When Talent Leaves

I've been leading a workgroup to create a succession plan for my organization for several months.  This weekk as I prepared for a presentation to discuss the final report, I took a few minutes to reflect on this question, “What happens to organizations when talent leaves?”  This is the main issue that our group was attempting to address.  If your organization doesn’t have a succession plan…you’re in BIG trouble, when talent leaves!

When talent leaves, and you’re not prepared what happens???  What do you do when that high potential employee tells you that she’s taking a job somewhere else? 

• You are desperately looking for a replacement that may not have the right knowledge and skills to backfill the vacant position.
• Your organization’s effectiveness suffers and eventually its reputation and credibility. Work doesn’t get done.

Here’s an example of what happens when an organization doesn’t have an effective succession plan…

Why not take the time to ensure that our organization is prepared for employee departures.   In addition to creating a detailed succession plan using various models such as the one prescribed by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) or displayed in the video above, keep these four things in mind to make sure that you’re prepared when talent leaves.  Who knows, you may even prevent their departure. 

1)     Know what’s going on in your organization.  Have conversations with employees to check the pulse of the organizational climate.  Are people satisfied with their jobs?  Are they just “getting by" until a better job comes?  How engaged are your employees?  What are employees talking about around the water cooler?

2)    Strategically plan for today as well as tomorrow.  You should also determine who, within your organization is ready now, in the near future, and in a few years to fill the next level positions.  Don’t wait until someone is getting ready to leave to think about how you're going to fill their shoes.

3)      Incorporate back-ups into your organizational structure.  Each of your critical positions should have at least two people who can perform the duties and know what’s going on with the day-to-day functions.  At a minimum, you should have a primary person and a back-up.

4)      Value all of your employees.  You should invest in all of your employees’ development.  Let them know that they each have something to contribute to the organization’s success by your actions.  Remember, organizations aren’t made up of only high potential employees.  When you don’t value all of your employees, those high potential employees, who leave huge talent voids upon their departure, are the first ones to leave.

It’s our responsibility as L&D professionals to ensure that our organizations have employees with the right knowledge and skills for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.  Explore what your role is within your organization’s succession planning process.  Why not take a leadership role in your organization’s succession planning initiative…create a collaborative team to avoid being caught off-guard when talent leaves.

Order Taker to Business Partner

This week I received a lot of positive feedback regarding the mentoring program that I manage.  Employess were inspired to step outside of their comfort zones and actually network with others as a result of the speed mentoring event that I conducted this week.  Others were engaged and motivated to join the program and become Mentors and Mentees as a result of the briefing that I conducted about the basics.  Some feedback was just to tell me that they are really benefiting and growing as a result of the mentoring activities.  One person even asked me, "I hope your organization values you because of the good work that you're doing with the mentoring program."  My response to him was that I am just happy that the work that I'm doing is helping him and others grow.

For some reason, I started thinking about my journey in the L&D field.  How did I move from being an order taker to a true business partner and performance consultant?  It was PASSION!!!  I thought about the different roles I've served including: training coordinator...program manager...instructional designer...performance consultant...business partner.  As I saw the power that learning could have on transforming people and organizations, I wanted to learn more about the L&D field.

My focus has always been to make a contribution to the mission of my organization and help others learn.  In my first role in this field, I was an order taker.  I was responsible for ensuring that employees received the training that they requested. In other words, I filled orders.  Now, I'm happy to say that I am playing a valuable role in transforming my organization by creating growth opportunities through mentoring.  No longer am I an order taker, but a true business partner.

Check out my article in the T+D Magazine in this month's edition, in the Development Department (free for ASTD Members) to learn how to use your passion to be a true business partner...