Achieving an efficient talent development system that aligns with the company's objectives and generates real business impact is a delicate game of balance, vision, and precision.

Krish Shankar, a pillar of talent development in India and author of the book "Catalyse," is one of the most authoritative global voices on the subject. With a forward-looking view on the crucial role of HR leaders and teams in today's complex and changing context, Krish has laid the foundations for creating the most robust people development systems.

His magic formula? None, save for the need to have a clear vision of the potential and needs of the people team, which is the heart of every business. This is the foundation of a structure that will catalyse individual professional growth as a collective impact factor.

In Krish's vision, drawn from his over 30 years of experience, the internal mobility of talent in business and the constant reskilling of the team is a matter of growth and retaining the best of the best. 

Although India is a global talent centre where, as Krish puts it, national and international businesses can find what they need, there are still specific areas and functions for which companies struggle to hire.

"There is a shortage of talent with certain specific skills," Krish notes. This is why he advocates for a "reskilling ecosystem" in which each person can identify the new professional tools they need to expand their potential and, at the same time, have an impact on the company's results.

For Krish, it's about "creating opportunities for people to move across, learn new skills, and become better professionals."

However, neither the best skilling programs nor the most effective talent attraction and retention plans would work if there was no solid corporate culture as the foundation. 

The HR industry veteran believes empathy, co-creation, and clear values are fundamental to an effective and efficient people development system. And this is where the role of HR leaders becomes even more crucial: they are responsible for fostering and extending that culture while driving the continuous development of individuals, co-creating with them their professional growth path, and ensuring it has a real impact on achieving business goals.

"Keep the interest and outcomes of the business in mind," Krish advises, while "understanding what people want." These include employees, managers, and investors. Everyone whose aspirations and possibilities are involved in the business. That's empathy from the perspective of design thinking.

Understanding those needs and possibilities, mapping them, creating a system to develop them, and aligning them with the expected results for the business is the balance that HR teams must strike. This is their great challenge for the present and the future.