What is the resemblance between Talent and Caviar? For an instance, this might sound a bit of an absurd question. How can be one of the most wanted luxury foods be linked to human talent in the workplace. Well, the answer is very simple; all we need to do is look into the characteristics of both to understand.
Let’s see, Talent is like Caviar in the sense that they are both very much wanted by people who really appreciate them. You can hear tantalizing stories about how Caviar lovers seek their beloved delicacy with so much passion and dedication that reaches the brink of addiction. By the same token, Talent is very much appreciated and wanted by Businesses all over the World. In one way or another, it actually would look very strange to find a Business that is not interested or is actually seeking Talent. And just like Caviar lovers the spotting and acquisition of Talent can get quite addictive for companies who are aware of the value of Talent to their bottom line performance.
On another point, Talent, like Caviar is rare. Caviar is a luxury food that is extracted from fish eggs – specifically from wild Sturgeon fish in the Caspian and Black Seas. This makes caviar a product that is relatively rare and not available in big quantities especially if we are talking about hardcore caviar (i.e. Beluga, Ossetra, and Sevruga caviar) and not caviar substitutes. Talent, in this context, is not very much different. It is rare and relatively hard to find. Decent Talent is found in specific places, usually associated with Educational Institutions, or renowned Businesses, or prominent positions in Public and Private sectors. Talent is not abundant since it is very much dependent on the built-in (innate) capacity of the Talent him/ herself just like the Sturgeon Fish and its ability to produce this specific quality of eggs. In addition, it is also dependent on the individual’s ability to perceive himself as a Talent. This is a difficult stage of self-understanding that not a lot of people do fully comprehend.
Still, Talent can exist in both raw and tempered states. If it is raw, it usually requires time and effort to cut, polish and shape; and on another hand, if Talent is tempered, it still needs to be remolded to fit your Business, and continuously groomed to retain its value. In either case, Talent is a “Handle with Care” commodity that is rare to find and challenging to maintain.
This exact characteristic of rarity brings us to the third resemblance between Talent and Caviar, namely that it is Expensive. What makes Caviar so expensive is that there is a limited yearly capacity of its production. This amount is relatively small compared to market demand that is always on the rise. With this in mind, Talent is not at all different. Its rarity and high market demand makes it relatively expensive. Talent is not only about Knowledge, Experience, and Attitude; it is more of a sophisticated amalgam of those plus other characteristics like resilience, agility, comprehensiveness, expandability, self-awareness, stamina, and others. This mere fact is what everybody in the market is looking for is finding it harder and harder to find.
The fourth and final resemblance between Talent and Caviar is that not all people find Caviar so tasty, rather some people might find it repulsive. Yet, what matters most in the story of Caviar is its assumed impact on one’s health. In the same context, Talent is like Caviar; not all Talent is necessarily tasty and attractive, rather some Talent might prove to be very difficult to deal when we are talking about highly specialized Talent. Still, hat is important to us as Talent seekers at the end of the day is not whether Talent is cute, friendly, and nice, rather how much impact can this Talent create on the bottom line of our Business.
Where does this take us? Put simply, we learn that because Talent is rare, on high demand, and commands high impact on business bottom line performance, it should be cherished, nurtured, and groomed, yet above all, we need to admit that it will always have any appreciating market price in good and bad times, so let’s stop seeking to hire Cheap Talent, because “there isn’t any”!