Accor
The key reasons quoted for this failure are a lack of financial investment and insufficient senior management support. Perhaps the truth is a lot of organisations don’t actually have a system for recognising star talent and they see it as a huge investment to put such a system in place.
Are you in a position where you want to hold on to your talent before they get demotivated or headhunted? Here are some suggestions to help you.
1. Identify the value – what will happen if you lose your star talent? Can you afford to lose them? It is not always inevitable that they will leave.
2. Identify your star talent – who are they? What are their specialist skills? Grade them by “top performer – proven ability” and “real potential as yet unproven”. They won’t necessarily be in strategic roles.
3. Engage with star talent – what motivates them? Why were they attracted to you in the first place and what will encourage them to stay? Personal development will often be a bigger part of this than remuneration.
4. Provide feedback – in addition to the annual appraisal. Show them you are committed and let them know what you are actually doing.
5. Share the message – let your peers and line managers know what you are doing and ask for their support.
And if it comes to the point where they do leave despite your efforts then wish them well. It might be nothing to do with their current role or they may be looking for something your business can’t provide. Your reaction will decide your reputation.
The Learning Journey 
3 comments
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July 10, 2007 at 10:50 am
Shaune
Personal development of star talent is a major blocker for many organisations. There is always the worry that once the staff have spent company time and money getting fully developed they’ll just disappear somewhere else with brighter opportunities. So what’s the point?
The point is not just to develop your star talent but also to develop everybody should they want it. As a business you want to be seen as the golden place to place, a company who everybody want employment with. Then when your star talent moves on there will be more star talent just waiting to fill the places.
If you’re one of these companies that don’t deem personal development worthwhile be warned though – if you don’t allow your staff to develop they will disappear anyway, usually sooner rather than later.
July 15, 2007 at 9:44 am
Tim Clague
I think most people would agree with the 5 steps.
But not know actually what to do with those ‘star talent’ people. What if you were working in the patent office with Albert Einstein (silly example I know) – how would you help him?
July 16, 2007 at 9:10 am
Nick
I guess it depends on what ‘Albert’ wants out of life and whether you can help him achieve that in your office.
Are companies willing to take the risk in finding out what motivates their ‘stars’ and then help and encourage them to achieve? Will this give them the courage to move on, taking their talent with them?
You won’t know until you ask the right questions, but in the meantime see Shaune’s comments. To do nothing is certainly a wasted opportunity