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You can’t expect your employees to do great work if you aren’t motivating them and supporting them to do so. After all, the happier your people are working for you, the more likely you are to be successful.��

Especially in those moments where business slows down a little, employers who spend time investing in their team’s professional development and encourage their team to grow their skills can increase employee engagement and productivity, and dramatically reduce turnover. In this blog, we’re telling you just how to do it.��

The benefits of nurturing talent

There are plenty of benefits when you spend a little extra time investing in your employees’ professional development. Here are the top few.��

Improves company branding

Employer branding is shaping your company’s reputation as a place to work among current and potential employees, and key stakeholders. It involves your values and mission statement, and how you communicate that externally through visual and written communications.��

A company’s reputation has everything to do with their ability to attract customers and increase revenue. By prioritizing employee growth and having that felt externally in your employer branding, you are bound to: 

• Attract and retain great employees;
• Enhance employee engagement;
• Reduce recruitment costs;
• Improve corporate culture; and
• Turn your customers into brand advocates 

Motivates employees in their roles

Over a quarter of Gen Z and Millennial employees say the number one reason they’d is because they do not have the opportunity to learn and grow.

By encouraging and investing in professional development strategies, employees are actively motivated to be productive in their role, finding opportunities to continue to grow and develop at your company rather than seeking these opportunities elsewhere.��

Prepares company for growth

Today’s talent are looking for professional growth and challenges that could lead them elsewhere if those opportunities aren’t available to them through their current employer.��

When your strongest employees feel supported to explore their strengths and sharpen their skills within your doors, you have a powerful team beind you to take your company to that next level. On the flip side, if there’s high turnover at your company and you’re spending your time and resources constantly bringing new people in without developing your internal structure, the perceived growth opportunity will always seem limited.��

Tips to nurture talent

It’s not a one and done deal – supporting the growth and development of your employees is a long haul. Here are just a few tips to nurture your talent.��

Set clear expectations

High-performing employees are every company’s dream – their output is high, their passion is next level, and they’re always looking to improve. They are skilled employees who will thrive when effectively managed. Creating clear expectations and standards through job descriptions, constant feedback, and leadership principles are key here to maintain consistency and standards across teams.

At 91����, we’re creating leadership principles that align leadership traits across the business. These principles demonstrate how any people leader at 91���� lives our values, and give expectations around:

• How we handle conflict 
• How we communicate feedback
• How we expect managers to show inclusive behaviours
• How decisions are made to reduce bias

Provide opportunities for advancement

Think of your company and the different areas you specialize in, and the programs you offer. Is there a better place for some employees to apply and learn desired skills? 

We want 91����gos to feel confident about improving efficiency and productivity, and encourage them to constantly find new ways to help them advance in their career. That’s why all permanent, full-time or part-time, employees are given an annual budget of $500 per person toward their professional development.�� 

As a part of 91����’s learning and development provisions, we approve and encourage the following employee development:

• Formal training sessions (individual or 91����-wide)
• 91���� coaching and mentoring
• Participating in conferences
• On-the-job training
• Job shadowing
• Job rotation

Avoid limiting growth

Not putting the time and resources into helping your people grow in their career is a huge no, but an even bigger issue is limiting your employees’ professional development by way of career progression paths.��

In a recent edition of Think with 91����, our Director of People Operations, Andrea Bartlett, wrote about why you don’t have to be a people leader or manager to be a business leader. Creating paths for individual contributors (ICs) is pivotal in sustaining employee engagement and ensuring you have a place for your industry’s top talent. You can read the full issue here.��

Communicate goals

Spend time talking about career plans with your employees to learn what skills they want to make better use of as they grow at your company, plan accordingly, and check in regularly.��

It’s always important to make sure you’re asking about time-bound goals too. Knowing someone doesn’t want to lead people or own a process, for example, in the next 1-2 years may impact hiring plans.��

Check in with employees on their progress

According to a study from Wakefield Research, more than would prefer that their manager address learning opportunities and mistakes in real-time, rather than only during annual review.��

Compared to traditional performance reviews, real-time feedback drives high performance through flexibility, accuracy, and consistent engagement. Managers capture micro-moments of employee behaviour and coach them based on observations. Expectations or goals are then set to actualize feedback, in place of traditional performance reviews, to see how the employee has grown. Learn why annual performances don’t work and how to implement real-time feedback to better grow your employees.

Getting started with 91����

To learn more about how you can build a culture of high performance with 91����, connect with our team.��

Learn more with 91����

A strong, lasting team is the recipe for a successful business, and we want to help ensure you’re doing what you can to motivate your people to stick around. Tap into your ultimate guide for reducing employee turnover for all the retention must knows .��

For insight into relevant and raw people challenges, and the tools you need to continuously shape the future of work, subscribe to Think with 91���� – your number one people newsletter written by a real HR expert and 91����’s Director of People Operations, Andrea Bartlett.