*Originally published on the blog for the Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (GTAC-ATD) in 2016. I start with the disclaimer that I am not a botanist. I never had pets growing up, so my mom’s house plants were like my pets. I helped water them when I was younger until I was promoted to helping my dad with mowing the lawn. I eventually learned more about flowers and landscaping when working in city maintenance for a couple of summers. With that said, how are employees like plants? What can we learn from plant growth and apply to employee talent development? Simply put: like plants, employees need proper resources and a good environment in order to survive and grow. Most house plants need water, sunlight, and heat to grow. With proper amounts of these resources, these plants can grow from small seeds into big, tall plants. In many cases, house plants need to be moved to bigger pots in order to continue living. That is, their roots contin