What is talent development and why it matters
Talent development is about identifying skills and potential in people, training, and coaching, and designing future career paths for the people of an organization. Developing the skills and talent in an organization increases organizational productivity and employee engagement.
Talent development is a key factor in employee experience and productivity. The best people are eager to learn and develop, and organizations have to invest in their skills to motivate and retain these talents. A well-trained and engaged workforce is better able to deliver higher productivity and work quality, as well as more innovative work.
Talent development is crucial for any organization to have a skillful workforce with up-to-date knowledge available, and to employ these talents towards the common goals. As modern work-life is changing at a high pace, it requires organizations to adopt new and agile methods for upskilling and reskilling employees.
Key practices and tools for talent development
There are a number of useful practices and strategies for talent development and learning, from which you can choose the ones that are most useful for your organization. The learning opportunities an organization can provide form an important part of their employer brand and also help to attract the right talent.
Have the courage to modify the practices and talent development strategies to fit your organization's culture and needs.
Onboarding
During the onboarding process, the new employee acquires the necessary skills and knowledge to work effectively in the new work environment
- basic information about the company goals, values, and context for work
- basic level industry insights
- practical skills related to company tools, processes, and practices
- common rules and policies of the work community
- basic level skills related to the employee position and role
A good onboarding process is often a combination of online onboarding, training, on-the-job learning, and coaching.
Onboarding program may include the following items
- Online onboarding modules about the company goals, practices, and policies
- Onboarding checklists of little tasks like office tours and handling our equipment
- Coaching sessions with the supervisor or mentoring
- Feedback session after the first month or a quarter at the job
Read also: Digital onboarding – how to create a successful online onboarding course for your organization?
Training
Training can be provided by the organization, a training partner, or other members of the employee network. Some training modules are common for all employees or a department, but much of the training is often more personalized or voluntary.
Online training can easily be audited, and is, therefore, a popular form of training for company policy, GDPR, information security, physical security, code of conduct, or any other compliance training. Online courses are also cost-efficient and a flexible form for delivering information about new products and practices, or to have information available about company IT systems and common practices. Enabling employees to develop their skills at their own pace, online courses make it possible for the employees to select the right time and place for their own development.
Online learning and talent development tools such as Vuolearning can be used to bring the relevant courses available for each employee, and to help to track their progress with learning analytics.
Read also: Tips for finding and onboarding the right e-learning software
Coaching and performance review sessions
Coaching is an increasingly popular form of talent development, and nowadays managers are often expected to learn coaching skills to best support and motivate their team. Building on the strengths of an individual is known to be an effective way to develop talent and increase employee engagement.
Coaching can happen in prescheduled sessions with a set interval, or take place as and when needed. It is important to find the coaching practices fit for the organization and the role. Coaching can also take place digitally, using tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
Performance reviews help the employee to recognize and receive recognition for their progress. They will also help to set the focus for the upcoming work and to align the personal performance goals with the company goals.
Some common coaching and performance review practices are
- weekly or monthly coaching sessions with a mentor or a manager
- feedback session after the first month or quarter at the job
- performance review session after the internship
- monthly, quarterly, or annual performance review discussions
- coaching and goal-setting sessions for the new position
- exit discussions
Notes from coaching sessions and performance reviews help return to the set goals and plans, and to better reflect the learnings. HR tools such as Sympa may provide templates and spaces for the notes, and you can always simply use Microsoft Word to get started.
Peer learning and mentoring
Peer learning can be learning from other team members, from other departments, or even colleagues from other organizations. Peer learning is known to be an efficient form of learning, and can also provide emotional support and encouragement. Peer learning can be supported by organizing sharing sessions or digital spaces for sharing and learning and giving recognition to the active contributors.
Digital communication spaces such as Slack can help to share useful tips and ideas with your team, as well as make asking for help easier. Peer learning can also be enhanced by organizing networking and time and place for colleagues to get to know each other.
Mentoring received from a more senior colleague can provide insights and support for professional development. Mentoring can be made formal by appointing a designated mentor for a new colleague. It can also occur on the job if the team structure is designed to team up junior and senior employees and support their interactions and teamwork.
Acknowledging the skills and ambitions of the employees
Recognizing and acknowledging the skills, achievements, and development of the employees is rewarding for the employee and valuable for the company. Every employee wishes to receive fair recognition for their advancement and making this advancement visible increases motivation and employee engagement.
When the skills and ambitions of the employees can be recognized, the organization can use this data for more data-driven talent development. When the skills development is based on real data, the needs of employees do not go unheard, nor do their valuable skills unemployed.
Digital tools can provide remarkable help in this process, and support skills-based searches among the employees when a specific skill is needed for a project.
Developing skills for the future
Designing learning programs for future talents can include a blend of all the different forms of talent development. Digital learning paths in an online learning platform can blend with coaching sessions, on-site training, and mentoring. On the Vuolearning talent development program, all this data can be combined with the employee skills, ambitions, and achievements profiling.
Designing for future talent combines these different aspects
- ambitions, needs, and wishes of individual employees
- strategic goals of the organization
- the learning culture and leadership
- tools and resources for learning
- industry and labor market trends and development
Talent development is similar to any other core process of the company in the sense that it is reasonable to plan, review and update the practices regularly. This also means that your organization does not have to get everything right at once - the practices can evolve as you learn together what works in your environment.
Read also:
Tools and methods for competence development
Competence development increases and maintains the competitiveness of a business
Online onboarding - How to successfully deliver a modern onboarding for new employees