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One of
your strongest performers just resigned, citing greater
opportunities for career growth at his new company. You
suspect that several of his teammates are being wooed by
recruiters. And for the third year in a row, your
company’s culture survey found that employees say they’re
not given enough training or career coaching.
With
lifetime careers in a single organization a thing of the
past, your employees want to develop the skills that will
keep them marketable and further their careers. In a tight
talent market, companies that fail to provide development
opportunities risk losing their future leaders.
To keep
your best and brightest engaged and around, you need to
take an active role in their development. We propose a
three-dimensional approach to leadership development
created by our colleagues David L. Dotlich, Peter C. Cairo
and Stephen H. Rhinesmith, the authors of Head, Heart &
Guts: How the World’s Best Companies Develop Complete
Leaders (Jossey-Bass, 2006).
We have
found that managers who practice three-dimensional
development generate enormous benefits for the individuals
who report to them, for the company and for themselves.
Employee satisfaction goes up, the risk of losing valued
employees goes down and teams achieve more.
In this
model, you, the manager, approach developing your direct
reports along these three dimensions:
1. Use
your head: approach development strategically. Your
investment in developing leadership talent in your team
should dovetail with your company’s strategic priorities.
What skills does the company need from its employees? Is
it seeking to innovate? Go global? Become more
customer-focused?
In most
cases, you will want to emphasize the development of your
strongest performers without neglecting anyone altogether.
“If you take seriously the idea that talent management is
an investment,” says Lisa Cavallaro, senior manager of
worldwide leadership development at Cisco Systems, “you
should be investing most of your time and resources with
your high potentials and top performers. In most
situations, they are the ones who can provide the highest
return on your investment.”
Keep in
mind that this is not a one-time choice: Some employees
who don’t have obvious high potential now may surprise you
with how quickly they can grow.
2. Use
your heart: engage with people and develop relationships.
A key reason people leave companies is they don’t feel
their managers are supportive and committed to their
ongoing success.
Survey
after survey shows that employees are hungry for
engagement with their leader. One of the most effective
actions you can take is to build into your weekly routine
a quick sharing of observations about what an employee has
done well that week and where he or she could improve.
If you
keep the tone frank, over time you’ll succeed in building
a trusting relationship that allows employees to openly
share views on their strengths, weaknesses, passions and
goals. This in turn allows both of you to build
development plans that are tailored to the employee and
implemented with enthusiasm.
“Talent
development conversations need to occur over time, not as
a one-shot activity appended to the performance management
process,” says Cavallaro. “People are much more likely to
share their career aspirations and learning needs when
they trust that through the year you are listening and
taking their development seriously.”
3. Use
your guts: have the courage to take calculated risks.
Leading through your guts means helping your best
employees gain exposure and experience in high-profile
stretch roles or projects. Sometimes you have to take the
calculated risk of putting a talented employee into a
leadership position for which she may not be entirely
ready. If she fails, it might reflect poorly on both of
you—but that’s why it takes guts.
As the
vice president of services at a major technology
organization listened to a direct report complain yet
again about another function, she decided to have him lead
a cross-unit team to address process and collaboration
issues—even though she knew if he made mistakes, it would
call her own judgment into question.
The
assignment was a real stretch for him: Although a strong
performer in general, he didn’t have a good track record
as a team player. Fortunately, the four-month project was
a big success—providing clarity on expectations and
processes for teamwork.
If an
experiment fails, your job is to lend support, offer
insight and turn the situation into a development
opportunity.
****
Seth
Lieberman is managing partner at Leadership Breakthroughs
Llc., which provides leadership programs, executive
coaching and talent strategy consulting. He was formerly a
partner at Oliver Wyman-Delta Organization and Leadership.
Steve Krupp leads the executive talent management business
at Oliver Wyman-Delta Organization and Leadership. In this
role, he helps CEOs and their teams translate business
plans into leadership strategies. |
