The lion's share of talent
Featured in the Talent Management training manual
By Adelaide Shone
Category: Management
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
Managers recognise that knowledge is a precious commodity. If staff with high-talent potential are engaged and ‘buying into’ what the organisation is trying to achieve, then there is a greater likelihood that their knowledge is unlocked and utilized to strengthen the knowledge base of the organisation as a whole. But what about talent potential staff who may not be engaged? They could be staff who are disillusioned and ‘switched off’ to the organisation. They could be staff who may have had positive views of the organisation but there has not been a mechanism or a person to exploit this in a positive and meaningful way. At times, this creates a seemingly negative attitude: ‘Why should I bother?’ or ‘No one listens to me!’ or ‘You share an idea but you never get any feedback, so what’s the point?’ An effective manager takes action to try to change this attitude into a more positive one, for the benefit of the person, their team colleagues and, indeed, for the organisation. However, there must also be an acceptance that there are times when either the manager or the organisation could have contributed to these feelings. Therefore, both the manager and the organisation must be forever vigilant to guard against fostering a potentially negative attitude in their staff; an attitude which a competitor will gladly change into a positive one.
The training activity opens with participants working towards definitions of ‘talent’ and ‘Knowledge Management’. They move on to consider possible reasons why staff feel disengaged and how the organisation may have contributed to this. After considering the knowledge requirements and processes in their own organisations, participants prepare a presentation in a light-hearted exercise – the lion’s share of talent!
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to introduce participants to the powerful concept that having talent potential in the organisation is one thing, but if people feel disengaged and disinclined to share their knowledge, managers have a problem.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:45:00 |
| No of Pages: | 20 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: Books and articles on Knowledge Management for reference (optional).
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers with participants of all levels of abilities and experience to introduce them to one aspect of Knowledge Management; that is, removing the barriers to unlocking talent potential. Participants consider the responsibility of the manager to recognise barriers, overcome the barriers within their remit, and identify barriers across the organisation, with the aim of unlocking talent knowledge before a competitor organisation offers the ‘key’. This training activity can also be used as part of a training programme on knowledge management, management skills, motivation and team building.
Download the training activity, The lion's share of talent as featured in the Fenman training manual; Talent Management