Acquiring talent for your organization is half the battle—the other half is retaining and developing that talent. Obtaining talented employees carries no weight if said talent isn’t developed and harvested. Fortunately, there are 3 unexpected talent development secrets that can help develop your organization’s talent into success.
The first secret deals with yourself as a leader. Leadership development researchers Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman have found in multiple studies that strategic vision is one of the most vital traits an effective leader displays. A sound strategic vision distributes talent in a way that maximizes engagement and productivity. As a leader, understanding how your vision impacts employees at every level of your organization encourages you to set attainable goals and align your talent to meet those goals.
Secret number two involves tracking career performance in order to assess short- and long-term performance and align their talents accordingly. When leaders are able to keep track of career performance, they can easily evaluate talent and have employees fill roles that spur engagement and productivity. Leaders are also able to more clearly and accurately evaluate strengths and weaknesses of their employees. This is handier than you might think—in Taskworld’s 2015 Annual Review Survey, 65 percent of the 500 U.S. employees surveyed said they believe more consistent feedback regarding strengths and weaknesses would be more productive. A performance tracking process allows leaders to recognize performance gaps, and develop their organization’s talent to fill those gaps.
The final piece of the puzzle is planning for your future talent. More often than not, hiring internally is the way to go. This means you need to shape your current employees’ talents so that they are prepared for advancement within your organization. A September 2014 Millennial Branding Survey stated that the next generation workforce is more concerned with opportunities for advancement than anything else—be the leader that aligns employee talents toward a pathway of success and advancement.
The right talent is priceless; consider including talent development in your to-do list.
