How to be an engaging manager

Managers need to help employees identify solutions to issues they encounter so they keep developing their skills and confidence. Offering clear development paths and the opportunoity to be coached can be useful in helping your staff reach their full potential. Below are some ideas to help you make employee development a core part of your business culture.

Personal development plans

Create personal development plans for each team member. Make sure these plans have clear links with individual roles, team activities and corporate goals.

Give employees the opportunity to try new areas of work and develop new skills in line with this plan.

See managing staff performance.

Open discussions about goals

Encourage team members to be open about their ambitions. By doing so you can help them feel their ambitions are compatible with the business. SMART objectives are a clear way to outline what is required from an employees to meet their goals and makes it easier to track progress and identify milestones that have been reached or missed. This approach eliminates guesswork as progress is easily measured.

Everyday coaching

Encourage team members to discuss challenges they encounter so you can help them identify the issues. Give staff the space to set their own plan and decide on a course of action.

See mentoring versus coaching.

Informal opportunities

Create on-the-job development opportunities eg shadowing employees in different roles or working alongside colleagues in other teams. This can help people understand more about different job roles within the organisation and improve their interaction with other teams and colleagues they wouldn't normally work alongside.

Mentors or personal managers

Give employees career mentors to help share experiences and encourage their personal development - this could be someone who joined in the same position a few years ago and is further along in their career path.

You could also consider introducing a personal management system to provide care and support.

See use mentoring to improve staff performance.

Internal transfers and promotions

Be willing to let employees move around the business. This can help individuals develop new skills and experiences that will benefit the business as a whole. If you try to hold people back it could undermine the engagement and enthusiasm of others within the team.