Rodney Tippit has worked in the furniture industry since 1992 and he
has managed talent development among his many roles over the years. When
professionals like Rodney Tippit take on talent development for the
first time, they’re bound to make mistakes. What sets these
professionals apart is their willingness and eagerness to learn. If
you’re approaching a talent development role, be prepared to make some
mistakes and watch out for common, avoidable ones like those below:
- Not Holding Leaders Accountable – When you’re in a talent development role, you’ll often manage leaders with their own teams. Make sure that you remind your leaders that talent development is among their top priorities and, if you notice a leader struggling, address the problem. Talent development should be a solid part of your business practice and, like any other responsibility, you must hold leaders accountable for working toward it.
- Not Focusing – It’s easy to write “talent development” on a list of goals and to then get sidetracked. If you want talent development to succeed, though, you need to focus on it. You’ll need to manage talent, reward creativity and encourage positive outcomes in all team members.
- Not Assessing Performance – Creating a talent development strategy and implementing it is great, but it will do no good if you don’t assess it regularly. You must make sure your program is performing and, when it isn’t, assess why so that you can fix it.
