When CEOs ponder the state of their staffs, the words “professional growth” should be a priority. Employees that develop and enhance their skills add great benefit to a business. And when they know the vision from the top, and the direction the company is going in, it can create momentum and a team-oriented environment.
Here are a few ways to help employees see that their own growth is essential to that of the business.
Be open about what you’re learning.
People may naturally think CEOs are know-it-all types. After all, they are in the top spot in the company. Let employees see that you are open to new ideas and taking new directions. Mark Miller wrote about this for ceo.com.
“This does a couple of things — it models the desired behavior,” he says. “You’re demonstrating that you are learning. This makes your encouragement for others to be a life-long learner more credible. Assuming you do it well, it also influences the behavior of the person or group you’re sharing with. They should derive some value from what you’re sharing.”
Let them experiment.
Employees often desire to step out of their day-to-day tasks. Trusting them with a new project or task can be a growth opportunity. Karsten Strauss writes about this for Forbes.
“Few employees want to do one specific task over and over again until they quit or retire or die,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to grant them new responsibilities — it will allow them to grow and become more confident in their abilities while making them feel more valuable to the organization. Though managers might feel allowing their people to try new things presents a risk to productivity or places workers outside of their established place, it heads off other issues.”
Take your vision seriously.
The boss that offers hackneyed motivation attempts probably won’t get too far. Those that have the ability to clearly define their vision and goals will succeed more than those that get lost in generic business-speak. Christine Comaford writes about this for Forbes.
“Too often we walk into a company and find wordy mission statements moldering on the wall,” she says. “Worse yet, we find reward systems that directly contradict stated values (e.g. stated value of ‘teamwork’ but only individual rewards.) … People feel a lack of belonging, they feel low social status in comparison with others who work for organizations that are alive and aligned. They may feel betrayed if there is a conflict between what they signed up for and what is happening or between a stated value and reality. Flat or misaligned mission, vision and values don’t just fail to inspire. They hurt.”
Be transparent about the good and the bad.
Everyone feels better when times are good and success is plentiful. It may be difficult for a CEO to share information during rockier moments. Finding that balance may help employees feel more invested in the business. Ilya Pozin writes about this for inc.com.
“When your company does well, celebrate,” he says. “This is the best time to let everyone know that you’re thankful for their hard work. Go out of your way to show how far you will go when people help your company succeed. If there are disappointments, share those too. If you expect high performance, your team deserves to know where the company stands. Be honest and transparent.”
