Most people often jump at their first chance at employment straight out of college. With their diplomas still fresh off the printers and promises to change the world, they enter the workplace with their heads held high. Some survive long enough to become trailblazers, but many are simply overwhelmed by the harsh realities of adulthood.
Indeed, the routines of a corporate employee in a real-life professional setting are very different from those depicted in the media. Not everyone with big dreams manages to be in the limelight and become revolutionary. There are plenty of people whose sliver of hope dimmed and slowly died over the years because the burden of responsibilities replaced it.
Oftentimes, this can happen when there are no growth opportunities in the workplace. People who enter an office with big dreams can either disrupt the status quo and inspire change, or they can be forced to conform. If the latter keeps happening, more dreams will fade into nothingness.
But the concrete jungle doesn’t have to be the place where dreams die. If anything, it should be able to help people realize their dreams and progress into the future. But that can be difficult if all they do is give without getting anything in return. Employees need their employers to invest in them too, and here are three ways for you to do just that:
Schedule Relevant Seminars and Training
You must assume that your employees have no other time to deliberately seek opportunities to learn outside of work. They could be dealing with problems at home that you know nothing about or working part-time jobs on weekends just to make ends meet, which is why you must make time for that within working hours.
If you were to bring the learning opportunities to them inside the bounds of work, they might be keener on accepting the help. For starters, you can introduce your employees to lifelong learning and how the practice can help them grow as individuals. This can be delivered through a seminar or training session.
Then, you can work your way from there to widen their perspectives and provide opportunities to learn about subject matters relevant to your industry. Of course, the best way to make these seminars fruitful is by inviting a professional keynote speaker with experience on the topic, so take note of that.
The seminars and training don’t always have to be grand. You can schedule it once a month or at least every quarter, like a refresher course but on different topics. The important thing is that it occurs during working hours so that all your employees will have the opportunity to learn and grow equally.
Incentivize Online Courses and Extra Credits
Aside from the regular seminars at the office, you can also offer incentives for employees who want to hone their skills outside of working hours. Not everyone enjoys the same privileges as others, which means you can’t assign tasks that will cost your employees money. You must provide it for them.
There are plenty of online learning platforms for different skills and subject matters that are free to anyone, but the more in-depth courses often come at a price. Maybe the few dollars won’t hurt some people’s budgets, but to others, it could mean not being able to put food on the table for the day.
However, that small investment in your employees’ professional growth can prove beneficial to your company’s bottom line. If you think about it, making some room in your office’s budget to put towards employee development can be a worthwhile investment. All you have to do is go over your budget allocation to see if it’s feasible.
Look into Leadership Coaching Sessions
No two people are the same. Even if you have two employees from the same degree and university in your office, they will deliver different levels of performance simply because they are different people. This means that you can’t expect all your employees to be of the same caliber.
Every person works in their own way. Some may be fine working on their own without supervision, while others need more guidance to accomplish the same task. And that should be okay because they are not robots. But what you can do is help them in whatever way you can.
Sometimes, this could be in the form of one-on-one coaching sessions. Most employees work harder and better when they know that their superiors show that they are valued for more than their contributions; so, be patient and guide them towards the right direction. It could work wonders for your business.
Investments don’t always have to be monetary; inside the workplace, it’s more beneficial for your employees to receive opportunities to grow and showcase their skills. And that’s what you can do. You can encourage your employees to begin lifelong learning and develop their skills, which can benefit your business in the long run.
