Employee development is a crucial aspect of leadership that can boost employee engagement, performance, and retention. However, many leaders make common mistakes that hinder the growth and potential of their team members. In this article, we will explore some of these pitfalls and how to avoid them.
One of the most common mistakes that leaders make is not providing enough feedback to their employees. Feedback is essential for employee development, as it helps them understand their strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement. Without feedback, employees may feel confused, demotivated, or frustrated with their work. Leaders should provide timely, specific, and constructive feedback to their employees, and encourage them to seek feedback from others as well. Feedback should also be aligned with the employee's goals and expectations, and followed by action plans and support.
One way to get more feedback is to ask for “advice” instead of “feedback” and see how the response changes. Adam Grant’s new book called “Hidden Potential” taught me this - best of luck!
Throughout the course of my career, I’ve never met anyone who believes they’ve had enough feedback - they are always hungry for information on their performance, their strengths, development areas and blind spots. Leaders are often reticent to share feedback; it is a time investment and can sometimes seem uncomfortable. But it’s critical that leaders deliver a steady stream of feedback to help their people build self-awareness, and identify and cultivate development opportunities. In addition, leaders can leverage tools such as psychometric assessments (I.e., Hogan) and coaching to foster awareness and growth. If leaders want to develop their people they must actively share both informal and formal feedback on a regular basis.
I worked with an employer whose motto was 'hire employees who have enough seniority we don't have to manage them'. While providing autonomy and hiring employees who are intrinsically motivated seems great on paper, employees easily become disenfranchised when they can't see a clear path to their next milestone. Employees with poorly defined job descriptions and murky expectations aren't able to define what success looks like and therefor are unable to identify what development opportunities will propel them in the direction they want their career to go. Clear goals and even individual KPIs go a long way when helping employees identify their ideal development paths, and continue to motivate them along the way.
We can always learn something new. As a leader one of the most common mistakes, or oversights, that hinder employee development is a lack of ongoing coaching conversations. Think for yourself, when is the last time somebody talked to you about your development? What are your career aspirations? When is the last time you spoke with one of your employees about their development? Do you know your employees' career aspirations? Feedback falls on a continuum of short-term (immediate) feedback to long-term (aspirational) feedback. As leaders and peers ask for and give a variety of feedback so we can help each other continuously improve and achieve our goals.
It is difficult to find time for this. That is why this happens so often. The cost of lack of feedback to employees is hidden until it is too late, so it is easy to brush off. There are many "urgent" items on your list, so this falls into that "not urgent, but important" category. Finding ways to schedule these items, like giving employee feedback, will not only achieve better results from those employees, but they will feel valued as well. The other barrier is that, if the feedback is negative, it is not comfortable for most people. Who wants to have difficult conversations? Giving constructive, negative feedback is a skill that should be developed early in one's leadership development. There are many books on the topic, of course.
Another common mistake that leaders make is applying a one-size-fits-all approach to employee development. This means that they treat all employees the same, regardless of their individual needs, preferences, and aspirations. However, this can lead to boredom, disengagement, or resentment among employees, who may feel that their unique talents and interests are not valued or nurtured. Leaders should adopt a more personalized and flexible approach to employee development, and tailor their coaching, mentoring, and training to the employee's learning style, career stage, and goals. Leaders should also involve employees in the design and implementation of their development plans, and allow them to have some autonomy and choice.
In my experience, employees need to own their development. Sometimes there is over reliance on the manager or the organisation. Of course the manager provides the resources for development but the effectiveness and fill utilisation of those resources depends on the employee. I have seen different participants from the same development program having different attitudes towards learning! Some will embrace learning and make most of it while some think that they just have to tick a box. So I think it’s a partnership and no one person can drive it completely on their own.
One common mistake that hinders employee development is the reliance on a one-size-fits-all approach. Implementing a standardized development plan without considering individual strengths, weaknesses, and career aspirations overlooks the unique attributes of each employee. This approach fails to acknowledge the diverse skills, learning styles, and preferences within a team, hindering the potential for personalized growth. Employees may feel disengaged and unmotivated if they perceive that their specific needs and goals are not being addressed. Leaders and organizations must tailor approach that takes into account individual characteristics and aspirations. Only this will help promote a culture of professional growth and learning.
A few things that I find that hinders employee development is lack of resources, lack of trust (micromanagement), and lack of interest and value in the employee. Those lacking in the ability to provide only lowers the zeal, dims the light, and causes the moral of an employee to decline.
As a parent of two daughters, I’ve learned that each child has their own temperament, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. It would be a disaster if I attempted to make all of my children fit into one box. I must be flexible in my parenting approach to fully engage them in the things that interest them most and are in their best interest. Similarly, as a leader we must -observe the individual differences of employees, -inquire personally about their goals and aspirations, -and provide opportunities that align with their personal strengths/aspirations and the best interests of the agency. When employees see that their gifts and talents add value to the mission, they buy in and are less likely to succumb to boredom and disengagement.
En effet dans le développement des compétences, je pr?ne avant tout les actions sur-mesures qui répondent au besoin ciblé de chaque collaborateur. Les actions de masse peuvent parfois manquer de finesse ou de stratégie de mise en mouvement… Cependant tous les dispositifs ont un intérêt (formation, tutorat, coaching, mentoring) et peuvent être complémentaires… se développer ?a peut être : apprendre de nouvelles compétences avec la formation, mieux se conna?tre et se réguler pr lever des résistances ou agir autrement avec le coaching, apprendre par le partage/l’observation et les prises de référence avec le tutorat ou mentorat etc… En bref : plus le besoin de développement est clarifié mieux je peux adapter le meilleur dispositif.
A third common mistake that leaders make is either overloading or underloading their employees with development opportunities. Overloading means that leaders assign too many tasks, projects, or courses to their employees, without considering their workload, capacity, or readiness. This can overwhelm, stress, or burn out employees, who may feel that they have no time or energy to learn and grow. Underloading means that leaders offer too few or too easy tasks, projects, or courses to their employees, without challenging them or exposing them to new experiences. This can bore, disengage, or stagnate employees, who may feel that they have no room or incentive to learn and grow. Leaders should balance the quantity and quality of development opportunities for their employees, and match them with their skills, needs, and ambitions.
Time is the biggest barrier to workplace learning and development. People are overloaded with tasks and not provided with time to focus on building new skills. Manager are burdened with admin work and can’t find time to coach their team members. L&D has limited time and resources to address a wide range of organizational needs. Plus, learning takes time. Unless we allocate the necessary time (and labor hours) for training, practice, coaching, reflection and exploration, opportunity gaps will continue to grow and result in disruptive skill gaps.
Development needs to be incorporated as an expectation, and this needs to be built in when considering team members' demand and capacity. This is not an "extra" on top of the work but a "need" for the role.
Context matters. Too often, managers will assign and manage tasks, not the creation of solutions. I have found that there are many cases where an employee has a creative ways of solving a problem that is different than I'd envisioned. It could be they offer insight to reframe the problem, develop a simpler solution, or incorporate strategies or skills unique to their experience. In most cases, I'd err toward sharing more context than less; the results are almost always better than I'd envisioned.
Micromanagement can be a real killer or morale. Particularly when the person advising their staff does not fully understand what others are doing.
Much of workplace learning is "assigned", however, companies rarely take the personalized approach and teach their leaders to create a development plan with their team members. This custom approach meets the learner where they are at, tailored to their willingness to develop, their ambitions, and can span across a year or more. This puts the development on the learner, supported by their leader, and allows for flexibility in the ups and downs of workloads.
A fourth common mistake that leaders make is not following up on their employee's development progress and outcomes. Follow-up is important for employee development, as it helps leaders monitor, evaluate, and recognize their employee's achievements, challenges, and feedback. Without follow-up, employees may feel that their development efforts are not appreciated, acknowledged, or rewarded. Leaders should follow up with their employees regularly, and provide them with recognition, reinforcement, and redirection as needed. Follow-up should also be based on measurable and meaningful indicators of development, such as performance, satisfaction, or impact.
Effective leadership hinges on routine follow-ups, crucial for expectation management, acknowledging and guiding employee development. Well developed people management / leadership practices underpin efficient company operations and are often a indicator for company performance as they ensure recognition and address challenges instantly. However, the crux often lies with non existent or inadequate performance management systems and talent reviews perpetuate subpar people management. It's imperative for leaders to integrate structured follow-ups into their routine, focusing on measurable development indicators, to cultivate a robust performance culture and drive organizational success.
It is a common mistake to lose track of the progress of colleagues and neglect consistent follow-up while mentoring. A successful mentor-mentee relationship requires ongoing support. Mentors should schedule regular check-ins to assess progress, discuss challenges, and adjust goals as needed. This proactive approach ensures that colleagues remain on the right developmental path, preventing them from feeling adrift and demotivated.
In my experience, ownership is everything. No one cares about your career as much as you. Nor should they. So, treating it as such is critical. Write a realistic plan of action, which is perfectly suited to how you like to learn and grow, then set time aside to actually do it! Find someone to check in with weekly if need be. Even better if that someone is a stakeholder you need to impress and demonstrate growth to.
Following up on an employee's development must involve conversations about how they are incorporating new knowledge and competencies into their work. An employee needs tangible proof and experience that their development is practical and is appreciated by their employer.
In my experience, a lot of organizations create a lot of great programs to identify talent, methodologies like 9-box, talent performance review, etc. And the outcome generally it's very accurate to create development plans, succession paths and strategies for retain talent, but all these efforts don't have a good ending for the top talent employees because a lack of follow-up and a real commitment with them.
A fifth common mistake that leaders make is not role modeling the behaviors and attitudes that they expect from their employees. Role modeling is vital for employee development, as it helps leaders inspire, influence, and guide their employees by example. Without role modeling, employees may feel that their leaders are not credible, consistent, or committed to their own development. Leaders should role model the behaviors and attitudes that they want to see in their employees, such as curiosity, openness, resilience, and feedback-seeking. Leaders should also share their own development stories, challenges, and learnings with their employees, and demonstrate how they apply them to their work.
It boils down to being accessible as a leader. How many employees truly feel their leaders are accessible and even further - transparent. We have to make certain as leaders that we are not being “performative” but instead that we are seen as authentic. Once employees trust that what they see and hear are not just sound bites and performance, they are likely to trust what we say and do as leaders and emulate the the behaviors we exhibit. In order to be a true role model we must be believable. My advice is to show up consistently as a trustworthy individual who follows through on words and then you will have the authenticity to be a role model.
I couldn't agree more that having mentors throughout your lifetime is crucial. Having a mentor allows you to learn new things, create and maintain various networks, and grow as an individual. Being a mentor, on the other hand, enables you to provide valuable information and insight to your mentee to help them achieve personal and professional success. Moreover, having a mentor allows you to understand your leadership role and develop soft and hard skills. By being transparent about your strengths and weaknesses, you can work on improving yourself and become better equipped to tackle challenges. Overall, having a mentor can be a game-changer in your personal and professional life.
I love the saying "leaders are like parents and children don't often believe in what their parents say but what they do". So role modeling is crucial to inspire employees to develop and make it clearer for them to follow.
Role models are plentiful, just look harder. Which is now so simple with Chat GPT. A prompt you could use is: “You are a leadership/technical development expert. Ask me for my development area and the break it down into component parts. Ask me which of those I want to focus on. After I answer, provide names of 5 role models from different backgrounds, alive or dead, real or fictional, and explain why I should learn those skills or behaviors specifically from them, as well as the learning resources.”
Role model is one of best ways to implement values and behaviours in the leader and of course in the employee. Looking up at the leader will depend on how he\she acts on daily basis
As leaders, its comforting to hold things close and hard to let them go. You cannot expect your people to learn just from watching you do things, they need hands on experience and that can only come when you trust your team and delegate appropriately. Unfortunately our inherent fear of failure make us as leaders reticent to get out of the way and let our teams express and develop their talents. Instead we constantly lean in too hard and seek to control the outcomes. Empower your teams, accept and learn from mistakes; yours and theirs.
Other barriers I’ve seen are lack of department budgets to support development and work demands that prevent employees from taking time out to participate in development. In professional services, time is money and the client should come first. So from my experience, development opportunities usually fall to the very bottom of the priority list which is very unfortunate.
I truly feel that stagnancy hinders employee development. If the employee does not put their efforts to learn and grow and is in their comfort zone, this could be a big setback not only for the employee but also for the organization. Ensuring the right amount of nudge to each employee, giving the right opportunities, equipping with the right skills are all essential ingredients to ensure that an employee flourishes in their career.
Sometimes leaders choose not to offer employee development because they fear that talking to employees about the employee's perceived "weaknesses" or areas of improvement will lead to conflict, complaints of harassment, or difficult exchanges. Some leaders are simply afraid to offer coaching, advice, or feedback for fear of creating a challenging work relationship. Leaders can build trust with their employees to mitigate such a situation - employees are more open to development if they know it's coming from a positive place - and employees can encourage their own development by being open to coaching, to feedback, and to self-reflection about where they can improve and develop.
Many things can get in the way of professional development. But there’s one not-so-obvious barrier that gets in the way: mixed messages. Saying “Employees are our greatest asset” and “Development is important” but: ? L&D resources aren’t provided ? Managers aren’t taught how to have development conversations ? Managers neglect to coach before and after learning experiences ? Employees are discouraged from participating due to work priorities * And when time is allocated to clients and/or projects, time spent learning does not “count” When there are mixed messages, people choose the one that is safer for them, but riskier for the organization. When the choice is not to learn, the next choice is to move on to grow or stay and stagnate.