January is now well under way and this marks an important time to consider how you will help influence and drive the development of your managers this year. Successful, sustained engagement comes from building a culture of ‘Investors’ (employees who have a strong emotional bond with the organisation and identify closely with its purpose) as opposed to ‘Savers’ (employees who do the job but don’t connect emotionally with it). Managers are the strongest influencers in helping employees move from ‘Savers’ to ‘Investors’ – but they often need inspiration, support and counsel from HR to help them become expert engagers
At the beginning of the month I outlined some suggestions to help managers focus their teams and help kick-start January and avoid the sluggish back-to-work blues. It is now time to prioritise development and make sure both managers AND their teams have their developmental targets and objectives set.
1) Firstly, remind managers the targets are for personal development. It is not about discussing financial targets, performance indicators or resources. This is about them, as people, and want they want and need from work to help make it more purposeful, meaningful and enjoyable.
2) Development plans are personal, designed as a growth and retention lever to create ‘Investors’. So, what is in one person’s plan could be quite different from another. For a rising star you may well want to focus development around leadership and management skills. For someone that is a key operational talent (someone that is critical to the business but not necessarily ambitious and looking to climb the ladder), the development plan could be something very different that acts as a retention lever. For example, the opportunity to learn a skill unrelated to the job.
3) It takes confidence for managers to create a set of development plans that are different for each individual. HR can actively help with this by suggesting what is possible beyond the learning catalogue on the intranet, and opening up opportunities that managers may not have considered. This is especially important for operational talent as, in my experience, managers often don’t know what they have the permission for to offer in this area.
4) The best development conversations often happen outside formal work settings. If you can, leave the building and go for a coffee, a walk or lunch. If it has to be in the office, try and find somewhere neutral rather than sitting behind a desk. Respect their need for privacy and show they talk in confidence.
5) Before managers can set objectives with their team, they need to be clear about their own developmental targets. Encourage them to make these practical, tangible examples they can literally get hold of. Positively challenge vague statements of intent (I want to be better at coaching) with details of how they will do this.
6) Remind them that developmental conversations take time. It’s a slower, more thoughtful and reflective dialogue that’s required. Be realistic about how much time it will take and ensure they have cleared the day of other distractions. Encourage managers to take notes so they can remember what was talked about and can jot down observations and comments throughout the discussion. This will all help provide insight for their engagement plan for each member of their team.
7) And finally…..be interested in how your managers have found the sessions and what they think went well and not so well. Put a reminder in your own diary a few weeks from now to check in on them and see if they need any further guidance and support from HR. With most managers weakest in their role as Strategist, they will need to be especially intentional about bringing the developmental discussions to fruition. HR needs to be strong Strategists too and remind managers of what they have committed to do.
