No two employees are the same - depending on an individual's performance and aspirations, they may benefit from one of the following development approaches.
Regardless of the approach, all employees drive their own development and should have access to opportunities as well as a meaningful development plan in order to continue to learn and grow.
As a way to enable our Explorers to thrive, Syensqo prepares for the future and differentially invests in our top talent (i.e. those identified and nominated for talent pools).
Managers play an important role in identifying, developing, and supporting top talent to take on leadership roles in the future.
Leadership Talent Criteria
As a Manager, you play a direct role in identifying top talent and accelerating the development of Syensqo's next generation of Leaders. Individuals must meet the following criteria in order to be considered top talent.
Performance | Performance is the passport to opportunity. It is an indication of leadership potential. An individual should have a track record of sustained high performance prior to their nomination for a talent pool.
Potential | Potential translates to the individual’s ability to perform across fundamentally different challenges (rather than in one role alone). This ability provides insight into an individual’s agility, resilience, and drive.
Aspiration | Aspiration is a persistent drive to gain experience and develop professionally, (versus ambition displayed as a desire to achieve a specific grade or title).
Commitment | Commitment reflects an individual’s ownership of their development and career journey and a willingness to take on new opportunities outside of their comfort zone.
The Talent Deal
When an individual is confirmed for a Leadership Talent Pool, they can expect to receive differentiated access to programs that support their accelerated leadership evolution, skill-building practices, networking, and opportunities to connect with Senior Leadership.
In return, Syensqo expects that individuals will commit to their development, maintain a growth mindset, actively participate in skill-building practices that enhance their experience and skill set, and take ownership of their career journey.
Line Managers play a vital role in the development of talent and can benefit from support with resources and learning opportunities related to Coaching and Development from their HR teams.
Future Leaders
A Future Leader is a high-performing individual, typically grades S20 -S22 , who has the potential and aspiration to take on an Executive or Senior level leadership role in the future and who is committed to their development.
The Future Leaders assessment and confirmation processes require a significant time and resource investment. As such, the employee’s Manager should first review the Future Leader Journey guidelines and criteria and engage with their Strategic HR Business Partner to understand more about the process and program.
Early Emerging and Emerging Leaders
An Emerging Leader is a high-performing individual between grades S15-S20 with a minimum of 2 years of career experience who has the potential and aspiration to take on a Regional or Global leadership role in the future, and who is committed to their development.
Participation in the Emerging Leader experience is at the nomination of Managers, supported by their Site HR, with final validation at the discretion of Leadership and HR Strategic Business Partners. Read more about the Emerging Leader Journey guidelines and criteria.
Foundation for the Future (FFF)
The Foundations for the Future program is an accelerated rotational graduate program designed to invest in the growth and development of talent to feed Industrial and Marketing & Sales leadership pipelines.
When an individual joins the Foundations for the Future talent pool, they can expect to receive access to programs that support their accelerated leadership evolution such as mentoring, coaching, networking and opportunities to participate in transversal projects and connect with leadership teams across the Group.
In return, Syensqo expects that FFF Talents will commit to their development, maintain a growth mindset, actively participate in engagement events and development opportunities that enhance their experience and skillset, and take ownership of their career journey.
At Syensqo, Managers are expected to support their team members’ development, whatever their potential. Managers play a critical role in identifying and supporting top talent, as they are often the closest and best positioned to influence their development.
- Use your check-in conversations to explore and discuss your team members’ aspirations and their development plan.
- Not sure what questions to ask to stimulate this discussion? Consult this development discussion guide.
- Review and understand the criteria and nomination process for the various top talent pools in order to determine whether your employee may be eligible to be nominated for a top talent pool.
- Engage in frequent check-in discussions with your top talent pool members on their experience in the top talent development programs.
- Consult this Check-In Discussion Guide for Managers of Top Talent.
- Remember, 70% of learning comes from experience, challenges, and assignments (on-the-job).
- Be open-minded and supportive when opportunities arise for the individual to take a broader role and expand/develop their skill set.
Examples may include: leading or participating in a project, taking on a stretch challenge or opportunity, job shadowing, taking a lateral move or promotion, gaining exposure to wider internal networks or senior leadership, or engaging in a mentoring or coaching relationship.
Traditional Succession Planning relies on identifying one successor for one position, whereas a Talent Discussion provides a dedicated forum to take a wider view of Talent: what are the current and future critical skills and how do we take deliberate, proactive measures to develop a pool of qualified, motivated candidates to take on future roles?
What to do as a leader
Regular talent discussions (at least twice a year), are an opportunity to anticipate and highlight critical needs and skills for the future, recognize early talent, and identify opportunities and risks that can be addressed locally or raised to the BSA / GBU.
- Start by reviewing the Succession & Development Best Practices
- Review the Key Talent Concepts.
- Use the Talent Discussion Toolkit to guide your discussions and plan for the future.
