Talent Development Best Practices

“People who aren't learning will leave,” emphasizes the Workplace LinkedIn Learning Report . In order to sustainably engage talent, continuous talent development is an essential factor. Effective talent development includes several key elements.

It starts with the question what, or rather who, you mean by talent as an organization. In addition, it's about identifying the talent that exists within your organization. Finally, the challenge is to stimulate the development of the talent you need, measure progress and make adjustments where necessary. In this blog, we'll delve deeper into what best practices you can apply as an employer to retain your talent.

Top talent or is everyone talented?

When it comes to talent management, there are two schools of thought. The first stream sees talent within an organization as a small group of employees who will fulfill defining functions in the future. The task then is to find those talents and help them grow. The second approach states that everyone has talent and that the challenge of talent management lies in discovering and developing that talent through a plan for personal growth. This latest vision of talent is increasingly taking over.

Two components of talent

What we call talent consists of various components. A classification commonly used by science involves two components for talent: ability and the affective component. A pitfall in talent management and talent development is to zoom in on just one aspect and lose sight of others.

Ability and affective component

Ability is the innate predisposition that someone has, or the potential that someone has to learn. This can be about the level of work and thinking (intelligence), but also about the personal characteristics that make it easy for someone to develop certain competencies.

The affective component, in Dutch the affective or emotional component of talent, is about personal traits such as motivation and interests. When someone starts doing something they're naturally good at but aren't really motivated to do, the talent will never be able to fully grow.

Employee ambitions and talent

Most employees know that they need to keep developing in order to compete in the labor market of the future. But do they also know where their competences lie? Do they know their chances to grow? It is the employer's job to help them find answers to this. This can be done, for example, with the help of assessments. These can be an important tool for identifying both existing talent and ambitions.

Ability for example, map with a intelligence test whether personality questionnaire. To determine affection, you can use questionnaires that career values or interests measure. These questionnaires provide insight into what someone is interested in and what motivates them.

Personal development plan

Based on an understanding of talents and ambitions, you can create an individual development process for each employee in your company. This is sometimes referred to as terms such as personal development plan (POP) or individual development plan (IOP), but the essence remains the same. This plan sets career goals to help employees achieve their aspirations. In addition, a structured process is being mapped out: a learning cycle that guides them on their way to growth and development.

Creating these personal development plans offers many benefits. It not only increases employee engagement and motivation, but also strengthens the bond between employees and the organization. It shows that, as an employer, you value individual growth and success. New skills and knowledge are not only encouraged but also facilitated through targeted learning opportunities and support.

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