If you are a manager with reporting employees, Developing Talent is an integral part of the job.
If you are a professional reporting to a supervisor or manager, the information below a good check list to assess if the boss and the company are concerned about your future.
If you are interviewing for a position, you might consider using this information in an interview as a guide to see if the company is going to help develop your career.
Developing people is one of the greatest contributions a manager can make for reporting professionals. It is a great experience to see an employee develop and grow a career to greater heights. In a prior post, “The Leader – Manager 80/20 Balance”, was discussed (Feb. 17, 2018). Developing Talent is part of that 20%. Talent Development actions follow (it is not an inclusive list):
Attend to Skills & Competencies for the short and longer range, particularly competencies.
Create Challenges in the position’s work to build diversity in the work, and develop creativity and problem solving ability.
Use Rotational Assignments to keep it interesting, provide variety, and broaden perspective.
Assign Projects to learn process and see accomplishment. Working on project teams is especially valuable.
(Rotations and projects also create visibility in the organization and help develop future opportunities for those who have the runway).
Arrange for Mentors to provide another voice and listening alternative.
Be a Coach to fine tune performance and assist in removing barriers
Use Recognition — so powerful – especially in the presence of co-workers. There are so many forms: small mementos (desk pieces, plaques), company news, on site luncheons, cookouts, bonuses, training programs, verbal comments, cards or notes, industry conferences, customer visits, etc. Think of involving higher levels of management when appropriate. Consider formalizing recognition process to encourage use and help maintain consistency in use across the organization.
It is not all about money… many forms of recognition can be creative forms costing little.
Training and Development are not the same.
Compensation is important but it is not the only motivator – in the absence of development, careers stagnate and loss of talent can follow closely behind.
****S&E****
Success & Excess 