Talent Hoarding: Why You Should Help Your Best People Leave

I once had a training coordinator on my team. She was hired to book rooms, line up instructors, and send calendar invites. Across 15 countries and languages and 90 products. It was more complex than the title made it sound.

She was good at it. Had the complexities ironed out and knew the 100s of  partners well.

Her title said scheduler, something seemingly insignificant. Her performance and her relationships said she was ready for something bigger. With some training and skill development, she could easily move into developing and owning partner relationships.

Most managers would never see that move. They would never go looking for it, either.

Why good managers hoard talent

Because this is what we do to our teams, too. We find someone great, and we hold on tight. And we have good reasons. We need them. If they left, we would be in trouble. Training someone new takes months. And yet there often isn't a promotion to give that person. Pay raises are hit and miss. 

But most of our team members are ready to take on something new, different, more.

Instead, we pigeon hole them. We think of them as a discrete skillset and resist considering where else, how else they could contribute.

Meanwhile, the same managers who will not let their own people move will happily poach an obvious star from another team. They resist moving the people they do not know well, and they chase the people everyone already talks about.

What talent hoarding costs

Economist Ingrid Haegele studied talent hoarding inside a large manufacturer, and her research appears in the American Economic Review. 75% of managers there said talent hoarding happens. When a manager who hoarded moved to a new role, job applications from their former team went up by about 80%. The people held back were more likely to be high performers.

Those people wanted to grow but had to wait until the manager holding them in place moved on. In a tight market, plenty of them will wait. And when the market opens back up, they will flee.

It's your job to develop your people, even if it means they move on.  Best case, they move on within the organization and everyone wins. Worst case, you don't develop them and they stick around, their performance remains static, bringing everyone down with them.

Start this week with one sentence for each person on your team: "If they left my team, they would shine in ____." If you cannot finish it, you have some listening to do.

Watch the full episode in our Mini but Mighty℠ Leadership Lesson on YouTube. Beyond the Ladder: Why You Should Help Your Best People Leave 

Lead yourself. Then lead others. Be a Boss.

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Executives, if you want managers who build talent instead of hoarding it, we can help you develop that skill across your whole management team. Reach out at bossatthehelm.com/contact.