Employees are the most important resource held by any business. Without them, the business cannot function, which is why having the right members of staff is so crucial. Not only should you employ talented individuals, but also ones that realise that they still have room to develop.
If your business is to grow, you’ll need members of staff that are willing to progress on a personal level too.
Hire well
The most effective way of ensuring that your staff pursue personal development is to get your hiring process right. Instead of trying to force your members of staff to learn new skills, employ individuals who have a hunger to learn new things.
In order to get this right, don’t hire people simply on their ability to carry out the job in question, but assess their personality too. Do they have an open mind and have they pursued a broad range of interests in their previous work?
Also, don’t simply hire for now, but for the future too. Do you think that a candidate has the talent to move up through the company and take on additional skills to the ones that they have now, or do you think that they are at their peak? Talent recruitment should always be forward-thinking, so consider a candidate’s future potential as well as their current strengths.
Make it easy for them
If you make it as easy as possible for your staff to learn new skills then they are much more likely to fulfil their potential. Instead of leaving the onus on them completely to find industry-relevant courses, why not come up with a list of company-approved programmes or even create some yourself?
There are a number of digital tools that enable companies to create their own e-learning programs specifically for their members of staff and their job roles. Utilising the Adobe Captivate cheat sheet will let your business create training solutions quickly and easily that can take your staff to the next level. Although you could always pay for an external training provider, you more likely to receive a generic, off-the-shelf course in this case. If you want training that is personal to your company and the individual, then creating your own e-learning classes is the best approach.
Incentivise new skills
One of the major reasons why some members of staff do not take part in personal development while at work is because they do not see much point. If you demonstrate that your business values new skills, however, then you may see a different reaction from your employees.
Make sure that you reward employees that undergo additional training, even if it’s just by complimenting them during the next company meeting. Also, once staff have learnt new skills, make sure they are put to good use. Give your employees new tasks or even expanded job roles in recognition of the development they have made. Internal promotion is also a fantastic way of showing that personal development is being recognised. If employees are shown that there is a clear benefit to their career by learning new skills, they are much more likely to do so.