Our talent strategies are full of movement; plans to promote, to increase responsibilities, to rotate. We focus our energies on building skills and retaining our top talent. But rarely have I seen a talent strategy that tackles the biggest barrier to our talent plans – getting people to leave.
So, why do we need to encourage people to leave, or at least do something different?
Well, there’s a distinct possibility that they’ll get stale if they stay too long in role. They don’t become a poor performer, but their ability to innovate, challenge and refresh can become diluted.
Secondly, because our talent strategies rely upon having space at the top for people to move into. Waiting for someone to leave is frustrating when you’re ready to make that next move. And one of two things happen, our future talent finds promotion elsewhere or they start to get stale themselves – blocking career paths from their juniors in their turn.
Thirdly, we need a strategy to help people move on because it’s difficult to do. They have given their commitment, their time, their loyalty, and their departure should be handled with dignity and respect. What typically happens is that we tend to ignore the issue – until suddenly their exit is essential and urgent. Then we’re trying to negotiate with someone who’s scared, hurt and angry. We end up with bad feeling, disruption and of course, expensive severance pay-outs.
So, how can our talent strategy address this sensitive, but vital area? This short video looks at some options.
Join the Disruptive HR Club and enjoy our exclusive content, courses and events
Recent Posts
9 Box Grid Fatigue
As the pressure to secure the best talent mounts, HR is rightly questioning the real value of one of our most favoured talent tools – the 9 Box Grid.
Meet the new leader of talent
Picture this leader. She has lots of people wanting to leave her team, she recently lost a couple of good people to a competitor and she neglects her high-potentials. Meet the new great leader of talent!
Time to drop succession plans?
Succession plans are increasingly outdated and don't reflect the pace of business today. This blog looks at the alternatives.