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Encouraging and Promoting the Growth and Development of Your Workforce

Encouraging their personal and professional growth shows your employees that you care about their progress and their future – and it inspires lasting loyalty.

Here are some tips for offering learning and development to help all your team members improve:

Do …

  • Serve as a role model. Take an active part in your own professional development. Lead by example, and let employees know that you value opportunities to advance your own career. Encourage them to enroll in professional associations and organizations by your own participation.
  • Cross train. On-the-job training is a traditional, effective method of encouraging professional development. Once an employee masters the tasks required in their own role, offer opportunities to learn the skills of complementary positions. Cross training shows team members they are valuable enough to take on other responsibilities. It also makes good business sense.
  • Provide access to resources. Build a DVD or online video library of training materials and tutorials. Arrange on-site workshops and seminars. Host lunch-and-learns with guest speakers on current issues and industry trends.
  • Provide mentors. Your good performers can move to the next level with the help of mentors. Your lower performers can get up to speed with some clear guidance.
  • Reward performance. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with good employees is to ignore their achievements. Offer praise, both privately and publicly. As for poor performers, it’s critical that they see rewards for their successes, no matter how small. When they realize they’re capable of doing well, they’ll be more inclined to keep striving for additional accomplishments. Then, they’ll begin to grow and become more valuable contributors.

Don’t!

  • Take advantage of hard workers. Carefully consider all assignments. Make sure you’re not inadvertently punishing your best performers by giving them tedious and unpopular tasks, just because you know they’ll get them done. Give good workers tasks which will enable them to stretch and grow. Make it clear that you are there to help and realize an assignment is a stretch. The most capable individuals thrive on this approach.
  • Give in to underperformers. It’s part of your job to help them grow and succeed as well. Assign them projects and then work with them – stopping short of micromanaging – to be sure they succeed. A person may be doing a poor job only because they don’t know how to do a good job.
  • Disregard personal growth. If your employees aren’t achieving their personal development goals, they won’t care as much about work or the success of your business. Allow for their ongoing work/life balance and time for them to become who and what they want to be. A true leader makes sure their team members are always growing and progressing, both in their careers and their lives.

The workforce development experts at PrideStaff Modesto can partner with you to meet all your human capital challenges – including recruitment, retention, training and growth. Read our related posts or contact us today for more information.

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