Cultivate A Growth Mindset
Done is better than perfect.
How do I create an environment that will promote employee growth and development?
Having employees who mindlessly fulfil tasks and tick off items from to-do lists seems like an efficient way to run a business, but this fixed mindset will lead to stagnation and will have your business growing nowhere, slowly.
Fostering an environment of growth and development might be slightly riskier and require a greater input from you, but the long-term rewards are absolutely worth it.
Medium.com makes a convincing case for incorporating growth mindset principles into your management style and strategy.
Discuss your own challenges and how you overcame them openly.
One of the easiest ways to embrace growth and development is, to be honest about your own journey. Very few business owners have had a seamless rise to the top.
Normalise struggle and embrace a culture of transparency when it comes to mistakes and challenges.
Another way to achieve growth is to embrace the word “yet”.
Finding a balance between expecting perfection from the get-go and acknowledging that works in progress and “first drafts” are delivered on time, can be valuable tools in promoting employee growth.
Planning timelines for tasks that allow for evaluation and revision before final completion is one of the most sensible ways to ensure that each job becomes a learning opportunity.
“This is a good start, but we are not there yet.”
Don’t underestimate your own in-house knowledge.
Motivate more senior employees to enter into mentorship relationships with younger employees and reward co-operation. Encourage the mentors to not be stingy with their knowledge and to understand that a more educated and capable employee pool benefits everyone.
Try to eradicate workplace jealousy and backstabbing by making well-regulated mentorships part of the company culture. Successful skills transferring in itself is a valuable thing for employees to learn.
Set (achievable) goals and celebrate successes.
Give employees a matrix against which to measure themselves with a clear end date in mind. Short term company-wide drives with the prospect of a personal reward can motivate and energize employees to embrace self-improvement.
This doesn’t just have to be work-related. Challenges to improve physical health, kick bad habits, or work on a personal goal can be just as effective at fostering a growth mindset as drives to improve workstation neatness or timekeeping/admin skills.
Finally, give credit where it is due.
Give fair recognition when an employee shows improvement or comes up with a solution for a problem. Reward personal growth and innovation.
