In this blog series surrounding the Surgeon General’s Framework, we will be breaking down each of the five essentials for workplace mental-health & well-being and ways you can implement the recommendations into your workplace.
To read our recommendations on other essentials here:
ESSENTIAL 5: OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH
Last but certainly not least. The next well-being essential focuses on ensuring employees have opportunities to grow in the workplace. They need to have and experience equitable opportunities to learn, to be able to successfully perform and achieve goals.
According to the Surgeon General’s report, there are three primary components to supporting this essential this learning to achieve growth:
- Offer quality training, education, and mentoring.
- Foster clear, equitable pathways for career advancement.
- Ensure relevant, reciprocal feedback.
So, how do we begin to work towards or strengthen these elements in our workplaces? Let’s break it down.
Ways to Implement in Your Workplace – Essential 5 – Opportunity for Growth
Organizations must invest in their employees’ development. However, there is a ton of flexibility in terms of what this looks like or how this is done. Most organizations have some type of professional development, but many could find improvements to be made if you dive a little deeper. Think about the following:
Dos and Don’ts to Consider:
- Do think about how professional development is defined, communicated, and discussed. Do employees even know what is out there and offered? Is it buried somewhere in a handbook or is it alive and thriving? Make it a standard, an engrained part of the culture. Everyone should be involved and interested in growing themselves personally and professionally – it should be who you are as an organization.
- Do think about the current opportunities that exist. Is there enough variety? Is there equitable access? Does this variety include mentoring, coaching, workshops, webinars, or access to educational resources? More importantly, do these options make sense for your people? If not, talk to people about what they are looking for, start a conversation.
- Don’t forget to ask employees what they can offer others. It doesn’t always have to be a degree or a certification that is costly for the employer. Start a peer learning program – give people an opportunity to grow, by allowing them to teach others. Customize the content, format and details to your specific industry OR make it a blank canvas for people to paint.
Oh, career advancement. It’s something that’s so easily overlooked or if it does exist, can become very mundane and overly predictable. We want people to be inspired and excited by reaching their next steps, we want them to have clarity, but we also want to expose doors that have might not been opened yet.
Dos and Don’ts to Consider:
- Don’t think of career advancement as a ladder people should be climbing. Think about it employees have access to cross training and diverse experiences to expand their knowledge and opportunities.
- Don’t shy away from having difficult conversations or asking employees to do self-reflection. So many people move through the motions, they make decisions based on their current definition of success or what can bring home the most money. And when it comes to money, there is zero judgement. It is expensive out there. We all have responsibilities, but if we only think about the paycheck – we will miss opportunities. Encourage people to think about what brings them joy in their role, then dive into that. Alternatively, if there is no joy – then have that conversation too.
- Don’t clearly communicate the available opportunities for advancement. Be transparent. If managers or leaders cannot speak to this, your people certainly will not be able to. This is a huge element to employee retention. There is growth in becoming comfortable with the unknown, but organizations need to put effort into minimizing the unknown. Communicating and being open about what is available will increase trust.
It is important for employees to get a pulse on what managers, leaders, and even their peers are thinking about when it comes to their contributions and performance. It is essential to growth and develop positive, healthy mindsets.
Dos and Don’ts to Consider:
- Do look at what you have in place regarding employee recognition and opportunities for shout outs. Feedback does not always have to be formal, and it certainly doesn’t need to increase your budget. Implement something as easy as weekly team shouts. It provides other opportunities for people to reward each other with feedback.
- Don’t assume an annual employee review is enough. In fact, it shouldn’t be even considered as employee feedback, because is so easy to try to streamline everything through one yearly conversation. It’s not impactful, nor helpful. Set up regular touchpoints with your employees and establish questions or topics that are most beneficial to discuss.
- Don’t forget to be open to receiving feedback at the individual, team, and organizational levels. It sends the wrong message when feedback is given, but there is not an opportunity to share, voice opinions, ask for clarifications etc. If this is not currently part of your feedback system, think about what options exist to incorporate this very important element.
In Conclusion
Encouraging growth should be an ongoing effort, and it’s not always an easy one. It literally takes effort. However, if we embrace the need to make sure this exists and think about it in terms of increasing the well-being of both people and the organization – it can light a little bit of fire for this to be a priority. As we recognize the importance of providing quality training, transparent career pathways, and relevant feedback, we lay the foundation for a workplace where employees not only feel valued but also see a clear path for their personal and professional success. Small, intentional steps toward growth can lead to significant positive changes in well-being, job satisfaction, and overall productivity.
Interested in more suggestions for your workplace?
Our Strategy and Consulting team can help!