How to get your data people working smarter
Making your data people smarter is hard. It needs focus, determination and the right combination of information.
You want them to work well with their customers, work for you rather adding to your workload
So what can you do with your high potentials?
What doesn’t work: Generic leadership training
You could send high potential individuals to generic leadership training. This is a great thing to do, and it MIGHT solve your problem. They might be lucky enough to find what they need amongst the other leadership content. And if you’re really lucky then they’ll stay another year before moving on. So you can start all over again.
Also doesn’t work: an MBA
You could sponsor those same high potentials in an MBA or similar. They will get generic training with no practical applications. They’ll probably get better at high finance. They’ll understand the principles of human resources management but not how to empathise, build relationships, say sorry or mend a broken customer relationship.
Assignments live in the theoretical world, not in your grounded workplace where change needs to happen.
And not just reading
You can try to get them to help each other with articles and books. So they can have book knowledge. But that wont get them any closer to emotional intelligence.
Of course, try online, but…
You could even enroll them in an online course but that’s not going to make them interact or learn how to look after their clients better. It probably won’t make them easier to manage. But you can try.
So what does work?
Many of these options probably would help. They’re expensive. And they are scatter gun. None are customised to what you and your team really need. None quantify the improvement or set up systems to maintaining improvements.
You may just be giving your high potentials the wrong kind of support.
The right kind of support has these attributes
- theory and research grounded in your real-world environment
- working within the team
- catered to the issues you want to tackle
- in line with your strategy
- quantified and measured
- reinforced (not undermined) by your systems
- gets participants interacting with the people who are important to them – stakeholders and clients
- makes the team easier to manage
That’s what I do. Talk to me, Cindy Tonkin, about how to make Smarter Data People. A team that works smarter, faster and nicer.
