Do you recall the last time you used a straw? Think about how it works. You suck on the top to remove air. This creates a vacuum, or absence of air. Meanwhile, the weight of several miles of air is pressing down on your drink. The pressure from all this air pushes your drink up the straw to fill the vacuum and into your mouth. Aaaah, doesn’t that taste good.
Employee development works the same way. Create a vacuum above your staff and pressure, pressure from within themselves, pressure from their peers, and pressure from the competitive market will cause them to rise up and fill the vacuum.
This is good for everyone. Your staff feel they are growing, they take pride in what they accomplish and do better work as a result. You get happier, more productive employees, doing better quality work and lower attrition. Win, win.
Hip Shots
- Be there to catch them if they trip but don’t micro manage. Allow employee to step up and they will.
- There will be mistakes. Focus on the attempt and reward the effort. They will try harder next time.
- The solutions they find may not be what you would do. Don’t say it’s wrong, celebrate the innovation.
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I really liked the 3 points you made and all are important because if there isn’t enough of a support system, then instead of being motivated, employees feel the opposite because it builds stress and frustration.