11/24/2018
13 Ways To Regularly Support Your Employees' Personal Development
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13 Ways To Regularly Support
Your Employees' Personal
Development
Forbes Coaches Council CommunityVoice
POST WRITTEN BY
Forbes Coaches Council
Top business and career coaches from Forbes Coaches Council offer rsthand insights
on leadership development & careers.
One of the most important things you can do to nurture and retain talent
is provide them with personal development opportunities. This can
encompass anything from leadership training or building a new skill, to
simply pursuing a passion that inspires an employee in and out of the
workplace.
But personal development is not one-size-fits-all: In a Forbes article, Joe
Folkman writes that most individual personal development plans fail
because they're not driven by the individual and his or her interests.
Members of Forbes Coaches Council share 13 ways managers can show
support for their employees' personal development initiatives, while still
giving them the autonomy they need to grow in their own way.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/05/31/13-ways-you-can-regularly-support-your-employees-personal-development/#2cf528fe4647
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13 Ways To Regularly Support Your Employees' Personal Development
Forbes Coaches Council members discuss how you can continually invest in your employees'
personal development. ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF FORBES COUNCILS MEMBERS.
1. Create Growth Plans
At the beginning of the year or when someone begins working with the
organization, do a "growth plan" with the person. Have 12 months blank
and build a plan with them. It's important to find out where they want to
grow and support them. It could be reading three books in a year, learning
how to hire, or shadowing someone in a different role. Failing to plan
growth prevents growth. - MaryAnne Gillespie, Red Apple Coaching
2. Build In 'Growth Time'
Allow for employees to engage in personal development by allotting 10
percent of their time to personal or professional growth. The only rules:
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How they spend their time must be a stretch: something out of the box
that has a benefit to the business, whether it's building a skill directly
linked to their role or improving their leadership abilities. - Lizabeth
Czepiel, Lizabeth Czepiel, LLC
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3. Set 90-Day Learning Goals
Encourage everyone to have a 90-day learning goal and to share what it is.
On my team, we discuss our learning from the past 30 days and what we
want to focus on for the next 60 to 90 days. We are committed to both
individual and organizational learning. Making it safe to experiment with
new ideas and report back on your learning is also a great way to
encourage development. - Shawn Kent Hayashi, The Professional
Development Group LLC
4. Offer Innovative Learning Experiences
Employees are more likely to get excited about personal development
opportunities when they are innovative and entertaining. Mix things up by
offering a variety of interesting and engaging learning experiences. For
example, this may include destination learning, the use of cutting-edge
technology or interactive exercises where the concepts introduced can be
readily applied in context. - Karima Mariama-Arthur,
Esq., WordSmithRapport
5. Map Out The Far-Reaching Benefits
Introduce personal development so staff can see the broader benefits
beyond the job. If it feels like it's strictly work-related, then people will
compartmentalize what they're learning and won't feel the far-reaching
benefits. Approach it from a whole-life perspective so employees bring
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their positive attitudes home and to their communities around them.
- Nancy Marmolejo, TalentAndGenius.com
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading
business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
6. Make Development Opportunities 'One Size Fits One'
The new generation of learning and development is grounded in one size
fits one, being bite size and real-time accessibility. Understand the
competencies and behaviors associated with the vision of the organization.
From there, have managers get clear about what's important individually
for their employees. Next, provide an internal platform and external
mediums to support development. - Alicia Reece, The Reece Group
7. Take An Active Interest In Personal Development
Set up one-on-ones on a regular basis specifically to discuss personal
development. The frequency will depend on your business (weekly,
monthly, quarterly, etc.). Find out what interests them outside of their
normal job scope and encourage and support them in pursuing it. Staff
performance and loyalty increases when employees feel supported and
empowered to pursue their personal goals and dreams. - Gina
Gomez, Gina Gomez, Business & Life Coach
8. Think Beyond Formal Training
Go beyond the thinking that development has to happen through formal
classroom training. Create a book club where employees can discuss the
latest trends in your industry; provide 15-minute "lunch and learns" where
employees teach each other a skill; or create a company Slack group for
social learning. Make development easily accessible (and easier on the
budget) through useful, informal methods. - Loren Margolis, Training &
Leadership Success LLC
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9. Ask And Listen
When you have your next one-on-one, listen with attention and intention.
Give your employee your full attention, without getting lost in what you
need to do next or what you want to say. Set your intention for the
conversation to appreciate her perspective. Ask these two simple
questions: What skills are you looking to develop? How can I help you
grow? You'll be surprised by the power of these questions. - Aaron
Levy, Raise The Bar Consulting
10. Create A Culture Of Learning
All development is the result of learning. To effectively support personal
development on a regular basis, organizations should foster a "culture of
learning." When a strong learning culture is embedded in the foundation
of an organization, more employees see the importance of continuous
learning. There are many mechanisms, tools and incentives organizations
can institute, but start with culture. - Eddie Turner, Eddie Turner LLC
11. Train Managers To Be Mentors
Completing an annual development plan is helpful, but it could become a
paper exercise. Train managers to regularly explore how and why a staff
member wants to develop. A helpful question is, “In the next 6 to 12
months, how can you become a better version of yourself towards your
personal career goals?” Managers can facilitate their staff’s development
and help open doors. - Diane Chang, Diane Chang Coaching
12. Help Your Team Learn From Each Other
With some of my clients, we build communities of practice or peer
learning groups where people can share their experiences and find people
with similar challenges they can talk to. Another option is to support
development by encouraging people to learn through cross-pollination (i.e.
go see what others are doing in the same field) in other areas of the
company. - Steffan Surdek, Pyxis Technologies
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13. Ask Employees What They Want And Need
Regularly soliciting ideas for personal development can help you
understand what your team members want and give you some fresh ideas.
If personal development is part of your company culture, people should
feel free to talk about their goals and needs with their supervisors, human
resources, and the rest of their team to develop solutions, within budget of
course, that can benefit everyone. - Andrea MacKenzie, Lead With
Harmony
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only, fee-based organization
comprised of leading business coaches and career coaches. Find out if
you qualify at forbescoachescouncil.com/qualify.
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