The world took an abrupt turn in 2020, and companies found themselves in a tricky situation when keeping employees engaged. Operating virtually wasn’t easy. Even if the practice isn’t unheard of, many companies weren’t considering it to be their permanent setup. And employees who weren’t used to working from home faced more responsibilities than normal.
Those challenges left an impact not only on business owners but also on managers. Managers who were looking forward to developing their juniors had their plans disrupted by the stay-at-home orders. Though training and development programs can be conducted online, if a manager planned to expose their juniors to real-life events, an online program may not yield the same results as they were expecting. On the other hand, employees undergoing development during the pandemic might’ve experienced a slump due to the blurred lines between work and home persona.
Luckily, Singaporean companies are adept at technology and were quick to adapt to the new normal. They used workplace technologies other than Zoom; Singtel, for example, used Teams for collaborations and file-sharing. But to organize a virtual town hall for their 4,000 employees, they used the enterprise edition of Zoom.
Many companies have also upgraded their digital learning opportunities. Singtel encouraged their employees to try out for the company’s e-learning application, #CURIOUS, which offered over 100,000 courses and educational videos.
Your company can step up too and create highly competent and developed employees in 2021 and beyond. Below are some effective development methods:
1. Improve Employee Knowledge and Advancement
Developing professionally increases a worker’s value. It keeps them qualified for their field and future promotion. You can encourage an employee with a drive for success to take up a diploma courses in Singapore. This will boost their credentials and open up more doors for their growth.
Some people might argue that higher education or post-graduate courses have value, with street-smartness as their chosen strategy. What these people don’t realize is that you can also gain street-smartness through education. After all, studying forms the foundation of your knowledge and skills. Without education, chances are you’d have poor organization skills and will settle for “trial and error” techniques when finding your niche or finishing a project. Though that may work for certain endeavors, trial and error can waste a company’s resources. And successful people and companies like to cut their losses. Hence, education can be necessary to develop a good work ethic and value.
2. Improve Leadership Skills
Employees are more engaged and productive when they’re satisfied with their leaders. Sadly, some companies interpret leadership as bossing around or getting away with incompetence. But those qualities make a bad leader.
To further develop the leadership skills of your managers or potential future managers, instill the following skills:
- Communication skills
- Coaching skills
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Developing others
Unlearn toxic leadership standards such as stubbornness, indecisiveness, refusal to delegate, bias and favoritism, and more. Employees are now aware of their worth, and they wouldn’t settle for being disrespected or undervalued.
3. Develop Emotional Intelligence
For the longest time, we’ve measured a person’s intelligence through their IQ. While logical skills truly help in certain projects and situations, emotional intelligence (EQ) makes a well-rounded worker. Without enough EQ, an employee may act snub, bossy, and unwilling to collaborate with others.
At its core, EQ training aims to improve how employees understand and influence their own emotions and their colleagues’.
EQ is composed of four key qualities, such as:
- Self-awareness: the process of taking a moment to evaluate one’s thoughts and feelings before reacting
- Self-management: the process of managing one’s emotions and reactions (avoiding spur-of-the-moment decisions or impulsive actions)
- Social awareness: a combination of observation, active listening, and empathy.
- Relationship management: developing healthy relationships with people; involves developing others, inspiring others, helping lead during uncertain times, being a good influence, managing conflicts, and mastering teamwork and collaboration
4. Consult Employees About their Developmental Needs
To ensure that your developmental methods are working, consult each of your employees. Remember, you’re developing them not just for the sake of your company but for their personal advantage as well. If they stayed in your company for the long term, that’s just a bonus.
Also, consulting your employees gives you a chance to address skill gaps within your company. For example, if all the members of a particular department have great leadership skills, not enough EQ, that can pose a challenge for maintaining employee engagement. By addressing this gap and filling it, you can form an efficient team and a satisfied organization.
In 2021 and beyond, developing employees shouldn’t be limited to enhancing their skills. Their personality and social skills matter just as much because, at the end of the day, we’re human beings that benefit from healthy relationships and dynamics. So spread positive vibes and attract success through these development methods.
