Small business owners are busy running their organization often forget about themselves. Keeping a company up and running and profitable is a huge task, and it certainly requires a lot of attention and dedication. However, as a small business grows – their owner should too.
Encouraging and cultivating a culture that pursues personal growth alongside business growth is a recipe for many levels of success. A business that clearly cares about the personal development of its employees will have a more engaged workplace, which directly links to employee performance, satisfaction and profitability over time.
Clearly, personal growth and development are important. Here are two simple starting points to get things moving.
Personal growth will look different to every individual. For some, it may be pursuing educational goals, such as learning a new language, developing a skill, or receiving a degree. For others, it may be more abstract, such as improving relationships with other people or increasing their personal confidence.
Whether it be an investment of time, money, educational pursuits, mental/physical well-being, or making some sort of change in their day-to-day practices, it is important that your team understands how to get themselves on the path to growth.
As a growth-minded business, your organization can encourage this type of mindset by supporting opportunities for development. For example, if employees are interested in learning or improving their job skills, your workplace could offer to pay the cost of educational courses or allow their class time to count as billable hours.
Consider Hiring a Coach
Hiring a professional coach or consultant to help encourage personal growth in the workplace has many benefits. For starters, simply having an objective party examine the day-to-day operations can help identify weak points and push for improvements in areas that you or your employees might be blind to. One of the most common qualities in coaches tends to be a “false or negative detector” that provides a brutally honest perspective on certain problems.
For instance, if someone feels stuck in their role and isn’t growing, yet keeps finding reasons to stay put, a good coach isn’t going to buy whatever excuses you make to avoid making real improvements. Moreover, they will help set up attainable milestones to get you out of that rut.
Professional growth coaches will also help you critically answer certain questions, like:
- What’s really important to you, both personally and professionally?
- Where do you see yourself in 6 months, 3 years, 5 years?
- How are your actions improving your well-being and that of the company?
A great business coach is there to help your team accomplish a specific set of goals by setting a strategic plan to get from point A to point B. Their encouragement and experience are essential for keeping your team motivated towards personal development.
Conclusion
It is not selfish for a business owner or an employee to pursue personal development within the workplace. By improving their own unique skills, those involved in your organization can create far more value, both personally and professionally.
Take initiative by encouraging opportunities for development within your organization. Talk about setting goals and putting strategies in place to accomplish them, and always be ready and willing to listen and encourage others along the way.