February 24th marked the 3rd annual ShareOn Forum – a great day of collaboration and learning. While there were many takeaways, the most meaningful for me personally was “Claim Your Value.” As consultants, we sometimes wonder if the product is “good enough”, we struggle with pricing and sometimes we experience self-doubt when the phone doesn’t ring (please call!)
The same is true for individuals and organizations. How can we possess the confidence and have the self-worth to “claim our value” at work, at home and in our communities? As leaders, how can we create an environment that enables staff to develop expertise, and claim their value by sharing their gifts?
We hope this month’s newsletter provides a springboard for you and your organization to celebrate your strengths and claim your worth, in everything you do. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
The same is true for individuals and organizations. How can we possess the confidence and have the self-worth to “claim our value” at work, at home and in our communities? As leaders, how can we create an environment that enables staff to develop expertise, and claim their value by sharing their gifts?
We hope this month’s newsletter provides a springboard for you and your organization to celebrate your strengths and claim your worth, in everything you do. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
For You: Get Your Gleek On:
Identify Your “Uniques”. 50 others in your workplace may have an accounting degree. Of those, perhaps 20 may have CPAs and 5 may have MBAs. Although there are common skills, each person brings a “special sauce” to the party. You may have expertise in SOX compliance, be a spreadsheet guru, or have an amazing ability to explain finance in a way that non-Finance types can understand it.
A. Identify your three “uniques” – things that you do differently or better than anyone else
1.
2.
3.
These uniques, in combination, create your value to your employer (family, community, etc.)
B. Write down other unique things about you
1. Characteristics
2. Skills
3. Achievements
4. Specialized Training
5. Experiences
C. Who and how will you help? What are three ways you can use these talents for good in your workplace (family, community, etc.)? How will this help someone or the company (family, church, etc.)
1.
2.
3.
D. Who can help? Identify a trusted person who can advocate for you, coach you and provide feedback.
E. Go claim your value
For Your Organization: Beyond the “High Potentials”
Take a moment to think about the most recent project team and plan you put together. You probably spent time identifying both the financial and human resources required for success. How many times did the same person’s name come up to lead a project?
“We have to have Anne.”
“Anne is already dedicated to the IT implementation and the new product development teams.”
“We need Anne more than those teams do.”
Now what? Oftentimes we go to the same resources time and time again. While I am sure they appreciate your confidence and trust in them, those dubbed “high potentials” can only do so much. A few tools can help you move beyond the high potentials to discover the wealth of hidden talent in your organization.
Conduct a semi-annual talent review. During these sessions, managers discuss their employee strengths and development opportunities. The leadership team has the opportunity to ask questions and sometimes challenge the manager’s assessment A 9-box grid is a good tool to frame the discussion, gain common understanding of performance and potential, and to identify new ways to develop employee skills while leveraging their existing talents.
Build skills through projects. Assign every employee to a cross-functional project team. When you communicate your annual plan and launch key initiatives or projects, find a way for every employee to contribute. This is a great way to build employee skills, deepen their understanding of the business and gain insights from different perspectives. Often the best ideas come from the production floor or warehouse – they see things the “carpet walkers” do not. It doesn’t matter if someone isn’t in marketing – s/he can still understand the customer and add value to the project. When I have brought this approach to prior organizations there were, of course, some employees that did not like the idea at all. Many adjusted and actually came to enjoy the challenge of contributing in a new area. I know I personally witnessed some amazing growth among team members we hadn’t necessarily thought of as key contributors previously.
Just ask! Ask your staff members about their key strengths, their development goals, and how they can best help the company. Do this during their performance appraisal and periodically throughout the year. Also ask your staff for input on key issues; they likely have good perspective and viable suggestions.
We invite you to attend our talent development workshops, or contact Roo Solutions if you are interested in bringing these tools into your organization.
Identify Your “Uniques”. 50 others in your workplace may have an accounting degree. Of those, perhaps 20 may have CPAs and 5 may have MBAs. Although there are common skills, each person brings a “special sauce” to the party. You may have expertise in SOX compliance, be a spreadsheet guru, or have an amazing ability to explain finance in a way that non-Finance types can understand it.
A. Identify your three “uniques” – things that you do differently or better than anyone else
1.
2.
3.
These uniques, in combination, create your value to your employer (family, community, etc.)
B. Write down other unique things about you
1. Characteristics
2. Skills
3. Achievements
4. Specialized Training
5. Experiences
C. Who and how will you help? What are three ways you can use these talents for good in your workplace (family, community, etc.)? How will this help someone or the company (family, church, etc.)
1.
2.
3.
D. Who can help? Identify a trusted person who can advocate for you, coach you and provide feedback.
E. Go claim your value
For Your Organization: Beyond the “High Potentials”
Take a moment to think about the most recent project team and plan you put together. You probably spent time identifying both the financial and human resources required for success. How many times did the same person’s name come up to lead a project?
“We have to have Anne.”
“Anne is already dedicated to the IT implementation and the new product development teams.”
“We need Anne more than those teams do.”
Now what? Oftentimes we go to the same resources time and time again. While I am sure they appreciate your confidence and trust in them, those dubbed “high potentials” can only do so much. A few tools can help you move beyond the high potentials to discover the wealth of hidden talent in your organization.
Conduct a semi-annual talent review. During these sessions, managers discuss their employee strengths and development opportunities. The leadership team has the opportunity to ask questions and sometimes challenge the manager’s assessment A 9-box grid is a good tool to frame the discussion, gain common understanding of performance and potential, and to identify new ways to develop employee skills while leveraging their existing talents.
Build skills through projects. Assign every employee to a cross-functional project team. When you communicate your annual plan and launch key initiatives or projects, find a way for every employee to contribute. This is a great way to build employee skills, deepen their understanding of the business and gain insights from different perspectives. Often the best ideas come from the production floor or warehouse – they see things the “carpet walkers” do not. It doesn’t matter if someone isn’t in marketing – s/he can still understand the customer and add value to the project. When I have brought this approach to prior organizations there were, of course, some employees that did not like the idea at all. Many adjusted and actually came to enjoy the challenge of contributing in a new area. I know I personally witnessed some amazing growth among team members we hadn’t necessarily thought of as key contributors previously.
Just ask! Ask your staff members about their key strengths, their development goals, and how they can best help the company. Do this during their performance appraisal and periodically throughout the year. Also ask your staff for input on key issues; they likely have good perspective and viable suggestions.
We invite you to attend our talent development workshops, or contact Roo Solutions if you are interested in bringing these tools into your organization.