Talent Management Career Conversation

Not everyone wants to move upwards and that’s okay. Apart from that, what are your aspirations and potential to progress? Oh, you want to be promoted but are not getting interviews for the next grade up. It’s tough out there, so many people competing for the same jobs. I haven’t picked up on your promotion signals. Last year you received a good rating in the nine-box talent grid. Your feedback is good and you do good work. This is about the career conversation, not the talent rating, but how do you rate your talent? Where do you want to be this time next year?

The annual career conversation is mandatory for Grades 6 and 7 in the UK Civil Service to assess talent, development and readiness for promotion. A two-way conversation on your present and future and how you can turn the civil service into a world-class organisation. The human interaction is what makes it a success for me. Being visible to my manager who recognises what I do, how I do it and why it matters. It’s not a performance conversation, but it can feel like a performance conversation, because it explores your goals, impact and the ups and downs of a year in your career.

At a time when there is heightened awareness around talent and AI innovation. the future Civil Service is moving towards a more skilled, technology-enabled and outcome-focused workforce. You need to be hyphenating your skills and capabilities to become AI-agentic. Applying your human judgement to add the most value to corporate and public services. Make it happen. Make it better. Make it count. There is a lot to talk about in your career conversation which is going to happen. Making it better than last year and making it count for next year is the challenge.

Your talent may be venerated, calibrated, rated, evaluated, celebrated, it may even be hotly debated before it is validated. Just keep it human and remember the Civil Service is changing and people are changing with it. Will you take a deep breath and ask for feedback to get different perspectives on the way you work?  What have you done to validate your proposed talent rating? How is your manager validating their rating of your talent? The career conversation puts your working relationships, job design, performance, wellbeing, capabilities and aspirations on the agenda.

Your department should map out a fair and consistent approach to applying the nine talent ratings of inconsistent, effective, early promise, good, expert, high potential, strong, expert and star.  The challenge has always been the “so what?” factor of a talent rating because it comes with no guarantees for promotion or development opportunities. The onus has been on departments to offer good work and career paths to enable individuals to own their development and employability. With curiosity being en vogue, it would be interesting to hear how departments manage talent.

With ‘Mogging’ crowned Collins English dictionary word of the year, which means to outperform or outshine someone or something. It is important to remember the career conversation is principally about you, your career and your potential. It isn't intended to turn the career conversation into a competitive ranking of you against your peers. Does it feel like that for you?

You should mentally prepare yourself for feedback and have the courage to make it a two-way conversation with your manager. Listening to this podcast How to be a kind manager – without being a pushover (yangi ilovada ochiladi) may help both of you prepare for it. I love this line: “Being nice is telling people what they want to hear, and kind is telling people what they need to hear.”

If the word “talent” feels gimmicky, focus on skills and capabilities. Skills describe ability, capabilities are how effectively you apply those skills to deliver outcomes at different levels of responsibility and impact. Use this opportunity to discuss how job design and ways of working upskill or deskill you. What can be done to improve the employee experience to meet business needs? How do you stay relevant?

In a rapidly changing workplace, the shelf life of skills is shrinking. Research suggests many skills lose around half their value within five years, with technical skills evolving even faster, often within 2.5 years. Let’s keep developing and keep it human as we recognise everything people can do and the difference they make to find a talent rating and development plans that suits them.

The linear career path does not suit everyone. Is interoperability just a fancy word or is it the way to go? What happens when people come back from secondments or loans? Share your thoughts on talent management.