needful talents are not just the conventional roles we sidetracked; they’re the key drivers that will create the economic magic that will keep the tide rolling. These talents are the business change and transformation experts. They have the innovative capacity to mitigate challenges and unleash a dynamic process that will help an organization during crisis.
In conclusion, this is not the time for HR to have a sip of drink as the lockdown simply connotes break; it is the time for them to play superheroes and prevent organisational drought, by having the best and needful talents that will drive growth and development in this crisis era.
Femi Akojede
Lagos.
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