As the country hits a recession, many workers are asking: ‘What does this mean for me and my career?’ Even growing companies have limits on hiring, and that means fewer immediate promotions.
The current business climate makes it essential that leaders help employees feel more confident about their work. Companies can achieve this by helping employees focus on one vital area that they can control themselves: skill-building.
Management can take the lead in this, and it’s crucial at a time when many employees feel threatened by uncertainty. UK business leaders should support their teams in working towards their professional goals. With the proper guidance and encouragement, employees can gather the skills and mindset needed to emerge from this period even stronger.
I believe this project should take three principal forms.
Encourage the vision
Empowering each team member to create a strong vision is an immensely valuable part of focusing on learning and development. The vision can be difficult to build with so many fast-changing variables – sometimes planning feels like a futile exercise.
It isn’t futile at all, as long as leaders create a safe place where teams can set skills-focused goals that are geared towards the future and their professional development. Look at the key questions for your employees. What areas of my role do I find challenging? What mistakes keep popping up? What does my team notice about my work style that could be improved? Where would I like to be in my next roles and which skills are needed to make that a reality?
Finding areas to focus on starts with a combination of feedback and supporting team members as they set career goals for themselves. Once you have a clear idea of where you want to be, it is easy to discover which skills you would feel passionate about working on.
These focus areas provide the stepping stone to achieving your vision. The leader’s role is to help each team member better understand themselves, and their own direction within the company.
One helpful exercise is to imaginatively skip ahead a job. Decide what you would like two jobs down the road, then assess the skills you would need and from there draw backwards. If you’re looking to take on a leadership role in the future, ask to be included in the interviewing process, screening CVs in your free time. Perhaps also start building a network of people that have achieved what you are after and interview them to learn from their mistakes and their successes.
Promote one-to-one learning
Walking in the fog is hard, but it’s easier with a torch. We can all provide that light for each other by sharing experiences and giving each other the confidence to try new things. Businesses can facilitate these conversations with one-to-one buddying opportunities. By taking top performers, those who have already achieved what they are hoping to do, people can step outside themselves and learn valuable lessons.
What form should the guidance take? There is no one-size-fits-all answer – use your own experiences and personality. Here’s a personal example. I love reading, so I started a reading club with my team, giving each member a book that I thought contained useful insights into career development, leadership and work styles. We then had a team breakfast to share thoughts on the book. This approach fostered a collective attitude towards growth and learning.
Empower experimentation
Experimentation is essential in any profession. Sometimes, it’s just about being given the opportunity and the security to explore what is right for you.
In a business context, this means giving your employees the tools they need to be agile. Let them go and learn from other departments, spend time on other projects, and develop the areas of their role they want to nurture. Creating this kind of environment in a recession, when possibilities seem so restricted, is something that employees will appreciate even more.
A culture of experimentation is always built on a foundation of trust. Give your employees the space to develop without a heavy hand to dampen creativity. Trust comes from making sure that there is a focus on cultural fit when recruited. It’s also crucial to maintain trust by embracing open communication and not punishing mistakes. Empowerment, ownership and trust should always be a part of every process you undertake.
The silver lining of these uncertain times is the opportunity to focus on development and learning. During challenging times, there are plenty of opportunities to explore in areas that lack resources or thirst for innovation.
Once they know that you really want them to grow professionally, your employees will feel proactive and excited. They will know they are working for a company that truly values people. And they are more likely to stay longer and invest more deeply in their future with you.
