Page 21 - The Insurance Times March 2025

had presented for consideration a model of the Managerial organisational growth and prosperity also reaches a
Life Cycle (MLC)* in an article published in February ,1997 peak. This is also the stage where the 'Talent' begins to
in the Insurance Times and the same model can be used as feel the weight of expectations and the challenges of a
a reference in devising a strategy for maximizing the value competitive environment. The steps taken to stimulate
of talent within the organization. his performance and his strategy to innovate and adapt
to change become the key to his capacity to sustain and
We can call this the TLC or the Talent Life Cycle Model model prolong this stage.
in which the 'life' of an organizational human resource {re-
ferred to as 'Talent' }follows a definite pattern involving the (d) Stagnation: The phase of saturation. The 'Talent'is not
following phases: able to further increase his efficiency and is content to
sit on his past laurels. However increasing cost inevita-
(a) Introduction, (b) Growth, (c)Maturity, (d) Stagnation bly will lead to a decline in his marginal productivity.
(e) Declination & (f) Decay.
(e) Declination: At this stage the 'Tal-
ent' gives clear indications that he is
unable to cope with the expectations
of his organisation. He moves grimly
towards obsolescence as he is percep-
tibly being slowly elbowed out by more
dyanamic and innovative competitors..
But before his final complete depar-
ture the organisation may make last
ditch attempts to make him remain in
contention.

(f) Decay: An organisation has only one
way to deal with a 'Talent' in this
phase- Abandonment as no further re-
sults can be expected from him.
(a) Introduction: It is the primary phase in which the
organisation may not be in a position to cover the en- Lessons from the Model Human resource plays a vital role
tire 'cost' of introducing the new 'Talent'. Promotional in the development of an organization .The fading away of
expenses (e.g. training) are high and progress is usually a generation of skilled and experienced manpower is creat-
slow as the new 'Talent' tries to meet the expectations ing a vast skill gap admist a changing learning landscape.
of the organisation. It is a testing period. Great impor- But this situation also provides an ideal opportunity to de-
tance is to be given to monitoring and feedback at this velop the skills of its workforce and simultaneously produce
stage. a generation of learners who will lead these companies into
the future. It is abundantly clear that a dynamic and grow-
(b) Growth: Once a 'Talent'enters this phase he begins to ing organisation will require a large contingent of its
be accepted in his new role. The organisation (through resourcesto be in the 'growth' or'maturity' stages of the
its feed-back system) also begins to realise that the pro- "Talent Life-Cycle'.
motional investment on him is justified. Due to
increasedeconomies of scale the 'Talent' starts show- The organization has to ensure that the 'Talent' utilization
ing a 'surplus (in terms of productivity). is made in a manner that enables the 'Talent'to sustain their
'maturity' stages for long periods. Also the HR strategy will
(c) Maturity: This is a phase of stabilisation where the per- yield optimum results only if the 'Talent' is monitored closely
formance of the 'Talent' reaches an equilibrium at an and not allowed to slip into the 'saturation' or 'declination'
expected level and his capacity to contribute to stages. A more flexible HR & Appraisal system is needed to

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