Staff development is something that every business owner should prioritize. Staff development is a highly effective way to improve the abilities of your employees, promote from within, keep staff motivated and create a culture of continuous improvement. Staff development can bring many benefits to your business and staff, but it also needs to be managed carefully, particularly when staff are already likely to have a lot on their plate. Fortunately, there are a few handy tips that should help you get the most out of staff development and help your employees grow and reach their potential under your wing.
Listen To Their Goals
A good starting point is to meet with each team member and establish their career goals. There is no point in offering training and development in a certain area to someone that has no interest in it, so you need to know the goals and interests of staff and then find ways to develop these areas and improve their abilities to keep them engaged.
Find Opportunities & Encourage Self-Driven Development
Once you know what your staff wants to achieve, you should find ways to help them achieve their goals. For example, besides providing internal training and development, you might find courses, seminars, or networking opportunities that they would benefit from. You should also encourage them to find their own opportunities to develop. For example, if they find a course that they want to take, you could offer to finance this provided that they could show how it will benefit the business.
Use Learning Platforms
You should also be providing the best learning platforms for staff development within the business. Learning management systems are a traditional method of learning useful for managing and tracking online courses and are ideal for compliance training, while learning experience platforms can offer a more modern approach with staff able to choose their own path. Learning tech from specialists like Thinqi can provide the best of both worlds and help staff to optimize their professional development with a holistic approach.
Offer Support & Celebrate Achievements
You want to create a culture of development and progress, and this can be achieved by offering support to staff while they are learning. This should include checking in, giving feedback, and offering advice and guidance. Additionally, be sure to celebrate achievements that people make as a group to create a supportive culture and to encourage people to develop.
Give Responsibility In Addition To Training
Training is certainly important and critical for staff development, but the real learning happens when they find themselves in a real-life situation. This is why you need to provide additional responsibilities linked to their training to apply what they are learning and build their confidence.
These tips should come in useful and help you to manage staff development. It is important to offer staff development, and this can bring benefits to both you and your employees, but you also need to know how to keep on top of all of this and provide the best support for your staff.