4 Reasons Why Talent Development Is So Important To Your Business

An important part of my work as an executive leadership coach involves coaching my clients in the areas where they need to be focusing their attention. One important area that many leaders overlook is talent development: finding ways to keep your employees engaged, learning, and growing in directions that benefit both their personal goals and the organization.

For me, talent development is like taking in nourishment—it’s not a matter of whether or not you should do it but of when and how to do it best. If talent development isn’t already among your top priorities, here are four reasons why it should be:

It helps you attract and retain top talent in a competitive market. In the age of employee turnover and the Great Resignation, organizations in nearly every field are finding it more difficult than ever to attract and retain top talent. As a leader, you need to make talent development a personal priority to stay competitive in recruiting and keeping the best people. Have a solid plan and communicate it widely to both prospective recruits and current employees. A truly thoughtful talent developing program lets people know how much you value them.

It strengthens talent in new directions. Employees want to know that their leader sees their potential, and it’s important to be intentional about recognizing and reinforcing the strengths of your people. A one-size-fits-all approach to talent development isn’t good enough—you need to design a program for each individual based on their strengths, their goals and the organization’s needs. When you strengthen your talent, you strengthen your leadership.

It improves productivity. According to a recent Gallup study, helping your employees make full use of their employees skills and strengths, and providing them with opportunities for growth and improvement, can make them up to six times more productive. And that increased productivity is a strong case for creating a talent development program. The return is exponential and the value is clear.

It increases employee engagement. In my own research, I have found that a lack of talent development opportunities contributes to as much as 45 percent of attrition in companies worldwide. If you’re serious about retaining and engaging your best employees, it’s important to give them the direction and resources they need to develop and grow. The more you invest in your people, the more engaged and committed they become. And in this highly competitive and volatile business climate, building a culture of engagement and shared growth is an important way to maintain your organization’s stability and sustainability.

Leaders need to understand that nurturing their top talent will foster an organization that’s flexible and well equipped to face change, with a productive and engaged workforce. And that kind of organization has an important competitive edge.

Lead from within: If you want to lead from strength, you have to strengthen the people you lead.

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The Leadership Gap
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

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