The Challenge: Experts aren't easy
Summary: In difficult times, technical specialists have never been more important, or more in demand. How do you hang on to and motivate those you already have, when making the case to invest in them is difficult?
Written by Alistair Gordon 07 Jun 2020

Image credit: Kristopher Roller on Unsplash

Is making investments in developing the broader capabilities of experts in your organisation a business case that will quickly find acceptance?

If you are in HR, probably yes. People & Culture executives see the opportunities for growth in experts in a daily basis.

But the wider organisation might have a less open view of experts, and the role they play in creating value.

Several things mean that making an argument for investment in the building of enterprise skills in experts is challenging - experts aren’t easy:

  • Often the work experts do, and value they create, is invisible. None of us have much of an idea about how much effort every week goes into making sure your email arrives safely every hour; we only know how important this work is when it stops working.

  • Experts don’t help themselves. Experts typically aren’t great at making the case for themselves, or even articulating what they do well to non-experts. They can actually be condescending (often without realizing it) to others - “I could explain it to you, but you wouldn’t understand.” (This may be true, but its an insensitive way of putting it!)

  • Experts actually don’t want ‘enterprise skills’ training. They don’t think they need it, believe their technical skills are all that matter, and have had previously bad experiences from “that emotional intelligence course they forced me to go on”. Making a case for investing in colleagues who don’t want to be invested in is tough.

However, it is worth the effort.

Your organisation almost certainly has a stream of talent initiatives for people leaders. And yet increasing it is the experts who are re-creating the world we live in, and it is the experts who - if not there - cause our systems, processes, innovation and services to fail.

Because experts have never been more important, or more in demand, it is more important than ever to hang on to, motivate, and up-skill those you already have.

The feedback from experts who have been invested is intensely positive.

Book a call with us today and we’ll show you how to make the case for investing in experts that you’ll be thanked for by experts for years to come.

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