5 Reasons Why You Need a Talent Development Program (And Three Ways To Launch One Today)

There is a common analogy that anyone that has worked in a startup has heard, “We’re building the ship as we’re sailing it.” In order to succeed growing companies are typically focused on two things only: product and sales. But if you don’t focus on your most important asset, your people, your ship is going to hit some rough waters that you could avoid. There are five key reasons you should invest in a talent development program early:

1. Employees who have onboarding are less likely to leave.

2. Increased employee engagement and satisfaction.

3. Better individual performance = better organization performance.

4. Having consistent and effective onboarding will reduce ramp time (and time to value)

5. Allows you to grow skills, expertise and leadership within your team.

So what doesn’t every startup have a talent development program? That’s easy: building a program from the ground up requires time, expense and expertise that aren’t priority one early on. The great news is, you can support professional development without substantial investment or effort. Here are three ways you can introduce talent development today:

• Have people share their expertise with the team. Is someone really good at resolving conflict? A CRM ninja who knows all the tricks? With low overhead you can launch lunch and learns or semi-formal trainings.

• Give an annual per diem for learning. Your team can then indiscriminately use this for the learning opportunities which will best serve them, such as attending a course or conference.

• Subscribe to an on demand service: LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) has an amazing library of content which services skill and leadership development - some of this content is even free.