3 Ways to Promote

Professional Growth
You may have heard of Facebook’s philosophy “Move Fast and Break
Things.” Essentially, the philosophy is about testing boundaries and the
importance of continuous innovation in order to grow and reach your
maximum potential. Have you ever thought about how you can utilize this
concept in your company? Let’s emphasize how you should apply this
concept to employee development, because personal and professional growth
is crucial to employee engagement.

Employees crave challenging and meaningful work. They want to learn, grow
and contribute to their companies. This is why it is important for employers to
help develop their employees' skill sets and allow them the autonomy to make
decisions that affect their work. Not only will it keep employees happy in their
jobs and increase retention, but it also builds a skilled team of people
who have the ability to perform multiple job functions.

Here are three easy ways that managers can support their employees'
personal and professional development:

1. New projects or responsibilities

Give employees the chance to take the initiative to develop their own
opportunities. Allow them to “break things” and learn from those mistakes. It
provides a great opportunity for learning, innovation, and professional growth

2. Knowledge sharing
Organize monthly meetings where you teach courses for employees to learn a
new skill, and allow them to provide input on the topics. The training could be
geared toward hard skills, like advanced Excel tips, or soft skills, like
interpersonal communication. Employees will appreciate the opportunity to
learn new programs and diversify their capabilities. It is a great opportunity to
present new challenges to employees and give them a “trial-and-error” phase
for learning a new skill or reaching outside of their current comfort zone,
department, or area of expertise.
3. Attend industry conferences/events
Allow employees to attend industry events to learn best practices that they
can apply in their own job. Industries are constantly evolving and business
moves at a fast pace, so employees need to keep up with the latest research,
knowledge, tools, etc. to stay relevant and at the top of their game. These
events will boost professional growth and help them gain the necessary tools
to be successful.