When you have a business and you employ people, you’ve got a lot of things to think about – it’s not just about what you’re doing and your own plans anymore, you’ve got real people who need help and guidance (although, of course, they’ll also need to be able to do their work competently, otherwise your business isn’t going to grow), and they’ll look to you to that help and guidance.
One thing that will always be useful for the individuals you employ and the business itself is ensuring they’re able to progress. The more they can do, the better they’ll be able to do their jobs, and that means more productivity and, ideally, happier customers at the same time. With that in mind, here are some of the way you can help your team progress – read on to find out more.
Give Them Goals
You’ll know how it feels when you don’t have any goals to work towards; it’s all a bit aimless, and whatever you’re doing might even feel pointless – if there’s no outcome to get to, why are you doing it at all? Well, if you feel like that, your team will too, and that’s why, if you want them to progress, you need to give them goals to work towards.
Not only do they all need goals, but those goals need to be clear and well thought out in advance. That might sound like a lot of hard work, but it’s going to be harder if you give people vague goals and they keep making mistakes or get confused and have to ask you how to do the task – that’s going to take up a lot of your time. Set clear goals to begin with, including deadlines, and things will go a lot more smoothly and your team will progress better.
Give Them Tools
If you want your team to progress, they’re going to need the tools to do it, and providing those tools is down to you. In some cases, that’s going to mean actual tools and equipment (it could be machinery, hand tools, or software, depending on the employee’s specific role) so they can do their job safely and efficiently. In other cases, it might be giving them training, allowing them a good work-life balance, giving them time to go back to school for additional learning (or even paying for it), or perhaps providing them with digital business cards so they feel like part of the team and as though they’re valued, for example.
If your team doesn’t have what they need to do their job, they’re not going to progress, and your business will come to a standstill, which is bad for your profits, reputation, and general morale within the workplace. Either that or your employees will try to do the work anyway, using whatever tools they can get their hands on, and that could lead to safety issues or poor quality work. In any case, giving them what they need is crucial.
Give Them Recognition
Finally, if you want your team to progress they’re going to need to feel motivated, and one way to ensure that’s the case is to recognize their achievements and reward them. Whether it’s something big or small, if you can show you’ve noticed the effort that went into the task and the positive outcome, that’s going to make people want to work harder and progress.
This recognition can be something as simple as a shoutout in a team meeting or email, for example, or it can be something bigger like a promotion or payrise. You’ll have to work out the details yourself, but it’s got to be done if you want your team (and business) to progress.