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Investing in your employees

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For hire: seeking engaging workplace

Engaged employees are the backbone of the workplace. According to a study done by Gallup, it takes four engaged employees to make up the work of one unengaged employee. So, how do you get employees to stick around and stay engaged in their work? In 2021,LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report found that 94% of employees said they would stick around at their job longer if their employer invested in their professional development.

Investing in your employees’ professional development isn’t just for their benefit, it is for the benefit of the company too. When you have disengaged employees, your productivity decreases, there is a negative customer experience, and the company culture and morale decline when the workforce doesn’t feel connected to the organization.

It is said, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Here are ten ways to invest in your employees so they can continue to love what they do.

  1. Develop an individualized blueprint for your professionals
  2. Train up your professionals
  3. Mentor your employees
  4. Encourage continuing education opportunities
  5. Participate in events
  6. Provide internal mobility
  7. Delegate leadership tasks
  8. Give back with leadership
  9. Cultivate a growth-minded culture
  10. Build your dream team

Develop an individualized blueprint for your professionals

Engaging in conversations with your employees about their growth is essential. Once a quarter, sit down with your employees in their one-on-one meetings and map out what their professional growth and development might look like. This gives your employees a blueprint for finding success in their professional development with your company. It allows them to explore knowledge gaps, assess current skills and core competencies, and allows both of you to highlight future learning opportunities that would aid in their success at your company.

Train up professionals

Training the professionals you have doesn’t just help your employee become better at their job, it helps them bridge performance gaps that come from missing skills or lack of valuable knowledge to do their job better. Employee training doesn’t just help your business become more productive, reach lofty goals, or hold a competitive advantage, it can aid in succession planning as well as recruiting and retaining the new talent you add to your team. Developing and training your employees to advance into more senior roles is a win-win for both your business and the employee.

Mentor your employees

Create a mentorship program for your employees. The people you have in your organization already possess a wealth of knowledge; whether they are first starting at your business or are seasoned employees, they have knowledge to share. Position your employees for success by allowing them to shadow leadership, rotating to different departments or just ask questions to those tenured by your organization.

Related: Millennial Mentoring

Encourage continuing education opportunities

An eagerness for learning is key to success in any industry. When a business feeds an employee’s eagerness to learn the trade, it keeps them hungry and engaged in the workplace. There are opportunities for education everywhere you look. Compile a list of educational resources, such as podcasts, books, webinars and classes. Keep it up to date and have it accessible to your employees to encourage their continuous professional development and allow them to learn on the go.

Participate in events

If you have the budget, allow your employees to go to on-site conferences. If that’s not something that is feasible for your business, opt-in to attending virtual events. These events are beneficial for professional skill-building and networking, and they leave your employees walking away feeling encouraged, excited and inspired to bring back what they learned to the workplace. Encourage your employees to research educational opportunities such as events and conferences and talk with them about how it could positively impact their professional development.

Provide internal mobility

The 2021 LinkedIn Learning report (linked above) found that employees who work at companies with internal mobility stay almost two times longer than others. Your employees are a sustainable resource for your company. Nurture your employees and learn their passions and translate those passions into the roles in your business. Don’t stifle your employees; let them learn new skills in different areas. It might just allow for a move within your company that results in an excellent ROI after invested developmental growth.

Delegate leadership tasks

Allow your natural leaders to rise to the occasion. If you have employees that consistently rise to challenges and take them head-on, start allowing them to take on leadership tasks. Whether those tasks are small or large, allow them to take responsibility and hold them accountable. Coach them through the challenges and discuss what they could do differently to change the outcome. This will allow your employees to grow into great leaders that will allow your business to thrive into the future.

Give back with leadership

Encourage your employees to build leadership skills through giving back. There are many ways your company can give back, but a unique way to aid in their professional development while also making an impact to better the community is by giving them opportunities to lead outside of your organization. Encourage them to dig into their passions and find an organization they feel connected with to sit on the board. This feeds the human need to give back while also allowing for professional growth and skill building. Leading a nonprofit organization to success aids in making a difference in the community and one’s self.

Cultivate a growth-minded culture

Company culture can make or break an employee’s tenure with an organization. Employees want to feel validated, valued and heard by their employers. When you cultivate a growth-minded culture in your workplace, you are allowing opportunities for conversations to be had, skills to be learned, and the confidence to execute their job functions and grow exponentially.

Build your dream team

Lastly, build up your team. When you’re hiring, seek out those eager to learn and grow. Affirm the work that they do, coach them through learning a new skill, and hold them accountable in their roles and future roles. When you build up a strong team ready for growth and development, your successes will come in immeasurable ways.

Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently. When you consistently invest in your employees’ professional development, you are creating a lasting legacy of reputation and success for your business by building up the backbone of the workplace: your hardworking, engaged employees.

 

Ciarra Beckstrand

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