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Every organization can do more with employee development. It’s not enough to

send people to training once each year.

Established players and newcomers alike need to be continually growing their skills.

In fact, learning is part of the modern workplace contract. Workers no longer

assume a lifetime job guarantee, but they do expect investment: in the skills,
knowledge, and experiences that will keep them productive and employable.

As Shubha Shridharan, head of Learning and Development at Signify,

Will the plan actually produce results? Here’s how to check...

Is it relevant to the business and to where the employee wants to go?

Get growing
“My dream job is doing the same thing, over and over again.”

Can you imagine anyone you work with—or know—saying that?

As jobs and markets change rapidly, you’ll need to keep people growing.

And chances are, you won’t have time for a lot of formal development efforts.

Instead, tap into an employee’s curiosity and sense of purpose. What do they

want to contribute to the organization? What do they need to learn to do that?
How can you help?

Ariel Horn, video producer and esports pioneer, describes how giving an
employee a chance to pursue a crazy idea led to a major career opportunity.

Multimedia section
Let Your Employees Take Center Stage
 ABOUT 
 BIO 
 TRANSCRIPT
It's important to allow your employees to try new and exciting things. It gives them positive feedback, and
allows them to interact with other people in the organization they may have never had the chance to.
We had a crazy opportunity and challenge. We were producing a show in the Bird's Nest, the massive stadium
in China, and we needed something that would really provide a character for that event. One of my employees
had this crazy idea that we could fly an augmented reality digital dragon into the venue in real time, and have it
land on the field and roar.
Well, I looked at him and said, you know what, that's actually impossible. But he said, let me try. And so I
said, OK. It'll be an R&D project that you will run, and if you can do it, we'll put it in the show. Well, he went
off, he did his tech research. He even brought out a jib into the parking lot and showed us how this dragon
would look by landing it in the middle of the pavement there outside of our studio.
And at that point I was convinced. He proved me wrong. That dragon flew in live into the venue. Millions of
fans around the world were going crazy over this dragon. So he was able to step back out of that, feeling
incredibly proud. It was really accepted in a positive way. Afterwards we allowed our new star employee to do
some press at our company, and to do a how-to guide. And it ended up being such a central moment for esports
that it was awarded the first ever Emmy for esports.
So if you're in a position where you're managing people, give them a chance to try new things. It's important to
invest in your teammates and allow them to thrive. But it's just as important to show them off, and to allow
them to get that important feedback from multiple levels of your organization.
Follow Horn’s lead by being a genuine listening ear, coach, and champion.
Facilitate learning and give new challenges.

 Teach networking skills. Because information and opportunity flow through

relationships, networking is a vital career skill.
 Tout your employees’ accomplishments and give them chances to shine.   
 Inspire people by giving them opportunities to interact with role
models in your organization and profession.
 Develop your contractors. They’re a vital part of today’s talent base.
 Help people find purpose in their daily work.
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