Take Ownership of the Value of Development

The beginning of the year gives us a great opportunity to take stock of where we are and where we want to be in the next 12 months. Moving beyond traditional New Year’s resolutions, as professionals we need to focus on what is important for us, our careers, and our businesses so that we can plan to take action.
Let’s meet Jill, Brad, and Annette.
Jill is the manager of the mortgage closing department. She is in charge of 12 employees whose functions have different levels of complexity. She already completed their performance reviews for 2016 and identified their development goals for 2017. Each one has an individual plan focused on some competencies that need to be strengthened and others that need to be acquired for the employee to become more effective in their current role. Some have even been identified as high potential employees, which means they will have even more growth opportunities. In addition, Jill has already scheduled a meeting with her own manager where she will discuss the plan that Jill designed for her own development.
Brad is an independent consultant who specializes in organizational cultural change. His business depends on his knowledge and expertise. He must remain current on the latest trends in cultural shifts so that he can be a valuable advisor to his clients. Brad built his brand by being present in different activities many of which, on the surface, do not seem to be development-oriented yet actually are. For instance, Brad hears about what local subsidiaries of international companies are doing by attending networking events where he interacts with clients and competitors. He stays informed about emerging key players reading specialized and general business publications either online or in print. Further, he asks lots of questions about subjects that catch his interest to discover hidden business opportunities.
Annette is an individual contributor at the marketing department of a major automobile distributor. Even though she is not interested in a management position, Annette has made it clear to her supervisor that she is interested in expanding her role in the company. Annette is thoroughly familiar with the business strategy beyond that of her specific department. She seeks cross-training opportunities, volunteers for special assignments, attends meetings of professional associations, networks internally and externally, and reads anything that crosses her desk or her mobile devices. Over the years, Annette has become an expert in targeted marketing and is often invited to speak at local events.
Jill, Brad, and Annette have in common that they place value in development for themselves and for their businesses.
Consider the following key benefits of owning the value of development for you:

• Become recognized as an expert.
• Find multiple ways to contribute to the business’s bottom line.
• Provide better service to your internal and external clients.
• Receive financial and intangible rewards as companies see employee development as a retention tool.
• Have documentation about your activities and their results readily available to showcase or to remind yourself of what you have achieved.
• As a manager, earn a reputation for being a people developer whose employees are ready to take multiple roles.
• As a leader, get recognized for thinking about talent beyond the boundaries of your department.

Here’s how your development benefits your company:

• Companies with a roster of experts build reputations for being knowledgeable, which usually translates into a stronger brand.
• Clients are willing to pay for the expertise that they lack internally, thus they are more likely to support businesses that can provide such expertise.
• You’ll gain higher levels of customer satisfaction and greater employee engagement
• Increased value for shareholders who tend to trust a company whose workforce has solid expertise.

Whether you are an individual contributor, a manager, or an independent practitioner, set up some time to start owning the value of development by asking yourself the following questions:

• Where are you now from a professional standpoint? For instance, is this is your dream job or just a job? Do you feel passionate? What are your strengths? What are your development needs?
• Where do you want to be? Are you satisfied with your current role? What else would you like to do in the organization or elsewhere? (If you don’t know, go to first bullet)
• What do you need to get there? For instance, which competencies will be required and which ones will be “nice to have”? Do you have them at the expected level for expanding your current role or doing something different altogether? What is your assessment of the skills and competencies of your employees or yourself?
• How much time will you need to strengthen or acquire those competencies or skills? Given your current time commitments, how many skills and competencies will you be able to target in the coming year? Will you need to distribute your plan over more than one year so that you can meet all of your responsibilities or those of others?
• What resources do you have available to do so? Which company-sponsored opportunities can you leverage for your or your employees’ development? Who are the key players in the area that you would like to explore? Who can introduce you to those key players? Do you have access to talent development professionals, training managers, career coaches or mentors to guide you along this process?
• What kinds of investments will you need to make? Will you need to postpone some personal projects, such as short term courses, certifications or degrees? Will you need to incur in expenses to join professional organizations? Will you have to upgrade your technological or other tools so that you can enroll in e-learning programs? Will you need to request additional budget to support an employee’s participation in particular program?
• How will strengthening or developing your skills or competencies (or those of your employees) contribute to the bottom line of the business? For instance, which specialized knowledge will be of value for that new product line scheduled for a mid-2017 launch? Will learning another language make someone a more attractive candidate for an international special assignment?

Keeping track of and measuring your success as you own the value of development does not have to become an unwieldy project that could keep you from moving forward. To help track your progress, consider the following tools:

• observation and feedback from peers, supervisors and company leaders
• company indices such as company results, performance evaluations, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement surveys
• percentage of repeat customers
• comments and ratings of products and services
• rewards and recognitions

No matter what else you do this year, taking ownership of the value of your professional development should be at the top of your list.