Thursday, September 18, 2008

Teach Them and Keep Them

“The Key to Retaining Top Talent” by Gail Finger (MWorld, Spring 2008) discusses ways of engaging employees to keep them focused on the organization and on the lookout for innovation. Finger argues for launching appropriate training and coaching, especially in times of radical change—and when isn’t there change in any business endeavor? As she explains, “During times of change and stress, it’s natural for people to revert back to the old, comfortable way of doing things. Training topics quickly get lost in the pressures of day-to-day work.”

For this reason, among others, I have noticed that many of my clients are calling for shorter, more specific writing programs tailored to specific topics, such as accident investigations, audit reports, grant proposals, lab analyses, executive summaries, and writing quickly. Rather than scratch the idea of cultivating talent, the best training managers continually seek ways of nurturing those who show the greatest potential and commitment.