Personal development of employees: It is very important that your employees are always able to develop personally, they become more vital, more motivated and employee retention increases.
What do you and your organization do to motivate and encourage this among your employees?
Read also: How to keep employees motivated and increase success.
Key Features of Personal Development
One of the most discussed management books is “The 7 properties for effective leadership” by Stephen Covey, of which more than 25 million copies have been sold. The book is mainly about their own behaviour at work or in their private life. In this book, Covey describes the influence of this behaviour and the associated influence on the different relationships with other people. But it is not just about your own behaviour and about the influence on others. Personal development and self-care should also be taken into account.
Read this article to find out how you can keep your employees healthy
Keep the Saw Sharp
In other words, by freeing up the time to “sharpen” yourself, you can be much more effective with the rest of your time. In order to continue your development and to be successful and effective, then taking good care of yourself is necessary.
Covey describes four dimensions ;
- Physical dimension: Healthy well-balanced diet, sufficient physical activity (30 minutes per day).
- Spiritual dimension: Simply put it, think and do things that inspire you, these ensure innovation and growth. For some people, this may be music, for others religion or for some reading.
- Mental dimension: Our mental development. Study and discipline are important. For example, following education or another study, course or training, work-related or not;
- Social-emotional dimension: Developing, using, maintaining your emphatic capacity.
So What is the Importance of Taking Good Care of Yourself, and How Does This Benefit the Employer?
“When a chicken lays golden eggs it is important that the chicken itself is well taken care of to guarantee that golden eggs will be laid in the future”.
Finding and keeping a balance.
It is important and most effective if a good balance can be found within the four dimensions. Covey states in his book that every individual can develop almost endlessly. Ultimately, it is about finding the right balance.
As an employer you can ask; do I give my employee the space to develop personally, not only to grow but also to relax? And what is given in return? Efficient and effective staff who appreciate their employer, you will find yourself becoming a desired employer for new talent that is wanting to pursue personal growth and development. In short: binding and captivating are investments in vital employees. Binding and captivating are investing in vital employees.
Monitor Personal Development
The 1-2-1 Key performance indicator meeting is inextricably linked to the personal development of employees. As a rule, this assessment is held once a year, sometimes combined with an interim update.
Leadership guru Ben Tiggelaar talks about the ‘conviction interview’ when an appraisal interview is held once a year. Many employees experience stress because of this interview. Normally held once a year, a number of positive points are recorded, and then the X amount of points discussed for improvement.
More about Personal Development here.
Employees are Against the Assessment Interview
The reason that employees go against the assessment interview is not strange. Nobody wants to hear what he has done wrong after a year of work and what he or she needs to improve on. After all, we all want to be seen, heard and appreciated!
Read more on how to set Learning goals
Seen, Heard and Appreciated!
How unjust is a review that is only held once a year? Once a year, as an employee, you get to hear what your ‘points for improvement’ are and then after a year you will be asked why you did not do this. (if at least one year later, you look back on the previous assessment form) has the opportunity really been given to develop as an employee in the ‘points for improvement’?
The Appraisal Interview as a Developer of the Six-culture
Many companies have a framework in which employees can operate. Logically, of course. Otherwise, everyone would be able to do anything. There are set guidelines for how we should function together. A kind of common denominator that we have to meet. The appraisal interview assesses whether an employee meets these requirements. If an employee deviates from this standard, there are development points. It has become so common and normal that we no longer think about it.
Viewed from a distance, this is quite strange. We have employees with enormous talents, qualities, and potential but rather categories them in a ‘job description’ box. Often, consideration is given to the lesser qualities of an employee, who naturally have to comply with a certain guideline, while it is far more interesting to pay attention to the strengths of an employee.
Research shows that an employee is nine times as effective when he/she can use his / her strengths.
What happens if full attention is paid to the lesser points of an employee? A ‘six-culture’ arises because that time and attention can no longer be spent on personal talents and thus fades away.
“Boosts in the organization adapt to what people can do”
This indeed means that the boxes in the organization need to be adapted more to the people who work there. That you train employees in the direction where their passion and pleasure lie. That you let people work together that complement each other (strong and weak).
There is indeed a chance that employees will develop beyond their ”job description”. After a while, they develop too many qualities to stay in that position longer and they get the feeling that they can do more. The balance between performance and remuneration is then disrupted and an employee goes in search of ‘more’.
Sustainable employment, reducing absence and improving motivation. How?
Inflow, Through Flow and Outflow Policy
We are already talking about the autonomous development of an employee. A development in which the employee is at the helm, and facilitates the leadership of this development.
As an organization, you do well to foster this development by using a well-considered inflow, through flow and outflow policy.
Intake Policy
Looking for a new employee (internal or external). The search for a specific character profile that fits with the work to be done over the next three years (not for the next 30 years ).
Flow Policy
The policy to let people develop further within the organization. This can be both horizontal and vertical. By letting employees flow with their own qualities and talents.
Outflow Policy
Let an employee develop so far, that he is looking for new learning opportunities.
Personal Development of Employees and Sustainable Employ-ability.
The relationship between personal development of employees and sustainable employ-ability is substantial. The importance of facilitating the personal development of employees in an autonomous way, too.
To develop this in the organization is very difficult. It requires long-term thinking and solid strategic choices. But what would happen to the organization if everyone were twice as effective? Let alone 9 times as effective?
We are now talking about a culture change that could take many years to complete. This means that the rudder cannot be changed radically, but that if there is a change of course by just 1% today, an organization will reach a completely different location in three years’ time.
Another useful article: How to keep employees motivated
Apply Learning Goals for Employees in Practice:
Who Are We?
Milltain, with a team of experienced trainers, supports organizations in the prevention of stress and the (re) finding of work happiness in the workplace. Our training courses are aimed at managers within companies. A burnout quickly costs the organization € 70,000.
In addition to financial suffering, human suffering is high. Not only for the employee but also for close colleagues who have to deal with the blows. Before you know it you are in a negative vicious circle.
