Preventing Talent Hoarding: Building Careers or Hindering Growth? In many organizations, it is common for a manager or a division to keep top talent on the team while preventing them from exploring new opportunities for career development. In other words, the manager or department prevents its team members from moving to other departments or taking on new roles. This is called talent hoarding. On one hand, talent hoarding is beneficial for the manager or division that oversees the top talent, but on the other hand, it creates an imbalance for both the individual and the organization.
Preventing Talent Hoarding: Building Careers or Hindering Growth?
Is Talent Hoarding Useful?
Talent hoarding is useful when a team or department needs stability. By keeping top talent in the division or department, productivity can be maintained. This is because the person already understands the intricacies of the division or department. Especially if the department or division is working on a high-risk or urgent project. Top talents certainly understand better what needs to be done immediately.
The next advantage is related to knowledge retention. Employees who have been with a division or department for a long time have knowledge that is often irreplaceable. They help smooth operations, become reliable mentors for new people, and navigate internal systems effectively. If they leave, this knowledge is in danger of being lost, while new people take longer to learn and understand.
From a manager’s perspective, talent hoarding creates a sense of control over the skills and productivity of top talent. With this control, activities run smoothly, making goals and good performance easier to achieve.
For some individuals, talent hoarding makes them feel valued. Their morale is boosted when they are considered important in contributing to the team’s success. This in turn can motivate other members of the team to improve their performance, to do their best.
Disadvantages are more prominent
However, talent hoarding also has disadvantages. These are the ones that are highlighted more. What are the disadvantages? The most obvious is hindering one’s career progression. If they have been stuck in one department, a talented employee loses the opportunity to explore different roles, try new challenges, and develop their knowledge and skills. For career hunters, this can be frustrating. If it continues, they may leave because they feel their aspirations are not being cared for.
By “locking” a talented employee in a particular department, the organization becomes less agile in responding to environmental changes. In addition, talent hoarding creates a rigid organizational structure. Knowledge and skills cannot be spread evenly. As a result, if there is a department or division that lacks skills, it is not easy to find them internally because employees have never been exposed to competencies outside their field.
Talent hoarding also hinders regeneration. Highly talented individuals, especially those with leadership talent, are forced to stay in their positions. They are not groomed to become future leaders. Organizations that engage in talent hoarding fail to prepare employees for more complex and strategic roles. They only think in the short term.
As a result of talent hoarding, a “mine” culture can emerge, meaning that managers view employees targeted by talent hoarding as assets belonging to themselves or their team, rather than as professionals who are pioneering and developing their careers and competencies. This can create a toxic environment. It can lead to mutual distrust. Managers will try desperately to retain employees targeted by talent hoarding. This will hamper collaboration between teams.
There is no guarantee that employees who don’t mind talent hoarding will stay with the company. They may leave at any time for one reason or another. If so, the company risks losing knowledge and skills. The company’s competitiveness will be eroded.
Preventing Talent Hoarding
To prevent talent hoarding, organizations must take proactive steps. What are they? First, encourage cross-functional collaboration. This helps develop employees’ knowledge, skills and networks, no matter where they come from. The chances of talent hoarding are also reduced. Employees work on more varied projects so that their expertise increases.
Secondly, develop an objective and transparent career development program. Thus, employees can understand their career opportunities in the organization. If employees know there are opportunities to develop, they will not feel there are obstacles and be more eager to work and do their best.
Third, leaders or managers who advocate and implement talent mobility and knowledge sharing should be rewarded. This will encourage them to support employees’ career development, which will benefit both the company and the employees.
Fourth, prepare a succession plan carefully, this will produce capable people who are ready to lead in time. Of course, these people will come from various functions. To be able to reach the top of leadership, they must understand the work of each function. This cannot happen unless they are introduced from the beginning to the functions that exist in the organization. So it’s not just fixated on one function.
Preventing Talent Hoarding: Building Careers or Hindering Growth?
Category: Human Capital & Talent Management
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