Have you ever been told that you are just too valuable in your job to be given an opportunity to do something else? Even worse to be given an indeterminate answer as to when you might be able to move to something else. Worse still is to be given a promise that you can take on a new challenge under certain conditions or at a certain time only to find out your boss was merely placating you. This happened to me once and it caused me to leave a company I truly loved working for but I simply could not live with not being allowed the opportunity to try something else.
As leaders we have all had employees that were outstanding performers. Who can work miracles, are at our every beck and call or, simply are doing a job that no one else can or will do. There is a temptation to leave things well enough alone and try and maintain the status quo. Sure, raises and perks such as days off work, for a while but trust me resentment is building. You have skipped over an employees stated need or desire and eventually there will be consequences. At best, their performance will suffer but most likely, one day they will simply leave.
Part of the responsibility of every leader is to develop our people and maximize their value to the organization. This takes real work but it pays off in spades. It starts with having regular dialogs with our teams and understand peoples desires and capabilities. From there plans can be built for career progression to allow them to grow both in terms of their own knowledge but also in their value to the organization. The critical element to this is to ensure that both parties work to the plan. The plan can be modified as time goes on but it is important that we, as leaders, do what we say we are going to do.
Equally important is providing candid feedback to the employee on their performance and skills. I once had a test technician that applied for every executive level position. Apparently she had been doing this for years and her prior management failed to explain that she lacked the skills to do those jobs and more importantly, failed to tell her what she needed to do to develop those skills. By the time I got involved and had this discussion with her she was so bitter it was very difficult to get her to accept a rational 5 year development plan that would develop the foundation for leadership. She met her end of the bargain and we started her off on a new track. Shortly thereafter we noticed that her prior attendance issues cleared up and her attitude was markedly better. She became a much more valuable member of the team.
I know some of you maybe rolling your eyes at this point but trust me, I have a former assistant that is now an engineer. She has grown tremendously over the past 10 years and I know she can do more. I can point to several other examples where people given the chance have risen to the occasion and flourished. Developing people is part of a leaders job and if you are not doing, you are not doing one of the most important aspects of your job. If you don't take care of your people, they may take care of themselves and leave you holding the bag at a very inopportune time. Don't be that person that is a career killer, instead be a career builder!
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