As a manager, one of your key duties involves helping employees grow a develop. That doesn’t just mean giving out constant feedback. The best tips to improve employee development also requires taking steps to help them improve both their efficiency, performance, and help them achieve their personal goals.

Provide Training

Delegating effectively is crucial when you’re a manager. For the entire team to be as productive as possible, you need to assign tasks based on their personal strengths. Your overall progress and efficiency will suffer if you delegate tasks without first considering qualifications and skill sets.

That’s not to say you should let employee talents stagnate. On the contrary, in order to delegate more easily, you should provide your workers with relevant training. You’ll have more options when delegating tasks if each of your team members have been trained properly, and continually develop against an agile market. It’s also worth noting that providing such opportunities for growth has been shown to boost employee engagement.

Set Clear Goals

Employees are less likely to be engaged and motivated if they don’t clearly know what’s expected of them. By taking the time to set both long term and short term goals, you’ll help them better understand their role. Role clarity also provides a sense of psychological safety, so each employee will feel comfortable enough to speak up when they feel they can. Productivity will improve as a result.

The main point to keep in mind is that you need to be specific when establishing expectations. Don’t merely let an employee know you want them to “become more independent” or “learn to be more efficient.” Provide clear examples of what that would look like, and ensure they understand fully what success looks like in their role.

You can also try setting up three-month, six-month, and 12-month snapshots for them to follow. By giving them shorter term and more manageable goals to aim for, you’ll help reduce any ambiguity or stress that comes with entering a new role.

Recognise Accomplishments

Engaged employees are generally more productive than others. Luckily, there are many ways to boost engagement among your team. One important way you can start boosting engagement is by acknowledge employee contributions. Quite simply, a worker will be more likely to put forth their best efforts on a consistent basis if they feel appreciated. Other team members will also see their coworkers being recognised for their accomplishments, giving them a greater incentive to work hard as well.

Appreciation if oftentimes contagious, too. Once people feel comfortable sharing wins with other teammates, it becomes more enjoyable for others to do the same. When others openly share recognition of one-another’s contributions, they are creating a culture of belonging.

Look for Ways to Save Time

Don’t assume productivity is always tied solely to employee performance. It’s entirely possible that your workers aren’t getting enough done because they’re hindered by certain tasks or processes. Identifying these roadblocks and making the necessary improvements is one of your key responsibilities.

For example, maybe you’ll discover your employees spend a substantial amount of time each week drafting emails updating you on their progress. However, if you find you rarely have the time to read through these emails, you might determine there is a more efficient way to get updates, such as quickly meeting at the end of each week (either in-person or digitally) for a brief discussion. Although it can take time to identify and remedy inefficiencies, the results are worth the investment.