Talent Management - A balanced approach to Leadership and Followership

Welcome to this special episode of my podcast, where I explore the critical aspects of Talent Management—not just as a process of developing leaders but as a balanced framework that equally emphasizes followership development.

Using insights from various scholarly and professional sources, I aim to reshape how organizations think about managing their most vital asset: People.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello everyone, my name is Ralph Leyendecker and I welcome you to this special episode

(00:11):
of my podcast.
Today I will explore the critical aspects of new work and talent management not just
as a process of developing leaders but as a balanced framework that equally emphasizes
followership development.
Using insights from various scholarly and professional sources, I aim to uncover how

(00:31):
organizations think about managing their most vital asset, people.
Let's start with defining talent management.
Talent management encompasses strategies for attracting, retaining and developing individuals
to meet organizational goals.
It's a cyclical and dynamic process involving recruitment, development and retention tailored

(00:55):
uniquely to organizational needs.
McKinsey's perspective emphasized the integration of talent strategies with business objectives
to enhance performance and ensure long-term success.
However, traditional models often over-prioritize leadership development, leaving gaps in understanding
the vital role of followership.

(01:17):
What exactly is followership and what role does it play?
One of the stand-up themes from literature is the need to balance leadership development
with followership development.
Several studies highlight how followership is often undervalued despite its critical
role in achieving organizational goals.

(01:37):
The stigma surrounding followership, a perception that followers are passive or conformist,
needs to be reframed.
Followership is a proactive partnership with leadership, enhancing organizational outcomes
by ensuring that leaders' visions are supported and executed effectively.
Basically the point is, without skilled followers, even the best leaders will falter.

(02:03):
So what about attracting and retaining talent?
The Society of Human Resources Management, SHRM, wrote an article on recruiting strategy,
introduces the buy, build or borrow approach, which integrates internal development with
external hiring.
Employee referral systems further strengthen this framework by leveraging social networks

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to improve recruitment efficiency and cultural fit.
Retention is another critical factor.
Work Institute's retention report reveals that turnover costs average 33% of an employee's
annual salary and are driven primarily by the lack of career development opportunities.
So hello, this calls for organizations to adopt tailored retention strategies that

(02:51):
focus on individual motivations and growth paths.
I guess all of us came at crossroads when a previous employer promised career development,
which then never happened, and led to pursuing other opportunities externally.
Their loss, other companies' win.
Let's talk about development beyond leadership.

(03:12):
While leadership development is a cornerstone of talent strategies, it shouldn't overshadow
the importance of followership training.
Programs aimed at enhancing followership skills, such as team collaboration, critical thinking
and effective communication, ensure that employees can align with and support organizational

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objectives effectively.
We should always recall, leaders are only as strong as the teams they lead.
The GROW model, frequently used for leadership coaching, can be adapted to followership development.
By addressing goals, reality, options and ways forward, that's what GROW stands for

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if you shouldn't already know, it empowers employees to contribute meaningfully, irrespective
of their position, in the hierarchy.
So what are the challenges in recruitment and selection we are facing?
Hiring managers often rely on intuition in decision making.
While intuition can add value, structured approaches and data-driven insights are essential

(04:16):
to mitigate biases and enhance objectivity in selection processes.
Here professional assessment tools like Birkman, DISC, 360 Survey from DecisionWise and Hogan
will support your data-driven selection process.
And not to forget, there are also many AI solutions out there which can support you.

(04:37):
So how do you actually shape organizational culture?
There was an interesting highlight by a Harvard Business Review, where they featured Netflix
to have redefined HR by promising and promoting transparency and flexibility.
So clearly such approaches foster culture as where both leaders and followers thrive,

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contributing to a cohesive and innovative workforce.
What they did was, they let their associates decide how much and when they want to take
paid time off.
Well, that's very cool indeed.
So Ralph, let's stop talking.
What are we taking away from all of this?
Talent management needs to evolve into a balanced discipline that values both leadership and

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followership.
By investing in both areas, organizations can create resilient, adaptable teams capable
of navigating complex challenges.
Leaders may set the vision, but it is the followers who transform that vision into reality.
Important is that we all support building workplaces where everyone, regardless of their

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title, is empowered to lead and follow effectively.
With that said, thanks for listening.
Thanks for tuning in.
Stay resilient and keep innovating.