While being an entrepreneur requires staying abreast of the day-to-day happenings in your company, business owners have to look at the road ahead. This includes creating a strategy for how you will develop your employees so their skills (and ability to contribute to the business) grow exponentially as the years progress.
How do you manage your employees’ development and ensure that those with great potential actually achieve it? In what ways do you inspire a collaborative and close-knit culture in your organization? Have you been the recipient of mentoring?
The results of many studies have proven that companies that invest in their employees can enjoy returns in the form of greater engagement, higher productivity and larger profits. By taking just a few members of your team under your wing as you build your business, you may be laying the foundation for a culture of collaboration and mentoring. Essentially, you’ll start a snowball effect of training and development that can produce a higher class of employees in your firm.
Organizations – and specifically management – should consider what they are doing, should start doing, keep doing, or stop doing with regard to talent development as they move forward forward. Investing in the talent in your organization will keep your employees committed, engaged and enhance their potential.
While competition can be the life-blood of any organization with a focus on sales, too much of it can destroy the collaborative and inclusive culture that fosters professional improvements and realization of potential. Encourage your employees to look for ways they can learn from each other, and push them to always seek improvement in their own capabilities and those of their teammates.
Consider setting up a mentorship program between your employees and younger people who operate outside your business. These connections can come back to provide unexpected personal or professional benefits later on. Or in the reverse, seek out external sources of mentorship, such as a coach or a more experienced colleague who can offer some sage advice.
