HPS Leadership Best Practices Journal™

Talent Development: A Research-Based Perspective on Performance

While savvy business leaders agree that top talent correlates to improved productivity and bottom-line business results, many of these same leaders disagree on what constitutes an effective talent development strategy.

According to recent research conducted by McKinsey & Company there is a strong correlation between top talent, productivity, and bottom-line business results. However, the absolute essential components of an effective talent development strategy—in contrast to more traditional approaches—may surprise you.

According to McKinsey's research, the top three essential components include challenging job assignments; coaching and developmental feedback; and mentoring. Training—albeit well-intentioned in most organizations—was actually near the bottom of the list. Yet training remains a significant component of "traditional" human performance strategies.

Savvy leaders realize the value of attracting, developing, and retaining key talent. McKinsey's research confirmed that companies using current talent development best practices outperformed the competition by significant, wide-eyed margins.

The bottom line on talent development is simply that exemplary leaders and great companies embrace a talent mindset. These leaders and their companies ensure that talent development is a top priority starting with the CEO level and including all other senior and middle-level management. It is not delegated to human resources or a single individual within the organization. If you are spending less time on talent development than you are on other key business imperatives, your people and organization are likely performing significantly below potential.

The gap ( GAP ) between current performance and potential at the individual, team, and organizational level often separates mediocre versus exceptional performance and bottom-line business results.

What are you doing to "bridge" the gap between current performance and potential? What strategy have you developed to improve talent and leverage these gains at the individual, team, and organizational level? Are you absolutely certain your talent development initiatives are producing the very best possible results? [more]