We need to develop people again

Our best people are looking for it – now more than ever

By Sandra Oliver, Impact Founder

Leaders haven’t really focused on people development over the last five years. Instead, we concentrated on addressing talent challenges we’d rarely seen before, like talent shortages, quiet quitting, the great resignation, and the great detachment.

Post pandemic, we were busy keeping our businesses going and addressing the challenges of job changes and bringing on lots of new people. And managing it all in a hybrid environment and an uncertain economy. At the same time, our responsibilities around talent evolved to include retention and engagement, mentorship and coaching, enhanced dialogue and communication, and meeting each employee’s unique needs.

Development is now a differentiator for attracting great talent

Not concentrating on development left a gap for many of our people, especially our future leaders. They didn’t get the consistent training, mentoring and coaching they need to develop and fine tune the people-focused competencies that make great leaders. How to manage staff and give feedback. Mentor teams and engage meaningfully with key stakeholders. Self-regulate and manage emotions and responses to challenging situations.

Now we’re seeing good people and future leaders asking for this kind of development. They view it as a differentiator in their decisions to join companies.

We’re also seeing greater interest from leaders in evaluating and developing their people. In working with pools of talented succession candidates to grow and enhance their skillsets. To fill in the gaps that the talent upheavals of the last five years created. Address the coming onslaught of retirements and the hollowing out of succession pools. Invest in the right people to ensure the organization’s future success. To ensure their people are happy and fulfilled, so they’ll contribute their best work and boost retention. So they can grow and lead our organizations into the future.

It means leaders’ talent mandates will continue to evolve and expand. And we can’t expect them to do it all, while also continuing to develop their own skills and perform at the highest levels in their existing roles.

It’s why we need to hire more leaders and develop them throughout their careers.

How do we develop leaders effectively?

A recent HR Trends Report finds only 32% of internal HR teams are effective at developing leaders, and leaders often lack critical people-centric skills they need to succeed. First time leaders, especially, are underperforming in these skills, hindering their ability to help drive organizations forward. 

To help address this shortfall, organizations will need innovative ways to manage their talent. They’ll need to look to their HR teams for some of this support. And bring in experienced external professionals to help make up for any gaps.

Like in finding the right people with the unique skillsets to execute on strategy or growth plans. Coaching top leadership candidates so they can embed strong leadership skills as they grow and develop as leaders. Training people in the skills they need to meet our organizations’ future needs around things like technology, business development or strategy.

And mentoring these leaders will also be crucial. So they have the freedom, space and confidence to innovate, fail and try new things.

The leadership development we’re seeing

In the last 6 to 12 months, we’ve seen greater interest by leaders in developing:

• New executive hires and recently promoted leaders – through Assessments, Individual, and New Partner Coaching.
• Top candidates for leadership – through our High Potential Coaching.
• Executive team effectiveness – with Team and Turnaround Coaching.
• Basic management skills – using Individual Coaching.
• Wellness and personal effectiveness – through Individual and Team Coaching.

The scale of the talent challenges organizations face in today’s environment is unprecedented. Addressing them will require new ways of looking at talent, and how we develop our people – especially our future leaders.

Impact can help

To explore how your organization can best develop your current and future leaders, contact us.