DEVELOPING YOUR PEOPLE
The awesome managers, leaders, supervisors, team leads spend an incredible amount of time developing people, and most of the stuff they do is not written in their job description. So why do they do this? Why does developing people matter?
Because employee development is probably the most overlooked aspect of a manager’s role and because investing time in individuals to develop their talents is a key aspect of employee engagement and retention. According to the 2016 Towers Watson Global Talent Management and Reward Study Survey, career advancement opportunities for employees ranks amongst the top 3 attraction and retention drivers and only 38% of managers seem to be effective in conducting career development discussions.
Because employee development is probably the most overlooked aspect of a manager’s role and because investing time in individuals to develop their talents is a key aspect of employee engagement and retention. According to the 2016 Towers Watson Global Talent Management and Reward Study Survey, career advancement opportunities for employees ranks amongst the top 3 attraction and retention drivers and only 38% of managers seem to be effective in conducting career development discussions.
How can I do this?
It depends where you are in your career but essentially you'll need to know your direct reports, their talents , the stuff they enjoy working on and not, the stuff that engages them at work and outside of work. Developing someone is more than just pointing at the improvements that need to happen, it's about encouraging, stretching and rewarding but also at time being firm and addressing underperformance.
Before I go on with tips and things that might raise a few eyebrows, let me clarify one essential thing about employee development. Development is employee owned, management enabled (in most cases) and company supported. There is no need to force development on someone, it would just not be very efficient.
It depends where you are in your career but essentially you'll need to know your direct reports, their talents , the stuff they enjoy working on and not, the stuff that engages them at work and outside of work. Developing someone is more than just pointing at the improvements that need to happen, it's about encouraging, stretching and rewarding but also at time being firm and addressing underperformance.
Before I go on with tips and things that might raise a few eyebrows, let me clarify one essential thing about employee development. Development is employee owned, management enabled (in most cases) and company supported. There is no need to force development on someone, it would just not be very efficient.
To start, here are some basic questions to ask yourself:
- How well do you know each of your team member? When was the last time you informally took them out for a coffee or lunch and an informal chat? Do you understand what makes each of them unique? It's never too late to create some bonds, if you feel this approach feel unnatural what not set up a monthly team lunch or a team afternoon break.
- How well do you use the performance management system in place in your organization? I don't mean the 'WHAT' the online system to log performance and score people at specific times during the year. This is a robotic old fashioned ways of keeping performance records. Here I am talking about the 'HOW' element of performance management. Do you sit regularly with each team member to discuss their work projects and what support they need? Do you make sure that at least once every 2 months one of these meetings is about meaningful conversations about their development and not projects they are working on? Have you helped them set up their development plan and are you enabling opportunities? Do you provide ongoing coaching? Do you give them honest and timely feedback and do you ask for feedback yourself? Are you truly sure you understand the difference between opinions and facts when giving feedback?
Most of this stuff might not be in your job description, but that's common sense, you need to spend time with your people, to show you care and to inspire them.
- How well do you know the HR procedures in place in your organization about rewarding people for good work but also managing poor performance? How do you celebrate success or someone's really good piece of work? Do you give them a voucher? Do you take them out for lunch? Do you showcase their work to senior leaders? Do you give them some time off? Do you know what mechanisms are in place in your workplace? How do you deal with underperformance? How many meetings do you need to have before involving HR? Do you know how to set put informal and formal development plans?
Any line manager, first time leader, supervisor, aspiring leader, people leader needs to know the basics and needs to understand where to find this information and who to contact in HR for help.
Being a good leader is though, if you think you do not have time for this then look at the way you prioritize your 'To Do List'. Check the Eisenhower Matrix, it will help you make time for what really matters.
- How well do you know each of your team member? When was the last time you informally took them out for a coffee or lunch and an informal chat? Do you understand what makes each of them unique? It's never too late to create some bonds, if you feel this approach feel unnatural what not set up a monthly team lunch or a team afternoon break.
- How well do you use the performance management system in place in your organization? I don't mean the 'WHAT' the online system to log performance and score people at specific times during the year. This is a robotic old fashioned ways of keeping performance records. Here I am talking about the 'HOW' element of performance management. Do you sit regularly with each team member to discuss their work projects and what support they need? Do you make sure that at least once every 2 months one of these meetings is about meaningful conversations about their development and not projects they are working on? Have you helped them set up their development plan and are you enabling opportunities? Do you provide ongoing coaching? Do you give them honest and timely feedback and do you ask for feedback yourself? Are you truly sure you understand the difference between opinions and facts when giving feedback?
Most of this stuff might not be in your job description, but that's common sense, you need to spend time with your people, to show you care and to inspire them.
- How well do you know the HR procedures in place in your organization about rewarding people for good work but also managing poor performance? How do you celebrate success or someone's really good piece of work? Do you give them a voucher? Do you take them out for lunch? Do you showcase their work to senior leaders? Do you give them some time off? Do you know what mechanisms are in place in your workplace? How do you deal with underperformance? How many meetings do you need to have before involving HR? Do you know how to set put informal and formal development plans?
Any line manager, first time leader, supervisor, aspiring leader, people leader needs to know the basics and needs to understand where to find this information and who to contact in HR for help.
Being a good leader is though, if you think you do not have time for this then look at the way you prioritize your 'To Do List'. Check the Eisenhower Matrix, it will help you make time for what really matters.
A final thought, a few years ago British Airways changed their tagline and had a great advertising campaign: 'British Airways. To fly. To serve.' Back then I was working in the travel industry and I thought that 'To serve' was a little blunt, but then I actually realized it was quite shrewd and they were spot on.
Of course BA is there to transport passengers from one place to another, but most importantly it is there to create a memorable journey for their passengers, to serve them.
They went back to the basics, they reminded all their staff that they were there to serve, both their internal and external clients.
It's the same for a leader, you are here to serve your people. Le't not be hung up on the word here, you are here to make sure your people have the right skills, opportunities and motivation to deliver business results. Please watch this video of Ken Blanchard talking about Servant Leadership.
Of course BA is there to transport passengers from one place to another, but most importantly it is there to create a memorable journey for their passengers, to serve them.
They went back to the basics, they reminded all their staff that they were there to serve, both their internal and external clients.
It's the same for a leader, you are here to serve your people. Le't not be hung up on the word here, you are here to make sure your people have the right skills, opportunities and motivation to deliver business results. Please watch this video of Ken Blanchard talking about Servant Leadership.