Do you have a development plan for your most promising talents? Are you working on how other employees, who do not feel sufficiently involved in the current program, grumble? What should you do? The Smart Blogs website has offered some advice that will allow you to develop a top employee in parallel with all the others.
However, before we offer possible solutions, it is important to understand that whenever you differentiate among your employees' performance and results, the collision of those who do not achieve these results is inevitable.
It could be argued that the politics of "everyone gets a trophy" for his extraordinary contribution will contribute to even greater diversification between talents, but, if the programs are transparent this potential conflict will likely be broken. According to the Center for Creative Research, 77% of leaders with high growth potential replied that their formal identification was very important to them. In addition, awareness of the status of promising talents has a very positive effect on retention. Companies that pay special attention to transparency and identification of their top employees, saw 14 % of their employees leave, compared with 33% of employees who had not been formally identified.
Therefore, on the one hand, transparency and employee identification is a good step, but other employees also need to be involved in professional development:
1. Be completely open as to the criteria to identify the best employees. Then you will help people understand why they were or were not chosen. You will even define targets for those employees who would like to achieve a higher level.
2. Use complex tenders. Some organizations allow their employees to submit an application for a development program without demanding requirements. Their manager then either approves or rejects an application and the selection committee will make the final decision. Other companies have formal centres to assess potential. Wider selection tools give employees a better chance and also, an objective view of why they were (not) chosen.
3. Teach managers how to be honest. Their honest feedback will help avoid misunderstandings among employees about whether they actually are or are not sufficiently capable. Without such feedback, they will not understand why they were or were not chosen. Lead them to manage employees in order to help them with their weaknesses and discuss the possibility of individual development with them.
4. Provide development to ALL employees. Keep in mind that the development program/mentoring or coaching for the most powerful is just one of the types of programs that you should offer your employees. The company is based not only on these people. If some develop and others stagnate, you will never achieve your higher purpose.
Have you created a management development program? What kind of programs do you have for employees?
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