Is developing talent an organizational imperative at your company? If not, you’re undoubtedly missing opportunities to convert your customer base into effective and committed brand evangelists. An organization is always a reflection of its leadership. In his book, The Breakthrough Company Keith McFarland writes, “the best way for a leader to get the right people on the bus is to create a bus worth riding.”
For the last 50 years, the number one reason for employee turnover in America was “my boss.” That was true until the most recent Gallup Survey, where now the top reasons for turnover across all industries in America are the lack of training/development and lack of career growth opportunities.
The most common skill that 99% of managers and executives are missing is that they do not know how to plan for and facilitate 1-1 “developmental” conversations with their direct reports about their growth plan and or career. Gallup’s National American Manager Study revealed that 1 in 10 leaders have a high talent to effectively manage others. That means 1 in 10 leaders will engage associates and customers, retain top talent, and build a high performing culture. Ask yourself, what has your turnover cost your company up to this point and what will it cost your company in the future?
DEVELOPMENTAL COACHING
This style of coaching focuses on preparing an individual to do something new in the future that will equip them to advance/evolve to the next level or simply perform better in their existing role. If executed properly, developmental coaching will greatly benefit the employee, manager, and the company as a whole.
Want more proof that leadership/coaching and developing talent makes a significant impact? According to the report from Bersin by Deloitte, organizations with strong leadership demonstrate a +37% rise in revenue per employee and +9% in gross profit margin.
Below is a simple and powerful six-step system that, with proper training, every manager at all levels can use with each of their direct reports, using effective one-on-one mentoring conversations.
1. CLARIFY THE PERSONS CURRENT PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES
Assess their current strengths and development needs. To evaluate future work potential, the first step is to evaluate past achievements with a focus on specific skills. It’s also important to estimate that person’s ability to efficiently learn new skills and their eagerness to tackle bigger and more complex assignments.
2. GAIN AGREEMENT ON A SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTAL TARGET/GOAL
Determine the performance requirements needed at every key leadership level. Define what skills and experiences are needed to transition from one level to the next. Building a leadership pipeline relies on successfully matching an individual’s potential with the requirements of their current and future possible positions.
3. DESIGN THEIR DEVELOPMENT PLAN
When designing the plan, be sure to consider the skills and knowledge required for the person’s current position or any possible next position. This includes any specific skills needed to elevate their individual and or their team’s success.
4. IDENTIFY ANY KEY RESOURCES REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT THEIR PLAN
Be mindful of the time, money, and training that may be needed to reach determined targets and goals. Identifying key resources ahead of time will help to prevent wasted time, wasted money employee burnout, and confusion.
5. IMPLEMENT THE PLAN
Now that the plan has been created, it is time to put it into action. Be sure to have the plan readily available and as targets and goals are accomplished, cross them off. This will help to monitor what progress is being made and at what speed.
6. CONDUCT FOLLOW UP CONVERSATIONS ON PROGRESS
Feedback is an essential piece of the process. This time should be used to evaluate the program and determine what has been going well and what needs to be improved or revised.
CONCLUSION
Reprioritizing values is one of the most difficult hurdles managers have to jump. In the past, they valued being an individual producer. Now, they must learn to value making others productive and developing their employee’s career paths. The ability of your front-line supervisors and team leaders to develop those that they lead will have a large impact on your company’s success. At the end of the day, your company will never outperform its leadership.
ABOUT JOHN LANKFORD
Four-time winner of the Business Advisor of the Year in North America, John D. Lankford is passionate about development, performance, and results. As a certified Executive Coach and 4 Time Business Coach of the Year, John loves to coach leaders on his proven techniques. His impressive background is unique, boasting 23 years of corporate and 12 years of entrepreneurial experience. John has facilitated more than two dozen mergers and acquisitions, as well as launching three businesses and ultimately selling two. His leadership track record includes leadership positions at the Executive Education team at Ford Motor Company, Oakwood Healthcare, Comcast University, and the St John Healthcare system.
Mr. Lankford’s work in designing a company-wide system to develop the next generation of executives was recognized as “the most comprehensive approach to coaching and developing leaders we have ever seen in corporate America” by the Program Director at the Center for Creative Leadership. He has implemented executive education and leadership programs with GE, the University of Michigan Business School, and the Center for Creative Leadership. John is the author of The Answer is Leadership What is the Question: How the best CEOs build high-performing companies.