Continuous Employee Growth: Benefits And How To Encourage It

Updated 20 October 2022

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Growth is beneficial to both the success of an organisation and the careers of its employees. Employee growth programmes help companies to discover new talent, improve productivity and reduce employee turnover. Knowing how to encourage regular employee development and implement a programme for doing so can help you foster a culture of learning in the organisation you work for. In this article, we discuss what continuous employee growth is, why it is important and how you can facilitate it.

What Is Continuous Employee Growth?

Continuous employee growth is an ongoing training process rather than a one-time or short-term training opportunity. It is the process of encouraging the development of employees' existing abilities, investing in them and assisting them in gaining new skills to meet changing organisational needs. Effective employee development helps to align business objectives with the personal aspirations of team members. Employee growth programmes include daily plans and employee assessments.

Training and education are crucial for the professional and personal growth of both employees and employers and can occur both inside and outside of the classroom. Examples of classroom training include theoretical training for government-mandated licences and sessions for newly hired personnel. On-the-job training, development programmes, coaching, mentoring and daily meetings are examples of continuous employee development that takes place outside of the classroom.

Why Is Continuous Employee Growth Important?

Below are some of the reasons why regular employee growth is crucial to the improvement of employees and organisations:

Increases company efficiency and profitability

Employees that engage in continuous learning can perform their tasks more effectively and efficiently. They focus on the knowledge they require without spending time on material they already know. They look for how-to manuals or video tutorials to overcome challenges or learn new skills. This initiative and focus on learning enable them to generate more accurate outcomes with greater efficiency, which can improve company performance and reduce employee turnover.

Helps employees to develop their careers

Many employees seek opportunities for career advancement. Continuous learning opportunities can help them to progress within the company, receive promotions and accomplish their objectives. Personalised evaluations and learning goals can help them achieve their career goals. Opportunities for advancement are beneficial to both employees and the company, as it can result in employees feeling greater loyalty to the company, reducing turnover.

Enhances team knowledge

Another advantage of ongoing employee development is the expansion of knowledge among team members. You can achieve this by establishing a learning programme. This gives employees a central area to look for information and training. You can also encourage knowledge sharing by asking top-performing employees to produce training content for their colleagues.

Increases morale

Ongoing employee development programmes can improve employee morale by helping you create an atmosphere where employees feel that you care about their success and support their aspirations. Programmes with industry-expert content and knowledge-sharing and productivity-enhancing features can help to facilitate learning and provide opportunities for development. They can also help employees to address challenges quickly, which improves teamwork and morale.

Aids in creating an internal leadership pipeline

A company can create a strong leadership pipeline when its employees consistently focus on professional development and skill-building. This enables you to fill unforeseen gaps or new positions without having to hire new staff. It also facilitates internal promotions.

Prepares employees for industry changes

Technological advancements can cause disruptions as employees learn new processes. By encouraging continuous improvement, you can adopt a proactive strategy for developing employees' skills. This can equip them with the knowledge they require to stay up to date with industry changes.

Encourages a culture of cooperation and teamwork

Continuous professional development can be a team activity, even if it seems to be an individualised process. Integrating growth programmes into the work culture of an organisation can encourage information sharing across teams. It can also encourage collaboration across different departments and employee levels.

How To Encourage Continuous Employee Growth

Encouraging employee growth has numerous advantages. Below are some ways that you can promote learning in an organisation and encourage employees to grow:

1. Provide training to new hires

The easiest way to convey to employees that their professional development is important is by emphasising it during on-boarding. By providing professional training from the beginning of their employment with the company, you make them aware of opportunities for advancement. It also demonstrates the company's interest in its employees and its dedication to building the skills of its workforce.

2. Focus on developing soft skills

Soft skills such as teamwork, leadership, time management, collaboration and communication are valuable in the workplace. You can help employees to strengthen them by setting up workshops and training sessions. These sessions and workshops can also help you to improve the company culture and encourage collaboration.

3. Encourage personal development

It is not necessary for employee growth to relate to their careers. Employee development is even more beneficial if it is all-encompassing and provides opportunities for personal growth and skill-building. Promoting employee wellbeing can help employees grow personally. Giving employees the chance to advance intellectually, manage their emotions or improve their physical health can have a positive impact on their performance at work.

4. Facilitate regular employee feedback

One of the most crucial tools for promoting employee growth is continuous employee feedback. When employees regularly receive feedback on their performance, they are aware of their strengths and opportunities for development. This is essential for their growth since it helps them recognise the abilities they could develop to progress.

5. Recognise the efforts of employees

Similar to providing feedback, encouraging positive behaviours, abilities and actions that align with the vision of the organisation can help the staff progress. This makes employee appreciation crucial for professional growth. It helps to foster a sense of security and appreciation in the members of the workforce and can improve their confidence in their abilities.

6. Encourage the sharing of knowledge

Even though hierarchies exist in organisations, engaging with employees of all levels when it comes to education can encourage everyone to participate actively in the process. You can do so by regularly sharing what you see, learn and experience. Another way to share knowledge is to encourage team members to attend conferences and workshops with you. It may motivate them to learn more and take on additional responsibilities.

7. Actively offer development resources

You may want to inform employees that the organisation encourages continuous development to ensure that they actively work on it. You can achieve this by letting new hires know about internal learning tools upon on-boarding and periodically reminding them to use them. Another way to achieve this is to let employees know that there is a budget set aside for their professional development and that the business may pay for any conferences, workshops, or other educational opportunities they want to attend. You can also organise workshops or encourage employees to run coaching sessions and share their knowledge.

8. Conduct weekly one-on-one meetings

One-on-one sessions are a great way to keep employees accountable and make them feel like part of the company. They are also an excellent opportunity for employees to share their knowledge. This can make them feel valued and demonstrates that their opinions matter to the organisation, improving their morale.

9. Set team learning objectives

You can encourage teams in the organisation to set learning objectives. Each team member may have their own personal learning objectives, and one person on the team can be in charge of monitoring progress towards individual goals. Having someone in charge of following up also helps to ensure that everyone has what they require to achieve their learning objective.