Think about it: Your company’s only truly sustainable competitive advantage, which cannot be copied by competitors, is your corporate culture and the strength of your leadership. Does your company reward innovation, reinforce positive results and cultivate relationships with its top performers? Or do you find yourselves consistently losing top talent?
If so, ask yourself another question: How actively does your organization identify, invest in and motivate leaders? If you ignore this important component of talent development, top performers might leave because of lack of opportunity, and your organization will never achieve its true potential.
Companies that have a reputation for developing leadership talent are more attractive to the best and the brightest. Actively developing leadership talent also increases your bench strength, so you are less reliant and have less risk when a top performer leaves.
So what can you do?
First, clearly identify the people you want to keep. If you have a high impact employee who is a strong asset to your company, let them know it, and talk to them about what would make them stay with your company.
Most likely they will be seeking opportunities for professional and personal development as well as role or career advancement, so make sure you provide them. Whether you offer training programs, a mentoring relationship or leadership seminars, make it easy for these employees to grow their careers without leaving your firm.
Also, consider extra compensation. While you may not always be able to offer a higher salary, try to award bonuses at the end of a major project or team accomplishment.
Why put all the time into training, mentoring and grooming?
It’s almost always better to grow your own leaders, nurturing strong employees within your own corporate culture, rather than trying to swipe them from the competition or bringing in some outside corporate guru.
According to recent research, the likelihood that a star employee plucked from another company can duplicate his success within your company is very slim. Usually, the star employee’s success had more to do with the specific operating environment and supporting cast at that company and less to do with his or her own talent. Transplanting a star or a guru into your organization can also create resentment in employees who feel that their commitment to the organization is valued less. So create your own successful environment and nurture your own supporting cast.
GE’s former CEO, Jack Welch, is said to have dedicated up to 30% of his time to developing leaders within GE. Similarly, when Goldman Sachs identifies a high impact employee with leadership potential, they ensure that person gets formal training, special job assignments and mentoring to help them develop their leadership potential.
Developing Leadership Talent From Within
Start by recruiting employees with great attitudes & beliefs, the right behaviors, needed competencies, an ability to learn quickly and a high potential for growth.
Have the senior leaders regularly evaluate the performance and potential of employees and look for signs that a person possesses leadership potential.
Give your high-potential employees an opportunity to take on different challenges and continue to give them feedback on performance.
The key to creating a successful company is to retain top talent. When you can identify, develop, and involve your top performers, their commitment to your company’s success will help you rise to the top.
In an ever-changing employment marketplace, many companies resort to leveraging employees for value and profits. At KeenHire™, our Performance Management, Sales Hiring, Recruitment and Organizational Development Experts work together with your company to develop and incorporate successful, efficient Talent Acquisition, Conscious Hiring, Employee Development, and Employee Retention Strategies. By implementing KeenHire’s™ proven processes, companies are able to close-the-door on expensive mis-hires and unwanted employee turnover as well as ensure successful recruitment process implementation resulting in less waste and increased return on investment.
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