In one of our recent culture debriefs with a leadership team, there was a conversation about people development. For some reason, virtually every leader believed that this is a responsibility of HR. They equated development with training and didn’t see the vital role they play in growing each member of their team.
In the world of hybrid work, leaders are crucial?to the people development process. People development is essential to build culture and increase engagement. There are a lot of lost, disconnected employees because leaders don’t make time for development. ???
When we challenged the leadership team to step up and build the next generation of leaders, we shared the four commitments that great leaders make to their teams:
- Strong Start – leaders must equip new team members with the necessary tools and resources to help them seamlessly acclimate to their role and the organizational culture. HR may share some standard information, but leaders are responsible for getting their team members connected to their peers and to the organization. Leaders who expect their people to get everything they need in orientation are missing the chance to jump-start their team member's career success. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Be intentional about the positive first impression you want to make when someone joins your team.
- Skill Investment?– ensure your employees acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, increase productivity, and ultimately become better leaders. Don’t wait for HR to roll out a campaign. HR can encourage people to attend classes but that is insufficient. Leaders need to engage in supporting skill development by asking about interests, observing strengths and being intentional about matching learning with the needs of the work and the needs of the person. You won’t know what you don’t ask!
- Regular Feedback – dedicating time regularly (not just once a year) for the leader to share feedback, coach, and appreciate each team member results in exponential growth. Annual feedback sessions are passe once you understand the brain science. Annual performance evaluations create a brain threat that limits learning potential and growth. This is not the intention of the process. However, poorly trained leaders use HR-developed forms to check a box and say they’ve “managed performance.”
- Bright Future?– do you have a clearly communicated plan with opportunities such as advancement and succession for every team member? In your 1:1 do you talk about developmental and career goals? Have you asked each team member what they want to do next? We have been coaching a group of executives and a common theme is that no one has ever asked them what they want out of their career. That’s shocking to us. How can you be at a senior level in an organization and no one knows what matters to you? Take responsibility for helping every person on your team see the bright future of the organization and their place in making that happen.
Developing people in the workplace is a leadership responsibility. It is also critical to effective talent management and organizational success.
People power performance, so why wouldn’t you do everything possible to grow and develop everyone on your team?
ACTION: Evaluate yourself against these four commitments on a scale of 1 (had no idea that was my job) to 10 (perfection) and identify one to three actions you can take to raise the bar on your people development.
