1. Communicate Often
Frequently communicating with your workforce helps ensure that your employees feel supported as they explore opportunities to improve themselves.
2. Plan Feedback Loops
Feedback is fuel. Constructive feedback helps employees focus on weak areas within their skillset or conduct.
3. Remove Barriers
Rigid organisational structures can mean that employees are presented with fewer opportunities for dynamic growth. In fact, interdepartmental communication is important to developing interests that an employee has, as well as creating important connections that can improve your organisation from top to bottom.
4. Enable Professional Development Opportunities
Create the expectation that your employees should actively work to improve themselves regularly, whether through continuing education, learning opportunities, workshops, conferences and other tools of the trade.
5. Create Individualised Development Strategies
One-on-one meetings with your employees can help you learn more about their goals and learning styles, which will help you create more effective development plans.
6. Be a Role Model for Your Employees
You can motivate your employees to continue improving by showing them that you’re also learning new things. If you’ve taken a professional development course yourself, tell others about your experience!
7. Seek Out Seniority and Authority
Help your employees improve themselves by connecting them with senior members of your company or relevant professional groups.
8. Provide Performance Metrics
Use performance metrics to visualise where an employee’s skills are and set a clear benchmark for where they need to be.
9. Use Simulations
Build scenarios for employees that help them learn the desired skill through live simulations. Attending these simulations can be a valuable part of an employee’s action plan, and they can apply what they learn right away.
10. Let Them Perform Higher Level Tasks
If an employee is aiming for a leadership position, delegate some less critical tasks to them, so they can gain experience. This gives them invaluable hands-on experience that prepares them for success later on.
11. Have Clear Career Progression Guidelines
Career progression needs to be possible within your organisation to motivate employees to continue improving. Qualification for the following positions in the hierarchy needs to be clear and accessible, so your workforce knows it’s possible.
12. Start Training Early
You should start preparing your employees for future success on their first day.