As a good manager, one of your tasks should be encouraging employee development, but knowing how to do this precisely can be challenging. Too often, managers do not receive much training in this or other management aspects. A further complication is that one-size-fits-all is not appropriate for employee development. Different sectors have different needs. Below are a few examples of how you might handle this development.

Employee Development Best Practices

There are a few general practices you should follow. Work with individuals on plans made just for them and make sure that there are ample opportunities for training. Remember that helping with soft skills, such as leadership and communication, should also be prioritised. Make sure you are establishing a culture that helps encourage employees to speak up when they have questions or need additional support. Be clear about your expectations; often communicate and review your processes regularly to ensure that there are no barriers to development. Having a general idea of how to approach employee development is essential. Still, it is also important to understand that different approaches are necessary for various situations, as the points below illustrate. You need to identify the particular set of needs for the team you are working on developing.

Admin

Admin staff are the backbone of many offices, and keeping team members happy and engaged can be critical to a smoothly running work environment. It is not uncommon for admin staff to feel either stuck or unappreciated. Some people may start in an admin position hoping to get their foot in the door, and there should be pathways for them to move into other professional positions if desired. Others may be happy to remain in admin jobs, but recognising their contributions, giving them more autonomy and supporting them by providing training as needed or requested or helping them expand the scope of their duties can help with retention.

Fleet Management

Primary concerns in fleet management include compliance and safety. Keeping costs down and productivity up are priorities, but these must always be accomplished to balance these other factors. Ideally, if you work in fleet management, you can help drivers become safer and more efficient. Several tools can help you accomplish this, including dash cameras and GPS tracking. Using a single platform to get data from this and other devices, such as sensors, can make a big difference, and tachograph analysis can provide you with detailed reports to help you as you work with your drivers.

Remote Teams

Remote teams offer a unique challenge when it comes to employee development. It’s harder to build a rapport with employees who are 100% virtual. A hybrid situation is ideal when workers go into the office sometimes, but this is not always possible. Learning to thrive in a hybrid work environment comes with some growing pains. Creating specific metrics to track productivity can make understanding how employees are doing and where they might need more guidance easier. You may need to be more proactive to encourage communication, such as checking in more frequently with staff. Fortunately, when it comes to training, many opportunities are available remotely.