Why Talent Is the Heart of Your Organization

What do all successful organizations have in common? They are staffed by talented and driven individuals. No company can survive in today’s climate without being able to attract and retain employees with exceptional talent.

But this is easier said than done. Many organizations struggle with finding the right people to fill their ranks and providing the right incentives for them to stay on. Without proper investment, talented individuals are liable to drift away and move on to better opportunities.

If you feel your organization is lacking in talent or losing the talent it currently has, it may because it’s approaching the problem the wrong way. In Adaptive Capacity, Juan Carlos Eichholz explains that talent “is more than having skilled people; it is having skilled people who embody the qualities of a more adaptive organization. Attracting, developing, and retaining talent is not therefore something aimed at a special group of individuals . . . but at all employees.” In other words, you can’t expect a select few to carry the weight of the entire organization on their own. Fostering talent means developing all of your employees by giving them the tools to develop their own unique abilities.

One way to help your employees achieve this goal is to work with an executive coach who can also train your employees in coaching skills. Creating a coaching culture is a great first step toward building the kind of organization that allows talent to flourish.

Eichholz also identifies five ways that you can start to develop an organizational culture that attracts and retains talent:

1. Create a system to identify individuals that will add to the adaptive capacity of your organization.
2. Be ready to offer support whenever needed. Ensure that lines of communication are open at all hierarchical levels.
3. Give and solicit feedback regularly.
4. Create stimulating challenges for your employees. Don’t ask them to do the same tasks over and over again. Encourage them to learn new skills.
5. Make sure your most talented members understand their role as models for other employees. Ensure that they represent the core values of your organization.

Of course, these initiatives require cooperation from all levels of management. It shouldn’t be up to one or even a few individuals to make the necessary changes to attract and develop talent. That’s why hiring an executive coach is a great first step; he or she can help you to coordinate the effort it will take to get the ball rolling.

Next week, I’ll go into greater detail about each of these five steps. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can reach me via my website, LinkedIn and Twitter.