Identifying potential and nurturing talent

Sharing Experience: Kevin Ward, Conatus Financing Solutions

For example, business acumen: the ability to understand business and the different scenarios that might arise, and to react effectively – along with critical thinking and excellent analytical skills.

When growing your team, you may need a new employee to be the finished article; to be able to hit the ground running, with minimal training and effort required to settle them in and achieve the productivity you desire. However, I think it is more important that they possess the right personality and qualities to fit in with your team and do an excellent job. Remember, you cannot change their personality, but you can develop knowledge and skills where there is a willingness and ability to learn. But do you or your colleagues have time to focus on and nurture their progress?

The art of learning

The ability to teach someone new skills can be hugely satisfying, although it does require patience and time. Identifying someone else’s learning style and preferences is key to this. For example, one person may learn in a visual way, watching someone else do the task and then having a go themselves – the see one, do one, teach one technique may work well for them. However, someone else may need to read and or write the information down to absorb it best. Talk to them and work this out together, then evaluate the progress and try other things if needed. Use your own communication and interpersonal skills to ensure their progression is where you want it to be. Be open to what they could teach you too – a fresh pair of eyes may generate new ideas about how positive changes could be made. Remember, every day is a school day!

The art of teaching

Start by considering whether you have the ability to identify excellent potential in a candidate and the necessary skills to develop it.

Recognising your own skill set, knowledge, capability, and talent, and understanding your deficiencies are crucial to success. Is there someone else in your team who is better placed to fulfil an objective? Don’t be precious about it – utilise the best resource.

If you get this right, the results can be fantastic. You can encourage all the attributes that are important to your business and its culture. You can effectively mould the employee to your needs and be hugely proud when you see their knowledge build. Treating colleagues in the right way inspires loyalty and creates an environment where they can fulfil the role needed, but the trade-off is your time. So, make sure this is something you can commit to and put the right resources in place before you embark on this journey. If you don’t, you risk an unhappy employee with unfulfilled potential and a skill set void that is yet to be filled.