Does talent matter ? Revisiting Small Enterprises Part.1

Author : Belinda Debora, AF Utami

In order to achieve efficiency, the world teaches us to do things proportionally. Kids do easy homeworks, teenagers take on bigger chores, while adults struggle for more risky decisions. The same rule applies when it comes to the enterprises, age — size matters. The key to define what strategy should be acquired, or the bureaucracy and policies needed, is often based on how “big” the company is. The market “giants” or you might say, big enterprises, may have to overcome a lot of complicated problems caused by its own size. “Big” usually translates into “more complex”, since it also offers higher return and benefits for its employees in exchange. Therefore, human resource practices that demand higher costs and apply to more extensive stakeholders – such as talent management – is a common thing to be found in big enterprises.

The above paradigm makes small enterprises that want to adopt the similar idea of ‘talent management’ into their structure get rid of it quickly, because it might be too exaggerated to be applied. However, applying things like talent management can actually help accelerating their growth, given the fact that the number of small enterprises that are willing to improve is not just a few. This is especially true in this era, where small enterprises become a more favorable business structure because of its advantages. Small enterprises such as small family business remain small to ensure lower taxes and less bureaucracy. Other advantages are the secrecy and ease in complying to legal requirements.

Startups, which is viral in recent years are small enterprise, too. Today, according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), there are 100 million startups opening all over the world each year. These startups have the urge to attract prospective employees, especially those who are considered “talents” and further manage them once they are recruited. Therefore, further discussion about talent management for small enterprises is worth consideration.