How to Retain and Motivate Talent
Are you frustrated that there just aren’t the right candidates out there? Do you struggle with retention? There are a whole host of reasons why this might be the case, but the first place to look is your approach to Talent and Succession Planning.
“People are our most important asset” must be the most used business phrase of the last ten years. Although it is said with the best of intent, only a handful of companies manage to effectively attract and nurture the talent needed for tomorrow.
Few companies put Talent Management as their number one priority as Proctor & Gamble did in 2001. P&G defined four core responsibilities of its board and top of the list was CEO succession and Executive Leadership Development. What cascaded down from this was an extraordinary journey which saw P&G’s share price double at the same time as the S&P, NASDAQ, & Dow indices all fell.
P&G were able to do this as the focus on Talent Management came right from the top, but there are lessons from P&G and others which are still not widely applied today. For example, few companies define “Potential” clearly and many don’t define it at all. Potential and Performance are two very different things and need to be managed differently.
Click here to see “The Seven Pillars of Talent Management”.
Most of the companies that do define potential hold “high flyer lists” which are closely guarded. There are obvious reasons to be cautious here, but if the system is robust and objective then there are significant benefits to taking an open approach; retention and productivity both improve.
Some companies drive talent away through having too uniform an approach to climbing the ladder. The mentality that everyone that gets to a certain level must have performed a certain role, or worked internationally (etc.) may well be a sensible norm’, but should not be universally applied. Boards and Senior Management benefit from diversity in all its forms.
Like any asset, talent needs to be nurtured and invested in. Amongst other things, this takes the form of challenging assignments, external training courses where they mix with business leaders across their industry and from all walks of business, and Executive Coaching. Good organisations these days promote a culture of coaching within their organisations, which is a powerful thing in its own right, but Executives can only truly open up with an external coach.
Click here to see “The key steps to Managing Internal Coaching Effectively”
Giving Executives the space and the expert guidance to clarify their thinking and work through their problems is invaluable. Invest in their “Well Being” and the returns on this investment will quickly flow through the business.
Executive Coaching will improve the value of your business and will make work more rewarding. These days, most top performers in business work with a coach.
If you would like to invest in yourself and the value of your business then call me on 07730 700258 to arrange a free introductory Coaching session.