Embarking on an Incredible Talent Journey: the importance of investing in employees’ growth
It’s easy to think that companies acquire and retain the best talent through a high salary alone. But although fair pay is essential in acquiring and retaining productive people, strong employment relationships go way beyond.
Think about your stronger friendships; what do they have in common? They are usually the ones where you have grown together. This applies to relationships with companies, too. When an employer listens to people’s proposals and goals for growth, strives to find opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge, and aligns employee and business objectives, they are not only investing in employees, they are growing with them.
This article explores the importance of investing in people and supporting them in achieving their full potential.
Why should you invest in internal growth?
It helps attract great talent
Professionals know that a company that invests in learning and development will more likely value them and want to see them grow professionally and personally. On the other hand, people committed to growing their skills and knowledge are great candidates for your company and its success.
It increases employee engagement and retention
Happy employees that feel a deeper sense of connection to their workplace are more loyal to the company. Most of your people want to feel empowered and inspired. And this is where you can make a difference: investing in your employees creates opportunities for them to feel excited about learning and growing, which will reflect on their performance while helping structure their vision for a future within the company.
With internal development activities and learning sessions, you can encourage teams to connect by practicing new skills together.
It prepares for the future
The world is changing fast, and the more you keep up with emerging trends and technologies, the more successful your company will be. You’ll need to shape your strategies to improve products, increase efficiency, and update processes as modern technologies – such as artificial intelligence – appear. To do this, you need a team of talented, innovative, and dedicated minds.
Talent development activities and learning programs allow employees to connect with new people and mindsets, unleashing their creativity for future work. Your employees can build their knowledge around your business and industry, discover new strategies to improve internal processes, and be more prepared for future changes.
The Incredible Talent Journey: investing in our people
People do their best work when they are respected, encouraged, supported, and trusted – and that starts with an investment mindset about people and their development.
For us, caring for and investing in people is about sharing ideas, knowledge, and responsibilities to create a collaborative and trusting team – while offering our team the tools they need to feel supported. By creating a clear and structured approach for growth and career development, we help our people feel safer, have clearer objectives for their future, and direct their efforts into the skills and work that best benefits their and the company’s growth. That’s how we are able to deliver exceptional products and services and deliberately delight our customers.
What is the Incredible Talent Journey?
The Incredible Talent Journey is a structured approach to support our employees’ career journey. This process defines the core criteria Emergn sees as essential for everyone to become exceptional in their role. Together with their manager, each person sets the yearly goals and skills they want and should focus on throughout that journey, aligning with the company’s goals, mission, values of The Emergn Way, and our Career Progression Framework. The Incredible Talent Journey measurement criteria will support the set-up of the journey and help measure the progress, adapt, and work on these goals through regular, genuine, and honest conversations.
The Incredible Talent Journey outlines the core criteria for everyone to be an incredible leader in their role, supporting their unique aspirations. It’s a personalized approach through regular conversations, aligning the big vision objectives and creating the measurable key results for success, with learning and development support and regular feedback, and authentic conversations. It will have empowering steps for us to explore our full potential.
Marta Pinto, Learning and Development Manager
How it works: Incredible Talent measurement criteria
Think about your vision, career aspirations, and the work you do. What inspires you? How do you want to be challenged? These are the questions we ask each of our colleagues to kick-start their career journey. These goals are shaped and assessed according to the five specific measures of our Incredible Talent Journey through regular and transparent conversations with managers throughout the year.
1. Command of the business
Each of us is an essential piece of our company and shares the commitment to meeting its goals and objectives. Is the goal aligned with a solid understanding of our business and industry? Does it show the employee knows the values and principles at Emergn?
2. Smart work ethic
The goal displays the ability to work through challenges alongside team members and clients. The person puts an effort into preparing work needed to communicate effectively with everyone. It should show a strong attention to the whole picture – risks, benefits, contingencies, variance, and growth – and the delivery of tangible outcomes.
3. Consistent follow-up & follow-through
This is about meeting commitments and looking for opportunities to improve relationships. It shows the colleague is a good collaborator and takes decisive actions to help improve the team and company. The goal shows the person fully understands the importance of communicating early and often.
4. Philosophically aligned
It accesses the ability to make decisions putting the company’s interests and principles first. It represents a deep understanding of our beliefs and core values and their daily practice. Our employee shows the importance of showing up and respecting everyone we work with.
5. In the right role
The current role represents the person’s strengths and capabilities as the best person in the organization to perform that specific function. Everyone should be in the role that best fits their strengths and abilities.
As our first principle of The Emergn Way says: we care for and invest in people. We are committed to prioritizing the wellbeing and growth of everyone at Emergn. The Incredible Talent Journey is a vital part of this, to support high performance and promote the growth of incredible leaders in their roles. It will provide a tailored touch for everyone to create their own journey, starting with their ambitions.
At the same time, the Incredible Talent Journey will help identify how can we encourage, support, and guide people and provide them with the tools and support they need to unlock their full potential and succeed here at Emergn.
Chloe Outen, Human Resources Manager
The Incredible Talent Journey is our method for career progression in a way people feel supported, heard, and have the means to measure their achievement. Colleagues can learn and improve constantly by seeking feedback and being supported to act on it. Regular opportunities to discuss personal and career development are essential for each person’s progress.
We are dedicated to reshaping how we nurture and value our extraordinary talents. In contrast to traditional performance management processes that carry a negative undertone, we embraced the Incredible Talent Journey, which places the employee at the center. This framework embodies our commitment to empowering, investing in, coaching, mentoring, and fostering the growth of our teams. Instead of the standard top-down objective setting, it starts with each individual’s ambitions and aspirations. With the Incredible Talent Journey, we intertwine employees’ goals with our unique approach and objectives.
Anjana Mistry, Chief Financial & Operations Officer
If you enjoyed this reading, keep an eye on our Careers Blog – where you can learn about employee experiences and insights, company events, stories and webinars, and career and development suggestions. If you’re looking for a new adventure and you feel like Emergn might be the right fit, explore our career opportunities!
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