Developing people

  • People learn best on the job with constructive feedback and coaching.
  • Help people learn to accept feedback constructively.
  • Encourage them to set up a process to develop themselves.
  • Strive to develop skills in others that you think are important while also helping them to find themselves.

Who to develop

  • Everyone who asks for it or strategically?
  • What are your main criteria - immediate performance improvement, to meet key strategic goals - these should be the main ones.
  • Also, development can be used as a reward for excellent performance.
  • Or as a retention tool.
  • A career or succession planning aide.

 

How to develop people

  • Put people into a range of stretching projects, ones outside their comfort zone.
  • A good developmental process should include some form of log book for them to record what went well and what they want to improve for every aspect of a project.
  • You, or a mentor, should review their progress regularly.
  • Regular reviews help to consolidate learning and plan next steps.
  • Feedback from others on key developmental areas is also critical.
  • Anonymous feedback through questionnaires might be more honest.
  • A training course is only a one-off event; developement is an ongoing process.
  • Developing personal skills amounts to changing bad habits - not as easy as learning technical skills.
  • Bad habits will re-surface unless a concerted effort is made over a sufficient time period for new habits to become ingrained.

 

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All pages written by Mitch McCrimmon, Ph.D. and copyright © Self Renewal Group 1996-2010

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