Purposeful Talent Development: Balancing the Needs of Many

Talent development today is a balancing act. We work to balance the needs of …

• employees to offer applicable development opportunities, 
• leaders to develop themselves and their staff in ways that align to organizational goals, and
• the organization to develop talent aligned with organizational goals, in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The complexities of developing 10 or 10,000 people are the same. Development opportunities cannot just focus on technical skills needed for a current position. They must also focus on skills to grow staff members into new roles and opportunities based on their individual aspirations and goals. Therefore, online training with compliance, sales, lending or member experience modules, while necessary, only covers a fraction of needs.

So, how do we fulfill the needs of the many? By focusing our efforts. 

Focusing efforts does not mean that we simply place emphasis on one set of needs and ignore the others. It means understanding the organization’s strategy—along with how talent development is viewed—to create a sustainable talent development strategy. If you are going to devote the resources it takes to develop talent, it’s best to know that it will support the strategy and ensure staff not only know what’s available but are given opportunities to participate. Focusing your talent development efforts can take time initially but is well worth the energy and investment. 

Reflect on these questions to see how well your currently focus your efforts. 

• Do we understand the essential skills (competencies) needed by all employees? Leaders?
• Are employees/leaders aware of any competencies we have in place for their roles?
• How well versed are our staff members in our organizational initiatives/goals?
• Have we aligned individual goals with the organizational strategy?
• Do we focus on key development areas, offering outside resources for further development?
• Is talent development supported, not just as an organizational idea, but in practice within departments and by leaders? 
• Do we understand what employees are looking for in regard to talent development?

By focusing our efforts, we can create talent development strategies that balance needs of the many. 

Jennifer Stangl is CUES’ director of professional development.

CUES Consulting offers an organizational assessment for credit unions that provides data in response to many of these questions, as well as understanding the overall climate of your organization. Contact Jennifer Stangl, CUES director of professional development, to discuss how CUES Consulting can support your talent development initiatives.