Does your organization downplay talent development? When companies neglect or minimize their employees’ growth, treating it secondary to “real work,” the consequences are real: critical skills gaps that hinder productivity; disengaged workers and low retention; and reduced innovation that leads to competitive vulnerability. Octopus Organizations mitigate these risks by treating talent development as a critical, continual investment. Here’s how to model this in your organization.
Make learning the work. Embed training exercises into projects. This could be a two to three–day sprint at the beginning of an initiative to learn new tools or techniques. Consider creating time for retrospective reflection on skills learned, such as structured debriefs, after-action reviews, and journaling prompts.
Create micro-learning content. You don’t need intensive, long training modules. Sometimes short videos, articles, or interactive exercises are all your employees need.
Strategically plan skills development. Proactively identify near-future skills needed based on organizational goals and conduct regular skills-gap analyses. Link learning to career progression opportunities, and incorporate skills-development goals into performance reviews.
Enable self-organized curiosity groups. Encourage employees to create groups around topics of shared interest. These groups can discuss how they’re learning and experimenting with new tools, technologies, or systems. You might also develop a “skills swap” marketplace, where employees can list skills they have and want to teach, as well as the skills they don’t have and want to learn.
Create space for regular development conversations. Use regular one-on-one meetings as dedicated development conversations. This shifts managers’ roles from taskmaster to coach, making development a continuous part of the work rhythm. |
