It’s not uncommon for companies to promise professional development to job applicants during the hiring process. Employee growth programs carry enormous value and are often a given in bigger, more developed companies. They stem from organizational culture and values, take years to build, and have dedicated HR teams that refine them on a daily basis.
Source: jeffbergen / E+ / Getty
These companies know that in order to have motivated and invested teams, employees must be content with their jobs. This includes being confident in their skills and qualifications, getting fair compensation, and having opportunities to grow.
If your company does not have a set employee development program, there’s never a bad time to start. As someone who has worked with and led teams in the performance management industry for years, I always start with six basic tactics. Although simple, these activities can go a long way for your employees and, eventually, for your whole company.
1. Map Out an Employee Development Plan
Creating an employee development plan is an important step for each team member. Rather than always focusing on achieving results during the next quarter, it’s important to also take time to step back and think about the bigger picture.
A development plan is an essential point of reference that will give each individual on your team a long-term ambition he or she can be mindful of and work toward with each task and project he or she takes on. Start by asking questions:
- Where do you see yourself in 5–10 years?
- What skills will you need to develop to get you there?
- How can I support you?
- Are there any tools or resources that would be useful?
2. Set Development Goals
Whether they are going through an onboarding process or have just participated in a performance review, it’s essential that your employees always have clear and agreed-upon goals and milestones to guide them. The problem is that goals are almost always focused on performance such as closing x number of deals or getting x number of webinar attendees.
It’s easy to put learning aside for the next quarter in order to meet performance goals. To really emphasize how important learning is to your team and organization as a whole, make development goals a part of each individual’s key performance indicators (KPIs). This will show that continuous learning is just as important as reaching short-term objectives and help you start to build a strong learning culture.
3. Provide Access to Different Learning Mediums
Everyone learns differently. Some of us are visual learners who prefer e-courses and apps to learn new skills; some thrive in formal classroom-style trainings, while others prefer to simply learn by doing. We’ve all had times in our careers when we’ve had to self-teach ourselves a skill in order to succeed on a project.
Managers should support this natural ambition and curiosity by providing access to different learning mediums. At Impraise, we give our employees a yearly learning and development allowance that they can spend as they see fit. This can be anything from attending conferences to taking online courses.
4. Provide Constructive Feedback that Doesn’t Kill Motivation
Giving feedback is an art all managers should master in order to become great leaders. Challenges keep us interested, and overcoming them keeps us motivated. As a manager, you are in the position to know the qualifications and strengths of your team. You are also, coincidentally, in the position to delegate tasks to the right team members.
Use this opportunity to challenge your employees and help them gain new skills. The key to this is guidance: Providing support when needed and making sure your employees are succeeding will empower them to tackle new challenges in the future and give back their newly acquired knowledge to the team.
Unfortunately, some people associate feedback with something negative. Rather than seeing it as an opportunity to improve, they may take it as a personal attack. It may, at first, be difficult to get these team members to open up to your feedback. But, it’s possible.
One way to make feedback a source of improvement and motivation is to choose careful wording and use the “Praise and Tip” technique. Using these terms to prompt feedback cuts out the ambiguity that comes with the “we need to talk” attitude and helps balance positive praise with constructive feedback.
Lastly, it’s important to remember that no two employees are the same, and you must try to establish a trustful connection with all of them. This will not only open doors for honest feedback but also encourage better communication among the team.
5. Encourage Peer-to-Peer Learning
Creating a learning culture doesn’t have to be expensive, either. Within your company, you have a diverse workforce with a wide-ranging skill set. However, peers are a knowledge source that very often goes untapped.
By breaking down knowledge silos, you can both leverage the wealth of resources you already have internally and improve communication flows. You can start by organizing knowledge-sharing sessions and peer mentoring or introducing 360-degree feedback.
6. Create Meaningful Connections
A rich network of connections is one of the most valuable assets an employee can take away from the job, aside from new skills and knowledge. Connecting with other professionals to learn from them and casually exchange information about the industry is often deemphasized and considered as competition in today’s corporate environment.
As a manager, your job is not only to delegate tasks but also to act as a mentor or guide to your less experienced team members. Make sure to help them network and create connections they may find helpful, even if it involves some risk of losing them to another company. Your team members will be appreciative, and, regardless of the outcome, bridges will be strengthened rather than burned.
These six tips should help you get started on a pathway to your own employee development program. To sum up, creating an employee development plan for each team member is the first step; next, incorporate learning goals into your quarterly or yearly KPIs, give employees the option to choose which learning medium works best for them, provide regular feedback and coaching, open up knowledge silos, and help them create valuable connections. Any company, no matter its size or industry, can help its employees grow professionally and personally.
 Bas Kohnke is the cofounder and CEO of performance management software company Impraise. Kohnke is an expert on the elements a company needs to create an engaging work culture and foster self-motivation among employees. He works with top-tier companies to make real-time feedback, recognition, and coaching easy and meaningful for all employees and organizations. |