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Four Professional Growth Issues For Managers (And How To Address Them)
Managers, when it comes to your employees where does professional development rank in your list of priorities?
A. It’s vitally important and I discuss it frequently
B. It’s important but don’t talk about it much
C. It’s not important - or - there are more important things to focus on
If you answered ‘A’ above…congratulations! Keep on doing what you’re doing. However, for all you folks who answered ‘B’ or ‘C’, let’s have a friendly chat, okay? I won’t lay a guilt trip on you (okay…try not to) and I promise by the end you’ll come away with a new appreciation for why growing your employees is important.
When I work with managers, I often hear four common reasons for why professional development gets pushed to the backburner:
Good Ol’ Fashion Fear of Change
Perhaps the greatest fear expressed is that if you grow someone, you’ll grow them right off your team or out of your organization. That might just be true. When people grow as professionals, they do change…and change can bring fear. In this case, it’s the fear of changes in the environment. There might also be a fear that if the employee leaves you just paid for growth that will benefit another organization and not your own.
So, what if you grow an employee and they leave? As Jamie Notter once pointed out, think of it this way: what if you don’t grow them and they stay?
What you can do: It’s time to confront this fear and realize that professionals must hone themselves or else they become dull and rather useless. If the employee stays, they’ll be far more useful to your organization’s purpose. Yet if the employee leaves, you can still take pride in the fact that you helped them move on to something important. And here’s an often ignored bonus: you now have a potentially new social link to another organization in order to share ideas and experiences.
Not Enough Time or Resources
This usually follows with, “When things settle down and get less crazy, then I’ll be able to give more focus to professional development.” Here’s the problem with that statement: it’s never going to get less crazy than it is now. If anything, it’s just going to get crazier.
What you can do: Stop finding reasons for not making disciplined time or resources available around professional development for your people. If time is the reason, create ways for your employees to make time (e.g., move some lower priority tasks off their plate to make room for professional development). If resources are the reason, it’s time to evaluate where you spend your money. If you don’t see professional development as an investment in your company’s future success, there may be something there to reflect on further.
We Have Bigger Problems to Solve Right Now
See above. Again, it comes down to priorities. Also, ask yourself this: Would growing the skills, experiences, and knowledge of our employees help us solve this problems more effectively?
It’s the Employee’s Responsibility
Managers, if this is your belief we need to work on changing that now. Here’s a simple question: what is your role in your organization? Take a few minutes to reflect on this. Hopefully, somewhere in your response, the word lead appeared. If you are a leader, know that a key responsibility of leaders is to produce more leaders. That takes a firm belief in the value of growing your employees.
What you can do: Assume the responsibility for growing your people. Yes, it’s the employee’s responsibility to be open and eager to achieve their own development (it’s the old horse and water thing). Yet, you must create these professional development openings and then create the space for your employees to use what they’ve learned. Going back to the first issue around the fear of employees leaving…if an employee has the ability to grow and use this new growth in their work, they’ll likely be far happier and fulfilled in what they do.
Remember managers…if your employees look good, then you’re going to look good. The manager/employee dynamic can be a mutually beneficial relationship…particularly if you take care of your employees and their need for professional development.
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Chris,
This is a really good, straightforward, and practical read for any manager. (Make sure it’s part of any book you decide to write or workshop that you deliver).
Here’s what I’m seeing: Many companies, including ones with which I consult, are not emphasizing “manager as developer”; they’re going for results, today.
Even in light of the research and all of those best-selling leadership tomes, there is less development taking place in large organizations than 20 years ago. Small and medium sized firms are paying the most attention.
This is surprising, since the “War for Talent” is partially about satisfying top-notch candidates’ expressed desire for development.
Some of the biggest have decided to enter the battle without any ammunition.
Keep writing…
Great post. In the non-profit industry, particularly, there has to be reasons for younger employees to stick around when the pay and perks are better in the for-profit world. Employers need to be aware of ways to attract and keep their best employees.
Steve, I might argue that the smaller ones don’t practice employee development any better than their larger peers. What’s interesting is that from my observations…the reasons are largely the same as I listed above. And I think that if you asked most managers to tell you what talents are available to them through their team, they’d give you a glassy-eyed stare. Talent goes where it can be appreciated and cultivated…too bad most managers still haven’t discovered this, yet.
Maddie, I totally agree. This post is influenced by my 10 years in non-profits from both a manager and employee perspective. It’s in associations and other similar organizations that growing staff is even more vital to keeping them engaged.
[...] Bailey wrote Four Professional Growth Issues For Managers (And How To Address Them). My favorite line [...]
I think the article hits on some very good points. I believe that one of the most important traits for any successful manager is RESPONSIVENESS. Far to often I have seen the lack of response from a co-worker, boss, vendor etc. turn an issue into a speculation “game.” People will eventually come to their own conclusions and this could have a negative impact on the company. Again Identifying one’s strengths and including responsiveness are important actions to apply.
Mark Salinas
Insights on the World of Business Management