Bringing Out the Best in Your Talent

While many are cultivating their gardens at home, teams need to be cultivated at the office.  Discovering hidden talents in your staff or candidates is much like finding an unexpected daisy in your row of tomato plants. 

This week we discuss how to identify and draw out hidden talents. 

Enjoy!

Gary

Recognizing talent in new and existing employees is an essential skill for managers at every level.  This is not just the ability to read between the lines on a resume.  It is the ability to recognize and draw out hidden skills and talents in your staff.  To effectively learn this skill, one must retrain how they view their staff and potential candidates. 

The conventional management thought process is the biggest barrier to discovering hidden talents.  Existing staff and new hires are typically pigeonholed from day one.  A person is hired for a specific job that possesses a specific skill set with specific tasks.  They might be part of a team with their role in that team also determined by their job description.  Since this has been determined since day one, management tends to only see this employee or the position in this manner.

To bring out the best in your talent, you need to spend time learning more about them.  Watch how they approach and work through a task.  See how they interact with others in the office.  Take note of how their workspace is set up and kept.  Looking beyond an employee in a job position and seeing them as a person, can shed new light.

Neale Donald Walsch said “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”  This is especially true when it comes to interacting with current and potential employees.  It is human nature to interact primarily with others that are most like you.  We tend to avoid prolonged interactions with people who we feel have radically different views.

By stepping out of your comfort zone and really seeing past your biases, you may find that those with differing views or traits have the most to offer.  Cultivating an appreciation for those who are different from you will help in all aspects of your professional and personal life.  This is not easy, but it is achievable if you learn to listen with an open mind.  You may be surprised to find that the employee or candidate that you avoided happens to be your best talent.

The attraction of like minds does not only go for one-on-one interactions.  Teams also seem to be comprised of several people who have the same work style or thought processes.  This can make for an effective team dynamic, but sometimes it’s good to mix things up.  Look for ways to bring people together who do not normally work together.  Introduce unlikely combinations of staff through an office social event or informal meeting.  Keeping it informal at first allows all involved a chance to get to know each other in a relaxed setting. 

Cultivating talent does not require a green thumb.  It requires you to slow down and really see your current staff and potential candidates.  By looking past perceived deficiencies and seeing only strengths, you can more effectively draw out hidden talents.  This way of managing will increase employee satisfaction and retention, while giving a whole new outlook on your team.

Gary Vice is sought out by leaders in Software and Services who recognize the need to attract the industry’s best talent.  Through Strategic Recruiting Partners’ extensive network of relationships, they are able to identify high level opportunities for well qualified candidates.  To discover how this process can benefit your job search, simply reply to this email or call Gary at 469.402.4008.