So it’s time to select who will participate in your Accelerated Development Program and your thinking about your team and who might be the best of the best to put forward, who deserves the opportunity. You start looking through your teams performance reviews and 360 results, you start planning for the talent review meetings … HOLD ON! I love the enthusiasm you have for developing people but I need to ask you to back it up.
Contrary to common practice, do not start with a process aimed at identifying the high potential talent in your organization. Start by determining the leadership requirements that exist for the organization; start with the identifying your Business Requirements.
- What competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors) are going to be required in order to successfully execute your strategy over the next 3–5 years?
- Where is your bench weaker/stronger?
- Where is the company growth going to come from that will require new leadership?
- Where are the likely future vacancies going to be?
When you are considering who will be selected to participate in your Accelerated Development Program ….. start with an organizational assessment rather than a talent assessment.
If you’re like most companies there is a limited amount of resources of time and money that you can spend on Accelerated Development Programs. In a larger organization leveraging traditional identification process will still likely lead to a large number of candidates who are labeled as High Potential. Don’t misunderstand, everyone should have development plans and be supported in their development, however the truth of the matter is that organizations should be proactive in allocating additional development resources against those individuals who are most likely to meet the leadership requirements of the organization. You need to make sure you are getting the biggest benefit from your development efforts.
Leverage your organizational analysis in determining some of the criteria for selection. If your bench strength is weak in the sales department and really strong in operations then concentrate your selection to the program by choosing individuals interested in building a career in sales. YES, even at the expense of not including a high potential individual from Operations. If your business requirements for leadership are heavily weighted in a specific geography you may consider not including some individuals that have indicate that they are not willing to relocate, in favour of some who are. The goal of accelerated development programs is to accelerate the development of selected individuals to meet the needs of the business. Don’t invest more money and time where it’s not needed at the expense of where it is needed.