The nature of work and careers have changed. Despite myth, the average employee tenure is still over eight years. And in that time staff must grow. When it comes to employee career development, you, as manager, have a clear decision to make and that decision depends on the relationship your firm has with the worker. You'd best take a contingency approach: develop your knowledge workers, give opportunity to your foot-soldiers, make alliances with your specialists and hire your contractors when needed.

Many managers talk synonymously about groups and teams. There’s a huge difference in the manager and member energy needed to build and sustain each and so definitions are essential. In reality, few firms need teams. But every manager needs groups. Here, we discuss the benefits of each.

How can we be sure that a given training intervention will indeed change the company system and give return on investment? Training has to be transferred from the learning environment of trainer and trainee to the work environment of manager and worker. The efficiency of transfer of training depends on a huge number of variables, each associated with the characteristics of the manager, trainee, trainer and the work environment.

The article notes that before promotion, the engineer was an ordinary employee. He or she achieved great things through their own efforts. Now their success comes from causing others to perform. They're still an engineer. But they've added a whole new part to their identity. Now they're a manager of engineers. They're a boss, a leader of men and women. It's the same whatever the discipline.

• Discussing the meaning of ‘talent’, who’s in the talent pool and who’s not
• Discussing the GE 9-box and CIPD 4-box talent matrixes
• Building a model for talent management using the CIPD 4-box matrix
• Illustrating talent management as a continuous process

Are leaders born or bred? It’s a persistent question. Some senior managers and policy makers believe absolutely that leaders are bred, that a leader must come from the right background. Others argue strongly that anyone can be made into a leader given the right training. So who’s right?