What is talent? How do you judge it?
Shouldn’t qualification, experience, useful contribution in the past etc. be
the yardstick to measure potential in an individual? There is also something
called as an ‘inherent’ potential which might not come across directly in the
CVs but to a trained talent hunter it becomes pretty apparent, if not in the CV,
then surely during the interview! But many a times when one approaches a new
job the one thing that is commonly asked is about the person’s last drawn
salary. And unfortunately, on this basis, an individual’s pay is decided in the
next organization.
Consider this; a salary drawn can be dependent
on factors such as the company one works for (start-up or an established
company), the role entrusted in previous organization etc. Some companies offer
better non-salary perks and higher bonuses, ESOPs etc. which might have a
bearing on one’s final payslip. Secondly, in today’s uncertain job market, many
people take a plunge and work for start-ups and in many cases sacrifice salary
in the expectation that the start-up would one day bloom but as we know many of
these companies do not see the end of the day and then the person sometimes become
‘persona non grata’ in the job market. In today’s uncertain job scenario, people
learn, unlearn and relearn various tricks of the trade to become relevant. They
take risks and also fail or become unemployed. Should an individual who is
unemployed for a while because of volatile job market or the risks that he or
she might have taken, make him vulnerable to lesser pay in future
organizations?
Salary should commensurate with knowledge, experience, ability
and the sincerity of purpose and not by a dip in one’s career due to the above
mentioned points. Good companies do not compromise on talent and give due worth
and recognition because as they say ‘You don't build a business
--you build people-- and then people build the business”.
