Strategies to Develop Internal Talent Pool

First, do you have in-depth performance reviews? Do you start your performance reviews with open ended questions? Here are a few examples:

• What achievements are you most proud of recently?
• What is getting in your way?
• Who are you helping?
• Who is helping you?
• What are your suggestions to improve productivity for our team? Our organization?
• What do I need to know about you to improve our interactions?
• What other roles/activities are you interested in?

I give the employee the list of questions a few days before our meeting, so they have time to think and be organized.

Performance reviews every 6 months can be very time consuming. I found doing them demonstrated my commitment to the people on my team, and my commitment to continuous learning and improvement. I think it is one of the most important ways to invest in people.

Making a routine of really listening to employee’s ideas and getting their feedback helped me identify the leaders on the team. Getting to know and understand them better helped give me ideas for development opportunities that were customized for the person. A few examples are:

• Mentor a new employee
• Shadow and experienced person in a different area of the organization
• Attend a training class/develop a new skill
• Head up a task force
• Lead a team meeting
• Present at a team meeting
• Lead a team building activity

When people feel listened to and understood, they feel valued. People who feel valued in their life, flourish. If they are flourishing, they are more likely to stay with your organization.