#Culture 2: 6 Keys to Retaining and Developing High Potential Employees

WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.150 Welcome back to BETB growth. I'm Blak. Both are at the founder of 2 00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:13.869 Cothrive, where we help leaders in companies thrive powered by their why? I'm 3 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:17.949 the host of the culture series on BB growth. In today on the show, 4 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:22.260 we're going to be talking about how to create leadership development programs that justify 5 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:27.100 the investment and we're going to be specifically highlighting the reasons why many leadership development 6 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:30.940 programs fail and what we can do about it. So let's get into it. 7 00:00:32.060 --> 00:00:37.090 American companies spend more than fourteen billion dollars every year on leaders to development. 8 00:00:37.850 --> 00:00:42.170 Most medium to large companies actually have special programs for their high potential talent, 9 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:46.490 but three quarters of the exacts of those companies consider those programs to be 10 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:51.759 failing, because we're still struggling to effectively engage, retain and equip our leaders. 11 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:56.240 So why do we invest in these leadership development programs? Well, we 12 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:00.079 know that the pace of change is exponential in today's world and our company goals 13 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.750 they don't shrink, they only get bigger. So we have to invest in 14 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:08.829 equipping leaders and making them more effective. This is the best way for us 15 00:01:08.829 --> 00:01:15.109 to get leverages companies right. Companies Rise and fall on leadership. These are 16 00:01:15.109 --> 00:01:19.620 the people that are driving innovation, creating culture that gets the most out of 17 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:23.739 our people and they're worth millions in the value they can create. The research 18 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:30.900 actually shows that superior talent is up to eight times more productive than average talent, 19 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:34.409 to study by Mackenzie. Does that surprise you a little bit, that 20 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:38.930 superior talent is really up to eight times more productive and effective than average talent? 21 00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:42.329 Thank you for being honest. Most of us, we actually think about 22 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:46.090 it, can easily think of examples in our own companies where we see this, 23 00:01:46.290 --> 00:01:49.799 where we see this is true, our top talent being significantly more productive 24 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.519 and effective, and we're going to cover this a little bit more death and 25 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:57.239 another episode about retaining high potential talent. But I do want to mention the 26 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:02.750 rear model. Are Ee are rearing leaders. What we're all about, with 27 00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:10.069 other shield development programs, is recruiting, equipping, empowering and retaining. That's 28 00:02:10.189 --> 00:02:15.509 why we do what we do and leadership development to recruit and attract strong leaders, 29 00:02:15.550 --> 00:02:19.699 to equip them, to empower and unleash them and then to keep them 30 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:23.900 around, to retain them. And all of these things are interrelated and they 31 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:28.460 affect each other and each one of them has an impact and a relationship with 32 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:32.210 the other. So the question is, why do so many programs fail at 33 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:38.050 doing this, at accomplishing those objectives, and how can we do leadership development 34 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:43.650 that helps us recruit, equip and power and retain our top talent and produce 35 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:47.719 the returns and the value that makes our investments a no brainer? So here's 36 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.520 that list. Why do they fell? What are we doing wrong? First, 37 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:55.599 programs fill because they identify the wrong people to invest them. We should 38 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:01.069 be looking for growth oriented and high potential leaders. That's what this is all 39 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:05.509 about. So the too basic criteria. They should be growth oriented, they 40 00:03:05.550 --> 00:03:07.830 should be high potential. What does that really mean? High potential means that 41 00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:15.340 we're dealing with talent that has the ability and the ambition to hold successive leadership 42 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:20.419 roles at your company. Ambition and ability, and there's really a science to 43 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:23.900 this and there's an art to this. We look at track record, we 44 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.770 look at performance, we look at their personality, their giftings or people skills. 45 00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:32.610 We ask are they entrepreneurial? Do they have a strategic mindset? These 46 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:36.770 are the sort of things and we can do this through quantitative methods, through 47 00:03:36.849 --> 00:03:39.610 looking at performance reviews and the like, but it's also it's a there's an 48 00:03:39.610 --> 00:03:46.680 art and it's about discussing with management teams. Is this person truly high potential? 49 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.840 Do they have the strategic shops to be a more senior leader in this 50 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:54.560 company? And the biggest mistake that lots of companies make is assuming that because 51 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:59.270 someone's a high performer, they're going to be great and successive leadership roles. 52 00:03:59.669 --> 00:04:02.590 The vast majority the people who are a great at their jobs fail when they're 53 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:08.750 promoted. So paramount to an effective leadership development program is that we do a 54 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:13.020 good job identifying the right people to invest in, and it takes discipline, 55 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:16.660 but it's definitely worth it. The second reason that leaders should development programs fail 56 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:23.699 is because they miss the human element. True Growth and transformation happens when you 57 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:28.089 take the whole person into account. What motivates them? What are their personal 58 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:31.810 values and purpose, and how can we help them connect that to their work 59 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:35.370 at our company? We want them to grow, we want them to thrive 60 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:40.680 as people and as leaders in our company, so we should do the things 61 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.600 that support their personal growth as well as their professional growth at our company. 62 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:47.439 I've said before I'll say it again. You know you've nailed leadership development when 63 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:53.470 it's your most valued talents most valued employee benefit. They see it as an 64 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:56.829 employee benefit. It's not something that's Oh, my company wants me to go 65 00:04:56.910 --> 00:05:00.069 through this training programageump through all these hoops, but it's actually, wow, 66 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:04.470 my company thinks so highly of me and cares for me so much that they 67 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:09.819 want to invest in me in a real and meaningful way. You want them 68 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:13.660 to see it not as a development program to check boxes that helps them stay 69 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:15.620 in the good graces but the powers that be. You want them to see 70 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:20.850 it as their favorite employee benefit, and that takes grasping and connecting with the 71 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:26.250 human element. The third reason that we should devolve province fail is that they 72 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:30.290 struggle to build connection and commitment to their company. Lots of companies spend the 73 00:05:30.329 --> 00:05:34.529 learning and development that really has nothing to do with their company. Sometimes we 74 00:05:34.569 --> 00:05:40.439 even spend them programs and activities that are actually counter productive to building connection and 75 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:45.519 serve to disconnect talent from our company. I saw this many times where something 76 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.800 that seemed like a good opportunity, good learning opportunity, because it was so 77 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:53.790 separate and distinct from the company's mission. It actually and from the team in 78 00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:57.430 the company. It actually served to disconnect the talent and made them think more 79 00:05:57.509 --> 00:06:00.910 about leaving and actually a number of number of them ended up leaving. So 80 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:04.819 think about content and curriculum that's actually tailored for your company and try to drop 81 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:10.699 and shift as much as you can from traditional classroom learning engineer content talent. 82 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:15.819 They will never actually build meaningful relationships with peers and leaders at your company unless 83 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:20.089 you give them a forum to do that. So build that connection, build 84 00:06:20.129 --> 00:06:25.769 that commitment within your company and to do leadership development right. Everything that we're 85 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:29.810 doing should point our leaders to our company. It should be about their real 86 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:33.639 world challenges and Opportunities At our company. It should be about building stronger relationships 87 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:40.040 and synergy within our company. And the research shows that people with meaningful relationships 88 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:44.879 at work with their work colleagues are much more likely to stay with their employer, 89 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.470 and we get into that in another episode about retaining and developing high potential 90 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:50.110 talent. So look for that. So that's the second thing is make sure 91 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:55.589 that you're building connection commitment to your company. The third reason that leadership development 92 00:06:55.629 --> 00:07:00.740 programs fail is that they lack the systems in the accountability to achieve growth plans 93 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:08.379 and deliver reternal investment. Ninety five percent of high potential programs fail to drive 94 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:13.139 development follow through. That is, they identify high potentials, they make the 95 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:16.009 plans, they help them develop, but they lack follow through on those plans. 96 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:19.889 Up to ninety five percent. That's crazy right. That's not delivering reternal 97 00:07:19.930 --> 00:07:25.889 investment. It's really hard, really hard, to demonstrate Uri on our leadership 98 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:30.079 development investment when we don't get followed through. We aren't doing leadership development for 99 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.240 the sake of leadership development for the sake of learning. It's not done in 100 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:40.360 a vacuum. We do it to drive business results. So how does your 101 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:46.029 company drive follow through? Collective leadership development is a fantastic way to do this. 102 00:07:46.350 --> 00:07:50.550 It's like a mastermind group within your company for your high potential leaders where 103 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:54.829 they get to digest really great content, they get to bring it to life 104 00:07:54.990 --> 00:07:59.740 with real life examples with their peers and they use systems to make sure that 105 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:03.459 they're actually executing on their growth plans. So a big part of what we 106 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:07.980 do in our growth groups is that we get intentional with folks on their growth 107 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:11.540 plans and they share these with their peers, they commit to taking specific actions 108 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:18.610 to achieve their goals and they benefit from the momentum and the accountability that comes 109 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:22.529 from the groups and one of the key systems that we use we call it 110 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:26.410 our for Baut four dashboard. So every month we set our four bat fours 111 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:28.800 and these are the four things that we're going to commit to getting done over 112 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.559 the next four weeks. That's going to move the needle the most in our 113 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:39.039 lives and our careers, and it's amazing how much we accomplish by, number 114 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:43.669 one, focusing on what will drive the most value month by month and then, 115 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:48.549 number two, sharing these stretch goals, sharing them out loud, documenting 116 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:52.509 them in a dash forard with our peers. The motivation and the momentum to 117 00:08:52.669 --> 00:08:56.059 make them happen and succeed is absolutely contagious. So it's a great way to 118 00:08:56.220 --> 00:09:01.940 think about how are you applying systems and accountability to follow through on the growth 119 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.620 plans that you're making with your leaders? So to recap today, to build 120 00:09:05.659 --> 00:09:11.409 effective leadership de elment programs that actually deliver a reternal investment, be disciplined about 121 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:16.889 identifying high potential growth oriented leaders. Make it about the whole person and incorporate 122 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:20.889 the human element and connect them with your company, your mission, your team. 123 00:09:20.970 --> 00:09:24.879 Make it about real world challenges, an opportunity to your company, forget 124 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:31.000 the generic stuff, build relationships within your company and, finally, Leverage Systems 125 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.279 and accountability to actually follow through on the growth plans and drive business results. 126 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.230 And collective leadership development is a really effective way of your company to do this. 127 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:43.230 I'm like those are the CEEO of cothrive. Connect with me on Linkedin. 128 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:46.389 Would love the chat. Happy to answer any questions or provide recommendations. 129 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:54.419 Until next time. Is Your Company winning the talent battle? Are Your high 130 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:58.179 potential leaders as engaged and effective as they could be? Cothrive helps companies like 131 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:03.179 your wors develop effective, mission driven leaders who are actually connected and committed to 132 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:09.970 your company by using collective leadership development through innovative mastermind growth groups. Discover the 133 00:10:11.049 --> 00:10:15.570 growth group advantage and request a live growth group Demo for your leadership team by 134 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:24.120 visiting COTHRIVECCO. That's Cothrive with a why not? I DOT COM. You 135 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:28.240 were watching youtube videos in the shower? No, just me. Well, 136 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.960 be tob growth is doing youtube now and we'd love to have you subscribe. 137 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:33.799 Whether you're in the shower or not. Just search me to be growth in 138 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:37.110 the youtube APP and you should see our channel pop right up. Thanks a 139 00:10:37.149 --> lot.