I’ve been thinking a whole bunch about Talent Management lately (and more than that, I’ve been acting on these thougths…more on that in posts to come…) But for now, I just had to revisit this post from Library Bytes back in Feb….In this post Helene shares info about how a company handles its Talent–in a serious, meaningful and direct manner. Their practices are full of good old-fashioned shock waves…that really shouldn’t need to shock us at all–they make good common sense! Why wouldn’t we want staff working in the jobs they WANT to be in–using their BEST talents and skills–instead of trying to push them into molds of accountabilities and “core competencies” that are strictly about tasks and deliverables? We have to be mining talent and keeping an eye open to it…giving talent an opportunity to unleash itself…and unleash itself in ways that we can’t prescribe in workplans or check lists. Just like the grande general subject of “Life,” Talent is organic, expressive and begging to be set free… It’s out there folks, waiting to blossom, even in the driest of work settings. If you see it, commit to nurture it with freedom, a little elbow room, a few budget dollars, a note of encouragement–you’ve got to water that Talent in order for it to grow! (Especially in an enviroment or work culture that is used to being insular, non-connected, and outputs driven).