Inspiring Talent

Guest Blogger – Peter Russian, Chief Executive, Investors in People Scotland.

Organisations who reach their business goals require employees who are motivated, skilled and inspired.

You could say that leadership is a bit like sales – fundamentally it’s about getting people to do something and then helping them to do it. We can choose whether we manipulate people to get there which doesn’t get real buy in, or whether we inspire people through our deeds and actions, for which the pay-off is real commitment and engagement.

Inspiring people requires the leader to understand the motivations of their employees. What interests them away from work? Why do they turn up on a Monday morning? By understanding what drives them, it will become far easier to motivate them.

People are inspired when they learn new skills and develop their knowledge and understanding. Good leaders recognise that their role is to enable people to perform at their best. The best sports people, musicians and actors spend hours practicing their skills. But they rely on their coaches to support, encourage and counsel them, and good leaders recognise that developing people is fundamental to their role.

All of these principles are at the heart of developing talent and Investors in People. We help organisations achieve their objectives by getting the best from their people.

But developing talent isn’t just about the short term – if you’re ambitious about where you want your business to be, you need to be thinking about the skills and talent you need in the longer term.

Find out what the long term aspirations of each of your employees are and then find a way to help them reach their goals through employee development plans. This may mean that employees leave once they have reached their full potential, but in the time that you have them, would you not rather that they were star performers than mediocre employees? They will also be grateful that you have helped them in reaching their long term goals.

Finally, we know that developing young talent can be a highly effective means of developing your business. There are a thousands of young people looking for the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment and capability, bringing fresh perspectives and ideas, and giving you the chance to develop a new generation of talent. If you’re interested in finding out more about this, our Investors in Young People programme can help.

Talent motivation does not need to be all time consuming, but it does need to be consistent and constant, and should be reflected in your business objectives.