Purposeful Talent Development: Closing skills gaps
Measure the starting point, identify your targets and know your priorities.
Gaps in a person’s teeth are readily apparent. Closing them is a straightforward task for a good orthodontist.
In contrast, gaps in the knowledge, skills and abilities of a leader, manager or individual contributor in your organization can be harder to see on the surface. But they can be both identified and improved if you know what you’re doing.
A good first step is to draw your starting line by identifying which knowledge, skills and abilities are required for success at your credit union within each level—identifying your success competencies is a foundational step in nearly all talent development strategies. Until you understand what specific competencies equate to success within your organization it’s virtually impossible to strategically focus on any HR or Development goal. While there isn’t really a finish line when it comes to developing people, you need to get an idea about your organization’s success targets for performance.
Compare where people are now and the success targets you’ve set, and you’re one step closer to defining the talent gaps in your organization and setting yourself up to successfully begin to address them by developing toward them.
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