FEATURETalent clashes with loyalty in global business cultureBy Pau HerreraShortly before the economic crisis,I was truly amazed at theamount of talent that was flowingbetween <strong>com</strong>munications <strong>com</strong>panies.Many friends and acquaintancesof mine, single or married, took on thechallenge of leaving Barcelona to workin other European countries, in theUnited States or Asia, or simply beganchanging jobs once every year. Their<strong>pr</strong>ofessional <strong>pr</strong>ofiles ranged from businessmanagement, publishing, IT <strong>pr</strong>osand industrial <strong>pr</strong>oduction. Current economicchallenges may have temporarilyslowed down this trend but it will notstop the global realities of today’s businessclimate.In Graham Greene’s famous novel“The Human Factor,” a man who worksin the Foreign Office finds himselfforced to choose between being faithfulto his family or betraying his country.He abandons his country, which hasbe<strong>com</strong>e both his employer and social<strong>com</strong>munity, for the sake of being trueand loyal to his family.The parallels that exist between thisstory and today’s global business worldmake for a <strong>pr</strong>ofound understanding.Outstanding <strong>pr</strong>ofessionals are ultimatelymore loyal to their <strong>pr</strong>ofessionaland personal <strong>pr</strong>iorities than to those ofthe <strong>com</strong>pany that employs them. Hencetheir continuous flight. Again, this mayhave changed considerably due to thecredit crunch, but after the crisis, talentwill fly again, and even more so.These dynamics will be reinforced bymany important factors, which will put<strong>com</strong>panies before the need to retain anincreasingly international talent.First, among developed countries, itis very likely that the economies thatbest reward talent will be the ones tofirst emerge and recover from the crisis.And that is particularly significantconsidering what EuropeanCommissioner Androulla Vassiliou saidlast A<strong>pr</strong>il in Barcelona: one in everythree new jobs created in the EUbetween now and 2020 will be a highlyqualified working position.Second, there is a growing <strong>com</strong>petitionamong cities to attract both talentand investment. For instance, cities likeBarcelona and Paris have started a raceto boost a knowledge-based economywhile reinforcing each destination’senjoyable and attractive assets. Thatwill give further reasons for outstanding<strong>pr</strong>ofessionals to fly and give newplaces a try.My third argument is based on theastounding fact that 70 percent ofwomen end up leaving their <strong>pr</strong>ofessionalarea of expertise between age 30 and40. The main reason is maternity. Thelack of corporate planning and supportforces them to abandon the boat aftertheir maternity leave. This re<strong>pr</strong>esentsan unbearable loss of talent, whichcosts a fortune to both employers andemployees. Fortunately initiatives suchas maternity coaching are be<strong>com</strong>ingmore frequent and allow a “maternitytransition” that avoids both businessand career disruption. However, the<strong>com</strong>panies offering these incentives arestill a great minority.Yet another point to consider is the<strong>pr</strong>ediction that the European work forcewill diminish from the current 330 millionpeople to 240 million within thenext 15 to 20 years. These numberswere given by Javier Solana, formerMr. PESC in the EU, former NATOSecretary General and now brand-new<strong>pr</strong>esident of the Center for GlobalEconomy and Geopolitics in theSpanish business school ESADE. Thefigures could seem fatalistic if the manwas not a well-known optimist.In addition, the growing economicglobalization keeps getting stronger: inorder to survive and stay <strong>com</strong>petitive,<strong>com</strong>panies build alliances abroad, seekclients globally and are involved inmulti-national mergers and acquisitions.At a recent seminar in Gaudí’sfamous Barcelona building La Pedrera,a Schneider Electric official talkedabout the <strong>com</strong>pany’s huge <strong>com</strong>municativechallenge when trying to unify 150corporate cultures from 150 differentbranches in 150 different countries.Yet, facing and over<strong>com</strong>ing that challengeis a necessity for the <strong>com</strong>pany.Another example is how Claire Pédini,HR EVP at Alcatel-Lucent, drove awide-reaching organizational change tocreate a more horizontal structure inorder to ease internal <strong>com</strong>municationand personal interaction. Pédini seekedto enable each director to be closer totheir employees and thus give a<strong>pr</strong>ompter response to their concernsand engagement. Alcatel-Lucent has76,000 employees in 130 countries, andas Pédini explained in the Spanish economicnewspaper Expansión, the <strong>com</strong>panybrought about this change in orderto best retain talent. They had noted, forinstance, that it only takes new generationsof employees three years to startplanning, and straightforwardly so, acareer change.On the one hand,we are facing therisk to lose our <strong>com</strong>pany’smost excellent<strong>pr</strong>ofessionals,and on the otherhand, we find ourselveswith anincreasingly internationalstaff. In myopinion, this situationrequires astronger and finerPau Herreraeffort both in internal and external<strong>com</strong>munication. More than ever, managingpeople means taking care of themand being aware of their <strong>pr</strong>ofessionalconcerns and challenges. It may eveninclude some insight on their personalones. As Graham Greene’s book shows,a mismatch between these two realitiesoften leads to an escape. Having a moreholistic understanding of our employeeswould mean making our <strong>com</strong>panies’borders blurrier and taking the<strong>com</strong>municative effort beyond them.The first stage of this cultural changehas been addressed by Anglo Saxoneconomies a lot more than we have inEurope and in Spain. That’s what theusual quote from Dave Ulrich is allabout: “HR must give value.”Generally, Human Resource departmentshave transformed themselvesfrom being a mere administrative unitto assessing each department leader forthe sake of intellectual and human capitalmanagement, but have they, really?But the second stage is, for most<strong>com</strong>panies, a blank page. And I wouldregard that as a reason for worry. Howmany <strong>com</strong>panies really try to <strong>pr</strong>ofilethemselves as a pleasant working environment?The website of the GreatPlace to Work Institute underscores that“In high trust cultures, employees makedecisions and take risks”, and that“When your employees trust you, customersknow they can trust you aswell”. Who can possibly think that itwill not make a difference, e<strong>special</strong>lyin the aftermath of the credit crunch?Pau Herrera is CEO and Founder ofGrupo BPMO, in Barcelona, Spain. 14 JUNE 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
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