Embracing a culture of continuous improvement is crucial if you want to lead a competitive, people-first business. Continuous improvement enhances day-to-day productivity, supports engagement and morale, and encourages employees to pursue career advancement opportunities.
However, creating a culture of continuous improvement can be tricky if you’re new to the world of leadership or have inherited a disengaged team. You may encounter resistance when trying to engage employees who are used to doing the bare minimum and could discover that some staff would rather get on with their normal responsibilities.
As a leader, you can shake things up and change the culture at your place of work by creating a supportive environment that fosters growth and champions forward failure. This is crucial, as you can’t expect folks to take on continued learning opportunities if they are constantly under pressure to perform. Creating a supportive environment encourages folks to take risks and encourages employees to engage with continuous improvement opportunities.
Continued Learning
Most employees haven’t authentically engaged with continued learning programs since leaving college or high school. This is a serious issue, as best practices are constantly changing across all industries. Rather than overlooking the importance of supporting continued learning, set aside a budget to fund training workshops and pay for college credits. The benefits of supporting continued learning include:
- Increased Talent: Showing that you support growth will draw talented applicants to your business and boost your ability to land candidates that match your cultural expectations.
- Improved Retention: Your best employees want to take up learning opportunities. By giving them time and funds to do so, you boost staff loyalty and can cut down on turnover costs.
- Encourage Innovation: The world of work is constantly changing. That means you need employees who are on the ball and can innovate in response to challenges. By funding training, you give your best employees the tools they need to find creative solutions to complex problems.
- Increased Productivity: Put simply, employees perform better when they are well-trained and know how to make the most of the resources available to them. By investing in training, you also benefit from increased engagement which innately boosts productivity, too.
Investing in continued learning also signals a shift in culture. For example, if folks are used to just doing enough to get by, but you start funding college tuition for top performers, you’re likely to see a sudden increase in productivity and performance. Just be sure to reassure folks that failure is OK, also, as employees need to feel safe in their role or they will overlook creative solutions in favor of low-risk, low-reward ideas.
Problem-Solving
Every industry has unique problems that every firm must face. Whether you’re selling televisions to consumers or repairing big rigs for shipping firms, you’re sure to face some unique problems that require the right mindset to solve. As an employer, you can encourage creative thinking and create a culture that tackles issues head-on by investing in software and solutions that support employees.
For example, visual aids such as a virtual whiteboard can:
- Increase collaboration with folks working synchronously across the nation
- Enhance meeting facilitation, thanks to visual aids during discussions
- Unify company-wide ideas so folks are on the same page when facing a complex problem
- Improve analysis during meetings thanks to digital boards that feature freehand drawing, commenting, and pathway creation
If you do decide to encourage creative problem-solving, be sure to adjust your employees’ KPIs accordingly. For example, if your sales team has seen a dip in conversions, you may need to temporarily lower KPIs like daily calls and sales while they work on finding solutions to the wider problem. This is key, as folks will only embrace a culture of continuous improvement if they know that they won’t be punished for thinking outside the box.
Coaching
Coaching is widely overlooked in the world of commerce. However, an effective coaching program can encourage staff to engage in continuous learning programs and will facilitate critical thinking at work.
Systemic team coaching can help employees become more resilient, and creative professionals, too. Put simply, employees are far more likely to feel self-assured and confident when they have a coach to bounce ideas off of and feel supported within the wider team. Team coaching is a cost-effective approach to mentorship, too, as you’ll be able to spread the cost of mentorship over several employees.
As a leader, you should also sign up for coaching initiatives. This is crucial, as you need to set an effective example for the rest of your team if you want them to sign up for development opportunities. By engaging in extended enterprise learning and coaching programs, you show that you want staff to embrace career development opportunities and care about the long-term trajectory of their career. This can encourage employees to explore their benefits and take advantage of mentorship opportunities that are available to them.
Conclusion
Creating a culture of continuous improvement is crucial if you want to remain competitive in modern commerce. By encouraging your team to take on training programs, you create an environment of growth and can facilitate long-term development in your team. This can reduce costs associated with turnover and will boost your overall productivity. Just be sure to make policy-level changes that encourage staff to take on continuous improvement, as folks will overlook training programs if they feel it will interfere with their ability to hit their KPIs.
