Liberating The Talents Of All Your Employees

HOW MANY COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD HAVE SUCCEEDED IN TAPPING INTO THE UNIQUE TALENTS OF ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES?

Many companies around the world have talent management strategies and career development programmes in place as they seek to stay ahead of the competition by growing the future leaders and managers of their organisations.

Yet, how many have succeeded in tapping into the unique talents of all their employees rather than just a chosen few, providing the conditions for meaningful and rewarding careers within the company, and aligning personal aspirations with business goals for prime performance?

Employees are disengaged everywhere, often "jumping ship" in search of new waters, whilst people performance continues to be more about compliance rather than commitment.

What new thinking and action will companies need to help people liberate their own talent, and develop and manage their careers, in order to deliver prime performance for today and tomorrow?

OUR CHANGING WORLD

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.

Never has the wisdom of Albert Einstein been more apt for the world in which we inhabit today. Disruption is the norm. The world economic crisis has led to disenchantment with traditional political and business institutions and questions about the very nature of capitalism in the 21st Century. For companies and people, it means changing, adapting and innovating.

The very notion of a career is being re-examined in such volatile circumstances. It presents both challenges and opportunities for people in identifying their purpose and career direction. It brings dilemmas and tensions for companies in attracting, engaging and retaining employees while increasing productivity. The transition to a more socially collaborative and networked workplace brings these tensions into sharper focus.

We live in an era where the old certainties are breaking down and new ways forward are needed. Exponential changes in technology and a global marketplace mean the barriers of time and place are being overcome.

Consequently, companies will need to adapt and innovate in the way they grow talent and develop and manage careers to compete on the global stage. It will no longer be enough to focus on the talent of the few. Liberating the talent of the many is the new prime focus.

LIBERATING TALENT, DEVELOPING AND MANAGING CAREERS

The way forward in these tough times is for organisations to liberate rather than manage their talent. Doing more with less means the business case is undeniable for leveraging the untapped wealth within any workforce.

Primeast is one of the companies I work with as coach and consultant. Their experience of working globally with companies over the past three decades is that organisations reach their prime performance when they recognise, value, develop and use the unique talents of all their people in the delivery of their objectives.

• Competence is about being able to do things to an acceptable standard – without making significant mistakes
• Talent is our natural ability (resulting from our personal design or childhood experience) to do something well
• Strength is the product of working with our talents until they become powerful and add value for ourselves and others

This perspective means thinking differently about career development and management to ensure the talent within is actually liberated.

• Career development is a lifelong active process of understanding where you are in your working life, identifying where you want to be and developing your capacity and capability to get there
• Career management is an iterative process of refining and redefining as you grow professionally, the choices and decisions you make about career moves that help get you where you want to be

Career development and management are part of the psychological contract between employer and employee. They are about ensuring the individual can create a meaningful and rewarding career in return for performance that adds value to the organisation.

Increasingly, employees are being encouraged to take ownership of their development and careers. Employers have a role to facilitate the conditions for this to happen and to provide support for employees through their managers. That includes identifying and providing the soft and hard skills needed to operate effectively in their industry and to grow professionally.

The sum of the parts becomes greater for both employer and employee when the elements of talent liberation are woven into career development and management, rather than being treated separately.

In Part 2 of this article, I explore how aligning talent, careers and performance involves focusing on four core areas at both company and individual levels.

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David Shindler (@David_Shindler) is an independent coach, associate with several consultancies, founder of The Employability Hub (resources for students and graduates), author of Learning to Leap: a guide to being more employable and co-author with Mark Babbitt of 21 Century Internships. I am committed to promoting lifelong personal and professional development and to tackling youth unemployment. I work with young people and professionals in education and business.

To read more of my work - visit the Learning to Leap blog.

And check out my other published articles on LinkedIn, including:

6 Warning Signs Of Risking Your Well Being With An Employer