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By Camille A. Bersola, Researcher
Could the company star save a firm from going under in a ruinous
economic environment?
The question was
tossed around among heads of leading business organizations in the
country during the recent media launch of John Clements
Consultants’ Talent Management Conference 2008, which will be held
next month.
Carol Dominguez, president and CEO of John
Clements Consultants Inc., provided a clue. She said in her speech,
“Now is the best time to invest in people and retool the
organization so that when the economy turns around, the organization
is ready for growth.”
Dominguez said it would help companies to focus
on their people as they are the “most valuable assets” of any
organization today. She is convinced this is the best way to survive
an (economic) down cycle.
Talking specifics, she said having an
understanding of key issues such as the “global nature of the
competition for talent, employment branding and a tech-savvy human
resource management” could help global organizations outclass
their competitors.
James Michael Lafferty, president and general
manager of Procter and Gamble. Philippines, concurred, saying that
the first step is to hire “more creative and great people, and
great talents.”
Drawing from his experience in managing Filipino
talents in his company, Lafferty gave the Filipinos outstanding
grade in terms of collaborative leadership. “They’re the best of
the best. I’ll put them up against a lot of MBAs,” he said and
added, laughing out loud, MBAs stand for “mediocre but
arrogant.”
Seriously, Lafferty said “[the Philippines]
has one of the best ratios in the world in terms of talent
development. There were four expats in and 307 Filipinos out.” He
said the Filipino workers are highly motivated and their passion
turns them into incredible talents.
Talent management is also an important aspect of
learning, according to Beth Lui, country managing director of
Accenture Delivery Centers. So important, she said, that it should
be added as a college course so that students would be
“job-ready” by the time they graduate.
Lui also pointed out that innovation can
contribute to the growth of an organization. “As we innovate, we
become world-class, and only when we become world-class can we
actually dominate the industry,” she said.
As the head of a company specializing in
business process outsourcing, she offered the view that leadership
skills start from a process, which has to be helped enhanced and
accelerated.
The session ended with the business
leaders concurring with one another that Filipino talents are
potential company stars that can lead their organizations out of an
economic rut.
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