Article: What is the value of an idea?

Strategic HR

What is the value of an idea?

The valuation of a company lies not in its size but the quality of talent, as its future depends on its talent equity
What is the value of an idea?

Social networking giant Facebook, which was formed in 2004, hit a topline growth of $8 billion organically in 2009, with an employee base of just over 1,200 employees. In contrast, Infosys reached a similar amount after over 30 years of existence and more than 100 times the number of employees.

In February this year, Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion, the second largest deal of its kind in the tech space after Hewlett Packard’s acquisition of market leader Compaq. Whatsapp has acquired 400 million users, clocked revenues of $300 million before the acquisition and employed just 55 people. Interestingly, Whatsapp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton had both applied to Facebook and were rejected.

These two instances showcase two things: One, the size of the company in terms of the number of employees has no relation to the value of the company. Two, the presence of quality talent makes a massive difference to the company’s valuation. These quality talent are creative, build and work on futuristic projects and basically power the future of the enterprise. They are the reason why companies don’t become obsolete in the face of radical changes in the business ecosystem.

These solutions are the future of the enterprise, the source of competitive edge and prevent the companies from falling into the trap of some others disrupting their businesses. In today’s business scenario, either you will disrupt or you will get disrupted. And disruption happens due to people. Talent disruptors not only change the company, but also the nature of the industries and lay the foundation for a new era.

This month’s cover story, The Age of Talent Empires, focuses on the correlation between business growth and talent equity and how organizations will need to focus on building talent empires, way beyond the traditional focus on “Employer Brand”. The power of ideas is the power of the future. These ideas come from exceptional talent and that is why this talent is so important in today’s business environment. The ability of the organization to attract calibre people who are future focused, problem solvers and innovators is what defines the Talent Brand. We talked to strong brands like Google, Accenture and TCS to gain insights on what business leaders think a talent brand is and how can that be leveraged for business outcomes.

In other stories, we have interviewed management guru Dr M. B. Athreya for the Big Interview section. He talked about his decades of experience in management and told us about how management was not looked upon as a career choice. We also have a news feature on the Man of the Moment – Prime Minister Narendra Modi – where we talk about how the industry is looking forward to more job creation as he takes up the office.

We also have a special feature on High Potentials, which covers many areas like what characteristics should an HiPo essentially have, top 10 ways in which organizations can avoid last-minute glitches. We spoke to many CEOs and CHROs about the value of the few during the HiPo Week, a week-long initiative we do with Right Management every year on High Potentials. Through the interviews, it became very clear that High Potentials are very important for the sustainability of the business as they are the ones working on solutions for tomorrow’s problems. It could either be building futuristic cars or how people will increasingly use mobile phones for their banking needs.

As always, we would be happy to know your views on the stories in the magazine. Please feel free to mail in your feedback and suggestions.

Hope you enjoy reading the issue,

Happy reading!

Esther Martinez Hernandez Editor-in-Chief

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Topics: Strategic HR, #HRInsights, #Updates

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