How do you grow talent in the team?

Original prepared answer

How I Grow Talent in My Team

Growing talent is about creating an environment where engineers can learn, challenge themselves, and progress in their careers. I do this through structured goal-setting, technical upskilling, coaching, and clear career growth conversations.

1️⃣ Business & Product Understanding First

Before diving into code, I ensure my team understands the business context. I encourage them to clear product training and tests so they know why they are building something—not just how.

2️⃣ Goal-Setting for Success (OKRs & SMART Goals)

I help engineers set clear, meaningful goals that align with both: ✅ Company priorities (impact-driven work) ✅ Career aspirations (bridging skill gaps)

I sometimes push for stretch goals to challenge them beyond their comfort zone.

3️⃣ Learning Through Pairing & Knowledge Sharing

I often pair junior and senior engineers on projects. This allows the junior to learn problem-solving and project execution, while the senior gains experience in mentoring and managing a full project.

I also promote knowledge sharing. So I started a knowledge sharing session where engineers are encouraged to discuss and brainstorm technical problems. Here I choreograph these sessions as stories—where the presenter shares: 🚀 The problem they solved 🤝 How they collaborated across teams 🛠️ The trade-offs they considered

This has boosted engagement in sessions on Kafka, Prometheus, Async IO, Postgres isolations, etc.

4️⃣ Hands-On Coaching via 1:1s

📌 More frequent 1:1s when coaching is needed. 📌 I casually discuss their technical work, dig deep, and explore alternative solutions together. 📌 I mix appreciation & constructive feedback—helping them grow in ownership, delivery, and operational excellence.

I also track career ladder progress—ensuring they are excelling at their current level before preparing for a level-up.

5️⃣ Peer Feedback & Performance Cycles

 ✅ I also take peer feedback seriously to understand a individuals's strengths and weaknesses. And the Mid-year & end-year reviews get me a chance to align insights with other managers to spot gaps and address them.

✅We have a framework call YourView Metrics where engineers provide feedback to the management and to the overall system. This helps me identify the pain points of the developers and prioritize accordingly

5️⃣ Readiness assessment

In this exercise we determine how individuals perform based on their role requirement and also evaluates if they are ready to move to the next level.

6️⃣ Continuous Learning & Mentorship

I support engineers with: 📚 Online courses, books, company-sponsored training 👥 Mentorship—connecting them with senior engineers for guidance.

Impact & Takeaways

🔹 Clarity in goals → Engineers know what success looks like. 🔹 Technical & business understanding → Better decision-making. 🔹 Right mix of autonomy & coaching → Talent grows at a fast pace.