TALENT LIBERATION

Talent liberation is best summed up in the following statement of belief:

organisations reach prime performance when they recognise, value, develop and use the unique talents of all their people in the delivery of their objectives

Every part of this statement is powerful. Prime performance is about being the best we can be. And recognise, value, develop and use is a powerful and precise sequence that each individual must go through if they are to make the most of their talents and those of other people. All their people is a powerful and conscious statement for organisations to make which makes it clear that they believe everyone has talent. This is contra to the inference of many old-fashioned and divisive talent management strategies. In the delivery of their objectives allows the focus of talent on the main business of the organisation.

The full theory and practice of TL is set out in the book Talent Liberation and there is also a great deal about TL at the Primeast website.

In the book there is much more about recognise, value, develop and use as a mechanism as well as an implementation method called eight steps to talent liberation which describes the precise process that must be followed to create a talent-centred culture (set out briefly below):

1. DIRECTION: Make sure the organisation has clarity of purpose and vision so people know what to point their talent at.

2. PHILOSOPHY: Articulate exactly what the organisation believes about talent, including who has it and where the focus is between competence, talent and strength.

3. PROCESS: Make sure all performance management processes are tested for alignment to the philosophy on talent.

4. PLAN: Make sure all actions arising from these tests are formulated in a comprehensive plan, together with all actions from these wider eight steps.

5. COMMUNICATE: Communicate the plan, other aspects of the talent strategy and all gains made to clearly identified stakeholders.

6. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Develop all managers so they can become ace talent facilitators, starting with themselves and then facilitating talent in others.

7. TEAM DEVELOPMENT: Provide all teams with the opportunity to recognise and share their talents and put them to good use in delivering team objectives.

8. REVIEW: Talent Liberation must be reviewed after every significant milestone to test return on investment, delivery of objectives and lessons for building on successes.

Resources:

Books: Talent Liberation and Liberate your talent
Primeast website Talent Liberation pages
Talent Team: Practitioners who have been accredited to deliver all or part of the Talent Liberation process.