Retaining Top Talent and Driving Innovation: The Power of Talent Development

Read time: 3 minutes

I’m done. I wasn’t going back.

It was a long day, but something else bothered me. I knew I wouldn’t grow in this job.

As a room keeper, I cleaned up people’s trash and made their beds. It was one of the highest-paying jobs that fit my college schedule. My manager gave me a list of things to do in my first room. I did them all. Then she came in and redid everything I had done. She didn’t say a word to me.

The same thing happened in the next room. I did everything. She redid everything. She still didn’t say a word to me. This went on for the rest of the shift.

Don't be like my manager if you want to run a successful business.

Was I making some mistakes? Probably. Did she want me around? Maybe not.

I’m not the type of person who needs hand-holding on the job, I’m good at figuring things out. Making a bed and picking up trash wasn’t that complicated.

My manager didn’t take an interest in me. This type of attitude will spread. Not only throughout the organization but also in other areas of your life. Everything we do involves people. By not taking an interest in them, you’re setting yourself and your business up to struggle.

Here are some other ways this will bleed into your life.

• Not taking an interest in your friends will lead to no friends.

• Not putting time into your family will lead to your family growing apart.

• Not helping your kids grow will lead to them having issues as they grow up.

• Not making it a priority to help your team grow will lead to your team falling short.

My manager was not a leader.

As a leader, you are in the game of talent development. Whether you lead a large team or you lead yourself. You must develop people. If people around you aren’t growing, they won’t stick around long.

I took this experience and did the opposite as I grew as a leader. I implemented leadership assessments with my team. I implemented a mentorship program at the company. I take the time to teach my kids life lessons as they come up.

Which is why I want to share this with you.

As a leader, you must spend time developing your people.

When you focus on others, they reciprocate by helping you. They see that you value what they’re doing and want to help you grow. I’ve had great experiences coming from this mindset.

• I invested time into an employee who challenged me back, which led to me letting go of the day-to-day.

• I helped another employee lead others when they didn’t believe they could lead.

• I put an employee into a new role on a new team and helped them become the leading expert in that area.

• I let an employee run the entire business when they hadn’t done it before, and they excelled.

My manager had a certain way of doing things. I was doing them a bit differently to achieve the same result. The fact that she didn’t see the new approach I took nor spent the time to show me her approach led to us not getting along. I realized I’d never grow in this job when I got home. So I called and quit.

If you’re not spending time developing your people to their next level, they will go home and think about the same thing I did. Make sure you take the time to help them grow, or you will get that phone call that they’re moving on.

Finding time to develop your people isn’t difficult. It’s necessary if you lead people. It’s non-negotiable. Every week find one thing you can help someone on your team with. It might be time-consuming, but the more you do it, the easier it is to find ways to develop them.

Whenever you are ready, here's how I can help you:

1. Elite Mentorship - Level up your inner game to live a big life. Your mindset is what makes or breaks you at any moment. This intense program will teach you the system I use to grow my career/businesses and perform at an elite level. ENROLL.

2. Leadership Consulting - Become the leader your team admires. To do that, you need to become the leader you admire first. Based on the experience I used for 3 different exits (1 as an employee, 1 as an executive, and 1 as an owner), I will help you grow. Each relationship is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all system. ENROLL.