This blog is the third in a series of six to help you manage your talent.
Offer training to all staff to show that your firm is interested in their team’s growth, increased knowledge, and skills to improve job performance. Listen, ask open-ended questions, mentor, and coach all staff regardless of their position. Recognize that careers can take different journeys and at differing paces as people advance. So, think of lateral and promotional movement.
Track utilization and give equal engagement opportunities to all staff. Offer a shadow and reverse shadow on-the-job training program. For example, a junior accountant may follow a more senior accountant through several audit report deliveries. During each delivery, the junior accountant is tasked with noting observances and questions and following up with their coach/mentor on tackling the notes. As the junior accountant gains familiarity, give them project responsibilities to help grow skills in the area. Give staff some control over their career trajectories and watch them blossom.
Provide continual positive and constructive feedback. Use formal and informal feedback sessions and performance management software to document these conversations. Want to deliver a kinder message? Use the sandwich method, which sandwiches constructive comments between two positive comments. A helpful resource for suggestions on giving and receiving feedback is “Where’s the Gift,” by Nigel Bristow.
Read Part 4: Foster a Desired Work Culture.
Posted in Firm Intelligence,Micron Systems