You're assessing skill gaps in your team. How can you communicate this without demotivating them?

Além do diálogo aberto, vale apresentar ao colaborador situa??es em que ele pode melhorar as suas habilidades, citando exemplos e como isso fará diferen?a na qualidade de seu trabalho e para a sua carreira.

TNA/Gap analysis is an ongoing process (happens at regular intervals or if there is a major change/transformation in the organisation). It is also linked to the performance evaluation process that happens at regular intervals. Hence, there is no way that employees should get demotivated. If such is happening, the problem is with the capabilities of the team/person involved and with the communication processes. Generally, it is the incapable/unskilled person that creates these issues. If you communicate well during performance evaluation or the change/transformation process, these issues never arise. If you want more information, please refer to my books on my author page [#1 preference is "The Leadership, The Reality, and The Future"].

Communicate openly and be optimistic with them. Tell them this is the assessment for this organisation. Fram their mind accordingly and encourage them to be constructive and stay open to learn. This will help them to support you.

When assessing skill gaps within your team, it's crucial to frame the conversation as an opportunity for growth rather than a critique. Start by acknowledging the strengths and contributions each member brings to the table, emphasizing how their unique skills have benefited the team. Then, introduce the idea of skill development as a way to enhance those strengths and address any gaps that could elevate their performance even further. Encourage open dialogue, and position upskilling as a collective journey towards shared goals, fostering a positive and proactive atmosphere.

This is all about highlighting the impact that the training can have, with details and specifics. Paint a picture of what life will be like with these new skills. But crucially, the impact you choose to highlight can vary depending on what each person finds most enticing. Some employees may be more task focussed and so for them, you could highlight what extra projects they could be involved in. For others, they may be more relationship focussed and therefore want to hear how the team will get on better and work together more smoothly. Adjust your impact for who you’re talking to.

This sounds very time intense and you might wonder how you are supposed to squeeze this tailoring into your busy day. The beauty is that your team will have recognized your genuine interest in developing them by now - they trust you that training will follow. Take advantage of their motivation and ask them to make proposals themselves. Whatever they get back to you with will show you what kind of trainings they'd enjoy, what they wouldn't enjoy, and what they might have overseen because they are not interested in it (even though you'd need them to learn this). From this point on, you can iterate their proposals if needed until you mutually designed a plan that makes sense for everyone. Your team will thank you for your trust.

Fostering continuous learning within our team is essential for our growth. We can start by promoting a growth mindset, where we all believe that our abilities can improve with effort and learning. This mindset encourages us to see challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles. We should provide regular opportunities for development, such as training sessions, workshops, and access to resources, making learning a natural part of our work experience. It's also important to create a safe environment where we feel comfortable discussing our learning needs without fear of judgment. By normalizing the idea that everyone has areas for growth, we make it easier for our team to embrace continuous learning.

This culture of learning won't be established over night. It takes time and most of all it needs to be strong enough to persist if this culture is not (yet) existent in the rest of your organization. As a leader, you can start to grow this culture in two ways: you can lead by example in your own team and share on a regular basis how you cut time off your busy day to learn. Share what you learned and how. Secondly, you can share your new learning routine with your peers - explain the benefits of learning, the impact it has on you and your team, and encourage them to start the same in their teams. Be ready to meet resistance at first - and stay persistent. Soon the benefits of continuous learning will outweigh any arguments against it.

This recognition can be given privately or in front of others. Especially when you are (still) strengthening a culture of learning, public recognition for learning can support this goal well. Other employees and leaders will see that recognition is not just given for performance, but also for development. This has one big advantage: the argument that learning has no space and there is no time for learning during work, will be less strong. Making learning an attractive activity can be supported even more by including learning goals into performance reviews.