Business research conducted by some universities in the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza has revealed that ninety percent of people fall within four broad personality types. Extensive studies were conducted on volunteers who submitted for this survey. An algorithm was developed to decode the personality types using sophisticated business analytics. The first type includes the “envious” who are happy as long as they are doing better than others. The “optimists” are those who feel that their group can contribute best to resolve any situation. “Pessimists” always join the group that they consider as the lesser of evils. The “trusting” always collaborate with others with little regard to their own gains.

Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3827456/Study-finds-90-people-classified-just-four-personality-groups-envious-common.html

A number of companies are engaging in employee welfare tactics such as unlimited vacation time. Yet, employees are construing them differently due to the mentality in which they have been grounded. Steel-House has inverted this by not only giving holidays to staff compulsorily but also paying for the trip’s expenses. A certain bonus is paid which cannot be redeemed against any other activity but only holiday travel. The CEO says that this practice has proven to be a huge bonus with company achieving high credentials in talent management. Employees come back refreshed to work and the organization has seen negligible level of attrition.

Source:http://www.businessinsider.in/A-CEO-that-gives-his-employees-2000-to-go-on-vacation-says-people-are-more-productive-than-ever/articleshow/54530210.cms

A unique and positive corporate culture can go a long way in succeeding at talent recruitment. If properly communicated, potential top talent will feel attracted to join the organization. For this the first step is a detailed and informative corporate training programme during the onboarding stage. Like marketers leverage brand advocates, similarly recruiters must inculcate a sense of the same among employees so that the best of talent may be attracted. This will also allow the brand to be internalized. An Employee Value Proposition (EPV) must be developed which clearly states the main reason why aspirants must join the particular organization. The company mission and values must be properly defined so that employees feel proud of the work they are doing. The company must also identify its key features and themes. The more attractive, credible, distinct and sustainable such attributes are, the higher up the ground the organization is placed for capturing top talent.  

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2016/10/06/seven-ways-to-define-and-communicate-your-unique-employer-brand/#19d756bf2a24

There exist difficult employees and there exist toxic ones. While the former cause difficulties at work, the latter cause great trouble to the entire team. They need to be handled with special care as a part of the talent management duties of the team head. In order to deal with them, first of all the head must speak to the person and try to understand what is the reason for this behaviour. It could be some dissatisfaction with work or some personal problems where the organization may be able to help out. The employee must be given specific feedback regarding the behaviour and provided with solutions to change for the better. If still no significant improvements are recorded, then the management must simply take the step of distancing the person from the rest of the team. However, under no circumstances must other team members be made aware of this interaction before the subject oneself comes to know of it. Sacking for this reason alone must be avoided unless due diligence has been done. While dealing with this situation, the manager must make sure this work is not impinging upon other pressing matters due to too much involvement.

Source:  https://hbr.org/2016/10/how-to-manage-a-toxic-employee

There is this term called ‘hidden curriculum’ which refers to the kind of work one does beyond the job description officially handed out. All professionals and even students undergo this phase. This is all the more crucial in the present times due to the culture of collaboration taking hold over organizations. An example of professional athletes may be cited where the person has to train hardest in order to excel at the sport but also has to manage the pitfalls of fame or wealth. Even students need to learn the intricacies of their subject but this does not prepare them for the other challenges of growing up. The corporate mantra of doing more with less also does not help. This encourages multi-tasking but inhibits specialization. Such jack-of-all-trades struggle to see the bigger picture or grasp the overall corporate strategy. Ultimately a little less of collaboration may help avoid such traps.

Source: http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-Hidden-Curriculum-of-Work

It is common in talent recruitment to fail due to extremely good first impressions generated by a candidate who then fails to back up the talk through his / her work. This trap can be offset by certain techniques. The interviewer must not focus on traits but instead on behaviours. So if someone claims to be a team player, the interviewer must make sure the candidate backs up this claim by referring to others while discussing achievements or successes. The candidate must also have the ability or patience to be able to listen to others and not just beat the drum about oneself. Such a person will be able to self reflect and improve situations. The interview must give hints to the candidate’s ability to manage conflicts. Such a person avoids grouping people into one word traits and looks at any situation from a holistic perspective. An experienced recruiter will be able to spot non-verbal cues that are turn-offs. This includes traits such as geocentricism, lack of empathy and a craving for power.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/02/how-to-hire-without-getting-fooled-by-first-impressions

The field of performance management has already experienced and is set to see more changes in the near future. Organizations such as Accenture and GE have already taken steps to replace the annual performance review. One segment of the workforce that is not gaining enough from these changes is freelancers. Business consulting provided by Deloitte has already confirmed that about a third of workers in the USA belong to this gig economy. Some steps have thus been identified which if properly followed will lead to greater engagement and motivation levels for agile talent. First of all, freelancers must be involved in the decision making process by at least sharing with them the context for which they are performing a certain task. Freelancers’ performances must not be reviewed in purely monetary terms such as cost, schedule and quality but also on soft factors such as cultural fit. Agile talent must also be encouraged to communicate before problems arise. The usual two-way feedback must be applied to them as well. Crucially, freelancers must be exposed to the right managers as only some have the capability of working with agile talent. Each time these people do something of genuine value by adding excellence, they must be rewarded through either tangible or soft means.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/01/performance-management-in-the-gig-economy