6 Talent Development Online Training Activities For Cultivating Your In-House Talent

What if your employees possess talent, but aren’t able to truly tap into it?

A successful business understands that their most valuable commodity is their staff. They also acknowledge the importance of ongoing development that allows employees to identify and utilize their skills more effectively. Doing so allows for an organization and its employees to grow, while also forming a stronger sense of company loyalty. In order to cultivate your in-house talent, your online training plan must be geared toward talent development. These 6 talent development online training activities can help you harness the power of your staff’s skills and abilities.

The primary goal of incorporating talent development online training activities is to identify and cultivate the innate talents that employees already have when they enter your organization. In some cases, it also helps to strengthen talents that may be underdeveloped. 

The benefits are that you retain your top performers so that you can improve workplace productivity. But also to help those who are struggling to find their niche, and continually build their skills and abilities. For example, some new members of your service team may find it challenging to communicate with customers or resolve issues on their own. As such, your talent development online training program can give them the online training resources they need to fill gaps and hone skills autonomously.

Real-world simulations can include challenges and other situations that employees would face on the job. Images, characters, and sounds are a great way to make them more immersive. This allows you to gauge exactly how the employee would react to situations when they arise. Which also allows them to identify personal areas for improvement and undisclosed talents. For example, an online training simulation reveals advanced problem-solving or negotiation skills an employee was completely unaware of.

After each online training course, an employee should have a reflection activity. To truly have employees comprehend and focus on talent development, a reflection break must be included to allow them to absorb all that they have learned. Let them think back on the decisions, behaviors, challenges, and gaps that the online training posed. Talent development online training activities are utilized to further employees' development, enabling them to evaluate their own performance and determine their own talents and shortcomings. For best results, guide their efforts by incorporating a self-reflection exercise. Pose a question or prompt and ask them to summarize their thoughts. Or share personal anecdotes and real-world examples that trigger their thought process and challenge their assumptions.

Group collaboration activities are usually a great way to enhance teamwork. They also present your employees with the chance to learn more about each other. For any team to succeed, team members should be aware of each other's talents and skills. As well as discover abilities they never knew they possessed. Throughout the course of a discussion or team problem-solving, employees are exposed to new experiences. These experiences can bring out the best in them and offer valuable “a-ha” moments of self-discovery. Group collaboration activities also facilitate knowledge sharing. For example, if there are employees who are better at sales, possessing communication and negotiation skills, they can impart wisdom to their co-workers. Group activities enable the team to collaborate on a level that enhances the fluidity of the team and highlight individual strengths.

There are some talents that are harder to detect and cultivate than others. Such as interpersonal abilities and other soft skills. Branching scenarios immerse employees in real-world situations that feature real-world consequences. As such, you’re able to gauge their level of proficiency and how they utilize skills/knowledge in a practical setting with these engaging talent development online training activities. For instance, they struggle with a teamwork scenario and achieve the least favorable outcome. They have the opportunity to evaluate each decision point to see where they went wrong and how they can improve.

Invite employees to pair up with more/less experienced co-workers who possess different talents than their own. For example, a sales rep can team up with a customer service supervisor to improve their communication skills or policy knowledge. Likewise, the service supervisor is able to hone their product knowledge and negotiation skills. Try to pair like-minded employees who have similar interests or goals to improve collaboration. You should also set some rules to ensure that everyone knows what to expect.

Invite in-house top talent to host their own live online training events to impart their wisdom. This gives everyone the chance to share their unique expertise and collect eLearning feedback from peers. As an example, an employee hosts an online training event to help peers build their sales techniques or to share tips to improve time management. In the process of cultivating these abilities in others, they can identify gaps and areas for improvement. Such as ways to further enhance their productivity by developing new scheduling habits. Courtesy of a co-worker’s fresh insights. Create a hosting outline that everyone must follow to keep the conversation on track. For instance, they must include a brief intro followed by a summary of their discussion points.

Talent development online training activities are enhancing an investment that allows your organization to make the most of its internal assets. You retain your top staff members and help underperformers who haven’t yet tapped into their abilities. These 6 talent development online training activities are just the beginning of a successful talent development strategy. Gather eLearning feedback from your employees to personalize your online training content and continually expand your resource library.

Interpersonal skills are an essential talent that guarantees your staffers are effective communicators who work well with others and provide top-notch service to your customers or clients. But they aren't the only ones who need ongoing skills development training. Check out this article to learn more about which modules to include in your L&D program for external partners: 8 Soft Skills Online Training Modules To Include In Your Extended Enterprise.

This article first appeared here.