As a leader, you always need something from your team. Whether that’s engagement, higher productivity, a more creative approach to problem-solving, or just that they all damn well get along, you need them to show up strong every day.
But it can’t be all one-way traffic; there’s a deal to be struck here. And that’s because, no matter what you need from your team in order to meet your collective goals, they also need something from you.
All of your people, in order to be as good at their jobs as they can possibly be, need your investment - and we’re not just talking cold hard cash here (although there’s a lot to be said for fairly rewarding your people).
So what kind of investment are we talking? Well, there are many different ways that you can invest in your most important asset. Maybe it’s about money, but it could also be, for example, creating the right kind of environment for people to work in, giving public recognition where it’s due or giving people with a social conscience time off to work on a pet third-sector project.
However, you can give your team the kind of gift that lasts a lifetime, and that’s personal development that will help them build great working relationships everywhere they go. Sure, you can- and should - invest in their hard skills, but relationship skills, once learned, act as a productivity multiplier for ever.
According to a Gallup poll, 45% of Millennials say that having a job that accelerates their development is very important to them. Given that that generation will make up three quarters of the workforce inside ten years, it’s way past time for organisations to give up the idea that people development is a luxury, a nice to have, or one size fits all.
What we teach at Insights is that every single person in an organisation is a unique mix of strengths, challenges, and preferred ways of working. Think of the composition of your team; we bet it’s a mixed bag of Introverts, Extraverts, talkers, thinkers, doers, planners, procrastinators, dreamers and strivers, those who hit the ground running at 7am and the late night crew who prefer to hang out in the office after-hours. A great leader will understand and appreciate the variety of their people and treat them all in the way that works best for each individual – and how you develop your people should be no different.
Learning styles are as personal as the car we drive, the way we take our coffee or how we choose to show up at work – and that means that different elements of learning will speak to some people more loudly than others. That’s why our learning journeys don’t just hit one note; we design our learning to appeal to people in their own way, in their own time, on a device of their choice. We mix it up with videos, exercises, online content, deep and detailed individual profiles and powerful live learning experiences.
We make learning journeys work hard – they flex and fit around your people and their own preferences and needs. We know people – so we know that when we deliver insights to your people, they reach a tipping point where you begin to see real breakthroughs in your business. That’s why we make sure that our learning reaches people where they are. If they’ve got a five minute window, they can watch an interactive video and see how their people skills are stacking up. If they’re rarely seen without a phone in their hand, we’ve got digital content covered. But if they love to dive deep into the detail, our profiles will deliver such a deep analysis of their preferences that they’ll wonder how we do it (or if we’ve been talking to their mothers – we really haven’t).
Systems and technologies come and go; processes change, priorities are constantly re-aligned, and that’s just the way it goes. So invest in those solid, practical skills as much as you need to. But if you don’t invest in the fundamental, elemental relationship-building skills of your people, your team success is built on shifting sands that can be washed away in the first big storm to hit it. By developing the relationships between your team members, you’re shoring up the successful future of your people, your team and your organisation. Talk to us today about beginning a journey that will lead to organisational breakthroughs and long-lasting success.
