Blog - Talent Development Programmes – A Multipronged Approach

Chris Brown, coach and consultant trainer at Focal Point Training explains how talent management programmes should support both individual and organisational goals and how using a range of development and training activities leads to tangible benefits.

I have the privilege of being part of the team that both developed and now delivers the talent programmes at a prominent London local authority. After discussions with the senior leaders to clarify the required outcomes for the programme, we identified four core development activities; group learning and training, individual coaching, allocation of an internal mentor, and a ‘live’ team project, all delivered over a 9 month period. 

The group training days allowed us to offer key leadership and management content to enable the group to develop into an effective team. These sessions also included practical management approaches, for example project and stakeholder management tools and activities to develop leadership capability.

The individual coaching sessions enabled individual bespoke development through increased self-awareness, action planning and reviews. 

The project provided the opportunity for group members to work together with their new interdepartmental colleagues, to apply their learning and to contribute back to the organisation.

The sessions were developed and sequenced to offer support and challenges as the group developed into a functioning team. We were optimistic this multipronged approach would confer a number of benefits and  were delighted at how the different activities came together,allowing even more benefits to be realised! 

 The group learning and training provided the following benefits:

• The team becoming aware of its dynamics and how individuals might best work together to be effective – taking more advantage of individual strengths 
• Learning about and using strategic analysis tools and techniques in support of the project delivery
• Using self-awareness and team role preference tools to align individual preferences and skills with their contributions
• Encouraging individuals to step into new unfamiliar roles in the talent team, different to the ones they have in their normal work role
• The building of trust between team members, allowing for effective communication and relationships
• Being coached as a group to work more effectively as a team leading to team self-awareness and increased resilience

 The individual coaching provided the following benefits:

• Tailored development based on the individual’s own needs
• A platform for raising individual self-awareness and personal responsibility
• The exploration individually of own contribution to the team and its project
• Discussion of personal blind spots and other challenges and how to overcome them
• Taking a self-inventory and creating specific action plans to help the individual succeed both in work generally and as part of the project team
• Provided both the support and challenge needed by each individual in order to move themselves forward from their different starting points
• Consideration of their own individual contribution to the wider organisation, their current work roles and their broader careers

 The project provided the following benefits:

• Allowed the group to work together in a real situation
• Enabled individuals to apply what they had learned in the group and one to one coaching sessions
• Bought people with different professional disciplines and backgrounds to work together effectively in a new situation
• Raised the profile of the talent programme and the individuals taking part in it, sparking interest in other parts of the organisation
• Facilitated the group to solve problems together and come up with creative solutions
• Created a resilience within the group for when there were bumps in the road
• The delivery of a real project that provides tangible benefits back to the organisation

The participants in the programmes were chosen via an application process from a number of different professional disciplines across the organisation. We considered, therefore, that a further benefit might be improved internal networking and increased appreciation of other parts of the organisation. We were delighted when participants reported that this was very much the case and that widening their networks improved communication and problem solving. Whilst all of the benefits are incredibly valuable, this hugely improved cross-departmental communication, which represents a real shift in the culture, is very exciting. 

The sheer number of benefits this programme has realised shows how valuable talent development programmes can be. Taking an individual and team approach, supported by a real project has an impact beyond the programme long after it is completed.

Take a look at how our solutions can help you create a culture which nurtures and retains talent and how we have worked with other organisations to build the culture they want.

You may like these other previous blogs on leadership; Leaders are everywhere and Leadership - It's not rocket science! 

For a chat about how we may be able to help your teams grow call us on 01903 732 782 or email us info@focalpointtraining.com or contact us.