How well are you supporting your employee’s development?
According to Culture Monkey, people development encompasses a holistic approach to nurturing and enhancing the skills, knowledge and potential of individuals within an organization. It consists of several interconnected elements that contribute to personal growth, career advancement and overall effectiveness.
It is often mistaken as synonymous to performance management, and though related, these are not the same. Performance management is more about KPIs and business targets, while people development is an enabler of performance through the focus on skills and knowledge.
Unfortunately, many leaders and organizations focus solely on performance management, and forget that it’s through developing their people that they can get better business results.
Whenever I facilitate workshops on career coaching and people development, I share 4 powerful perspective shifts on people development that leaders need to know. I will share 3 of them with you in this article.
#1 It’s not just HR’s job, it’s my job too.
“Kurly, they shove all the tough employee conversations at me, because they said they can’t handle them.”
These were the words of an HR Leader who shared her frustration about leaders passing on every challenging people-related matter to her without trying to address them on their own.
There are still many leaders who see themselves more as managers of processes, targets and tools, and think that anything people related should be passed on to HR. This is definitely not the case. In organizations, HR handles governance and acts as a strategic partner. They are not the people on the ground who see, hear and experience what’s going on. This is why leaders play an active role in implementing these strategies and processes within their respective teams, and when needed, create internal systems to fill in the gaps.
You might think of it as similar to the government where we have Executive and Legislative branches for the country’s governance, and also local officials and agencies to support implementation.
#2 It’s not extra, it’s essential.
A lot is expected from leaders. I get it.
But you wouldn’t be in a leadership position if you do not have people to lead, right? And if you prefer to be involved in the daily operations and technical details of the job, then you might thrive better as an individual contributor rather than a people manager.
But when you’re in the job of people, then part of it includes supporting them and helping them grow. This means that as leaders, your goals and responsibilities must include things like:
Managing and guiding employees through the employee lifecycle with the support of HR Business Partners
Facilitating and implementing performance reviews and reward processes.
Conducting regular career conversations with employees and co-create their Individual Development Plan
Working with HR in developing your teams competency matrix and growth plan
#3 It’s not just paperwork, it’s purposeful work.
Tasks like creating the Individual Development Plans (IDP) or completing Performance Assessments, are usually at the bottom of the list of some leaders. And what’s sad is that it becomes merely a compliance exercise because of poor process or form design, or lack of understanding of its business impact.
People Development falls under the 2nd quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix, important but not urgent. And it’s also one of those things that, if left unaddressed, can later become a crisis or an important and urgent task. Think resignation, lack of skill or manpower, lack of motivation, burnout or even sickness. All these concerns could’ve been addressed earlier if only you invested time on your people.
In summary…
People development is not optional. It is purposeful, essential and it is part of your job as leaders. To be able to do this, leaders also need to be equipped with knowledge and skills on coaching, development planning and career conversations.
No Special tools needed. You can start today, and do it consistently to make a difference. Coach Kurly de Guzman is a Career and Leadership Coach and one of a LinkedIn’s Top Voice based in the Philippines. She continuously seeks ways to help coaches, leaders and teams thrive through her newsletter, leadership and career development workshops as well as group and 1:1 coaching session for clients.
