Why You Won’t Attract Top Level Talent

Want to attract top-level talent?

It’s easier than you think.

There are two primary ways to have top-level talent in your organization or on your team: you can hire them or you can train them.
On the surface, hiring top talent might seem like an easy solution. In many ways, it is but there’s a hitch: talented people only want to work in environments that support high-functioning activities.

If you already have that kind of work environment, chances are you also already have top-level talent on your team. But if you don’t, then it’s going to be hard to attract and retain the highly talented people that your organization needs.

I can’t say this any more clearly: the most successful organizations invest in developing their people. If you don’t provide your employees with continuous training, how can they get better at their jobs? They won’t learn to adapt and respond to the constant flux of internally and externally driven changes.

The first step in attracting top level talent is to provide a top level development program.

The ultimate goal of any successful training and development process is to create positive change. It’s an old saying but true nonetheless: if you do what you have always done, you will achieve the results you have always achieved.

To get better results, something has to change. The bottom line – it’s people’s actions that have to change.

This is the challenge: how do you get people to adopt new processes, new behaviors, and new ways of thinking?

This may sound like a daunting task, but there’s actually a simple solution. There’s a wealth of research (backed by real-world case studies) which demonstrates that well-designed, well-thought-out development programs  affect positive change in an organization.

Creating a successful development program is a matter of incorporating a few key “puzzle pieces”. Here are some of the crucial elements of a development processes that really work to bring positive change to a team or organization.

Goals and Outcomes
If a development program is going to be successful, specific and measurable goals need to be defined from the outset. These goals can be behavior-specific, such as training staff to better manage conflict, or they can be outcome-based, such as making sure that clients feel better served in situations where there’s a disagreement or by reducing the frequency of customer complaints.

Motivation
For many people, the decision to make a change is driven largely by pure self-interest. “What’s in it for me?” “How will this make my life easier or less stressful?” “How will this advance my own career or open up job opportunities for me?”

These often very personal goals, though sometimes unstated, are most likely to be the catalyst for someone to desire change.

But there’s also a major deterrent to change: anxiety. Most people fear change, some more than others. This isn’t necessarily debilitating anxiety but rather a sort of a vague uneasiness.

Consciously or unconsciously, this discomfort causes people to find ways to avoid change or to keep doing things the same way they always have.

These are age-old features of human psychology. This is where motivation enters the equation.

For people to change their behaviors or attitudes, they need to be motivated by something that benefits them and they need to be encouraged to overcome their fear of change.

Support
In organizations where collaboration in support of development efforts is commonplace, successful and sustainable change rates are much higher. Support can take a variety of forms. Formal or informal mentoring programs, time set aside at team meetings, or one on one with a manager can all advance development. Even something as simple as having a 5 minute focus meeting every day can have substantial impact on goal achievement.

Action
Thinking or talking about change won’t drive change. Specific actions are required and these are best supported by a plan. The plan doesn’t have to be excruciatingly detailed but you do need a description of the actions planned and the circumstances in which the actions will be carried out.

An example might be “I will increase my ability to be present in the upcoming job performance reviews” or “I will work to be more self-aware of my emotional responses in a potentially confrontational situation.”

Observation and Reflection
The patterns that need to be changed may have been operating at a pre-conscious level. These need to be identified, assessed, and addressed where appropriate. The way to change these kinds of patterns and achieve the desired results is by observing current thinking and behaviors while reflecting on what is or isn’t working.

Reinforcement
Consistency in applying new behaviors or ways of thinking will accelerate the process of creating positive change. The process of developing different ways of thinking and behaving is a process that needs to be reinforced over time.

The development process is often interrupted or abandoned before the new methods become “hardwired.” The support element of a change program is often a key factor in getting back on track with desired changes.

One important element for reinforcement is frequency. Greater frequency solidifies application and habituation while stabilizing and expediting the process of behavioral change.

Reframing
Over time, the new, desired behavior or thinking pattern becomes habituated or “hardwired.” The amount of time this process takes is a function of how entrenched the current behaviors are, the desire for change, the support provided, and the frequency of reinforcement.

These key elements are the puzzle pieces that come together to help create a development program that works. These are the principles by which firmly entrenched, but ultimately ineffective or dysfunctional, behaviors can be identified, addressed, and changed.

By incorporating these necessary elements into a development program, the positive change you seek can become a reality. What ultimately lies at the root of an organization are the people within it. For positive change to happen, the way people think, feel, and behave must change.

An effective development program that follows these principles can help create an organizational culture and workplace environment well-suited to the high-level talent that every leader wants to have on their team.

Do you have any examples of times you’ve made a change or changed programs at work? Share with us!

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This post was originally posted at TransformationalTrainingGroup.com

If you would like to talk about organizational culture, change, leadership, or anything related to organizational development feel free to contact me.

If a few minutes of my time can assist you in getting positive results for your organization, I am happy to help.

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R. Michael Healey is recognized as an expert in helping organizations link culture to performance. He is the author of the forthcoming book ‘Unlocking the Culture Code’