How Managers Can Support Employee Development

In my previous post, I introduced the first "G" of the 4G manager framework - helping your people ✨ Glow ✨. While this requires skill-building and intention, helping your team Glow is both gratifying and feels good. Many managers are inherently driven to excel in this area. 🚀 However, the second "G" - guiding people to 'Grow' through constructive feedback, productive stretch, and career conversations - can feel disconcerting and uncomfortable to most managers. And yet, avoiding it has real costs to employee development 🌟 Here are some tips to make this G - Grow - feel more approachable and effective: 1️⃣ Constructive Feedback: Focus on pinpointing specific, observable behaviors and their impact on the business or the team. Steer clear of speculating about motives and instead, concentrate on the tangible. Real-time, concrete feedback builds trust far better than waiting for bi-annual reviews to discuss developmental opportunities. 💡 📣 Pro tip: Remember, you're responsible for delivering feedback constructively and objectively, not for how someone chooses to respond. Keep your focus on their growth 🌱, not on expressing yourself. 2️⃣ Productive Stretch: Empower your team to step outside their comfort zones into the realm of "productive discomfort." 🔥 This is where they flex new muscles, learn fresh skills, and ascend the steep slope of their learning journey. 🌈 📣 Pro tip: While it may be challenging to watch someone grapple with challenges before mastering a skill, allow them the space to figure it out independently before stepping in. The steep climb is a vital part of the growth process and isn't meant to be a cozy journey. ⛰️ 3️⃣ Regular Career Conversations: Engage in open, supportive dialogues about your team members' aspirations, focusing on values and desired skills. By doing this, you empower them to embark on new S-curves. 🛤️ 📣 Pro tip: For newcomers to your team, career conversations can center on thriving in their current role, without an immediate focus on their next move. Remember, not all career discussions are about the next step. 🌟 Do you have additional insights on helping your people 'Grow' as we head into review season? Do share!🌱✨ #Management #Leadership #EmployeeDevelopment #CareerGrowth #ProfessionalGrowth

“If my people want to grow, they’ll speak up.” “If I keep my head down and work hard, my boss will notice.” Both are common assumptions — and both can lead to missed opportunities, unmet expectations, and frustrated teams. The truth? Most people aren't taught how to advocate for themselves at work. They don’t always know what they can ask for, and they may be worried about being seen as too ambitious, too demanding, or not loyal to their current role. So they keep their heads down, hoping someone will notice their potential. At the same time, many leaders are juggling too much. They’re not intentionally ignoring career development — but without clear signals from their team, it can easily fall off their radar. 💣 Growth and development don’t just happen. And it’s not something a leader or company can own alone. It’s a shared responsibility — and it starts with the employee. But leaders play a critical role. We have to create the space for real conversations — not just during performance reviews or when someone's struggling. * Ask your people what they’re interested in and where they want to grow. * Invite them to take on stretch opportunities. * Don’t assume you know what they want — co-create a growth and development plan with them. That's how you grow talent, build trust, and create teams that thrive — not just perform. And as employees, we need to take the lead on our own career development: * Get clear on what lights you up. * Don't wait to be tapped on the shoulder. * If you’re curious about a skill, a path, or a project — speak up. Your manager isn’t a mind-reader, and you don’t want to be passed over just because someone else raised their hand first. ✳️ Great leaders don’t build careers for people. They build them with people. ✳️ And great employees don’t expect growth to be handed to them. They take ownership — and invite others to help them get there. Who do you think owns growth and development — the employee, the leader, or the organization?

🌱💼 Are you empowering your team to develop and grow? 💼🌱 Studies suggest that sometimes a leader’s perfectionism or ‘only I can do it’ mentality hinders team cohesion and high performance. To foster team development and support, it is crucial for managers, and project leads to cultivate a team culture with a growth mindset. In the Harvard Business Review article "To Help Your Team Grow, Give Them Space to Struggle," we learn key strategies to empower your team's growth. 👉 Shift from a doer to a leader mindset: As a manager or team lead, you need to transition your mindset from personal achievement to developing your team's potential. Ask yourself: How can I support and nurture my team's growth? 👉 Embrace the discomfort of the learning process: True growth happens when individuals can face challenges and learn from them. By reframing struggles as opportunities for growth, you can create an environment that supports and encourages continuous development. 👉 Distinguish between high- and low-stakes tasks: Delegate low-stakes tasks that provide valuable development opportunities for your team without risking significant consequences. Reframe failure and establish a safe and supportive environment where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities. 👉 Be curious: Cultivate a curious mindset and ask insightful questions that encourage team members to reflect on their approaches and experiences. Practice compassion and grace, offering support and understanding as they navigate their paths to success. As managers and team leaders, we must provide the coaching, guidance, and support necessary for our teams to thrive and reach their full potential. Let's foster a culture of continuous learning, growth, and empowerment within our teams! 🌱✨ Harvard Business Review article by Kelli Thompson #leadership #management #entrepreneurship #founders #highperformance #culture #professionaldevelopment #growthmindset #collaboration  #advising #coaching #bestadvice #jennyfernandez https://lnkd.in/e4vKX5sn

Career development discussions with direct reports on your Marketing Team shouldn't happen just once a year. Many companies have annual evaluation processes that incorporate both a look back at each employee's accomplishments in the preceding fiscal year and a look ahead to career goals in the coming year. But I would argue that a once-a-year look at your employees' career challenges and aspirations isn't often enough. When I worked at Northwestern Mutual, Patrick Stone had a best practice of setting a monthly meeting with each of his direct reports that focused around career development. I saw the wisdom of that and have since adopted it with my team members as well. Those team members I've had since I adopted this practice have universally appreciated having the conversation with me each month. Here are some tips on making these conversations successful that I gleaned from Patrick as well as some that I have compiled based on my own experience: -- Frame your Career Development discussions around annual Goals and Objectives: If your company's culture encourages the development of company, department, team, and individual Goals and Objectives (Gs & Os) each year, then be sure that you have created a set of Gs and Os for your team as a whole and yourself that support your department's and company's annual Gs and Os. Then, work with each individual direct report in having them create their annual Gs & Os. These will provide a backdrop for your monthly Career Development discussions with each team member. -- Schedule these Career Development discussions with each direct report every month: At the beginning of each calendar year, make sure you schedule a Career Development discussion with each direct report each month. These meetings typically can be 30 minutes. If you find that you need a longer amount of time any given month, you can either lengthen it for that month or schedule an additional discussion for that month. -- Make sure the conversation is focused on the employee and listen carefully: Begin the conversation by asking how the employee is doing and how they feel their role is going. Listen closely to how they answer. You also may have heard them say things or seen them do things since your last monthly Career Development conversation that may have tipped you off to how they're feeling or doing. Evaluate their response to your questions and ask deeper questions if needed. Make sure that your employee knows that they can share openly their feelings, frustrations, or excitement with their role but help them understand that you care about them and their development. -- Discuss progress on annual Gs & Os as needed: While you may already get a sense of your employee's progress on their annual Gs & Os through other, more tactical discussions with them, ask them how they are progressing. What other ideas do you have for regular career development discussions with your direct reports?

🎤 Adam Grant shared this mic drop moment in a recent podcast: “The most meaningful way to succeed is to help other people succeed.” 😲 OMG – it’s like he was in my head. Growing up, I was active in Student Government and National Honor Society. I always ran for Vice President. As an adult, I never aspired to run the HR department. Indeed, my work in Leadership, Learning, and Organizational Development was very much behind the scenes, where only the most observant colleagues could identify my fingerprints on a leader’s actions, presentation, or blog post. Once, when I asked a senior leader for feedback on the leadership program he’d just attended, he suggested that I could have taken people aside for coaching during the experience. 😄 This was hilarious! I spent the entire program coaching people on the side. Because he’d not noticed my coaching efforts (even with himself), he assumed senior leaders were showing up in a challenging environment without any personalized support. Except that everyone needs personalized support when they’re stretching outside their comfort zone. Leaders at all levels benefit from coaching questions to help them process new experiences and figure out how to apply their insights to their work. And the newest managers – whether they are new to the company or new to management - need personalized support most of all. In my 1:1 work with new managers, they get the support they need, when they need it, enabling them to appear competent and confident - precisely when they are most vulnerable. A client recently shared that she’s working less hard, and with less stress, even though she’s been promoted to a significantly more demanding role: “Having clarity on what to do and how to do it makes me more productive with better work/life balance.” If you believe you succeed by helping others succeed – let's chat about how I can help the new manager on your team be more productive with less stress! 🌟 ------------------------------- 💥 Hi! Melissa here, helping new managers get up to speed and lead their teams to better results in the first 90 days 📮I'm just a DM away when you have a new manager who MUST succeed 🔔 Stay updated! Ring it on my profile   #AccelerateNewManagerSuccess #leadership #management

As a manager acknowledging your responsibility to support the career development of your employees can seem like a big undertaking. Afterall, it’s not like there’s a shortage of other activities and priorities that you could or should be spending your time on. But while this can seem like a daunting set of tasks or responsibilities, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Small practices over time can lead to results. Here are a couple examples of small actions and  types of support a manager can provide to an employee to help them with their career development ⭐ Pulses - These are pieces of feedback and data that you observe that give employees ideas about possibilities. They can be about their work, interests, or past experiences. Think of these as inputs that you can provide to employees that allow them to explore and ideate on career possibilities ⭐ Prompts - Sometimes we get stuck or aren’t sure what to do. We need a little nudge, idea, or prompt that encourages us to take action. Think of this as a firestarter that gets an employee “unstock” or inspires them to try something even if they don’t have all the answers. ⭐ Paths -  Sometimes we need a set of concrete steps or actions that show both the short term action and potential for medium term growth. Think of these as a string of steps/actions/ideas that when done, show progress towards a specific goal or outcome. If you’re a manager, I’d love to hear how else you’re supporting your employees with their career development! #managers #careerdevelopment #leadership

𝟯 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 - One of the primary ways that managers build strong relationships with their employees is by investing time in two-way development conversations. These ongoing conversations enable managers to establish a culture where employees grow, adapt, and evolve to achieve their career development goals. If employees believe they should only invest in developing new knowledge, skills, and abilities when they want to receive a promotion, it creates unrealistic expectations for the manager. Ongoing employee development and growth should be a baseline expectation for employees to have career success. The Career Lattice Model provides a visual roadmap for how employees can continually adapt, grow, and evolve to achieve their changing career development goals. Movement on the lattice can be represented by job, team, or career growth. 𝟯 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀: 𝟭) 𝗝𝗢𝗕 - Grow within your current role. This development could include goals for efficiency, error-free work, addressing weaknesses, deeper subject matter expertise, and/or higher quality work. 𝟮) 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 - Development that helps you to contribute to others' productivity and skills for how to use others' contributions to improve your performance. 𝟯) 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 -Developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve your desired promotional or lateral career aspirations.   What other types of employee development goals have you seen? Share your COMMENTS below.   Click the 🔔 on my profile to be notified when I post | Tony Gambill   #leadership #careers #humanresources