Areas people can improve on

In doing so, a creative work environment can thrive and produce truly impressive results:. The benefits of creating a less stressful work environment are universally beneficial to both the employer and employee. Hello, we need your permission to use cookies on our website. We use cookies for historical research, website optimization, analytics, social media features, and marketing ads.

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These cookies used for marketing purposes. They are used to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and remarketing. Employee development areas 7 key areas of improvement at work. Knowledge Hub. Download guide. Download Guide. Updated July 30, In this article, we will cover 7 key employee development areas and the most effective ways to develop them.

Why do you need to continuously develop your workforce? Organizations benefit just as much as the employee, if not more, from continued development. The employee and employer can thus rely on these resources to truly grow and develop. The sub-skills of being Highly Flexible Let's take a closer look at the building blocks of reaching the big-picture goal of being highly flexible, and then the steps to achieve it.

Ability to learn new skills : Without innovation and growth, an organization will be left behind while the competition moves forward. Employees must have the ability to be trained and embrace the process of continuous learning. Make this endemic to the daily structure; allow and encourage education.

Adaptability : New skills, knowledge, and understanding are great but moreover is the ability to take those learned skills and adapt them to the task at hand.

Again, rely upon knowledge management to pull from that collective information. Improvising : Despite the best-laid plans, sometimes it takes good old fashioned improv to get the job done.

Have a new technology, marketing idea, or design that the company hasn't tried before? Keep track of how you spend your time and evaluate whether your schedule is optimized for your priorities and goals. Good customer service can significantly affect a company's reputation and ability to get repeat customers. For example, customer service skills are also applicable when working with colleagues. Ways to improve customer service: Shadow and mimic a coworker known for their excellent customer service, ask a colleague or manager to practice customer interactions or explain how to handle challenging situations, take online service training courses or work with a customer service coach.

Teams who collaborate well can reach objectives and solve problems faster, easier and often better as a group versus separately. Working in a group effectively can also diversify decisions and workflows, making processes smoother and improving the product or service's outcomes.

Ways to improve teamwork: Develop communication and interpersonal skills, speak with coworkers in person rather than always digitally, compliment them for a job well done, take time to celebrate achievements and milestones, schedule regular team lunches or outings to encourage discussion and camaraderie outside the office. Read more: Teamwork Skills: Definition and Examples.

Interpersonal skills—the ability to communicate and interact with people effectively—can help people connect with colleagues and customers alike.

These skills can help make individuals better team members and improve customer service. Ways to improve interpersonal skills: Take courses on or practice traits such as active listening and empathy. Observe other employees' interpersonal interactions or work with a mentor on this skill. Maintain eye contact and be aware of body language during meetings and conversations.

Related: Interpersonal Skills: Definitions and Examples. Communication skills can be written, verbal and nonverbal. Communicating well can help individuals be productive and well-organized—and it's good for morale. Ways to improve verbal and nonverbal communication: To improve communication skills, talk to coworkers face-to-face when possible, listen closely when they speak and ask questions. Practice what you are going to say before you say it if needed.

Pay attention to body language and adjust your communication style accordingly. Written communication skills are important for professional development.

Many jobs require some level of writing, whether your team creates briefs, proposals, presentations, analyses or correspondence with colleagues, clients or customers. Ways to improve writing skills: Study the company style guide for communications and written content if available, install a free spelling and grammar checker to find writing mistakes, ask a colleague or manager to proof or review content and offer feedback on how to improve it.

Related: Communication Skills: Definitions and Examples. While accepting and applying helpful feedback takes practice, it can also help people make better decisions and improve performance.

Thank the person who gives you the feedback, regardless of whether you agree with them. For example, " I appreciate you taking the time to give me some advice. Good organization skills can help people be more productive, focused and efficient at work. Your well-organized team members are likely able to gets tasks done on time and with less stress. Ways to improve organization: Create a schedule each day that lists the things you need to do and in what order. Create a clean work environment to avoid losing documents or to-do lists in piles of paperwork.

Use digital records and daily organizers to reduce the amount of paper to manage. Create electronic filing systems for all projects to quickly and easily access them when needed. If you maintain more flexibility at work, your team members may find it easier to adapt to change and take on multiple responsibilities.

Ways to improve flexibility: Show a willingness to accept a variety of projects or assignments. Show interest in learning additional skills and practice ways to remain calm when plans change suddenly. This might include meditation or breathing exercises, taking scheduled breaks or consulting with a friend or mentor.

Read more: How to Be Flexible at Work. Strong problem-solving skills can help you identify an issue, assess the possible options, choose the best solution and then implement it. Problem-solving skills can also help resolve workplace conflict, overcome project roadblocks and find creative ways to reach goals. Ways to improve problem-solving skills: Watch coworkers you respect to see how they resolve issues in the workplace.

After experiencing a problem, think through ways you might have handled it differently and take note for next time. Good leadership skills can help any individual reach goals, solve problems and communicate with project partners. It is always better to encourage employees to finish the task at hand to get better results out of them.

It not only benefits the company but also the employee as they need not bother about the other task while performing the current one. Sometimes employees jump from one task to the other and in the process forget about the old tasks which eventually comes back to haunt us. It is always an ideal practice to finish the job at hand rather than starting a new one.

It is easier to initiate a new task than to finish it. Organizations must prioritize achieving a finished state among their employees and reward them for successful completion.

Benefits:- Having a laser-like focus on a single task and not doing multiple tasks will help you to concentrate on your job better rather than worrying about a task that was initiated but not finished. Everyday things around us are changing upgraded, with every new invention, innovation, and approach we see the world changing for the good.

In this rapidly changing world, you must stay up to date with your industry news and hacks. It is ideal to read at least one relevant article per day. Such a habit will keep you in line with current trends and changes. Benefits:- Self-improvement in work is only possible when you read regularly and doing so will keep you ahead of your peers. Well, proper communication boosts efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, and eventually overall work performance.

Because of COVID, it has become increasingly difficult to communicate with teams and other stakeholders. But even in this situation, many companies have overcome this hurdle by being prepared. They have utilized tools like Zoom , Microsoft Teams , and Slack to communicate via video conference or chat rooms.

These tools also help you to exchange files which again is a part of exchanging information. How you can establish the ideal communication channel? Here are a few tips that you can use to figure that out:.

Benefits:- Having proper communication among employees could help each of them to learn from one another, and achieve better results. Leaders have to step in to help their employees to identify their weak spots and grow in their jobs.

Appreciating them and shying away from pointing out their weakness will not do any good to you and your employees. But how can you achieve that? Well, follow these steps:. Benefits:- Identifying weaknesses will help your employee to learn and grow. Each of your employees comes from different background.

Most of them have different levels of expertise, passion, and experience. Whether your employee is a top-level professional or an intern, each person brings something of value to the table, and yet they also have something they can learn. Sharing knowledge on a regular basis with your team members and other similar groups within the organization on a weekly basis enhances the work performance of employees. Sharing knowledge is also a part of collaboration and effective communication which helps you and your employees to grow in your respective jobs.

Benefits:- Sharing knowledge ensures you and your employees learn new things or validate what you already know. At the end of the day we all are human beings and not machines, even machines need a short break to recover. Short-break like this helps to regain the concentration and interest of your employees in their job and they can complete their expected job in a much efficient manner.

Benefits:- Taking a regular break and utilizing it for having coffee, or walking or meditation will help you to concentrate better. Every employee in the organization must be punctual and disciplined but unfortunately, some of your employees might not be punctual. Employees can use tools like Calendly to schedule a meeting and link it with their email id to get the notification.

This will help employees to be on time. Further, you can consider offering perks for those who come on time and finish their project or assigned tasks before the deadline. Benefits:- Being punctual with your task will help businesses to achieve their goal in time. Before committing to a task always analyze what you need to do to finish it. List all the possible resources and knowledge your team might require to accomplish the goal.

In consultation with your team, identify all the hiccups and roadblocks that you might face, including any dependencies on another person or team. This can be avoided by asking experts in your team to draft a business process chart. Use the chart to identify any gaps in the system strategize accordingly to overcome them. Benefits:- Removing the bottlenecks upfront will enable a smooth process. If two employees are not comfortable in the presence of each other then make sure that they sort it out immediately.

Internal politics or conflicts could hurt the overall performance of your team. Encourage meditation, and exercise at your workplace to make your employees calm and composed. Avoiding major rifts is beneficial for your employees in both personal and professional life. An agitated and depressed mind can never be productive.