Don't "Bottle-Up" Your Top Talent

Many years ago, I interviewed for a promotion as a Regional Vice President at the company I had joined the previous year. I was living in the region at the time and the position was responsible for all sales in that geography. I had twelve years of experience leading sales leaders and delivering results and felt I totally nailed the interview.

A week after the interview, I was called into the office of the hiring manager, the Vice President of Sales for the company. While he said I did a great job in the interview and had all the qualifications he was looking for, I was not going to be offered the job. Obviously disappointed, I was at least looking forward to getting some great actionable feedback so I could ensure I was ready for the next time a position like this came up.

Unfortunately that feedback never came. I was told that I just didn’t have enough experience at that company. I pushed for any other feedback that I could take action on and was told there wasn’t any. Was I supposed to just improve with time, like a bottle of red wine?

A few weeks later, I was shocked to learn that the new Regional Vice President was an external candidate. I’m no mathematician, but I do know that I had one year more experience at the company than this person! Of course, I was disappointed I didn’t get the job, but I was more discouraged by the fact that I was not told the real reason I didn’t get the job. If I don’t get true, honest, candid feedback, how am I going to grow?

This had a significant impact on my approach to people development. Ever since this experience, I insisted that anyone in my organization who interviewed for a position must receive written feedback on what they did well and what they need to work on, as well as recommendations to help them develop the required skills and competencies. The feedback was also provided to their current manager to incorporate into the team member’s development plan.

This process resulted in an incredible succession planning system, a high percentage of internal promotions, and consistent financial results.

Most leaders spend a lot of time interviewing potential candidates – many of whom are internal. If you are not providing good actionable feedback, you are missing a great opportunity to develop top talent. “More company experience” just doesn’t cut it. Take the time to give people candid feedback so they can improve. Don’t put them on a shelf like a bottle of wine.