Let us trace the stages that an employee typically goes through starting from his first day of work.  He gets an orientation of the company and perhaps an appreciation of the various business processes.  He may be given files of documents (standard operating procedures and instructions, etc.) to go through.  If he is fortunate, someone may be assigned to him as a buddy or mentor to guide him in his work.  Often, he is left to find his way out of a crisis and eventually he gets assessed for his job confirmation.  What is the likelihood that he will be confirmed and eventually becomes a talent in the organization?

This stage of talent management requires both the supervisor and the staff to work together.  Development is an ongoing process and needs  open communication between both to make it work.  It can be done via a classroom training session or through experiential learning.  Some may lead to a professional qualification while some with a certificate of recognition or attendance.  It is also important to acknowledge that development can be very powerful through informal means such as learning from others in the office or from work encounters.

Whatever the development activity may be, the staff needs to be mindful that he is responsible to add value to the company.  It is of no use building competence but not using that for the good of the company.  As long as that is clear, the return on investments will come with any development program made for the staff.  To have an effective development program, the company needs to structure it and not leave to chance.  They can adopt certification schemes (e.g. People Developer Standard administered by SPRING Singapore) to structure their human resources development program.

Employees need to be aware of their shortfall that hampers their effectiveness to add value in the company.  They communicate with their supervisor to establish the training needs.  An action plan should then be set up with goals that will help evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.  Consolidation of training information can be done at individual, departmental and company level.  This will also provide better visibility for the management level to set aside time and money to look into its development program.  Opportunities for inter-department coalition to strengthen the development needs of individuals create better company focused resourcing.  The successes brought in from a resource-unified company bring synergy to the company and thereby improving its value.

A simple Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) approach can help improve the way you do anything.  It is a universal thought process that if you set your thinking this way, you will derive effective systems in place.  So in the talent management – development stage, plan and do what is planned, constantly review and standardize the practice when you see successes.

May 2013 be a blessed year to you and may you be successful in your talent management -development stage.