One of the best things that a manager or employer can do is to invest in their employees’ growth and development. Doing so not just makes your workers feel valued and significant but consequently, it benefits your business, too.
7 Ways to Take Your Employees to the Next Level of Their Professional and Personal Growth
Whether you run an advertising agency or an industrial design company, whenever you take time to show genuine interest in their professional and personal growth, it leads to a boost in their confidence and morale which consequently leads to greater productivity at the workplace.
1. Take the lead
When it comes to any organization, the leader’s progress sets the pace for everyone else. Imagine you and your people driving on a single-lane road with you in the lead. You may all be headed toward the same destination but if you drive really slow, it’ll take everyone longer to get to where you’re headed.
Similarly, when you lead people, the pace of your growth will generally determine how fast or slow they will develop. Start with yourself first and then let the others follow you.
2. Lay down a foundation of trust
To encourage your people to think about their growth, you need to establish first that you are not doing it solely for the company’s benefit. Let them understand that discussing their development with them is not an underhanded way for you to discover weaknesses. They need to feel your sincerity in wanting them to succeed and not just because they will be more useful or valuable to your five-year business plan.
3. Give feedback regularly
Growth does not take place apart from feedback, whether positive or negative. However, in most cases, most people respond very well to positive feedback. Criticism, even under the guise of helping, can demotivate a person (primarily depends on how it is delivered) which leads to lower self-esteem resulting in poor performance.
You need to learn how to give feedback that motivates and encourages people to do better. Don’t hold out on complimenting them. Be generous with it, in fact. You’d rather have high-spirited people working with you than those who always seem to have an unpleasant countenance and aura about them.
4. Turn each interaction into learning opportunities
Since you do not have the luxury of time to spend with your staff, make all of your interactions with them meaningful. Turn each one into opportunities to teach them and pass on whatever knowledge you know. Always take advantage of moments to help develop your team.
5. Learn to delegate tasks
Delegating tasks to your people communicate that you trust them enough to take on certain responsibilities and duties. This helps them to step up their game and learn something new to add to their growing knowledge. When you delegate, don’t look for the right person for the task but instead think of someone that needs the growth that the assignment provides. Watch out for opportunities that can help take them out of their comfort zones.
6. Have a solid mentoring program
Give your employees the privilege of being mentored by someone they look up to in your company. Let them choose who they want to coach and mentor them. Just make sure that your mentoring program is highly efficient and thorough so that your employees can get the most out of it.
7. Spend money on them
Enrich their development by sending them to conferences, training, and coaching.
Investing not just time and energy but also some serious money on their personal growth and development shows your team that you mean serious business when it comes to their professional advancement.
The most important thing to take note of when you invest in your people is that you should come from a place where your desire to see them grow is genuine and sincere and not just a part of your strategy to run your business. Employees know when they are valued as people and not just a means to an end. Your sincerity makes a whole world of difference.
