A grumble I often hear from our Chamber members is, "I just can't find good help."

In our small town, the labor market is tight. We aren't competing with big city corporations, we're competing with each other. Further the only challenge is not the “finding,” it’s the “keeping” of the right people. Once you find a great employee, how do you keep them and make sure they help the entire business thrive?

I recently read an article from the MIT Sloan Management Review about fostering "Talent Management Champions." Sounds like high-level corporate jargon, right? But the core idea makes sense for our small businesses.

It’s about turning your key managers or supervisors—even owners—into people who don't just manage tasks, but who proactively develop the future of your staff.

The Two Traps of Talent Management

The MIT research identifies four types of leaders, but let's focus on the two we see most often that hold small businesses back:

1. The Bystander: This is the manager whose head is down, purely focused on the day-to-day grind. They are so busy filling today’s shifts or completing today’s orders that they never think about the future. They don't identify a great young employee for future leadership training, and they don't plan for the skills the business will need next year. When a star employee leaves, it's often a surprise.                                                                       
2. The Protector (or "Hoarder"): This person does develop great talent, but they keep it all for themselves. They have the best barista or the most efficient technician, and they refuse to cross-train that person or let them temporarily help out another struggling part of the business. Why? Because they might fear losing their best asset. This is a short-sighted approach that causes organizational bottlenecks and, ironically, often drives the star employee away because they feel stuck.

Turning Managers into "Champions"

A Talent Champion is a leader who sees developing people not as a side chore, but as their most important job. They develop their staff and are willing to share that talent across the entire business, making the whole operation stronger and more flexible.

How do you encourage this? For a small business, it comes down to four simple, practical steps:

1. Define What Talent Means for the Whole Business

Stop thinking of "talent" as just being good at one job. Think about the future needs of your business. Are you planning to launch a new product line next year? Start training someone now, even if it’s only 15 minutes a week. Every manager should have a working knowledge of the bigger business strategy, and all staff should have at least a sense of the strategy. This way, managers can train staff to meet it, and those being trained understand the longer term goals of the training.

2. Make Development a Job Requirement

If you want your managers to develop staff, make it a formal part of their job description—and their performance review. Don't just grade them on sales or efficiency; ask them: "Who have you trained this quarter, and how have you prepared them for their next role?" If staff development isn't measured, it won't happen. If it’s your job to develop staff, set yourself quarterly measurable goals and be diligent in assessing your own performance

3. Encourage "Internal Mobility" (a.k.a., Cross-Training)

In a small business, flexibility is everything. If your line cook can cover for the prep chef, or your retail associate can manage inventory, you become recession-proof and holiday-rush ready. Actively encourage sharing the best people across the business. This might feel disruptive at first, but it increases staff engagement and makes your business far more agile.

4. Reward the "Sharers," Not the "Hoarders"

This is the most critical step. If a manager trains a wonderful employee who then moves up to a new role in another part of the business, that first manager should be celebrated! Reward the leader for letting go of talent for the greater good. When managers know they'll be recognized for developing a champion, they'll stop being a Protector and start being a true Champion themselves.

In  our business community, the biggest asset we have isn't our inventory or our equipment—it's the people who show up every day. By turning our leaders into Talent Champions, we ensure those people stick around, grow with us, and make our entire community stronger and our economy more resilient.