You Are The Fuel
Introducing Talent Lab: A Professional Incubator for a Dynamic Creative Sector
Two weeks ago, in a special TRG 30 webinar we launched a long-awaited endeavor for TRG Arts: Talent Lab. I couldn’t be more excited about this major commitment to leading professional growth in the creative sector.
As the brainchild and venture of our own Chief Talent Officer, Keri Mesropov, Talent Lab’s arrival couldn’t be more relevant — dare I say urgent. A unique forum for training and support for future arts leaders, Talent Lab is launching at a pivotal time for the creative sector.
The thriving arts industry of 2019 seems ages ago as we respond to the shuttered venues and high turnover in the field from two years of global pandemic. Just days ago UNESCO reported current and significant consequences to cultural life because of the pandemic, including an estimated 10 million arts jobs lost in 2020. “The economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with its impact on cultural employment, raises serious concerns, such as the risk of a talent drain,” the report states. “Decent economic and social conditions for professional development in cultural and creative careers is a sine qua non (essential) condition to build back better.” Not surprisingly, “retaining creative talent” is among UNESCO’s top recommendations.
A unique forum for emerging arts leaders
With so much at stake, we must nurture our talent with the care required to produce 21st century arts leaders. Talent Lab will help do this, serving as an incubator where emerging arts administrators can be heard, engage in daring dialogue and grow professionally.
“I’m beyond thrilled to lead this talent initiative that ends the status quo for what used to pass for professional development of arts and culture employees,” Keri said, describing the vision for Talent Lab. “If we together are to ensure the sustainability of this sector, we all must evolve as professionals and challenge the mindset of constant scarcity of both money and time. It is just as valuable to spend resources training arts administrators as it is to train dancers, musicians, or actors.”
Keri also noted that studies show, time and time again, that providing opportunities and time for our team and ourselves grows our retention with our company, and this all leads to bottom-line results.
“Talent lab will include a relational, empathetic, inclusive workshops that prioritizes attendees’ development and knowledge expansion,” Keri added. “We want to ignite people — the way our consulting always has — but in a potent, bite-sized workshops.”
Leaders: Let’s cultivate our precious talent
Arts and culture leaders: For years you’ve heard me say: “Data doesn’t do, people do.” Now is the time to cultivate your talent. Now, “cultivating your talent” is a handy tagline because it conveys the dual intentions of individual and organizational growth — and it should.
As executives and leaders of arts organizations, you’ve put in your 10,000 hours — and then some. You continue to refine, articulate, and grow into the leader you want to be. But we know leaders achieve the highest impact when they surround themselves with high-impact people. And just as you have invested in your own professional development, you must do the same with your team for the best possible results.
First, leaders need to view investment in talent as exactly that: investment with a real return. Administrative costs are often the most expensive lines on balance sheets, but your organization’s agility and potential are determined by the collective learnings and experiences of your team. Great leaders raise and equip their teams to both fuel growth and seed the organization with future leaders. As your employees grow professionally, you can encourage more agency, increase responsibilities, and hand off bigger decisions. The more capable your employees, the more your organization can serve its mission. I speak from experience when I say: It is true managerial freedom to have complete confidence in your team.
Opportunity costs of the status quo
We can’t ignore the opportunity costs of maintaining the status quo and the likely attrition that comes with it. A LinkedIn study, brought to my attention by Keri, suggested that the turnover of a single employee can cost anywhere from 50–250% of their annual salary. Our field has never been a stranger to high turnover rates, but the pandemic has increased both involuntary turnover as organizations struggled to right-size amidst a crisis and voluntary turnover caused by individuals re-evaluating their career goals.
What can we as leaders do to keep our people and retain our investments in them? We can create learning opportunities for our employees. We can inspire a culture where they feel our investment in them. And we must understand that doing so is mutually beneficial.
Keri emphasized this in her discussion with TRG 30 participants, challenging them: “If we want a best-in-class work culture, we need to attend to the development of our people. This is the time to get serious about your own development.”
She explained that Talent Lab, as an incubator, intends to develop the next generation of arts leaders so they can be “fully lit.” In addition to a series of 25–30 workshops in 2022 on topics such as “the art of feedback,” Talent Lab will publish research and conduct a series of cultural and workplace tests. These experiments will investigate curiosities and hypotheses about what impacts talent and culture in the most profound, positive and results-producing ways. A few examples: learning sabbaticals and focused work time, such as 90-day sprints focused on one initiative. “Right now,” she said, “we are measuring what behaviors lead to us feeling our most creative selves.”
Challenging the sector to reach peak creativity
Sound exciting? It does to me, and I am personally invigorated by this work, knowing the impact it can have on our organization and our clients. I know it will challenge my assumptions and push our practices in new and bold directions. But I can be confident in this experimentation, especially because it is work being done with the dedication, rigor, and efficacy of all TRG endeavors.
We will create and examine data to see what works and what doesn’t. We will find out what makes our employee sing! And what makes them tick and hum and do as they strive for peak creativity (and joy?) in their work. It is not a promise that work won’t be hard, or hours won’t be long, but it is a promise to our employees that what they do is valued, and most importantly, they are valued.
Can you see this for your organization? Are you willing to try with us?
Then check out the details on Talent Lab here.
