Week 6 Managing Human Talent and Teams

Week 6: Mini Lecture

Managing Human Talent and Teams

Since human capital is the most important organizational asset, businesses must continually invest in the securing and development of its people. Data from Selvarajan et al. (2007) indicates that human capital enhancement paves the way for greater business innovativeness and in turn offers positive implications on firm performance. It can also be argued that the emphasis on human capital enhancement results in personal improved performance that leads to greater career opportunities.

Not all training and development take place in a classroom. One of the most effective strategies for employee development today is one-to-one business coaching. Leaders and organizations alike have come to understand how valuable coaching can be, and they’re adding coaching skills to the skills they require for managers. Based on asking and clarifying questions rather than telling, on provoking thought rather than providing advice and on holding a person accountable for his or her goals, coaching employees help them learn in ways that let them keep growing afterwards.

Evered and Selman (2012) suggest that we view the manager as a coach, and coaching not as a subset of management, but rather at the heart of management. Successful managers who coach shift their thinking from a traditional paradigm of control, order and prescription to a paradigm designed to acknowledge and empower people and teams towards positive action.

Just as individuals benefit from coaching so does teams. Effective teams that fit and work together are the result of hard work and thoughtful leadership- they don't just happen. Teams need good leadership to set an example, motivate team members, nurture the soft skills, provide effective feedback and ensure the team is on task. Still, teamwork presents challenges because individuals must work together who have different viewpoints. Managers who coach teams can help them learn how to listen, communicate, understand and appreciate how their teammates see the work and how they prefer to work. Without such an understanding, team members can have conflicts with each other or the manager. It is also important to remember that team conflict can lead to new ideas and approaches to team processes, and increase interest in dealing with problems.