Talent is important, empowerment is everything. How to use employees’ abilities to the fullest?

Talent is hotly debated, as it seems to be beneficial, but not all people can be regarded as talented. When a company has workers with big potential, it automatically raises the chances of it being successful. However, talents can be easily neglected and even lost if they are not treated poorly. Let us take a closer look at some situations in which empowerment can help to preserve talents in the company and help them to thrive. 

• Talent is being ignored. 

Your employee can be exceptional, but what is the point of it if the talent is not used properly? A lot of workers feel unmotivated as their strengths are being ignored and they are not able to show their potential to the fullest extent. 

Poor fit is problematic as a person does not get an opportunity to work in the field he/she is good at, so it is important to analyze personality and abilities of your workers starting with their onboarding period. If your company provides internships or introducing trainings, pay attention to the performance of candidates, try to give them tasks connected to different levels of responsibility or those that require various sets of skills.

Moreover, set a list of the skills and abilities HR managers are to look for when recruiting new people. For instance, a candidate can be well-trained and have a wide range of necessary hard skills but experience difficulties with communication or negotiations. In such a case it might be a good idea to provide such employees with additional training to overcome their communication barriers, and thus keep a talented specialist in your company.

• Burnout. 

“Talented people are those who are able to complete any task quickly and with no mistakes. Their abilities are way beyond average, which means such employees should have more responsibilities and take as many work assignments as possible”. Such a mindset is harmful both for business owners and their personnel.

There is a very big difference between what people “can do” hypothetically and what they “will do” in reality. Talent is not the only thing influencing their productivity, that is why talent does not equal speed. Workers should not be overloaded with tasks, otherwise their level of stress and tiredness will make work unbearable for them.  

Encourage your workers to cooperate and delegate tasks if it is possible. Any type of additional work should be a personal initiative of workers and not a demand. In such a manner talented people will have enough energy for creativity and deep analysis, which will increase their productivity in the long-term.

• A lack of freedom. 

Limitations suppress development, it applies for talents too. No matter how unique and advanced the worker’s thinking capabilities are, it is impossible to be incredibly efficient if there is no room for that. Strict control over performance of others and a persistent adherence to the rules are typical for less talented employees or managers who are concerned about their own results. In combination with poor leadership it can result in conflict situations.

Freedom of choice and action based on trust is really important for the productive work of talented people. Their excellent results will become the biggest drivers of progress, that is why organization of work, leadership and relationships in a team should be immaculate. Managers need to be trained to lead the work of talented people efficiently and to be able to resolve any conflicts.

• Rewarding system.

Flawless results, outstanding skills, hard work and nonstandard thinking of employees make any business thriving. However, in order to continue the process of self-development and to be passionate enough to work at the same pace constantly workers need to get rewards. Their personal values are to be taken into consideration. 

Educational courses, extra free days, bonuses, wage increases, even simple words of appreciation and compliments – there are a lot of ways to encourage workers to do their best and to use their talents as much as possible. 

Remember that no one likes to stay unnoticed. Even the smallest things can affect levels of motivation and overall atmosphere in the company.

Conclusion

To sum up, encouragement is highly important. Being empowered by great working conditions and a well-working reward system, employees are able to be diligent and efficient in all circumstances.