Workplace Growth Daily · 2026-09-26
LUMARA Workplace Growth Daily · 26 September 2026
Illustrative scene: A colleague asks how to prepare for a role in another team. Their manager says, “Get more experience.” Both pause. Experience doing what? With whom? By when? The office printer, wisely, declines to comment.
A useful answer is smaller and clearer: identify one skill the role needs, arrange a real but bounded practice task, and agree what good work will look like. Then make the route to any internal opportunity visible to everyone who might be interested—not only the person confident enough to ask first. This is a practical suggestion from LUMARA, not a claim that one task leads to a new job.
What is changing
What the evidence says
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On 22 September 2026, the CIPD reported that 48% of surveyed UK employers had increased efforts to develop talent in-house over the previous year. Its survey covered 1,014 UK employers with HR decision-making responsibilities. For a team, the useful question is not simply “Who needs training?” but “Which piece of work could someone learn to do with support?” CIPD, 22 September 2026.
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In the same 22 September 2026 release, 45% of employers that had introduced retention initiatives said increasing learning and development opportunities was one of the steps they took; 44% of surveyed employers reported that talent had become harder to retain. These are reported actions and experiences, not proof that offering development will keep any particular employee. For a manager, they make a case for asking what people want to learn rather than guessing CIPD, 22 September 2026.
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The CIPD also reported on 22 September 2026 that 53% of organisations that had tried to recruit in the previous year had difficulty attracting candidates. Internal practice may help a team understand its available skills, but it cannot fill every vacancy or replace fair recruitment. Keep external and early-career routes in view too CIPD, 22 September 2026.
Those are UK survey findings, not measurements of LUMARA. LUMARA’s practical suggestion is to turn the broad idea of development into an observable, supported task that people can opt into.
Build a skill in 10 minutes
Skill: defining a coached practice task
“Shadow a senior colleague” sounds helpful, but it may leave a learner watching someone else work. Instead, define a task small enough to attempt, important enough to teach, and safe enough for a coach to check before it reaches a customer. This is particularly useful when someone wants to explore a different role but has not yet had a chance to show a relevant skill.
Ten-minute exercise, alone or with a coach:
- Minutes 0–2: Name the skill in a verb phrase, such as “explain a service option clearly”. Avoid labels such as “leadership potential”, which are hard to observe.
- Minutes 2–5: Choose one real, low-risk practice task: draft an answer to a recurring customer question, for example. Remove private details and keep the usual approval process.
- Minutes 5–8: Write a check the coach can use: Is the answer accurate, understandable and clear about the next step? Agree when the coach will review it and what normal work will be reduced or deferred to make room.
- Minutes 8–10: Ask the learner to explain the task and check back in their own words. Adjust anything unclear.
Visible success: a written task, three observable checks, a named coach, a review time and an agreed workload adjustment. Success here means a clear chance to practise—not a promise that the learner is ready for, or will receive, a role.
Staff and management: respect in both directions
Make the invitation fair—and safe to question
Managers should treat interest in development with respect, whether someone speaks up readily or needs an invitation. Describe opportunities, eligibility, time available and selection criteria plainly. Offer the same information through a shared channel rather than relying on private conversations. Listen to constraints, recognise useful effort and give specific, respectful feedback. Keep the workload manageable: a practice task should replace or reshape something, not become unpaid extra pressure after a full day.
Manager, say this: “I’m sharing this practice opportunity with the whole team. The task and checks are the same for everyone interested. Tell me what support you would need, and what we should take off your list to make room. We’ll review the work, not assume it guarantees a future opening.”
Staff can communicate their aims and concerns without pretending to agree with every proposal. State the skill you want to build, ask how opportunities are advertised and explain any workload or fairness issue with a concrete example. Disagree with the plan rather than attacking the person; request a workable alternative. If behaviour is bullying, do not treat it as a normal difference of opinion or something to endure—raise it through an appropriate workplace reporting route.
Colleague, say this: “I’d like to practise handling that type of enquiry. I’m concerned the proposed timing clashes with my current deadlines. Could we move one task, or choose a shorter practice item? And can you show me the criteria for future internal opportunities?”
Work better as a team
The 15-minute opportunity-to-practice map
Illustrative exercise: A service team wants more people able to explain a complicated customer choice, while colleagues are curious about work in other roles. The aim is not to nominate a favourite. It is to create one shared, fair starting point.
Choose a facilitator to keep time, a role-holder or experienced colleague to describe the work, a scribe to capture the map and a workload checker to challenge hidden extra work. If the team is small, combine roles; invite contributions from people who cannot attend before deciding who gets a turn.
- Minutes 0–3: The role-holder describes one recurring, low-risk task and why customers need it done well. No confidential customer material goes on the board.
- Minutes 3–6: Everyone suggests the skills the task uses. The facilitator narrows the list to one skill that can be practised and checked this week.
- Minutes 6–10: Draft one practice assignment: what the learner will produce, who will coach, what must be checked before use and how long it should take.
- Minutes 10–13: The workload checker asks, “What comes off the learner’s and coach’s plates?” Record the answer, or shrink the task.
- Minutes 13–15: The scribe posts the opportunity, checks, expression-of-interest route and review date where the whole team can find them.
Shared output: a one-page opportunity-to-practice map. It should show the skill, task, coach, quality checks, time allowance and how interested colleagues can put themselves forward. If more people are interested than there are places, explain how turns will be allocated.
Turn teamwork into measurable growth
A small test, not a career promise
LUMARA suggests trying the map on one recurring customer question for seven days. The team manager owns the test and makes the opportunity visible; a named coach checks every practice draft before it is used. Participation is voluntary. Use existing work and existing review time where possible, and pause if the task cannot fit safely within normal responsibilities.
Before the test starts, the manager records a baseline: in the preceding comparable week, how many answers to that question needed correction before they could be sent? Keep the same simple definition and counting method during the test. The learner prepares a small number of draft answers using the agreed checks; the coach reviews them and explains one improvement the learner can try next time.
At the seven-day review, compare the correction count with the baseline and look at a few examples for answer quality. Ask the learner whether the task revealed something useful about the role and whether the coaching was clear. The balancing measure is workload: record whether either person had to work beyond planned time or defer urgent duties. If quality slips or workload rises, reduce the task or stop the test. An observed change would be a reason to investigate, not proof that the practice caused it or that retention will improve.
Try it today
Try it today
- Ask one colleague which skill they would like to explore; do not assume their career goal.
- Pick one small, real task and name a coach who has time to help.
- Publish the same opportunity and criteria for everyone eligible.
- Agree what work will move aside, what the coach will check and when you will review it.
Discussion question: What piece of work could let someone try a new skill this week while making the route to that opportunity fair and keeping both learner and coach within a manageable workload?
