It takes talent to engage and retain talent
Featured in the Talent Management training manual
By Adelaide Shone
Category: Management
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
When we think about talent champions within any typical organisation, an obvious choice would be the human resources and training teams. Indeed, these teams have a crucial role as conduits for people planning and development in an organisation. However, managers are in the front line of talent spotting and talent nurturing. It is widely known that in many organisations no matter how proactive and dynamic the HR and training function may be in ‘the war for talent’, people leave an organisation because of how they feel about their line managers. Sometimes managers do not buy into the idea of talented development, perhaps afraid that dynamic, talented people will eclipse the managers themselves. But a key management task is to develop people. There is a wealth of books on people management and development theory as a key element of the manager’s role. Many writers on leadership theory highlight the manager’s responsibility to people. Indeed, if managers are not engaged with the organisation, how will their team members ever be? There is no need for the manager to feel eclipsed; the manager can also step into the light. Think about film or theatre directors, the fight to have the ‘best’, most talented actors in their productions. Football managers or coaches from any team sport try to get the best, most talented players into their teams. In these scenarios, what is celebrated is bringing together talent, getting talent to gel with other talent and create a winning team.
In the introduction to this training activity, participants start by defining ‘talent’ and then move on to discuss the emergence of ‘talent roles’ in organisations. The discussion then focuses upon the worlds of sport and theatre to provide a context for analysing the talent radar. Following this, the participants are asked to prepare and present a two-minute presentation on how they spot, engage and nurture talent within their teams. The aim is to focus minds on analysing the processes they employ and share methodologies with the group, with the purpose of establishing a code of practice for managers to follow.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to help sharpen the participants’ ‘talent radar’. They look at the emergence of talent management roles in organisations and the importance of someone taking responsibility for identifying and engaging talent.
- Themes:
- Leadership,
- Management skills,
- Mentoring,
- Talent management,
- Team building,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:30:00 |
| No of Pages: | 14 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: Cuttings from newpaper or magazine articles (optional).
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to offer a starting point for managers to self-assess the methodologies they employ in their teams to spot, engage and nurture existing talent and potential talent needs. The training activity is useful for all abilities and experiences but will be especially useful for those who have an understanding of the theories underpinning the role of the manager and leader. This training activity can also be used in training programmes on leadership, management skills, mentoring and team building.
Download the training activity, It takes talent to engage and retain talent as featured in the Fenman training manual; Talent Management