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Andy Headworth
Talent Management
10

If Talent isn’t the word used to describe the workforce, then what is?

 

I was reading the latest copy of Human Resources magazine today, and some research they highlight has raised a simple, yet interesting question: What do you call the people that work for you?

Harris Interactive conducted a poll with 1,187 employees in the UK.

Only 9% of workers thought that their employers used the word Talent to describe it's people.

Nearly 70% said that the word Talent was not an expression used in their business.

So what do companies call the people that work for them?

As a starting point……staff; workers; employees…..

What does your company call you and your fellow colleagues?

About Post Author

Andy Headworth

As a consultant / interim, I work with companies to help them improve their social recruiting, recruitment strategies, talent acquisition and recruitment content marketing strategy. I am an award winning and best selling author - my latest book, published by Kogan Page is called Social Media Recruitment. Buy your copy here I also speak at recruitment and HR events internationally. Follow Andy on Twitter | Connect with Andy on LinkedIn  | Connect with Andy on Google+  | Send Andy an email
  • Jo Jordan

    How about what we do? teachers, doctors, miners, metallurgists

  • Steve Boese

    The term ‘associates’ still seems to be used quite a bit here in the US. I have also run in to ‘partners’ a few times as well.

  • Alex Hens

    Anything wrong with calling them “people”? Or is that just too out there?

  • Mike McClelland

    Alex, really. What are you thinking… Colleagues/co-workers. Andy - what do you call the people you work with?

  • Alex Hens

    blessed? ;-p

  • Andy Headworth

    Steve,

    I agree - I tend to use th words associates myself, although I like the use of the description ‘shipmates’ used at a local pub!!

  • Andy Headworth

    Nice thinking Jo - generic skill descriptions - makes it much easier. But what do teachers doctors and miners call each other? How do they refer to each other? How does their management refer to them?

  • Andy Headworth

    WHOH!! That is a little radical isn’t it? I mean why tell the truth?

    You might just put all the highly paid HR thought consultants out of work - they need to be able to come up with creative descriptive terms for staff or colleagues!! LOL

    It does exactly what it says on the tin - people are what they are - your people; our people.

  • Andy Headworth

    Mike,

    For me it is colleagues or even associates.

    Alex might have a point there though!! Simple is as simple does (not you Alex!)

  • Greig

    There’s lots of companies which use terms such as associate and colleague to address employees. I think the best option to use whatever is used naturally between workers - the word on the street. Trying to introduce terms such as colleague where there’s a very hierarchical structure is only going to make work seem like some authoritarian republic.

    However I’d say that the world talent when used by people in the HR world is becoming a technical term used between recruiters and employers just like jargon used in any other field.

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Hi I am Andy Headworth, the author of this blog and, and the best selling book, 'Social Media Recruitment' . As an independent consultant I help companies improve their recruitment strategy, social recruiting and talent acquisition. Named in the "Top 100 Most Social HR Leaders on Twitter" by The Huffington Post, and "50 Most Popular Recruiting Influencers on Twitter" by ERE/LeadTail.
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