Preserve and Grow Your In-house Talent

How do you keep your best talent? in full bloom? deeply satisfied? What steps can you take, so that when the headhunter’s come poaching around your doors, your talent turns them away without a moment’s consideration?

Attracting premium talent, and reducing staff turnover and resultant talent drain is a significant consideration for a business with a vision of long term excellence. We all know that an organization is only as good as its people. So how do we attract and keep the best? How do we build stronger teams, more confident and competent team players, and move our organisation toward a culture of intrinsic
motivation and commitment to a common vision of mutual success and excellence?

Following are a few quick tips on the “soft stuff” that can assist:

• Co-create your company vision with, through and for your team… together;
• Hold and articulate your teams shared vision;
• Encourage each to follow their unique Passion; and all to share their common Purpose;
• Recognise the unique talents, capabilities, passions and interests of each team member;
• Provide challenging opportunities to exercise and grow unique passion and talent. Get your team into a state of optimum flow. (to learn more on flow states read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).
• Acknowledge and reward efforts, accomplishments, and contributions of the team and each team member;
• Regularly Celebrate Victories (no matter how minor); Make winning a part of your culture;
• Share your marbles, and compliment everyone on their best plays;
• Encourage the personal autonomy of team members; Become a Servant Leader (read Peter Senge);
• Don’t just tell – Coach, Encourage and Support. Be a “Leader” not just a manager and technical teacher; Embody your values and share by living example;
• Remember that Leaders don’t create Followers; they create and activate new Leaders;
• Empower your people. Encourage them to grow to be all that they can. Don’t be afraid to encourage them to out grow you. Don’t be threatened by the excellence of your fellow team members and peers; celebrate it with them; encourage it; embrace it;
• Collaboration is an invitation to think together as a team, is a hallmark of strong leadership, and leads to powerfully integrated teams;

Perhaps the high point of leverage, in growing and preserving team talent, is the culture which you succeed in establishing in your organization. A Culture of Excellence transcends the contribution and longevity of any one member of the team.

At it’s best, a profession is not in competition, one against another, either within or without the organizational structure. At our best as professionals we are in competition against mediocrity; ever increasing our capacity together to better serve our clients, end users, staff, society, humanity and indeed our planet. A focus on mutual support and growth builds community, belonging and ownership
from ground up. It therefore assists in building a bulwark against external distraction for a motivated and committed group of talented individuals. Happy Staff, Happy Client, Happy Life.

Try a few of these quick tips and let us know how it goes.

Director