Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find you the pick of the lot for the week. In this post, you’ll find pointers to pieces about barriers to building talent, program evaluation, hiring better, and appreciating your top performers. Plus, there’s a list of great articles on motivating top talent.
From TLNT: Four Barriers to Building Talent
“Through our corporate and consulting experience, we have identified four talent-building barriers that organizations create for themselves and then regularly stumble over. These barriers explain why line executives’ exhortations and HR’s actions to build talent are not translating into increased talent quality and depth.”
Wally’s Comment: Call it developing talent or building talent, it’s still the same challenge. You have plenty of problems without making new ones. Marc Effron and Miriam Ort outline four problems you might be creating for yourself. The first is my favorite: needless complexity.
From the Performance Improvement Blog: Seeing the Gorilla in Program Evaluation
“Organizations often evaluate their own programs, as well they should. But, in doing so they should be aware that they are probably failing to observe some very important factors. It’s the nature of human beings. We suffer from selective attention.”
Wally’s Comment: Writers are advised to “let someone else read your stuff” because we don’t see our own problems well. Stephen J. Gill points out that managers evaluating programs have the same problem, not because they’re bad people or ineffective managers, but because of pesky human nature.
From Winning Workplaces: Guitar Magazine Poll: Team Building Matters More Than Skills
“Back in March I wrote this post, which expanded on a point made by Marisa Keegan at Fistful of Talent to argue that employers should draw a line in the sand and hire for attitude and fit over skills. The justification for doing so is a greater tendency for your employees and teams to create customer evangelists who can increase your repeat business and referrals. This reasoning was reiterated in an unlikely place: a guitar magazine. Last week I picked up the September issue of Guitar Player at my local grocery store, and in it I found the following poll and results”
Wally’s Comment: What does your team have in common with a rock band? Mark Harbeke thinks it might be the kind of people you want to bring in.
From Great Leadership: Make Sure You “Hug†Your Top Performers During Times of Change
“A lot of managers make the mistake of thinking that during times of change, their top performers would be the least likely to need reassurance. That’s a major mistake, and could lead to turnover of your most valuable people when you need them the most.”
Wally’s Comment: Your top performers deserve some special attention. That’s true all the time, but it can be especially important in times of change.
From Online Masters Degree: Good, Better, Best: 40 Great Articles on How to Motivate Your Top Talent
“In an age of corporate downsizing, some employers make the mistake of assuming that their top employees are “safe,†that nobody would consider leaving their current job at a time like this. However, employers who make this assumption often find themselves holding the bag when those top employees choose to leave for greener pastures. In fact, the employees who have the most to offer a company are the ones who have a chance at any company. They’re more likely to leave in an economic downturn than the average employees. Therefore, the challenge for any company that wishes to maintain quality and plan for future growth is to discover ways to motivate these top employees, to understand what “makes them tick.†Everyone wants to feel appreciated, to feel as if they are contributing, and to experience professional growth. These are 40 excellent articles we have found from around the Web about strategies for motivating this crucial portion of your workforce.”
Wally’s Comment: Not all of the forty articles are about dealing with top performers. That’s OK, there are links to enough good stuff here to give you plenty to read and use.
