The increasing role of industries centered on the knowledge economy has changed the way companies view their hired talent. Innovative businesses now focus on mindshare and the ability of workers to participate in mindshare practices. Mindshare is a scope of employees’ knowledge, skills, personal characteristics, and opportunities for future growth. Human resource management has developed new strategies for talent acquisition. Networker innovators are the companies that implemented this new approach and succeeded in hiring elite knowledge talent. They can create and use the mindshare of their working talent to move forward.
Mindshare differs from intellectual capital which encompasses human and organizational capital. Human capital is the combination of all qualifications and knowledge possessed by employees. Organizational capital includes all assets of a company. Mindshare incorporates these two elements and adds social capital – relationships between employees, branches, companies, and stakeholders that improve innovation, knowledge gathering, and collaboration.
External relationship capital is a part of this element. It includes external relationships between companies and their employees. Mindshare is focused on unparalleled talent finding and development. Here, employees are not replaceable. They are unique, as they possess individual skills, beliefs, and capabilities that can be utilized by the company. Elite talent is more efficient and can bring more value to the firm than an ordinary worker.
The location of knowledge is shifting towards emerging markets and decentralized systems of operation. Offshoring and outsourcing are more useful than they were before, being valued not for lower prices but better talent and higher networking possibilities. Offshoring provides access to location-specific knowledge and new talent, while outsourcing allows one to employ companies with special education and expertise. Networked research and development strategies drive innovation forward at a higher speed. While home-based research and development facilities give companies more control over the processes, they do not foster innovation at the same rate.
Networked and decentralized systems are risky because they are more complex in nature. They have employees with different values and come with hidden costs such as reluctant knowledge sharing, cultural differences, and the lack of proper communication. Nevertheless, the success of these systems is usually more prominent. China and India are the key places for finding and recruiting knowledge workers.
Talent-centric human resource activities include a number of strategies. Talent retention is a significant aspect of mindshare because turnover lowers companies’ innovative processes and disrupts shared knowledge development. Thus, innovators value practices for talent retention such as the adaptation of the working process to local traditions. Hiring global talent also increases talent quality.
Employers value ambition and desire to grow professionally along with a global mindset, extraordinary thinking, interpersonal skills, social networking, and creativity. Employees are expected to know other professionals, be ready to work on big problems, continuously improve their personal and professional skills, and have strong beliefs corresponding with the company’s values. Sustainability and ethical principles are now valued more by companies, and empowerment culture is the basis of talent retention.
Mindshare can be supported by the robust social network of the company. Interpersonal trust is imperative for information sharing and training. Active collaboration also improves employees’ readiness to contribute. The introduction to cross-cultural experiences for employees helps them develop a more open outlook on innovation. Special technologies breach the gap of communication on long distances. Mindshare is based on a tiered system that values creativity, extraordinariness, and desire for personal improvement.