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This will rub some people the wrong way; especially the optimistic, patriotic kind. But this has been a long time coming based on years of discussions with employers across various industries from Mehran to Khyber Pass: contrary to the popular myth, Pakistan does not have as much talent as hopefuls like to believe.

The word talent has two connotations: the popular meaning is ‘a set of skills or abilities’, whereas its etymological roots imply a meaning of ‘inclination, disposition, will, desire’.

In the first meaning, the talent deficit is all too obvious, requiring merely an observation of wage rate movements in any business sector when a big local or foreign company starts hiring. Such data is not maintained (or even formally analysed in detail). But tomorrow if a new bank, a software house, a footwear manufacturer or even a restaurant opens up and wants to attract good talented people in big markets such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, wage rates would shoot up overnight like as if the share price of a small-floated stock.

This has happened over and over again in various industries, signaling that the so-called ‘talented’ nation of 200 million plus lacks serious depth of talent. This is true even in banking and finance sector, for which this country has produced a more than fair share of MBAs and various finance/economic degree holders – emphasis on ‘degree holders’.

This is also true in areas like music. When entertainment media in US, Europe, or India hold talent hunt shows on TV, people from all walks, young and old, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, bedazzle the audience in far greater proportions than candidates in similar talent hunt shows in Pakistan. Some might be quick to point towards videos of a small-town boy or a painter going viral on social media and WhatsApp. But in a country of 200 million plus a few viral videos don’t move the needle. Besides if indeed it is the fault of organisers of locally held talent hunt TV shows because of which Pakistan’s singing talent is not surfacing to the top, and then it only proves the lack of organisational talent.

In the second meaning of talent, the talent deficit may be difficult to capture because ‘inclination, disposition, will, desire’ are intrinsic affairs that cannot be observed or measured as easily as sharp wage rate movements. But take a dispassionate breath and look around you. What’s the percentage of people who can objectively praise the quality of their various service providers; be it plumber or an electrician.

Or how many white collars, managerial staff in corporations, reach their office on time and dedicatedly spend their work hours in pursuit of excelling themselves and their colleagues. Instead, long lunches, tea breaks, unending discussions over favourite restaurants movies and TV shows, and pan or smoke breaks eat up a bulk of the working hours. The latter is in fact measured in various case studies that compare productivity of equally experienced and trained textile sector labour in China, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Not surprisingly, the Chinese labours emerge as clear winners because they work like clockwork.

How many students does one see in a library, or holding a book in their hand that is not a part of their course work? And how many professionals continue to work on their professional development after landing a decent job, or develop a habit of reading, or any other constructive habit that can fall in the second meaning of talent.

Most employers complain that candidates show up on a job interview without even bothering to find out about the company, and departmental job functions. Yet most early career employees have an unapologetic sense of entitlement. They want to become a manager overnight without putting in their Gladwellian ’10,000 hours’, or undergoing a grind or mentorship to learn the ropes.

Above all, that talent is an overrated virtue is quite too obvious in Pakistan for those who chose to see. An interesting example of that is this: as soon as Pakistani students enroll themselves in PhD programme, they start introducing themselves as a ‘PhD scholar’ to show off their credentials without even understanding that to be a scholar one needs more than just a PhD, much more in fact.

The point being: aptitude can be taught, employers can train their employee over due course; but attitude cannot be taught, not at least by employers. It needs to begin at homes, developed at schools and polished at universities. By that account, Pakistan will take long many years to become a talented nation!

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018

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