There is nothing more rewarding than to see someone you’ve hired into a junior position promoted. One of your top priorities should be developing your people. Developing people takes thoughtfulness, planning and time, and it has a huge payoff. A staff that is growing, learning and curious is engaged. They will work hard to meet goals. You will have much more time to stay out of the weeds and spend it aligning your department goals with the organizational strategies.
Here are 10 suggestions for you to begin, or to continue, to grow your people:
- Provide them with opportunities to interact with more senior employees on a regular basis. This gives them experience communicating with leaders other than you.
- Give them tasks to do that are marginally inside or outside of their scope of responsibility, and uses their innate strengths and talents. This will keep them within their job description and provide them with challenge. Plus using their strengths will make them happier!
- Trust them. You’ve got to let go and let them learn and grow. They may not do something like you do, but they get it done. This means no micro-managing!
- Challenge them to come up with an idea to make something better. Support them to implement the change.
- Be interested in them! This will help build the relationship and create trust.
- Praise them publicly and often.
- Have them train or supervise another employee, or lead a project team. This seems like a no-brainer, but it can be difficult. It will take your time to provide them with feedback and support. Do you remember the first time you lead a team? How did you do?
- Send them to a meaningful seminar, workshop or event. Ask them to find one that is business oriented and interests them.
- Find them a coach. Meaningful professional development learning and goal attainment has been proven extremely effective with coaching.
- Together create a long-term development plan that has SMART goals, concrete actions and follow-up on the plan.
Create the environment for your employees to stretch and grow and they will reward you with loyalty, creativity and good work.
If you have used creative practices to develop employees, I welcome your comments below!