Offering a career development program to employees can lead to increased motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction in the workplace. However, creating an effective plan is a challenging task for companies unfamiliar with promoting the growth of their staff.
The following guide will describe seven ways you can contribute to the professional advancement of your team members.
How to Help Employees with Career Development
1. Encourage your team to assess their skillset
Having a thorough understanding of the strengths an employee brings to a company will heavily influence their career path. Certain positions are better suited to workers with specific qualities, such as shift leaders and event coordinators who need strong multitasking skills to succeed in their roles. Employers who are familiar with their staff’s best traits can guide them to jobs requiring specific talents that overlap with their abilities.
Giving the employee the opportunity to assess their skills may even reveal strengths they were unaware they possessed and provide them with a better understanding of and confidence in the areas they excel in. Highlighting what qualities make team members an asset to your company will increase their self-confidence and uncover new career opportunities they might not have considered before. If the assessment brings attention to underdeveloped skills, then you can work with the employee to improve their weaker traits as needed for their current or future roles.
2. Promote training and development
A worker who is not given the opportunity to expand their abilities will never have the chance to professionally develop over time. Training programs provide staff members with the necessary education for becoming a valuable part of the workplace by teaching them specialized skills and familiarizing them with the duties of other positions in the company. Those who take and appreciate the program may become more loyal to your organization.
Offering training, including reskilling and upskilling courses and cross-training, to employees will lead to additional benefits for the company. Not only will employees gain additional skills that will boost their own career growth, but in the case of unforeseen events such as layoffs, you as an employer will more easily be able to redeploy remaining employees for business continuity. You can also use the programs to prepare high-potential employees for more senior positions rather than risk hiring an unknown applicant who is unfamiliar with the company’s culture and policies.
3. Mentorship programs
Businesses may set up mentorship programs to help new employees become acquainted with their positions and the workplace by forming in-house connections with experienced employees. Those who have worked in the company will be familiar with the brand’s culture, values, and expectations for staff members, which makes the mentor a perfect fit for answering questions and giving vital advice to the trainee. Learning by example allows employees to better understand their obligations in the workplace.
Those who consider transferring into a different department of an organization can also benefit from participating in mentorship programs. Attending sessions with the mentor will give the mentee an accurate impression of their desired role while also providing them with first-hand experience. Businesses may ask their mentors to submit an evaluation of the trainee to determine if they will be a suitable fit for the position, and to gain insight into the worker’s skills.
4. Train managers
Managerial training programs can give talented entry-level workers an opportunity to grow from within the company, which can lead to an increased desire to maintain an excellent work ethic. Having the option to be trained for advanced positions in the same corporation may even reduce the likelihood of employees transitioning to a new career outside the brand. Those who are trained and promoted from within the organization will already be familiar with the company’s practices and culture, which helps the worker avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
Employers can customize training programs to help aspiring managers develop crucial soft skills and talents that are specific to their brand, such as organizations with an emphasis on quality customer service incorporating extra hospitality courses into their programs. The history and mission of the corporation may be reinforced during the training sessions to ensure the company’s future leaders embody the core values that represent the brand.
5. Offer career coaching
There may be situations where employees find themselves unsure about how to advance their career, whether it be due to a lack of direction for their future or a desire to venture into a new functional area within your organization. Offering career coaching can give your team members some needed professional guidance to help them feel more fulfilled, confident, and invested in their careers. They can do this by guiding the employee through self-discovery exercises and assessments and working with them to develop a strategy to meet their professional goals. Employees who create such job-related goals for themselves are also likely to stay productive and motivated while working.
6. Empower employees to create a career development plan
Staying invested in the wellbeing of your staff members will contribute towards a positive working environment and increased growth in your staff’s professional abilities. Empowering employees to make their own career development plans is also an effective way for companies to show people how the brand is interested in the success of its staff, which may improve the organization’s reputation for both employees and consumers.
Businesses can select from several forms of encouragement when promoting their career counseling services to workers. Providing team members with readily available resources such as webinars, career-related workshops, and links to informational blogs will help them improve their knowledge of important developmental topics. A company’s staff should also have convenient access to career coaches in case employees desire professional assistance with their plans.
7. Identify and encourage unique skills
Learning the special traits of a worker can differentiate them from others in the workforce when applying for future positions. Employees may even have prior work experience that can be repurposed for new careers, like a former artist who can use their talents to design logos for businesses. Encouraging people to take pride in their unique abilities and apply their skills in different ways will lead to more confident staff members, and should promote creative thinking in the workplace.
Career development services are essential resources that all businesses should strive to provide for their employees. Employers can use the methods listed above to give workers the crucial tools they need to grow into stronger assets for the company, while also helping them work towards a fulfilling career that is appropriate for their skillset.INTOO helps employers of all sizes with cost-effective solutions for every stage of the employee lifecycle, including candidate experience, career development, and outplacement services. Contact us to learn how we can make a difference for you and your employees.JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZyZXNvdXJjZXMuaW50b28uY29tJTJGaHVic0Zyb250JTJGZW1iZWRfY3RhJTJGMzk5MTI4JTIyJTIwc2Nyb2xsJTNEJTIybm9uZSUyMiUyMGJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjB3aWR0aCUzRCUyMjI1MCUyMiUyMGhlaWdodCUzRCUyMjMzMCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==
Robyn Kern is a seasoned business writer who has written in the HR, education, technology, and nonprofit spaces. She writes about topics including outplacement, layoffs, career development, internal mobility, candidate experience, succession planning, talent acquisition, and more, with the goal of surfacing workforce trends and educating the HR community on these key topics. Her work has been featured on hrforhr.org and trainingindustry.com.