Nothing breaks an employees motivation like the feeling for being stuck in their job with no room for movement. As managers, we can solve this by guiding their focus and expectations. Investing in your employees with a growth plan will encourage them to not only grow as an individual and professional, but also motivate them to perform at their highest level. Below we will discuss how to create an effective growth plan with your employees and ways to keep them on track.

Identify Goals

Have employees identify 3 professional goals and 3 personal goals that they believe will help them move to the next level in their career. Be sure to have them include short-term and long-term targets so they are able to easily track their growth even if they have yet to achieve their end goal. For example, if a large goal is to increase training in a specific area, a short-term target is to find a list of people that may be able to help train or mentor them.

Analyze Skills

Go over and list their current skill set and compare said skills to the ones needed to reach the goals they are striving to obtain. For example, if the large goal is to move into a management role, focus on skills or qualifications that are required for this position. If they need additional training, certifications or higher education, help them brainstorm what they need and a realistic plan/timeline on how to get it.

Keep Them Accountable

Set a plan or schedule times to meet in order to go over each employees progress. This can be weekly, monthly or quarterly; the point is to have a time they must check in so they are held accountable. Meetings such as these promote growth and responsibility.

An essential part of the growth of your business is dependent on the growth of the individuals at your company. It is inevitable that people will grow out of their roles, and should be encouraged! This means your business as a whole will continue to grow and move forward successfully as well. Of course, not every trained professional that works for you will stay. Sometimes growth means they move on to different companies or positions. If that happens, don’t get discouraged, it just means everything is working as it should. We will all continue to evolve. An open position may also leave room for new people, new ideas and more innovative growth for your business.