Growth and development

What is growth and development?

Growth and development are present in a work environment where workers are encouraged and supported to develop their interpersonal, emotional and job skills. These workplaces provide a range of internal and external opportunities for workers to build their competencies, which will not only help with their current jobs, but will also prepare them for future positions and challenging assignments.

An organization with good growth and development can state:

  • Workers receive feedback at work to help them grow and develop.
  • Supervisors are open to worker ideas for taking on new opportunities and challenges.
  • Workers have opportunities to advance in their organization.
  • Workers’ ongoing growth and development is valued.
  • Workers can develop their people skills.

Why are growth and development important?

When workers feel that their workplace cares about their growth and development, they are more likely to take accountability for their goals and the organization, as well as feel greater job satisfaction. This also directly improves staff well-being. Providing opportunities to develop personal and interpersonal skills, aside from learning specific skills for their role, is important for promoting self-care, strengthening relationships and relating to others.

Workers who are not challenged by their work will become disengaged; their personal well-being will suffer, and their performance will drop. When opportunities to learn and improve interpersonal and psychological skills do not exist, the result can be high turnover rates and varying degrees of conflict, disengagement and distress.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Ensure workers are aware of the value the organization places on developing interpersonal and emotional competencies (skills related to managing emotions and relationships, including effectively solving challenging interpersonal problems at work).
  • Emphasize the importance of people skills for all, but especially for those in leadership roles.
  • Provide a range of resources and training to develop and enhance interpersonal and emotional competencies (onsite library, intranet, webinars, etc.).
  • Ask staff for input regarding the training they need to enhance their professional and personal growth and development.
  • Provide opportunities for job-shadowing, job-sharing or mentoring to facilitate interpersonal and emotional skill development.
  • Provide dedicated time and funds for training that includes a focus on developing workers’ interpersonal and emotional skills.
  • Acknowledge those who display excellent interpersonal and emotional skills.
  • Ensure leaders provide frequent and constructive feedback to direct reports on their performance and offer skill development opportunities and supports.
  • Widely communicate internal and external opportunities for both personal and professional growth.
  • Create and maintain detailed development plans for staff that include goals for interpersonal and emotional skill development, and review these in regular performance reviews.
  • Provide opportunities for staff to develop skills that make them competitive for internal career postings.
  • When considering a promotion, ensure the team member has the interpersonal and emotional skills required for the job.

Action

Next steps: Encouraging growth and development in the workplace

▸ Objective

A work environment where workers are encouraged and supported in developing their interpersonal, emotional and job skills.

▸ Benefits
  • Increased employee competency
  • Retention of skilled staff
  • Effective succession planning/internal promotions
  • Enhanced product/service quality
▸ Reflection Questions
  • Do issues related to growth and development pose a greater risk to specific groups of workers (new workers, certain jobs, shift workers, young workers, etc.)?
  • What are your workplace’s strengths in terms of growth and development? (What do you do well and what should you continue doing?)
  • What could your workplace do to improve in this area? (What could you do more of and what could you do less of?)