Customer experience is vital to the success of your site, and your business. Your website is the first place your customers will go to find out about your company, so you want to optimize their experience to the max. You need good web design to make your site clear to navigate and with engaging contact to draw customer interest. It’s also important to keep on top of user analytics and measure customer satisfaction. Don’t forget to offer sufficient customer support and you could even add a personal touch. Here are five ways to improve customer experience on your site.
Work with a web design agency
The web design needs to be perfect, not only for customer experience but also for SEO. For this reason, it’s advisable to hire a web design agency that has the expertise and the resources to help you. Site navigation needs to be simple and easy. If your customers can’t find what they’re looking for it won’t take them much effort to change to a competitor’s site. It’s also important to include things like a strong call-to-action and plenty of options for customer support.
Create engaging content
If you really want to drive up interest in your business you also need to create engaging content on your site. A web design or digital marketing agency can help you do this as well. Video is very popular, for example, or instructional guidelines on how to use your products. You could try out different forms of media as well such as podcasts and long informative blog articles.
User analytics
It’s vital to constantly measure customer satisfaction in order to improve it. You can do this using some of the best website analytical tools. It’s also a good idea to create buyer personas for your target audience and try to relate as much as you can to their needs and interests. You could also carry out surveys for your customer to give feedback. You could offer a promo code or voucher in exchange for doing this. Include any positive customer testimonials on your site in order to build trust.
Optimize keywords
Keywords are what tend to link SEO and customer experience. Your customers will arrive at your site depending on what they enter into Google. A web design agency can give you plenty of advice on how to choose the right keywords. It’s a good idea to analyze the competition and test Google to find out which keywords and phrases work best.
Personalized marketing campaigns
In order to improve customer experience, you could even personalize your marketing and email campaigns. CRM software and email marketing services can help you here. This is a great way to humanize your brand by greeting customers by name, without overstepping the mark of course. Here are some more tips to personalize marketing campaigns. The more you try to reach out to the right customers, the more you’ll improve their experience and generate more interest. You’re also more likely to turn clicks into leads.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/sitemap-2488231_1280-1-2.jpg9611280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-10-13 16:00:162020-11-07 19:53:095 Ways to Improve Customer Experience on Your Site
Starting a new business is a logistical challenge. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that will eat up your time, and before you know it, you are all ready to launch – and have absolutely zero interest from the public. You cannot keep your new business a secret while you are building it up. Your pre-launch time provides you the perfect opportunity to drum up interest in your local and digital community. Do this successfully, and you launch with a bang.
This is your business. It is not a hobby or something you can afford to learn as you go. For you to taste success, you need to be serious about it from the outset. This guide will help you to choose who to hire and what to look for when outsourcing work.
Start with Your Website
While your store is being renovated, your website should be built. It is your digital store. It is where you want to send people to sign up for newsletters, make online purchases, and generally connect with your value-driven content like blogs, videos, and more. It does not have to be complex, but it does need to look great, function exceptionally well, and be optimized for search engines.
Start first with hiring a logo illustrator and a web designer. You can save on costs with the website design by finding and buying an eCommerce theme, and then hiring the web designer to set it up, so it looks great and has all the functions you need to run your business online.
Build Up Your Marketing Materials
Marketing materials include blog posts, video, editorial images, product photos, and more. It is best to have someone on your team that can handle this, as it gives you the greatest control, but if you need to save on costs here, use a mixture of your own content, stock photography, and videography, and in the future, user-generated content.
Hire a Digital Marketing Agency
To grow your presence, you will want to hire the best Orlando digital marketing agency. This agency should be able to handle your pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, your social media marketing, and your search engine optimization (SEO). By offloading these tasks, you can avoid many new businesses’ many pitfalls when first starting out. So far, you have a great website. Now you need a digital marketing agency to use your website and marketing content to build up an exceptional online presence.
Use These PR Strategies
You have the website, you have the marketing materials, and now you have the marketing strategy in the works. All that is left is expanding your marketing efforts into good old public relations. A good way to get the coverage you want is to plan a big launch event for your business. Local news sites and influencers alike are always on the lookout for something big happening in their area, and a cool party launch is exactly what they are looking for.
Plan the event and send out press releases to local news sites and influencers. Start small, and as more and more start to give your launch coverage, work your way up to larger publications for the widest reach.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/idea-1876659_1280-1.jpg7681280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-10-12 16:00:492020-10-13 15:41:25The Strategy-Driven Solution to Driving Up Interest Before New Business Launch
The seismic effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic have impacted every single aspect of our lives, with the workplace and commerce in general changing unrecognisably in the space of just a few months. As workplaces transform and adapt in an effort to overcome the unique challenges they’re facing, so too do business leaders have to change and grow in order to remain effective. The pandemic has clearly shown us that leadership is much needed, and as the future continues to be uncertain, it will matter even more as we try to salvage an economic and social recovery. The right leadership has become a matter of life and death – quite literally in a lot of cases – and strong and intelligent leaders are now required to manage fractured supply chains, piece together industries and revive customer confidence. So, what are the key traits of successful leadership in a post pandemic world?
Empathy
You may have never thought of empathy as a key trait of a successful leader. But really, the pandemic has been a collective trauma for everyone, so displaying an understanding of that is absolutely crucial. Empathy can be displayed towards your own staff and also to society in general, modelling yourself after leaders such as Joz Opdeweegh who have called for support in society to combat the worst effects of the pandemic. Implementing Employee Assistance Programs and making sure they’re functioning effectively is a must, as is providing genuine support and encouragement to staff. You may need to also review some of your HR policies, especially around areas such as sick leave, dependents leave and access to counselling. If you fear that you lack natural empathy, make sure to surround yourself with others on your organization that do – you need to avoid any responses that may be seen as tone deaf or insensitive, as you could really damage employee morale and loyalty at a critical time.
Consistency
One of the things causing such distress for a lot of people is the lack of consistency that the pandemic has brought – rules changing overnight, conditions escalating rapidly. No one likes to live with continuing uncertainty, so it’s our role as leaders to provide consistency with our approach. Always base your decisions and communications on data. Making data-driven decisions removes emotion and bias from the equation and allows you to explain your decision making. Communicate clearly and frequently, even if there aren’t many new items to relay. This gives staff a sense of confidence and a knowledge that they can rely on your updates, and it doesn’t create a void for gossip and speculation to fill.
Flexibility
This ability definitely needs to become part of your professional development goals.
The ability to pivot is more vital than ever, as customer needs, supply changes and the economic landscape around us all shift rapidly. Responsiveness will begin to define those companies who are able to thrive and those which are devastated. Review new information and circumstances constantly in order to incorporate them into your decision making.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-markus-spiske-1679618-2.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-10-12 12:00:122020-10-13 15:45:38What Qualities Really Define A Business Leader Post Pandemic?
People are your business’s most valuable assets. However, they also represent assets that may be difficult to manage. Because owners frequently overlook employee management when launching a business, it is important to acquire this skill and cultivate it. Doing so will help you realize a faster earnings stream and will give you the incentives needed to grow and expand.
Find the Right Talent
In order to be successful in business, you need, first, to hire the right talent. Otherwise, how can your business reach its full potential? Doing do will not only create an inspiring culture, it will step up productivity.
Selecting a Candidate: What You Should Ask
When making hiring decisions then, you need to ask the following questions about the candidates you wish to hire:
Does this person share my vision for the business?
Does he or she love working in this field?
Does the candidate possess the right skills for the job?
What do the reference checks say about this person?
How does the person get along with others on social media sites?
Make Training a Priority
By training your staff, you are also investing in their business development. In turn, they will perform better on the job, which will help your fledgling business to grow.
Affordable Training Methods and Practices
If you cannot afford to spend money on external seminars or courses, you might try these more affordable training methods and practices:
Arrange to give monthly educational sessions at lunch.
Ask your employees to train new employees. For instance, if an employee possesses strong skills in a specific subject, he or she can use these skills to educate new recruits.
You can also cross-train employees so they can cover sick or vacation leave or can be used on staggered shifts.
You don’t have to spend a large amount of money on training when you hire people who have good skills and who are well-versed on certain topics. You can use their knowledge to increase the competence of newer and more inexperienced members on your staff.
Design Training Courses for Online Learning
One idea you might consider is to have a professional writer design and write courses for your company that your employees can follow. For example, courses can be developed using software programs that can be added as plug-ins to WordPress. You could award employees who complete the courses with certificates that can be inserted into their human resource (HR) file.
Keep Communications Open and Productive
To ensure better employee performance and prevent misunderstandings, communicate your expectations with your employees and allow them to make decisions. Make sure all your employees are working collectively toward your company’s goals.
If you keep communications open, you are more likely to receive valuable information about improving your business. Everyone on your team should know what you expect of them. It also helps to involve your employees in making decisions while giving them ownership of the tasks that you delegate.
Support Your Employees
If you want your employees to perform well in their jobs, they need to know you support their efforts. Therefore, you need to foster a good relationship with your staff. You can do this by recognizing what they do and providing them with certain incentives. You can also garner their support when you do the following:
Create employee growth initiatives – Give your employees something to work towards in their jobs, allowing them to learn new skills and assessing what they already know.
Give regular feedback – Don’t wait until a performance review to provide feedback. By communicating regularly, on a one-on-one basis, you can discuss current projects and review any challenges an employee may be facing. In turn, your employees will feel less worried about annual reviews of their performance. When you lessen this type of anxiety among workers, you will also realize a higher level of production.
Assign mentors – Everyone on your team will have specific weaknesses and strengths. Play on the strengths and develop what is weak by assigning mentors to employees. For example, if you have a customer service employee who would like to work in sales, assign a salesperson to mentor them so they can eventually transition into the role.
Promote a work-life balance – To make work more of a joy, you need to make sure employees are also happy away from work. That means setting certain boundaries. Encourage employees to check emails at work, not at home, and host programs, such a yoga, to lessen worker stress.
Show your employees you trust them – Show you employees you trust them in their jobs by not micromanaging them. In turn, they will be happier and therefore more productive.
Make sure employees are taking time off to regroup – A rested employee is a more productive employee. Make sure staff members are taking vacation days.
Choose Creative Ways to Reward Your Staff
You don’t necessarily have to reward your employees with a raise, although it does not hurt from time to time. You can also consider providing the following incentives:
More flexible working hours
Public acknowledgement in industry journals or on social media
Casual dress days
Provide Good Benefits
Show you appreciation by offering retirement benefits and insurance perks. Talk to a financial advisor or insurance professional so you can provide benefits and enjoy savings on a benefit packages.
When you give employees what you, yourself, would like, you will find that your business will grow, your employees will try harder, and your operations will be easier to manage and maintain.
What Are Your Thoughts?
So, what do you think? Do you have some ideas about motivating employees? What have you tried that worked? Do you think it is better to use outsourcing instead? While outsourcing is more affordable, will it give you the same results as hiring an employee? Whatever you choose to do, you need to make sure to instill the type of principles that will lend to a more productive and motivational environment.
About the Author
Sam Mollaei, Esq. is a Business Lawyer for Entrepreneurs With 4,000+ Clients Served and 1,500+ 5-Star Google Reviews. As a business lawyer, I help entrepreneurs start their U.S. business with peace of mind without dealing with complicated government forms.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/beautiful-2910260_1280-1.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-10-12 11:00:542020-10-13 16:34:48How to Manage People in Your Small Business
Hearing the phrase “professional development” makes some people squirm, others roll their eyes, and a few actually listen candidly. There’s often a misconception that managers who suggest some type of professional development to their employees actually suggest it because of poor performance, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Professional development is a great way for people at all levels of an organization to hone in on what exactly they want their career path to look like and gives them the opportunity to experiment with new tools that might help them to get there. There are many different avenues of professional development, but some common types include seminars, workshops, conferences, career conversations, job shadowing, and online courses.
The Benefits of Professional Development
If you’re reading this and thinking, “as much as I’d like to offer these types of programs at my organization, it just sounds a bit time consuming and expensive,” then consider the many benefits:
Long-Term Money Savings
As the tried-and-true sales saying goes, it costs more money to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing ones. The same goes for people within an organization.
It is important to note, however, that poor employee development (unorganized structure, prioritizing high performers over the whole, etc.) will cost more time and money than no development at all. So if you’re going to go in, go ALL in.
There’s No “I” In Success
Some people enjoy the monotony of knowing exactly what their tasks are for the day, how long it will take to complete them, getting them done successfully, and doing it all again tomorrow. Others like a challenge—setting higher goals and aiming for the moon. By understanding the unique motivations of your employees you can tailor a different professional development plan for each individual. Skilled managers should strive to foster their employees’ development because when your employees are successful, then everyone is successful. By creating professional development plans, you can combat complacency and build teams from simply competent to excelling in no time.
Improve Company Culture
Company culture may seem like a cliche buzzword, but it still holds a lot of value to today’s labor force. As of 2019, 46% of job seekers say company culture is very important when applying for a specific role.
Now more than ever, employees are worried about crafting a sustainable career with a company that has values closely aligned with their own.
Initiate Professional Development Conversations With Employees
“But how do I go about starting the conversation on employee development,” you ask? It’s simple, talk to your team and discuss your motivation for wanting to start a development program. If you’re in a hybrid or remote work environment, you can easily set up a video conference call and begin asking questions to get the team thinking about how they would like to see their role expand.
One great question to ask your team is: “How can being an employee here help you become the person you want to be?” It shifts the perspective from “what” you would be (your duties in a role) to “who” you would be (emphasizing you as an individual.) Unlocking your team’s core values will help you further understand their goals as well as new ways you can help support their success. After all, contributing to meaningful work is the number one reason employees choose to stay in their current positions.
Foster Professional Development During COVID-19
It might be daunting to talk to your employees about their careers in the midst of a pandemic, but, nonetheless, these are still important conversations to have. It’s vital to utilize a secure network option to ensure your line of communication is private and confidential. Other tools like learning management systems make it easier to track employees progress with special e-learning courses unique to the company.
You can test the waters of your development plan by checking in on your remote employees often, and making sure they know that you’re accessible, even if it’s only over Zoom. You can also encourage their success by highlighting them in larger team meetings.
After getting a feel for the areas your employees have expressed interest in, try introducing them to other people in the company that have experience in those areas. Professional development doesn’t have to be only hard skills—it can also include soft skills such as networking or public speaking.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-thanakorn-phanthura-3122277.jpg8531280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-10-10 13:00:042020-10-10 15:58:23What Are the Organizational Benefits of Professional Development?
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Business Programs
5 Ways to Improve Customer Experience on Your Site
/in Online Marketing and Website Development/by StrategyDrivenWork with a web design agency
The web design needs to be perfect, not only for customer experience but also for SEO. For this reason, it’s advisable to hire a web design agency that has the expertise and the resources to help you. Site navigation needs to be simple and easy. If your customers can’t find what they’re looking for it won’t take them much effort to change to a competitor’s site. It’s also important to include things like a strong call-to-action and plenty of options for customer support.
Create engaging content
If you really want to drive up interest in your business you also need to create engaging content on your site. A web design or digital marketing agency can help you do this as well. Video is very popular, for example, or instructional guidelines on how to use your products. You could try out different forms of media as well such as podcasts and long informative blog articles.
It’s vital to constantly measure customer satisfaction in order to improve it. You can do this using some of the best website analytical tools. It’s also a good idea to create buyer personas for your target audience and try to relate as much as you can to their needs and interests. You could also carry out surveys for your customer to give feedback. You could offer a promo code or voucher in exchange for doing this. Include any positive customer testimonials on your site in order to build trust.
Optimize keywords
Keywords are what tend to link SEO and customer experience. Your customers will arrive at your site depending on what they enter into Google. A web design agency can give you plenty of advice on how to choose the right keywords. It’s a good idea to analyze the competition and test Google to find out which keywords and phrases work best.
Personalized marketing campaigns
In order to improve customer experience, you could even personalize your marketing and email campaigns. CRM software and email marketing services can help you here. This is a great way to humanize your brand by greeting customers by name, without overstepping the mark of course. Here are some more tips to personalize marketing campaigns. The more you try to reach out to the right customers, the more you’ll improve their experience and generate more interest. You’re also more likely to turn clicks into leads.
The Strategy-Driven Solution to Driving Up Interest Before New Business Launch
/in Starting Your Business/by StrategyDrivenThis is your business. It is not a hobby or something you can afford to learn as you go. For you to taste success, you need to be serious about it from the outset. This guide will help you to choose who to hire and what to look for when outsourcing work.
Start with Your Website
While your store is being renovated, your website should be built. It is your digital store. It is where you want to send people to sign up for newsletters, make online purchases, and generally connect with your value-driven content like blogs, videos, and more. It does not have to be complex, but it does need to look great, function exceptionally well, and be optimized for search engines.
Start first with hiring a logo illustrator and a web designer. You can save on costs with the website design by finding and buying an eCommerce theme, and then hiring the web designer to set it up, so it looks great and has all the functions you need to run your business online.
Build Up Your Marketing Materials
Marketing materials include blog posts, video, editorial images, product photos, and more. It is best to have someone on your team that can handle this, as it gives you the greatest control, but if you need to save on costs here, use a mixture of your own content, stock photography, and videography, and in the future, user-generated content.
Hire a Digital Marketing Agency
To grow your presence, you will want to hire the best Orlando digital marketing agency. This agency should be able to handle your pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, your social media marketing, and your search engine optimization (SEO). By offloading these tasks, you can avoid many new businesses’ many pitfalls when first starting out. So far, you have a great website. Now you need a digital marketing agency to use your website and marketing content to build up an exceptional online presence.
Use These PR Strategies
You have the website, you have the marketing materials, and now you have the marketing strategy in the works. All that is left is expanding your marketing efforts into good old public relations. A good way to get the coverage you want is to plan a big launch event for your business. Local news sites and influencers alike are always on the lookout for something big happening in their area, and a cool party launch is exactly what they are looking for.
Plan the event and send out press releases to local news sites and influencers. Start small, and as more and more start to give your launch coverage, work your way up to larger publications for the widest reach.
What Qualities Really Define A Business Leader Post Pandemic?
/in Management & Leadership/by StrategyDrivenEmpathy
You may have never thought of empathy as a key trait of a successful leader. But really, the pandemic has been a collective trauma for everyone, so displaying an understanding of that is absolutely crucial. Empathy can be displayed towards your own staff and also to society in general, modelling yourself after leaders such as Joz Opdeweegh who have called for support in society to combat the worst effects of the pandemic. Implementing Employee Assistance Programs and making sure they’re functioning effectively is a must, as is providing genuine support and encouragement to staff. You may need to also review some of your HR policies, especially around areas such as sick leave, dependents leave and access to counselling. If you fear that you lack natural empathy, make sure to surround yourself with others on your organization that do – you need to avoid any responses that may be seen as tone deaf or insensitive, as you could really damage employee morale and loyalty at a critical time.
Consistency
One of the things causing such distress for a lot of people is the lack of consistency that the pandemic has brought – rules changing overnight, conditions escalating rapidly. No one likes to live with continuing uncertainty, so it’s our role as leaders to provide consistency with our approach. Always base your decisions and communications on data. Making data-driven decisions removes emotion and bias from the equation and allows you to explain your decision making. Communicate clearly and frequently, even if there aren’t many new items to relay. This gives staff a sense of confidence and a knowledge that they can rely on your updates, and it doesn’t create a void for gossip and speculation to fill.
Flexibility
This ability definitely needs to become part of your professional development goals.
The ability to pivot is more vital than ever, as customer needs, supply changes and the economic landscape around us all shift rapidly. Responsiveness will begin to define those companies who are able to thrive and those which are devastated. Review new information and circumstances constantly in order to incorporate them into your decision making.
How to Manage People in Your Small Business
/in Managing Your People/by StrategyDrivenFind the Right Talent
In order to be successful in business, you need, first, to hire the right talent. Otherwise, how can your business reach its full potential? Doing do will not only create an inspiring culture, it will step up productivity.
Selecting a Candidate: What You Should Ask
When making hiring decisions then, you need to ask the following questions about the candidates you wish to hire:
Make Training a Priority
By training your staff, you are also investing in their business development. In turn, they will perform better on the job, which will help your fledgling business to grow.
Affordable Training Methods and Practices
If you cannot afford to spend money on external seminars or courses, you might try these more affordable training methods and practices:
You don’t have to spend a large amount of money on training when you hire people who have good skills and who are well-versed on certain topics. You can use their knowledge to increase the competence of newer and more inexperienced members on your staff.
Design Training Courses for Online Learning
One idea you might consider is to have a professional writer design and write courses for your company that your employees can follow. For example, courses can be developed using software programs that can be added as plug-ins to WordPress. You could award employees who complete the courses with certificates that can be inserted into their human resource (HR) file.
Keep Communications Open and Productive
To ensure better employee performance and prevent misunderstandings, communicate your expectations with your employees and allow them to make decisions. Make sure all your employees are working collectively toward your company’s goals.
If you keep communications open, you are more likely to receive valuable information about improving your business. Everyone on your team should know what you expect of them. It also helps to involve your employees in making decisions while giving them ownership of the tasks that you delegate.
Support Your Employees
If you want your employees to perform well in their jobs, they need to know you support their efforts. Therefore, you need to foster a good relationship with your staff. You can do this by recognizing what they do and providing them with certain incentives. You can also garner their support when you do the following:
Choose Creative Ways to Reward Your Staff
You don’t necessarily have to reward your employees with a raise, although it does not hurt from time to time. You can also consider providing the following incentives:
Provide Good Benefits
Show you appreciation by offering retirement benefits and insurance perks. Talk to a financial advisor or insurance professional so you can provide benefits and enjoy savings on a benefit packages.
When you give employees what you, yourself, would like, you will find that your business will grow, your employees will try harder, and your operations will be easier to manage and maintain.
What Are Your Thoughts?
So, what do you think? Do you have some ideas about motivating employees? What have you tried that worked? Do you think it is better to use outsourcing instead? While outsourcing is more affordable, will it give you the same results as hiring an employee? Whatever you choose to do, you need to make sure to instill the type of principles that will lend to a more productive and motivational environment.
About the Author
What Are the Organizational Benefits of Professional Development?
/in Managing Your People/by StrategyDrivenProfessional development is a great way for people at all levels of an organization to hone in on what exactly they want their career path to look like and gives them the opportunity to experiment with new tools that might help them to get there. There are many different avenues of professional development, but some common types include seminars, workshops, conferences, career conversations, job shadowing, and online courses.
The Benefits of Professional Development
If you’re reading this and thinking, “as much as I’d like to offer these types of programs at my organization, it just sounds a bit time consuming and expensive,” then consider the many benefits:
Long-Term Money Savings
As the tried-and-true sales saying goes, it costs more money to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing ones. The same goes for people within an organization.
It is important to note, however, that poor employee development (unorganized structure, prioritizing high performers over the whole, etc.) will cost more time and money than no development at all. So if you’re going to go in, go ALL in.
There’s No “I” In Success
Some people enjoy the monotony of knowing exactly what their tasks are for the day, how long it will take to complete them, getting them done successfully, and doing it all again tomorrow. Others like a challenge—setting higher goals and aiming for the moon. By understanding the unique motivations of your employees you can tailor a different professional development plan for each individual. Skilled managers should strive to foster their employees’ development because when your employees are successful, then everyone is successful. By creating professional development plans, you can combat complacency and build teams from simply competent to excelling in no time.
Improve Company Culture
Company culture may seem like a cliche buzzword, but it still holds a lot of value to today’s labor force. As of 2019, 46% of job seekers say company culture is very important when applying for a specific role.
Now more than ever, employees are worried about crafting a sustainable career with a company that has values closely aligned with their own.
Initiate Professional Development Conversations With Employees
“But how do I go about starting the conversation on employee development,” you ask? It’s simple, talk to your team and discuss your motivation for wanting to start a development program. If you’re in a hybrid or remote work environment, you can easily set up a video conference call and begin asking questions to get the team thinking about how they would like to see their role expand.
One great question to ask your team is: “How can being an employee here help you become the person you want to be?” It shifts the perspective from “what” you would be (your duties in a role) to “who” you would be (emphasizing you as an individual.) Unlocking your team’s core values will help you further understand their goals as well as new ways you can help support their success. After all, contributing to meaningful work is the number one reason employees choose to stay in their current positions.
Foster Professional Development During COVID-19
It might be daunting to talk to your employees about their careers in the midst of a pandemic, but, nonetheless, these are still important conversations to have. It’s vital to utilize a secure network option to ensure your line of communication is private and confidential. Other tools like learning management systems make it easier to track employees progress with special e-learning courses unique to the company.
You can test the waters of your development plan by checking in on your remote employees often, and making sure they know that you’re accessible, even if it’s only over Zoom. You can also encourage their success by highlighting them in larger team meetings.
After getting a feel for the areas your employees have expressed interest in, try introducing them to other people in the company that have experience in those areas. Professional development doesn’t have to be only hard skills—it can also include soft skills such as networking or public speaking.