Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2010 - (Page 34)

CLoSING ArGumeNtS | TiM sosBe W taCkling the high-Potential Problem hen you’re looking at your high-potential employees, do you or do you not tell them they’re on the fast track for leadership roles? This is an interesting topic of thought and discussion for trainers, who are clearly involved in the management and development of high-potential workers. I don’t need to see hands raised to know there’s a split on that issue. Some prefer to enlighten the high-potentials, and some want to keep their cards closer to the vest. Both are workable solutions. Confounding any opposing schools of thought is one simple, but very complex, X factor: the human ego. If you don’t tell high-potential performers how valued and respected they are, they might seek out another place to find that validation. If you do tell them, you could have problems with swollen heads, otherwise known as the attitude of the anointed. In a situation like this, where pros can be cons and vice versa, the learning leader has to walk a very fine—and sometime moving—line. Keeping a highpotential’s potential under wraps could cause the kind of hard feelings you want to avoid. Conversely, acknowledgment could create a huge-headed monster the likes of which would make Dr. Frankenstein tremble. Another school of thought here and perhaps that middle-of-the-road solution is the correct one: Sometimes you tell your high potentials the score and sometimes you don’t. Truthfully, this situation often resolves itself. If someone is really a high-performing player, they certainly should be self-aware of their abilities and contributions, so a little acknowledgement is an affirmation. If someone is a high-potential player and truly doesn’t know it, she or he likely needs more grooming (and confidence) anyway. One caveat here, no matter on which side of the fence you plant your stake. It’s important that training be seen as a service, as a solution and as an opportunity. Two things training should never be is a reward for good behavior (training should be available to all who need it) or a punishment for failure (training can remediate shortcomings, but it’s a helping hand, not a sentence). That positioning is critical when developing high-potentials. Forget George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” mantra that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This debate about how to treat the invaluable employee is a nice problem to have. Imagine a workplace where your most serious issue is how to reward excellence. Dream about a time when “do we reward” thoughts become “when do we reward” plans. Visualize and create an environment where you’re not looking for the cream of the crop, but managing expectations from the crème de la crème. Those are the places training takes us. Tim Sosbe is editorial director of Training Industry Quarterly and general manager of webinars for Training Industry, Inc. You can e-mail Tim at tsosbe@trainingindustry.com. PerhaPs that middleof-the-road solution is the CorreCt one 34 Training Industry Quarterly, Spring 2010 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2010

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2010
From Where I Sit
Contents
Ad Index
At the Editor’s Desk
Winning Organizations Through People
Learning Technologies
Performance & Productivity
The Business Case for Measuring Learning
Marketing the Benefits of Training
Making Sense of the New Blend
The Do’s and Don’ts of Pitching New Technology to Executive Management
Golden Corral: Training’s on the Menu
Delivering Great Training
Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2010