Employee Development: 8 Ways to Drive Continuous Employee Growth (2024)

Employee development is beneficial for company’s success as well as for individual employee’s career.Developing employeesis astrategic way to grow organization,improve productivity and decrease employee turnover. Many organizations fail to provide employees’ development, and in theendit costs them their reputation, ruins their employer brand and leads to stagnation in business success.

There are multiple benefits of investing in employee development, but it is important to know whatare the waysto encourage and support it. Also, manager’s role in employee development is crucial, so keep on reading to find out alltheways to drive continuous employee growth.

📚 Before we start,take a lookatthesequestionsemployees use to evaluate their employers.

Employee Growth and Development Defined

Employee development is a process of investing in improving, refining and encouragingof employees’ existing skills, and supporting development of the new ones. Employee development allows employees toexpand their knowledge and skill set, which equips them to carry out more complex work.

In other words,employee development allows employees to take on higher-ranking roles and advance in their careers.At the same time,employee developmentbenefits organizations, who aremoldingtheir employees’ skillset to match their mission and business goals.

How to Encourage and Support Employee Development

Supporting employees’ development is something every organization should do as it has many benefits for the company. However, many employers fail to encourage employee growth and do notprovide resources to do so. Still,68% of employees say training and development are company’s most important policies.

Employee Development: 8 Ways to Drive Continuous Employee Growth (1)

1. Offer training from the start

It is best to let your employees know that their growth is a priority during onboarding. By offering professional training from the get-go, you arebuilding your employees’ awareness of possibilities for their growth.It also shows your organization’s commitment and interest in developing its own employees’ skills.

2. Accentuate soft skills

According to LinkedIn,91% of talent professionals agree that soft skills are very important to the futureof recruiting and HR.In other words,workplaces are now increasingly recognizing teamwork, leadership, collaboration and time management as desirable skills among their employees.

Indeed, soft skills are harder to adopt, but the team of highly functional employees withdeveloped soft skillsguarantees productive workplace with great results. Therefore, try organizing trainings and workshops to develop soft skillsamong your employees. It will also benefit your company culture.

3. Create individual development plans

According to research,74% of employees do not believe they are reaching their full potential.This is worrying, but also leaves a lot of space for improvement. Try approaching all your employees individually and create development plans according to their own preferences and your company’s goals.

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4. Allow for personal development

Your employees’ development does not have to be directly connected to their career or line of business.Employee development must be holistic and allow forgrowing and learning skills that are beneficial for employees on a personal level.

In fact,facilitating employee wellbeingcan be seen asa method of personal employee development. Enabling your employees to grow intellectually, balance their emotions or get in better physical shapeindirectlybenefits their work performance.

📚A good time to create individual employee development plans is during employee reviews.Find out what are thebest employee evaluation practicesmanagers should follow.

5. Offer continuous employee feedback

Employeefeedbackisone of the most important tools at your disposal for enabling employee growth.When employeesget comments on their performance, they know what they are doing well and in which areas to improve. This is crucial for their development, as it makes them aware ofskillsthey could develop in order to get ahead.

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6. Recognize your employees’ work

Similar tofeedback, youremployees’ growth depends on encouragement of skills, actions and behavior that are positiveand in line with your company’s vision.This is whyemployee recognition is essential foremployee development. It makes your employees feel appreciated and secure, also allowing for self-confidence to improve.

📚GetourEmployee Recognition Playbookto learn how to build an effective employee recognition program in your company.

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7. Allow for easier top-down and peer-to-peer collaboration

Research tells us that over70% of learning on the job occurs informally.It is important that your employeesseize the opportunity to learn from their coworkers as well as from their superiors.Therefore, you should find ways to facilitate communication and collaboration across departments and across your organizational hierarchy. In other words, you shouldmake your employees feel comfortable reaching out to their superiors or peers asking for help, advice or collaboration.

8. Offer resources

If you do not speak and directly offer the resources for employee development, your employees will rarely come up to you and ask for them.Let your employees know that it is not onlyallowed but also encouraged by the company to take professional training and develop new skills.

More specifically, do the following:

a. Inform your employees of internal learning resources (online trainings, eBooks and more) during onboarding, and remind them to use these resources once in a while.

b. Make sure your employees know that there is a budget for their professional training, and that company will sponsor the conferences, workshops and other education that they ask for.

c. Send a newsletter to your employees with a list of workshops, conferences or other events they might benefit from. In other words, proactively offer ways to develop.

d. Organize workshops internally. Enable your employees to learn from each other and take on the coaching role onoccasions.

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7Benefits of Investing in Employee Development

The best marker of how beneficial it is to invest in employee development is the fact thatcompanies areputting more and more resources into it.In 2016, spend on corporate training was over $70billionin the US, followed by the more than$90 billion spent in 2017.

So, what are the exact benefits of investing in employee development?

1. Remaining competitive

Companies are competing for market share which translates to business profits.According to research,investing in training leads to up to24% higher profit margins.Furthermore, companies will remain competitive among the candidates that will eventually become their employees.

2. Forestall skill shortage

75% of HR professionalswho have recruiting difficulties say there is a shortage of skills in candidates for job openings.By investing in your own employees’ development, youare able todeal with the skill shortage by training your own workforce to match the future company needs. It is a great way tosave money while offering your employees to acquire skillset that is competitive on the market.

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3. Improving cross-departmental collaboration

By investing in employee development, you will expand your employees’ horizons and facilitate adoption of new skills. If your employees learn how to use their soft skills, they willimprove cross-departmental collaboration, making the end-product high quality.After all, when people of different backgrounds and ways of thinking collaborate, innovation and creativity peak.

4. Boosting employee motivation and morale

Employee motivation is vital for your employees’ work productivity.When you invest in your employee development, your employees know what they can expect if they work hard: theywill acquire new skills and be more competitive on the market, which leads to the career advancement, more meaningful and responsible work, etc.

The awareness of company’s interest in employee development is also a strong employee morale booster.

5. Reducing employee turnover

Any HR Professional knows how costly employee turnover is, and how hard it is to retain employees if company does not invest in them. After all, the market for employees with high quality skills is very competitive these days.

📚It is useful to note thatfacilitating employee development is one of the best strategies for reducing employee turnover.In fact,40% of employees with poor training will leave the companywithin the first year, while whopping93% of employees would stay at a company longerif it invested in their careers.

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6. Increasing employee productivity

Similar tothe previous point, your employees’ productivity will be higher if they know that the company is willing to facilitate their growth. Younger employees today especially value opportunities fordevelopment, citing this as one of themain traits of attractive employers.

In other words,your employees will work harder if they know their work is not in vain and will be rewarded with opportunity to learn and advanceprofessionally.

7. Improving employer brand

Although companies invest in employee development first and foremost do improve their business results and improve employee retention, a positive consequence of taking care of employee growth turn out to be great employer branding. Therefore,interview your employees about their career path within the company for your organization’s blog and promote more success stories internally and externally.

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The Manager’s Role in Employee Growth and Development

Although the planning for employee development is a cross-departmental effort, managers are the ones in direct contact with your employees every day.Managersset the example and someone to look up to for your employees.Furthermore,managers should be in charge for detecting their employees’ potential and proposing in which direction to develop them.

📚 Before you continue, learn aboutdifferent management stylesyour managers can apply in your organization.

Help your managers become better leaders

It is worrying that58% of managers say they did not receive any management training. Without learning how to be good leaders to their teams, your managers will fail inenabling growth to their subordinates. Therefore,the first step in facilitating your employees’ development is training your managers into enabling that same development.

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Listen to employees

Your managers need to learn not only how to lead, but also how to listen. In order to manage successful teams, managers shouldcheck their employees’ pulseand be aware of their feelings and grievances. By doing that, managers will successfully detect problems.

More importantly, by closely collaborating and listening to their employees, managerswill realize their employees’ potential and propose most useful training or workshops.

📚 Ensure your managers have the right tools to facilitate your employees’ growth.SurveyRockscan help your managers listen to their teams by sending them customized surveys as work happens.

Employee Development: 8 Ways to Drive Continuous Employee Growth (2024)

FAQs

What are 5 areas of improvement? ›

What are areas of improvement? Areas of improvement are skills, qualities or abilities that an employee could develop or enhance. Areas of improvement could include time management, delegation, organization, communication and engagement. Many of these skills and abilities are those that employees use daily at work.

How do you promote employee development? ›

10 Actionable Strategies for Employee Development
  1. Establish a Regular Training Schedule. ...
  2. Start Thoughtful Mentoring Programs. ...
  3. Incorporate Gamification into Workplace Learning. ...
  4. Personalize Skill Development with Online Courses. ...
  5. Carry Out Cross-Department Training. ...
  6. Send Employees to Industry Events, Seminars, or Webinars.
23 Feb 2022

What are 3 good areas of improvement? ›

Areas of improvement for employees
  • 1) Time management. Time management is crucial to your business's success. ...
  • 2) Organization. Organization can make time management much easier. ...
  • 3) Interpersonal communication. ...
  • 4) Customer service. ...
  • 5) Cooperation. ...
  • 6) Conflict resolution. ...
  • 7) Listening. ...
  • 8) Written communication.

How can you improve employee skills? ›

There are a number of ways you can support employee development: individual coaching, workshops, courses, seminars, shadowing or mentoring, or even just increasing their responsibilities. Offering these opportunities will give employees additional skills that allow them to improve their efficiency and productivity.

What are employee development programs? ›

An employee development program, or EPD for short, is a training program that helps your employees improve their skills and abilities, which can then help them achieve greater success.

How do you grow a team at work? ›

7 tactics to develop your team
  1. Identify your working and leadership style. ...
  2. Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations. ...
  3. Empower your team to make smart decisions. ...
  4. Encourage listening and feedback. ...
  5. Foster trust, belonging, and inclusivity. ...
  6. Encourage a growth mindset. ...
  7. Provide coaching. ...
  8. Forming.
21 Jan 2022

What is the goal of employee development? ›

Employee development plans are action plans, working documents used actively by both the employee and line manager. They ensure the employee is growing personally, developing their ability to achieve more in the workplace, retain your top talent and meet the organisation's goals.

What is professional development for employees? ›

Employee development — often referred to as professional development or staff development — is the process during which employees, with the support of their employer, go through professional training or pursue learning opportunities to improve their skills and grow their knowledge and careers.

What are the 5 smart goals for work? ›

The SMART goal-setting model can help leaders set and achieve business goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
...
If you're ready to start setting SMART goals, follow this five-step process.
  • Specific. ...
  • Measurable. ...
  • Attainable. ...
  • Relevant. ...
  • Time-bound.
1 Mar 2022

What are 3 goals for your career development? ›

What are examples of typical career goals?
  • Increase professional knowledge and training. ...
  • Increase earnings. ...
  • Improve low-functioning work processes or relationships. ...
  • Have new experiences. ...
  • Attain a leadership role.

What is an example of a development goal? ›

Learning new abilities, earning certifications, gaining more experience in a specific field, moving forward in your company, and pursuing any other career aspirations are all examples of professional development goals.

What are some development priorities? ›

So, here are eight practical strategies that you can use to prioritize your professional development, even when you have a busy work schedule:
  • Focus on Objectives. ...
  • Manage Obstacles and Distractions. ...
  • Make Learning a Habit. ...
  • Set Boundaries. ...
  • Make Every Minute Count. ...
  • Learn at Your Best. ...
  • Find Your Own Learning Style.

What are the top 3 work related strengths? ›

The 3 Most Important Employee Strengths are to be Coachable, Enthusiastic and a Tad Humble. A coachable person is an employer's dream. This can't be overstated. Tied into the coachable personality is being consistently enthusiastic and a tad humble.

What are my development areas? ›

Key areas of development at work are skills and attributes that benefit your professional life. Focusing on these areas of improvement can lead to increased productivity, empathy and interpersonal abilities. Managers and employers can offer you support for key areas of development.

What are the five management development methods? ›

Answer and Explanation: The five management development methods include the case study method, management games, action learning, strategic human resource management learning system, and role play.

How do you increase employee engagement? ›

10 Powerful Steps To Improve Employee Engagement
  1. Improve Efficiency in the Workplace. ...
  2. Improve Communication. ...
  3. Give Recognition. ...
  4. Encourage Interaction. ...
  5. Invest in Your Employees, Invest in Your Company. ...
  6. Focus on Employee Wellbeing. ...
  7. Encourage Feedback. ...
  8. Emphasise Your Company Culture.
13 Sept 2022

How do I create a development plan? ›

To create a development plan, you should follow our 4 simple steps.
  1. Identify your career goals. The first step in career development is to choose a career path. ...
  2. Identify the Skills, Knowledge and Personal Traits You Need to Improve. ...
  3. Identify Potential Distractions and How You Will Avoid Them. ...
  4. Create a Plan of Action.
7 Jul 2021

How do employees gain their full potential? ›

Leaders create future leaders | 5 ways to help employees reach their full potential
  1. Build strong teams.
  2. Promote individuality.
  3. Open your door.
  4. Offer on the job training.
  5. Care about your employees.

How do you help people develop and grow? ›

Put these six tips into practice to help employees grow:
  1. Encourage professional development. High-potential employees are not satisfied with the status quo. ...
  2. Create a development plan. ...
  3. Pair employees with mentors. ...
  4. Help them build their networks. ...
  5. Challenge employees with assignments. ...
  6. Show employees you trust them.
16 Dec 2020

What are the four main elements of a successful team? ›

4 Essential Characteristics of a Successful Team
  • Strong Leadership. ...
  • Common Goals. ...
  • Diversity. ...
  • Trust.
31 Aug 2015

What are 5 steps to motivate workers? ›

Motivating employees in 5 easy steps
  • Share the high level goals. Share the high level goals of the company with your entire team. ...
  • Assign tangible tasks. ...
  • Create the list of tasks together. ...
  • Give recognition publicly. ...
  • Celebrate success.
4 Jan 2015

What are the 4 types of motivation? ›

These forms of motivation are just as important as intrinsic ones if you can leverage them.
  • Incentive motivation. Incentive motivation is all about external rewards. ...
  • Fear motivation. Here you're motivated by the fear of an undesirable outcome. ...
  • Power motivation. ...
  • Social motivation.
17 May 2022

What is your development plan to improve performance? ›

What is PDP? A performance development plan is a tool for improving employee performance. The PDP process helps managers and employees identify areas for improvement, set goals, measure progress, and outline a strategy to achieve those objectives.

What are four 4 Features of a good professional development plan? ›

The goals you set in your professional development plan should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely).

What is a people development strategy? ›

People development is the process by which human resource departments equip employees with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to reach business goals. People development is often used interchangeably with employee development which is about helping employees advance up in the organization.

Who is responsible for employee development? ›

Employee development is a shared responsibility of management and the individual employee. The responsibility of management is to provide the right resources and an environment that supports the growth and development needs of the individual employee.

What are the 7 smarter goals? ›

means, and finally a further evolution toward SMARTER goal setting. Even though you've heard me say it several times now, SMARTER goal setting means that goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely, and that goals should be evaluated and can be revised.

What are 3 good SMART goals? ›

10 examples of SMART goals
  • Specific: I'd like to start training every day to run a marathon.
  • Measurable: I will use my Apple Watch to track my training progress as my mileage increases.
  • Attainable: I've already run a half-marathon this year, so I have a solid base-fitness level.
5 Aug 2022

What are some smart goals for professional development? ›

Professional Development Examples

Take a XX course to improve the knowledge of XX in the next quarter. Attend 3 industry events per month focused on XX to develop knowledge of XX in 2020. Learn a new tool; XX, to improve the processes of XX and improve productivity by XX % by the end of 2020.

How do you set development goals? ›

6 Steps to Setting Professional Development Goals—and Actually Reaching Them
  1. Start With Your End Goal in Mind. ...
  2. Review Your Most Recent Performance Evaluation. ...
  3. Set SMART Goals. ...
  4. Create a Strategy for Reaching Each Goal. ...
  5. Make Time to Pursue Your Goal. ...
  6. Regularly Check in With Yourself.
19 Jun 2020

What is a good development goal for a manager? ›

A development plan for managers might include general business objectives, like increasing the team's sales quotas or specific leadership goals that can improve their delegation skills or increase their responsibilities as a manager.

How do you set personal development goals for work? ›

Personal Development Goals Related to Your Career

Define Your Own Success- Being successful has different connotations for everyone. Make sure that you make decisions on your own terms. Such professional growth goals can be accomplished by being true to one's own self and focusing on what they wish to achieve in life.

What is your SMART development goal? ›

SMART is an acronym used to describe the process of setting goals. The acronym stands for the words “specific,” “measurable,” “achievable,” “relevant” and “time-bound,” which are essential traits of setting objectives. The SMART method provides a way to measure your progress and be accountable for your success.

What are the two types of professional development goals? ›

Job-specific goals have to do with tasks that are part of an employee's job responsibilities. Skill-set goals are broader than job-specific goals, but are still related to what a person does.

What should I write for areas of improvement? ›

Areas of improvement for employees
  • Time management. The better people can multitask, meet deadlines and manage their time, the more productive they will be at work. ...
  • Customer service. ...
  • Teamwork. ...
  • Interpersonal skills. ...
  • Communication. ...
  • Writing. ...
  • Organization. ...
  • Flexibility.

What are the 2 areas that the leader could work on to improve? ›

10 areas of improvement leaders should focus on
  • Master the art of communication. ...
  • Improve your ability to motivate others. ...
  • Learn to set goals clearly. ...
  • Make sure your team feels appreciated. ...
  • Make time for one-on-one meetings. ...
  • Always focus on personal development.

What are your strengths and areas of improvement? ›

Some examples of strengths you might mention include:
  • Enthusiasm.
  • Trustworthiness.
  • Creativity.
  • Discipline.
  • Patience.
  • Respectfulness.
  • Determination.
  • Dedication.

What are 3 ways to improve work performance? ›

13 ways to improve performance at work
  • Limit distractions. This is a tip many people know but rarely follow: limit your potential distractions. ...
  • Set milestones. ...
  • Set clear and achievable goals. ...
  • Avoid multitasking. ...
  • Improve your time management. ...
  • Do important tasks first. ...
  • Delegate tasks whenever possible. ...
  • Clear your workspace.
26 May 2022

What are some development priorities? ›

So, here are eight practical strategies that you can use to prioritize your professional development, even when you have a busy work schedule:
  • Focus on Objectives. ...
  • Manage Obstacles and Distractions. ...
  • Make Learning a Habit. ...
  • Set Boundaries. ...
  • Make Every Minute Count. ...
  • Learn at Your Best. ...
  • Find Your Own Learning Style.

What are the top 3 work related strengths? ›

The 3 Most Important Employee Strengths are to be Coachable, Enthusiastic and a Tad Humble. A coachable person is an employer's dream. This can't be overstated. Tied into the coachable personality is being consistently enthusiastic and a tad humble.

What are 3 things you can improve on job interview? ›

Interview Tips: 10 Ways to Improve Interview Performance
  • Practice Good Nonverbal Communication. ...
  • Dress for the Job or Company. ...
  • Listen. ...
  • Don't Talk Too Much. ...
  • Don't Be Too Familiar. ...
  • Use Appropriate Language. ...
  • Don't Be Cocky. ...
  • Take Care to Answer the Questions.

What are my areas of growth? ›

5 areas of personal growth
  • Mental growth. Mental growth focuses on the development of your mind, such as the way you think and learn. ...
  • Social growth. Social growth involves improving your communication skills. ...
  • Spiritual growth. ...
  • Emotional growth. ...
  • Physical growth.

What are three things your manager would like you to improve on? ›

Punctuality, speed of work, and maybe communication with them.

What are the 3 key areas of leadership? ›

Three key qualities of an effective leader
  • Strong Character. Leaders with strong character earn the respect of their peers. ...
  • Committed, Swift Decision Making. ...
  • Available When You Need Them. ...
  • Additional Resources.

How do you develop people? ›

Here are 10 low cost but effective ways to ensure that your people keep learning.
  1. New experiences. Giving people new experiences is one of the very best ways to develop them. ...
  2. New responsibilities. ...
  3. Mentoring. ...
  4. Peer mentoring. ...
  5. Group learning. ...
  6. Empower your learners. ...
  7. Promote informal learning. ...
  8. Offer flexibility.

What are 4 examples of opportunities? ›

What are some examples of opportunities?
  • Get help on projects.
  • Propose working groups.
  • Get testers for new ideas or products.
  • Create a team to work on an idea you have.
  • Share your expertise or best practices in a particular field.

What should the manager continue doing to support your growth? ›

Photos courtesy of the individual members.
  • Understand Employee Aspirations.
  • Pay For Educational Courses.
  • Encourage Smart, Efficient Work.
  • Identify Mutually Beneficial Solutions.
  • Encourage Participation In Skills Training.
  • Establish A Mentoring Program.
  • Offer Online Career Advancement Courses.
3 Jun 2021

What are your 5 Weaknesses? ›

Examples of Weaknesses.

Shyness. Lack of knowledge of particular software. Public speaking. Taking criticism.

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