Solving the Talent Development Paradox
Growing your team’s skills can seem risky – but not training them is even riskier.
Let’s say you’re a growing Salesforce system integrator (SI) or partner. Clients are happy. The team is growing.
Odds are this growth was fueled by great talent. In the early days of the company, you drafted the best players to your team, and you let them make winning plays to expand your business.
What about the next phase of growth, though? As companies scale, they have less star players and more raw talent that needs coaching to reach their full potential.
That leads most SIs to ask tough questions. What if you spend time and treasure training team members to be the best they can be and they just…leave? On the other hand, what if you don’t level up your people and… they stay?
This is the dilemma I see so many fast-growing companies face in my work at Camp4 helping build the next Salesforce innovators. I call it the “talent development paradox,” and it’s a puzzle that may be costing many companies even more than they think.
I like to explain it this way. My friend recently spent a good chunk of money renovating her bathroom. When the job was done, the space looked stunning. But then a week later, a pipe burst and the wall swelled up. Ouch. At the end of the day, she didn’t really have a choice. My friend had to rip out the wall and re-invest in redoing her bathroom. In the same way, companies must invest (and re-invest) in talent. Things happen, people leave. But to sit and let water leak down the wall is not an option. You have to keep investing to keep your house in order. Otherwise your next phase of expansion – just like a beautiful renovation to your home – is going to crumble.
The real risk is doing nothing at all
Not training your talent could already be hurting you. On average, senior leaders spend almost two-thirds of their time solving “people problems.” That means skipping the chance to train your people is draining crucial resources and brain power from the top ranks of your team.
And while there are many reasons why great people leave – better pay, better work-life balance – talent development could be part of a broader employee engagement strategy to hang on to core talent. 73% of employees say they’d stay at a company with more skill-building opportunities. Companies rated highly on employee training also saw 53% lower attrition.
Talent with people skills is crucial to business success today. Sure there’s risk to training, but the real risk is doing nothing while poor talent underperforms and great talent leaves for better opportunities.
The rewards are core to your business
At the same time, the immediate benefits can be, well, huge. As an SI, you sell billable hours, which means you have to:
Increase speed to “billability”
Maximize utilization potential
Justify bill rates for junior hires
Training can help you do all three and ensure your core product – your people – is the best it can be. At Camp4, we’ve proven we can help you:
Accelerate speed to billability: After a recent five-week program, we took 60 consultants through rigorous training. Two weeks later, they were all 100% billable.
Deliver quality work: 4 out of 5 consultants graduating from our camp agreed that the training would take their work to the next level.
Training can also give you an edge against the competition. Only 12% of companies know how to align talent to their business priorities, which means the companies that successfully tie talent development to growth are poised to jump way ahead of the pack.
There’s a plan for that
We work in tech, but ultimately this is a people-centered business. Many SIs see the promise of talent development in turbocharging their business. They just don’t know where to start.
Camp4 can help. Our unique talent development programs have helped build the careers of over 1,000 Salesforce pros, and can help you shape a training plan that directly impacts your bottom line.
Looking to get your business to the next level? That takes talent.
Get in touch or follow us on LinkedIn for more insights into solving the talent development paradox and other business challenges.
