Professional Development
Earlier in my career, I took a position that didn’t turn out to be as advertised. When I started searching for a new job, I felt rusty and underqualified for positions in my field. It was an uncomfortable feeling - knowing that the work I’d done for an employer actually set me behind in my career instead of moving me forward.
I never wanted my employees to feel antiquated after working on my team. I pushed different approaches to training development to encourage their skill advancement. I gave them a lot of freedom to come up with creative solutions that would help them learn. They often fell back on what they were comfortable with though to meet deadlines.
I later worked for someone who formalized professional development by allocating a time percentage to it each week and having assignments and competitions. While it was inspiring, team members often worked overtime to complete those assignments and it contributed to their stress.
Both those approaches had the right intent but didn’t hit the mark. Professional development is a tricky business, which may be why some managers just avoid it. However, avoidance doesn’t just lead to antiquated skill sets for your employees, it contributes to burnout and results in stale, uninspired work by the team.
There’s no tried-and-true formula for “successful” professional development, but here are some things to consider.
Skill Types
There are technical, role-specific skills that help someone do more advanced work and soft skills that help someone perform their job more effectively. Both are needed to be a high-performing employee.
Levels and Ownership
Professional development can be tailored to an individual’s specific needs and goals. It can also apply to all individuals with the same role or to a broader team.
Ownership for each of these levels is different. An individual obviously owns their own unique professional development goals, but a role-based group shares ownership for a common one. The manager owns full team professional development (or at least organizing it).
Time
Finding time for professional development is likely the biggest challenge. It feels indulgent to prioritize learning over getting a project done or serving customers. However, continuing to deprioritize professional development may eventually lead to your team slipping below industry standards and producing mundane, uncompetitive work that erodes their reputation.
If allocating time percentages (i.e., everyone allocates 2 hours per week toward professional development) isn’t practical, get creative with your approach. Can you have lunch-and-learns? Can you fit short topics into regular team meetings? Can you have a quarterly team seminar focused on learning? Can you assign projects that require the learning of a new skill for completion?
Buy In
Your team is more likely to prioritize professional development if they see you doing so. There are two ways to do this. One is to complete your own professional development and talk about it. After all, you need to advance your skill set too! The second is to lead team professional development sessions yourself. Your team will know that you truly buy into it and they’ll trust that you’ll back them up when they allocate time to doing their own.
Finding the right balance and methods for professional development for your team will be an evolution. You’re not likely to get it right out-of-the-gate. The important things are to get started, be flexible, and be open to feedback from your team. Through communication and a shared commitment to it, you’ll eventually find what works.