In the after-match of the World Economic Forum, it appears that Belgium is actually one of the weaker pupils in the classroom in the field of talent management. We have to content ourselves with a paltry 18th position on the list of the future, where we have to lose out against top three countries, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg.
“But don’t worry”, Acerta Consult Director Peter Tuybens reassures us. “Although I am not surprised that Belgium has not yet taken its place on the podium, I do notice a shift in our current climate. Fortunately, more and more organisations are paying attention to the human capital on the shop floor, the beating heart of every company.”

Companies seem to be gradually coming to the conclusion that it is no longer sufficient to link a person to a job purely on the basis of an empty job description: if you only select and develop people on the basis of a standard checklist of competencies that can be ticked off, you fail in I out of 2 cases in your set-up.

Why? You simply ignore people’s individual strengths. Potential must be cultivated. If, during the selection process, organisations would look more often at what drives people rather than what their competencies are, they would be better able to capitalise on people’s talents and avoid consuming unnecessary energy in perfecting their skills.

In this way we can get rid of the few ‘high potentials’ and move on to a world of ‘all potentials’ where everyone can highlight their strengths.

Carglass gives an example
A company that runs on talents. Admittedly, it may sound idyllic. Nevertheless, it is easy for organisations to systematically and objectively map out the talents of their staff to see if they have the right (wo)man in the right place.
A good example of this is Carglass, which wanted to support its branch managers in their further development by mapping out the ‘winning behaviours’ of each manager. Then they looked at how the organisation could help to further develop those strengths together with the employee. Carglass is a textbook example of talent management at its best. Not only do they focus on the inherent ‘motivations’ of people, but these motivations are also discussed.
It is no longer taboo to admit that you don’t get energy from administrative tasks or that you don’t really like the stress of last-minute deadlines. On the contrary, together they look at the aspects in which you do excel and look for ways to make them more visible in your job.

Literally and figuratively
Such a professional quality time between employee and employer works. After all, investing in talent increases the employability of employees, and both parties benefit from this. After all, employability is nothing more or less than the fitness in a job.
Broadly speaking, the key question for Acerta Consult Director Peter Tuybens in the coming years remains: ‘How fit is someone in their job’? A question that can be taken both literally and figuratively. First and foremost: is there a good fit with the job, and is a solid link made between talent and competencies? But also: how fit is someone in his job, and how keen is that person to start to work every morning? Keeping an eye on that fit is automatically synonymous with responding to people’s strengths, and nurturing human capital.”