DailyPost 2170
GOVERNMENT’S TALENT POOL
Contrary to the earlier held conception and practice, the talent pool of an organisation so to say was what it possessed or owned or regularly paid for. Same as the extension of knowledge today; being what you know and what you lay your hand on confidently at the click of a mouse and use it, the talent pool at your command is what is available with your organization and what can be made available with little effort, on a professional arrangement. This group of professionals are aligned to same thought process and at time with the same philosophy of the organization besides being hard-core professionals in the requisite area of specialization.
At times they belong to same to the same funding control and lots of times under the control of the same / similar department / ministry / agency of the government. What we are talking about is a cross organizational talent, known and available, of proven competence. For sure they belong to the governmental ecosystem and are obliged to provide their expertise on a two-party, multi-party or an arrangement across the system, created by the government, to subserve its requirements. It is generally believed that government lacks highest end professional resources, some of it is its own creation – a perception which has taken long years to be created.
This perception has also been very carefully manicured by the private sector for its benefit, which has delivered it bountiful results. In an age where immense talent tools are created out of collaboration, sharing, outsourcing, gig economy arrangement, time sharing, part time contractual agreements, knowledge transfer and what not, governments generally seem to be struggling in sharing their own talent in a beneficial way for their organizations. These are government organizations. Today, it needs to be accepted that organisations / more so the government, with the diverse nature of activities, will not be able to keep all resources under the roof of each of these organizations. The big advisory governmental ecosystem is thus missing. An ecosystem which is most missed in a transformational time like ours.
Undeniably, this has be to be the crux of governments existence, being it expertise support for any delivery, scalability and handholding. Take an example of IITs, of the all-tech support needed by government organizations, a large part of it can be supported by them, on a professional arrangement. The governments go begging to private companies and agencies, Indian and foreign, the nature of services provided by them have not taken us out with flying colours. Same is the case of IIMs, if used in the right manner for governance of the country, it can do wonders. The creation of governance specific management practices are the need today. Endless requirements. Indian bureaucracy is brimming with talent; locating, grooming and make it bloom with a purpose can to wonders. Then we have endless specialized organizations, institutions and agencies, have talent which the world would be envy of. They also need put in the greater service of the nation, well beyond their limited roles assigned today.
IF GOVERNMENT LACKS TALENT, THEN WHO HAS IT? TIME TO MAKE A PARADIGM SHIFT IN TALENT AGGREGATION AND USAGE.
Sanjay Sahay