The Challenge of Staff Development

As any manager or leader will confess, one of the biggest challenges they regularly face is satisfying the extraordinary range of staff career aspirations and personal development. We have all been faced with “I don’t want to do this anymore”, “I am happy doing what I am doing, I don’t want to change anything”, “I want promotion what do I need to do”, or “why haven’t I been promoted?”

Traditionally, regular performance reviews have been the route to setting objectives and providing feedback on performance and abilities. However, how often does the review explore the aspirations of the individual and where this sits with the future of the company? On a positive note sharing opportunities or in a more challenging context, the constraints.

Too often formal and structured conversation is the norm but this lacks the intimacy required to explore, in more detail, individual aspirations and concerns.

From the staff member’s perspective it is typically a one way conversation, focussing of what the company needs or expects of the individual. Very often there is little consideration given to the staff member’s perspective. I would argue that questions such as “where do you see yourself in X years time?” are rather meaningless. More relevant is how we help staff members create a clear vision of their career path, the route to achieving it and exploring how it aligns to company strategy.

The level of success of the dialogue will reveal much of what you really know of your staff as individuals and understand the workplace dynamic.

An open and honest dialogue will reveal much but be prepared for the challenging question.