Create a Win-Win for Your Employees and Your Business With This Powerful Strategy

The following is adapted from Detox: Managing Insecurity in the Workplace by Melanie Pump.

To be successful, leaders must not only identify talent but also support the growth of their employees, both professionally and personally. By doing so, they will maximize the talent within their organizations while also helping individuals to develop their careers and prepare for promotions. This is a “win-win” that benefits both employees and businesses.

However, identifying talent isn’t a simple task. I’ve found it’s not always evident what aptitudes our employees have. And many people don’t realize their own talent. They may not have been in situations that allowed their skills to shine through.

I am personally an example of this. When I started my corporate career as a receptionist, I hadn’t progressed my education yet and didn’t realize where my talent lay. Fortunately, I had a boss who saw what I was capable of and pushed me to stretch my financial abilities. If it hadn’t been for her, I might never have taken the critical step to go back to school and grow my career from the front desk to CFO.

Help Your Employees Maximize Their Potential

Years later, I had the opportunity to pay that experience forward. I joined a company as the Head of Finance. When introduced to my team, the employee in the Accounts Receivable (AR) clerk role quietly hung back. When we had our first one-to-one meeting, she was nervous and very formal. Yet, I could tell she was smart and had a lot of potential.

I learned that the person I had replaced hadn’t given her opportunities for growth. Instead, he had bullied her and instilled insecurity. She’d been about to leave the company but had decided to stay when she found out that a new leader was coming on board.

I observed her work for the next month and saw she was capable of more than her position was asking of her. I changed her title to AR specialist and supported her to go to credit management school. Through the more senior title and my support, her confidence began to grow, and her insecurity diminished.

The business expanded; within a year we added to the AR team, and I promoted her to AR manager. She went on to complete her Credit Manager certificate and two years later moved on to a credit manager position in a much larger organization. All that she had needed was someone to see her talent and believe in her. I feel extremely fortunate I had the pleasure of being that person.

Some may view an employee leaving an organization as a failure but in this type of situation, I view it as a success. The organization fully benefited from the individual’s talents and high-performance while she was there.

Engage in Ongoing Conversations

Determining an employee’s abilities, goals, and how to support them to achieve their goals requires ongoing conversations about their performance and progress. It also requires observation of their work.

We may see opportunities and talents our employees don’t. We may also see challenges in their skill set that they don’t. Both topics should be openly and supportively addressed. Leaders can then work with employees to overcome any barriers and maximize the opportunities available to them.

This honest dialogue will build a safe, trusting relationship, reduce insecurity, and increase the likelihood that the employee will grow within the company and the business will benefit from their full potential.

However, although it’s ideal when employees prosper within our teams, their aspirations may or may not include a long future with our organization. The reality is that, like the AR employee in my earlier story, most employees will eventually move on. Open conversations about this will be better for all involved.

Discussions with an employee about their professional goals shouldn’t focus solely on their potential within their current employer. If we are truly supporting our staff, we are looking at the whole person, not just the part of the person that benefits our company.

Empower Your Staff to Continue Growing

If we develop open, honest relationships with our employees, the transparency will increase their engagement for the time they are with the business. They will also be advocates for the organization after they leave. This will help the company’s reputation and future recruitment efforts.

A side benefit to this transparency is that leaders will have time to prepare for employees’ departures rather than planning for a future with an employee, only to be surprised by two weeks’ notice at some inopportune time.

So, support your employees to find their talents and reach their personal goals. Remember, you’re going for a win-win — supporting an employees’ future contributes to business success. Staff will feel empowered to reach their full potential and maximize their contribution to the company’s success while they are there. Employees will feel secure in an environment that supports their growth and with leaders who care about their future.

For more advice on how to create a supportive work environment that benefits your employees and your business, you can find Detox: Managing Insecurity in the Workplace on Amazon.

Melanie Pump grew up in a family that went bankrupt soon after she was born. By fifteen, she was a high school dropout. Today, she is Chief Financial Officer of Brane Capital, a trusted independent partner for digital custody. Particularly attuned to the critical effects of a toxic environment, Melanie spent more than twenty years of progressive corporate experience studying the impact leaders and workplace cultures have on employee security and performance. Through that effort, Melanie learned how to shape a corporate environment to manifest powerful teamwork, authentic communication, diverse creativity, and heartfelt loyalty. She wrote Detox to help leaders and employees everywhere learn how to truly thrive.