LUMINARY PERSPECTIVE
Make Your Future Happen: Plan Beyond Your Current TD Role
Talent development has been transformed significantly over the years. Advances in technology will continue to reshape how people work and live. The technologies that are driving change include artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation; they all have the potential to replace human workers in an increasing number of industries. To remain competitive, it is incumbent upon talent development professionals to upskill and reskill ourselves and our workers to ensure the best chance of success for the organizations that we support.
In addition, the number and types of roles in talent development continue to expand and evolve. The increasing demand for higher-skilled or different-skilled workers means that talent development leaders need to take a more strategic and holistic approach to talent development. The importance of workforce strategic planning to anticipate the needs of the business by having the right talent in the correct amount for the future is critical to a business’s success and growth.
Businesses now more than ever need to offer training and robust, career-focused education to build a culture of lifelong learning. In fact, creating a culture of lifelong learning is a strategic decision. Why? Because it requires you to articulate your position on people and people development. I vividly remember working with a boss on a talent assessment interview for a senior leader. At the end of the session he shared his view that every interaction with a leader is an assessment opportunity. I agreed with him, but I also pushed back ever so slightly to suggest that the interaction with a senior leader was also a development opportunity for that leader. My boss responded by saying that through a good assessment process we can hire the next “Michael Jordan” into our organization. I also agreed that this was true, but then suggested another way to think about talent. I gave the example of Tiger Woods and asked, when did Tiger Woods start to play golf? Who had the most influence at an early age on his ability to play golf? The answer was simple; Tiger Woods started learning to play golf at the age of four, and his father was a key influence in his life. Further, his father was coaching and encouraging him to practice every day with feedback on how to improve his game. So, I think that the answer is somewhere in the middle—you need a good assessment process as well as targeted development efforts to build skills that drive success. I will never forget that encounter with my boss, who focused primarily on assessment.
I am excited about the future. This is probably the best time to be in talent development. I like to think of it as our “day in the sun,” and at its center are the employee and the employee experience. I have always believed—and was taught in my early days as a manager—that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of the customers. This was a constant theme in my career in the hospitality industry: My managers would tell me about the importance of taking care of the employees to ensure that they were happy, secure, confident, and well-trained, and had the necessary tools to do their jobs to deliver great customer service. Great customer experiences in turn drive greater customer loyalty and happy customers, which then leads to more happy customers and business growth. Managers can bring this about by creating a culture of psychological safety, belonging, and inclusion that builds a culture of accountability and self-ownership with the knowledge that each person is responsible for their own development and career. Through coaching, mentoring, and great leadership, the TD function’s ability to equip managers to become masters in the development of talent is critical.
The ability to get things done through others and drive results is also key to being successful in business. Collaboration and teamwork are the “oil” that keeps an organization vibrant and successful. Early on in my career I attended a training session in which my team was placed in a simulation called Hawks & Doves. In this exercise, participants competed to win as much money (points) as possible by buying, selling, (and stealing!) weapons in a tight timeframe. (Note that this was a long time ago, when sensitivities were different!) We fought hard to get every “point” that we could from the other teams. Unfortunately, we did not realize that if we all worked together, we could “game the system” by working faster and thus winning more! This wisdom became apparent only as we processed the exercise results. It was a formative experience for me as I reflected on my behavior and realized the need to establish trust as a first step, to be tolerant, and to strive for greater self-awareness.
One of the greatest gifts I’ve been given as a manager was the privilege and honor of working for and with a great leader. I once had a boss who was very tough—probably the toughest I’ve ever had. He continually challenged me to do better and strive for more, but he never criticized me personally. Instead, he would focus on the work and how we could do better as a department and for our guests and employees. He taught me the importance of “the long arc”—that life and work are a marathon, not a sprint, and we all run at different speeds. One year we were in a time crunch during budget time, so I asked my boss if he would come into the office over the weekend. I wanted his feedback and guidance so I could submit my budgets on time. We met on Saturday and got it done. However, at the end of our meeting, my boss told me in a friendly, good-natured tone that he would not do this again. He said that I needed to plan “my marathon” better next time to avoid dragging others into my sprints. We all need to have balance in life—to plan ahead and maintain better discipline.
Much of our work is now done in a distributed fashion, so the ability to collaborate and build teams virtually is critical to success. In the virtual environment, collaboration has become especially challenging because organic collaboration across highly distributed networks is almost impossible. The greatest lesson I gained from my Zoom-filled days is the need for disciplined time management and intentionality. Things don’t just happen; you have to make them happen. You must schedule them, structure them, and deliver them. I lead many virtual meetings each week, and I have found that one of the keys to being successful in this distributed environment is to have regular, scheduled meetings with agendas (sent out in advance) that include primer questions to stimulate engagement and make the most of our time together. I have learned that you have to structure the unstructured parts of the meeting. You must build in time to promote greater listening, sharing, and collaboration. Further, it’s extremely helpful to have technology platforms that allow you to work side by side, share documents synchronously, and chat in real time.
As you look at your future self—promoted and successful—think of yourself as an internal consultant. Traditionally, consultants were hired to assess the current situation and build actionable plans to drive change and performance improvement for organizations. By thinking of yourself as an internal consultant you can use this same frame of reference to add value to your department and your boss. What makes a great internal consultant? Their most important attribute is probably the ability to do outstanding work. It means looking for ways to go above and beyond the day-to-day job requirements to demonstrate how you add value to the organization.
Your career journey is a work of art that can change the trajectory of your life forever and lead to amazing opportunities and experiences. Early in my career, I had the opportunity to leave a secure job and a promising career to move across the world for a new, risky, and exciting opportunity. Although I very seriously weighed the pros and cons, in the end I asked myself whether I would regret not taking the opportunity. My answer was a resounding yes, and that was it. I moved halfway around the world for a job in a different industry in a country where I did not speak the language. It was the start of an amazing chapter of my life. All of this is to say that you have the potential to accomplish great things if you take calculated risks, work hard, and have a lifelong learning mindset. Anything is possible.
I wish you only the best in life. Lots of good health, success, joy, and, most important, lots of love. Live Aloha!
About the Author
Kimo Kippen is a native of Hawaii and resides alternately in Warsaw, Poland, and Honolulu, Hawaii. He’s a thought leader, speaker, and advocate for learning and a former executive at Hilton and Marriott. He was recognized by CLO Magazine as CLO of the year in 2015. Kimo served as chair of the ATD Board of Directors in 2007 and has also served as chair of APIA Scholars, a board member for the Center for Talent Reporting and CTDO Next, an advisory board member at CAEL, the CLO advisor at Defense Acquisition University, and an advisory board member for Strategic Education Inc., Gnowbe, Rochester Institute of Technology, World Institute for Action Learning, and GP Strategies. He is currently program director for The Conference Board Talent and Organizational Development Executive Council, USA, and the Learning & Development Council, Europe. In addition, Kimo serves as an adjunct professor and advisor at Catholic University of America and at George Mason University. Kimo has an MS from RIT and a BS from the University of Hawai’i; he is also a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland’s Post Graduate Program.