Can understanding your company's Talent Management process prepare you to advance your career?  

When I think about the executives I interviewed to learn more about the promotion and talent processes from their vantage point, one quote sticks out for me.

“Do not assume you’re doing a good job—find out whoever makes the decision about promotion and what they’re looking for – if it’s a panel decision – make sure you know who they are - make it easy for them—can’t be oblivious to how decisions are made and how to influence decision – must ask for it”

So he’s really suggesting three actions, and they all include playing a more active role than you might have thought – understand how talent decisions are made in your organization and who is involved in making them, find out how you’re perceived with regard to those criteria, and showcase to the decision makers great examples of how you are aligned to make it easy for them to weigh in in your favor. Another exec said something similar.

“Solicit feedback on how process works and how you can best navigate - managers may assume you know, but there are parts many are not privy to. Understand what pieces you can impact.”

We already started talking about understanding how your company’s talent and promotion processes work as first steps to positioning yourself as high potential, high performing and promotable in last week’s blog. Let’s get a bit more granular about this topic and we can drill down into the other two pieces in future conversations.

See the video above for a quick primer on the Talent Review process to guide you in gathering information that will help you position yourself in alignment with your company's success profile.

As an organization development geek, I’m always fascinated to find out more about how companies assess and grow their key leaders. But I think this could be a juicy conversation for everyone. Right?

It might be awkward to hit this topic directly with people in the know. But I’ll assert that if you can get into it, a conversation on this topic could be quite illuminating, positive for your relationship building, and fun. Perhaps a few conversation starters would be useful to get the ball rolling?

If you’re ready to start having some thoughtful conversations with people in your organization to find out more about how your talent management and promotion processes work, here are 16 thoughtful questions to get you started.