LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT DISTANCE EDUCATION WITH THE TALENT POOL METHOD

Abstract

Distance education (DE) operates by relying on the media to bridge the relationship between lecturers and students. Thus, in higher education, there is complex management. This high complexity demands high competence of human resources as well. The Universitas Terbuka (UT) has 39 units in the regions and 16 units at the headquarter which require strong leadership. Leaders are not born, they are developed. One of the media for leadership development is the talent pool.  A talent pool is a collection of potential candidates that help an organization grow and achieve its long-term goals. At all times, talent pools help organizations build ‘reservoirs of talent’ to have on hand. This paper aims to share UT's steps in building a talent pool as a vehicle for leadership development. The first steps in developing the talent pool at UT have been started since 2019. The steps taken are a study of leadership needs, study concept and talent pool policies, development of talent pool models, to gain management support, building understanding with managers and employees at UT, conducting potential tests, compiling test results into 9 areas, conducting talent selection based on potential and performance test results, conducting training on leadership, training mentors, conducting apprenticeships for talents, monitoring the internship process, evaluating the progress of internship results, and evaluating talents. The results of the talent evaluation will be used to provide feedback to talents about the personal potential that must be developed and at the same time provide an assessment. After the first phase of activities in 2022, talents will be trained on managerial instruments and will return to doing internships. Along with the implementation of the talent pool, UT is also developing a career path. With the career path, all UT HR will be able to choose a career path according to their potential and competence. After potential employees complete their internship, they will be placed on the career path that has been prepared. In closing, it can be stated that the DE organization, which is complex, wide-ranging, and has a high workload and a high risk needs to prepare prospective leaders so that the DE institution can grow.