Successful Ways to Encourage Employee Development and Strengthen Your Team

1. Encourage Continued Learning
Encourage continued learning to develop the potential of each employee further. Knowledge transfer proves intrinsic to business success, since employees learn from one another.
Cross-training can take place across various departments, sometimes with surprising results — including administration, operations, sales, customer service and marketing. While employees expect to self-learn on the job, they may feel lost about what to pursue. Cross-training will help raise team spirits and allow flexibility when employees need somebody to cover their responsibilities. It also gives employees more confidence to help their coworkers when they’re stuck on a problem.

2. Co-Create Paths to Success with Employees
Leaders can offer a primary source of knowledge for employees who don’t want to wait forever for opportunities to develop. Push employees to grow outside of their comfort zones and to innovate and experiment. Offer more than just words of support and get involved through direct mentorship and outlining milestones and paths to success for employees.
It builds trust when employees feel your direct involvement in their career paths. Your employees will know you're invested in their futures beyond what you can get out of them before burnout happens.

3. Small Opportunities Provide Major Growth Opportunities
Give employees ample opportunities to take risks and pitch new ideas. This also teaches them how to back up their ideas with evidence and research. Representing the company at a conference, trade show or client meeting seems like a waste of gas at first, but in truth, such small opportunities mean much to employees. They also gain opportunities to network for professional and company advantage.

4. Offer Regular Feedback
Each year, you call employees into one-on-one meetings for annual reviews, addressing improvements to be made and praising positive contributions. Giving constructive criticism feels the most difficult because you want to encourage your employees without making them feel discouraged.
In truth, employees crave more feedback at work. Soon, millennials will represent the largest cohort within the workforce, and they desire regular feedback at work. More constructive and positive feedback for all professionals cultivates openness in the workplace.

5. Increase Team-Building Efforts
Positive work culture is an often-overlooked amenity that employees look for while job searching, and it also helps retain employees over time. Negative work culture doesn't motivate anyone to do their job well or encourage effective communication.

SOURCE:.forbes.com