Half Person Development

Isn’t Cutting It:

How to unlock your team’s full potential
with whole person development
 Industry disruption leads to employee turnover
The world is changing faster than ever before. According to Mercer, 73% of executives
expect a major disruption in their industry over the next three years1. That is a 26%
increase from just one year ago2.

Top concerns of executives

Upper management knows that significant changes in the industry landscape can lead to
organizational shake-ups. With change on the horizon, leadership must tackle the top human
capital risks or chance facing high employee turnover and unmotivated teams. When asked
about their biggest worries, many executives pointed to low and decreasing employee
engagement, lagging productivity and, ultimately, a lack of leadership pipeline.

48%
38%

31%

LOW &
DECREASING LACK OF
EMPLOYEE LEADERSHIP LAGGING
ENGAGEMENT PIPELINE PRODUCTIVITY

1-2. Mercer. “Global Talent Trends Study 2019.” Mercer Study, 2019.

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 Employees need more to achieve more.

In an ever-changing world, organizations need
to invest in their workforce to ensure they’re
engaged, productive, and ready for leadership.
Learning new professional skills alone isn’t enough
anymore. Employees need to grow as people or
their performance will suffer in the long-term3. In
fact, employees perform better at work when they
feel like they’re able to bring their whole selves to
the workplace4.

The answer is whole person development

Whole person development is a focus on improving personal and emotional skills in addition to more
traditional professional skills. In short, whole person development is the ability for someone to know
themselves, know how to improve themselves, know others, and know how to help others improve.

A whole person development approach is the future of learning in the workplace. To help employees
reach their full potential executives need to look at learning and development in a new way—a way that
focuses on personal development and professional development.

A whole person approach to leadership development aims to include a focus

Why on all aspects of a person’s life. This includes professional aspects as well as
personal and emotional. A learning program that prioritizes whole person
whole person development understands that in order to be a good leader and manager,
employees first need to develop their personal and soft skills. Growth
opportunities should not only focus on what it means to be successful at
development?
your job, but what it means to succeed in life.

3. Carol D. Ryff and Corety Lee M. Keyes. “The Structure of Phychological Well-Being Revisited.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 69, No. 4, 719-727, 1995.
 . A. Wright and R. Cropanzano. “Psychological Well-Being and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Job Performance.” Journal of Occupational Health and Psychology
4. T
Vol 5(1): 84-94, January 2000.

I N S P I R E D A C T I O N 3
 Focusing on whole person development does 3 things:

• It builds a high trust environment at work.

• It increases productivity & satisfaction.

• It increases retention.

Build a high These kinds of programs and Show your

trust work initiatives have a significant
employees
environment they’re more
impact on employee
engagement and retention.
Research has shown that than a number
building a culture of trust
Research shows that you can’t
at an organization is crucial
Help your buy your employees’ loyalty6.
to increasing engagement,
satisfaction, and productivity.
employees grow Perks alone just don’t cut it

Employees at organizations with as people and anymore. If you want to increase

a high trust environment display leaders employee loyalty, and therefore

retention, you need to focus on
fewer signs of chronic stress and One reason whole person investing in your employees’
are happier than those who work development is vital to the development. Your team wants
in low trust environments5. success of an organization is to feel like they’re more than just
because employees need to their job title or an expendable
One way to build a high
grow as people in order to company asset.
trust work environment is
thrive as professionals. If
to encourage whole person
you’re just investing in job- Taking an interest in your
growth. Organizations can
specific skills training, you’re employees and helping them
do this by offering learning
not working on the development develop both at work and in
opportunities beyond
of your workforce on a deep their personal lives will create
job-specific skills training,
enough level. loyalty and passion that benefits
encouraging managers to ask
everyone.
questions about an employee’s Deeper development results
goals outside of their career, in higher productivity because
and developing programs that employees are able to work on
allow employees to connect core skill sets that may not seem
with interests outside of their directly related to their job,
specific role. but are very important to their
success at your organization.

5. Paul J. Zak. “The Neuroscience of Trust.” Harvard Business Review, January-February 2017.
8. Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. “The 2018 State of Leadership Development. Meeting the Transformation Imperative.” Harvard Business Business
School Publishing, 2018.

I N S P I R E D A C T I O N 4
Change happens
In the last few years, we’ve all seen a new generation of workers enter the
workforce—Millennials and Generation Z. These employees are causing massive
shifts in work culture and learning and development. Among Millennials surveyed
for the Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning report, 60% were
unsatisfied in some way with their organization’s existing learning program7.
They called for major innovation in their company’s learning and development
activities.

These employees are also looking to get more out of their jobs—no longer
satisfied with a good paycheck and benefits, this group wants to find purpose
at work and feel more connected to their organizations. This comes with
investing in whole person development.

3 Steps to show
employees you care
about whole person
development
▶▶ Invest in effective, achievable learning and development

▶▶ Commit to taking interest in employees’ personal goals

▶▶ Trust your employees and give them autonomy in their roles

7. Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. “The 2018 State of Leadership Development. Meeting the Transformation Imperative.” Harvard Business Business
School Publishing, 2018.

Whole person development at Verb

Verb is building the next generation of leadership development for the workplace.
We hold a strong belief that whole person development helps companies unlock
their team’s full potential. Verb provides transformative online learning, through
engaging, bite-sized content. We take proven adult learning techniques and pair
them with the most desirable skills in leadership development to create powerful
learning experiences for your organization. Cultivate the potential of your people,
powered by Verb.

verb.net

I N S P I R E D A C T I O N 5