As an employer you have worked hard to get where you are, most likely starting from the bottom, putting in the hours, going through training and putting in hard work, effort and dedication. Now, as a leader, you are responsible for your employees and just delegating to them, but you have the responsibility of growing and nurturing them and developing them into leaders like yourself.
Each employee must want to succeed to do so. However, there is a lot that you can do as an employer and a leader to encourage their growth and success.
Recognise Potential
You must get to know your employees and not only recognise their strengths and weaknesses but, recognise their potential too. Deliver praise and encouragement when appropriate because as their employer, your opinion matters to them. With a little bit of support from you, an employee could realise their potential which will motivate them to grow.
Encourage teamwork
People work well in teams, and they learn more when they can work together with others, bounce ideas off them and learn from each other. Working in groups allows people to show their strengths and use them together to create a stronger workforce. It also allows people to work on their weaknesses and ultimately produce their best work.
Be Approachable
Your employees want to learn from you too and will have questions and ideas to bring to you each day, to maintain an open-door policy so that they don’t have to wait for a weekly or monthly meeting. Being approachable encourages regular conversation and helps to build a good bond between you and your employees.
If they feel comfortable with you, they will be more willing to think outside of the box and bring their new ideas to you. Being approachable and accessible will also encourage your employees to ask for advice or will give you ample opportunity to provide feedback and praise.
Challenge Your Workforce
Don’t let your employees get too comfortable; you need to push them out of their comfort zone and challenge them every once in a while. This will help them grow, and you never what else it could bring to your business.
Turn negatives into positives
When something goes wrong and someone has made a mistake, use it as a learning opportunity rather than focusing on the negative. Go over where things went wrong and talk to them about what could have been handled differently, then brainstorm for the future.
Offer on-the-job training
When looking for a job, many job-seekers want to know what on the job training there will be. Offering development in a role is very attractive to employees and something that you want to maintain once you have them in your team.
Providing on the job training will not only help your employees to continue to learn and grow, but it empowers them with the knowledge that they can pass onto their coworkers, thus practising their leadership skills themselves.
No one is suggesting you need to offer them a masters in business management, however, if you can then great. But even if it is lunch and learns sessions, one-on-one learning sessions, sending them to conferences or if you can hire companies to come in and give training at your office are all really great ways of engaging and teaching your employees.