Great employees are a critical part of creating the business of your dreams. But you don’t get great employees without a little bit of effort. You can draw in great employees if you offer developmental opportunities.
A great employee is driven. He is hard-working and strives to exceed expectations. A great employee is happy. She works to improve herself so she can improve the company.
In order to keep great employees you, as a business owner, need to provide opportunities for your employees to grow and develop new skills.
Offer Growth Opportunities
The number one complaint that employees have about moving forward in their careers is that their companies don’t provide opportunities to move up in the company.
If you have a great employee, then do your best to keep them. Offer them growth in their current position or allow them to move to another position where they will exceed. You can create loyal, hard working leaders who are incredibly invested in your company’s success. The outside hire should be your last option.
Offer Educational Opportunities
One of the more obvious ways of offering developmental opportunities for your employees is to help them with continuing education.
If an employee shows a lot of potential, but doesn’t have the education needed to fill a certain position, offer to help pay for schooling. It’s a great way to show employees that you are invested in them and then they become more invested in your company. Just make sure that you work up an agreement stating that the employee will continue with your company after they finish school.
Paying for your employees to attend conferences or seminars that support their positions is another way you can offer development opportunities. Conferences and seminars are also a great way to get employees excited about their jobs. Most likely, they’ll come back more energized and more productive. It’s a win-win for you and your employee.
You may even be able to count educational opportunities as tax deductions; just check with your accountant first.
Offer Networking Opportunities
Creating networking opportunities sounds like it’s a way for other business owners to poach your employees; however, it’s actually a great way to broaden your circle of influence.
As you’re working to offer developmental opportunities, you should let your employees lead. Allow them to get out in front of other business professionals and encourage them to build a network of people that they can work with. Once they’re on their own they’ll learn to build relationships that can benefit the entire company.
When you see your employees networking and promoting your company make sure you acknowledge it and encourage them. That will help them feel more confident, which in turn creates a better employee.
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