Value Employee Skill Building

When you have the opportunity to lead an organization, build enduring professional relationships with your employees. Start by establishing the values of the organization, and create a safe work ecosystem. Let them know that you care about the well-being of them and the organization. Be emotionally and materially invested in helping all your staff to be successful.

You and your direct reports have to be emotionally and materially invested in helping staff build skills and succeed. Don’t be tempted to cut the training budget when funding is tight. You must continue to invest in your most important asset—your employees.

Here is an example of a weekly update blog post committing to help all staff build cutting-edge skills: “Annual performance evaluations are due this month. I hope you all have taken time to reflect on your accomplishments and set goals for the year ahead. Consider what professional training would be most valuable for sharpening your skills and set the mutual expectation with your supervisor that you will complete this training in the coming year. All the team leaders and senior managers in our organization are committed to helping you build cutting-edge skills. Moreover, we are all committed to your career growth and a healthy work–life balance.”

Throughout the year, in the weekly blog posts, we included links to relevant articles related to improving customer service, dealing with conflict, management trends, and fun topics. Often, these articles were discovered by team leaders and their team members. We would always recognize those employees who contributed to the collective organizational knowledge base. And in my office, there were multiple copies of books on hand that helped me over the years: Managing Expectations, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Crucial Conversations, and The Five Languages of Apology. I would freely hand these out as discussions with employees warranted.

At times, ad hoc training is in order. After a series of painful presentations by our rising senior managers to customer steering groups, we brought in Speakeasy Inc., a communication consulting company, to help the managers develop public speaking skills. Speakeasy Inc., believes effective speakers are made through the use of learnable techniques and systemic practice. We conducted several on-site courses called “Develop Your Speaking Style,” which included videotaping presentations and coaching. We also encouraged staff participation in Toastmasters International. Toastmasters International offers an affordable, fun, in-person or online club environment where you can learn to present well, mentor others, and advance your career.