it has become cliche for companies to say "our most important resources are our people". when i joined the working force in 1995 back in the Philippines, I can count with one hand the companies that have taken this dictum seriously - i.e., putting it really on the top of their list of things-to-do.
for a company to be truly talent-orientated, they will have to take on real investments into talent. for a company to do this, its leaders must realize that such a talent exists in their organization - and truly devote themselves into a real talent-management program.
a friend of mine, who works in the HR department, felt so frustrated with her company. their vision says "we value our people - we believe that our people are our most important resource and we invest in our people". why? because she applied for an MBA on her own, secured a place at one of the most prestigious universities in the US - and another one locally and still another one at the LSE (an MSc, I think, in Economics - or something).
what really drove her nuts were two things:
(1) she asked for financial assistance - in fact, the way she put it was "would you (the company) like to invest in me?"; that was more than 18 months ago - up to this, she has yet to receive word from the company. she's willing to let that go - considering that the real reason she's going for her Master's degree is to leave the industry - and financial support form her company would probably "bond" her for two years with them post her Master's.
(2) What's really worse though - which really irks her to this day (she's left the company and has joined another one) - was her company's refusal to give her an extended leave every last 2 weeks of the month for 20 months. No financial support (since she's given up earlier on it). Just support to manage her time, her workload, and the demands of grad school. The company said no, because "it won't be fair to the others".
This is a classic case of lip-service - a company saying that "our people are our most important resources" so much so that their vision and their strategic directions for the next five years declare these.
When employees do really take it seriously, the company cowers back and pretends such words didn't exist anywhere in the company's declarations as a company, as an employer, as a brand.
Well, what can I say?
(I didn't say much to my friend. I just kept quiet. She was from HR - I guess she should know more about these than me. But wasn't it ironic that the very people who were supposed to manage talent within the company were frustrated by the company's real behaviors and response towards the what they were supposed to be?)
