Make Talent Your Business

How Exceptional Managers Develop People While Getting Results

Berrett-Koehler, 2011

15 min read

10 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

Firms need talent to succeed, so managers must develop their people.

1×

Editorial Rating

Qualities

Applicable

Recommendation

Talent development is the lifeblood of any organization. In today’s hypercompetitive marketplace, the quality of your employees is the difference between being a market leader and an also-ran. In this research-based, savvy book, talent development experts Wendy Axelrod and Jeannie Coyle outline the practical steps executives and managers should take to enhance their employees’ professional skills. The authors provide proven tips and techniques, dodging HR jargon and extraneous acronyms most – but not all – of the time. getAbstract recommends their insights to managers, particularly those whose evaluations depend on their teams’ productivity.

Summary

Make Development a Priority

You know business is humming when your employees are consistently productive and routinely work to improve their skills. Unfortunately, few managers help their staff members improve themselves.

Research indicates that out of 67 prime leadership traits, developing other people has a low priority among leaders. Companies constantly publicize how dedicated they are to employee development, yet their leaders do not focus on helping workers become more professional. Only 7%-10% of companies hold their executives and managers responsible for the development of their staff members. And only 5% of companies report that their managers are capable of developing the people who work for them.

Some observers think that human resources departments – rather than managers – should be responsible for talent development. That approach sends the wrong message. Leaders should develop their followers, who become leaders themselves, in the mode of those who taught them.

Researchers conducted extensive qualitative interviews and surveyed numerous “exceptional development managers” (EDMs) – leaders who excel at developing their people – and “exceptional...

About the Authors

Wendy Axelrod and Jeannie Coyle are managing partners at Talent Savvy Manager. Wendy is past president of the Philadelphia affilate of HRPS and Jeannie is on the board of the Pacific Northwest Affiliate of HRPS.

Comment on this summary

Sign in to share your opinion
P. A. 1 decade ago

Regardless of your position in the organisation, if you lead a team, you will add value by growing the talent within your team. This article shows that 'making talent your business' requires time (on average 30% devoted to talent development) produces enduring legacies within their business by growing the talent pipeline.
A. T. 1 decade ago

building blocks for any company ...

Wendy Axelrod and Jeannie Coyle