Develop Your People … Really

Source: ConvergenceCoaching, LLC Inspired Ideas

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog post by Jennifer Wilson.

Yesterday, I had three conversations with leaders of firms in completely different geographies and of a variety of sizes about slightly different yet completely related topics: A lack of traction in a mentoring program, an inability to get engagement reviews completed by both staff and managers, and concerns that a partner group didn't have enough empathy and compassion to engage and develop people.

What concerns me is that the real root cause of these issues – the crux of the people challenge in public accounting – is that firms pay lip service to their commitment to people but do not reward those who develop people above those who do not.

No matter what a firm says, or has written related to the things they value, the truth is that they do not place the premium value – pay and promotion – on people development skills. I'll go even further on this: Firms make it difficult for their best people developers to dedicate the time to invest in people programs and activities because they must first focus on the “holy grail” items of client service, chargeability, book, and business development and there simply isn't enough time left for mentoring, training, performance managing, and career planning.

Please take the time to discuss this blog with your senior leaders. Ask yourselves what you'll need to change to place a genuine premium on people development.

Give real credit to those who do this work best. Clear their schedules so they can get on it immediately. Reward them when they show results that can be measured through retention rates, promotion of their direct reports, and ultimately increased profitability for your firm.

For the complete blog entry, read “Let's Stop Paying Lip Service to People Development.”

From Convergence Coaching, LLC Inspired Ideas, February 27, 2013, http://blog.convergencecoaching.com.