Developing Leaders on Your Team

Tweet

July 2018

Imagine if a third of your team expected to make a career change at some point in order to progress in their personal career goals. Next, think about the idea that a quarter of your team does not fully understand the career path that’s already established within your company. With these types of numbers, its easy to see why turnover is bound to happen, even with our top performers. Whats even more staggering, is that of the 25,000 workplace leaders that were surveyed for this research, 93% also said that they found their job full of meaning and purpose. That of course stirs the question, how can so many individuals fine meaning and purpose in their job, but also feel as though they will need to change careers to progress in their own?

We believe the disconnect between the data lies in long-term engagement of leaders among our teams.  When we identify leaders that could have a permanent place on our team and within our company, we need to nurture them and spend time
focusing on their long-term growth. This includes helping individuals understand how the career path works, helping them develop the skills needed for growth, and helping them stay on track when they deviate from the path. To sum it up, we need to act like a mentor, on top of managing our direct report’s numbers and results.

We can help mentor our leaders and provide a strong sense of direction by developing a compelling vision for what our people can accomplish. This is greater than just the vision of the company, but instead, it focuses on how the individuals can contribute to that vision. This may require a change in how we communicate with our team, since we are trying to get them excited about individual accomplishments and what it does for them personally.

Once we have an engaging vision in place, we need to have the basics of a pathway in place. The only way to ensure that our people stay on the right path for growth is to literally have a path to use for reference. This includes some of the simplest items, such as job descriptions, development plans, formal training, scheduled opportunities for feedback, and most importantly, a mentor to help them through their career. These are all items within our control and that have a significant impact on the longevity of our team.

Even when we have teams that are producing, and have been for a while, there is always the chance that our direct reports will leave. Of course, turnover doesn’t hurt as bad when production from a direct report is low, but it can be especially painful to lose a top performer for something as simple as they didn’t see their future with your team and your company. Don’t lose sight of this possibility and take the basic steps today to ensure you maintain leaders among your team.

Tweet