HR partner Marie Davies from Hey Me tells us why personal growth makes your business stronger.

Growth: it’s a term that gets thrown around left, right and centre in business. But, what about personal growth? It’s an equally important subject yet doesn’t get talked about half as much.

If we go back to basics, the two elements work hand in hand. Grow your people and they will grow your business – it’s as simple as that. People are your company’s biggest asset and for your business to flourish, you need to take your employees on a journey with you. Here’s why advocating personal growth makes your business stronger.

It increases retention

Supporting people to achieve their aspirations can make them feel valued and reassure them that the company wants to invest in their future. Learning opportunities, in whatever format they take, can increase retention and engagement, which is directly linked to increased profitability.

It attracts the best colleagues

Many people are now more likely to choose professional development over salary when applying for jobs. Employees naturally expect more personal growth, so if you want to attract the best talent and keep them,  offering growth opportunities should be a top priority and ingrained in your recruitment criteria.

It’s cheaper to develop talent in-house

Looking for a high calibre of talent externally can be expensive due to high recruitment costs. It’s much more cost-effective to develop people in-house and retain them if you can. Spot people with bags of potential and you’ll reap the rewards in the long run.

It enhances performance

Promoting personal growth helps individuals feel more positively towards the company while also encouraging them to buy into your company objectives. Inspire your employees to be their best and they’ll dedicate time and effort to go above and beyond for you.

It boosts your reputation

When you promote personal growth effectively, word gets out. Happy and fulfilled colleagues will feel compelled to shout about your business while working for you, and after they’ve left too. Being known in your industry for offering good development opportunities can only be a good thing.

How to improve growth and development in the workplace

There are numerous ways to encourage personal growth. Here are some easy ideas that won’t eat too much into your budget:

• Personal growth objectives that link back to company objectives – When employees understand more about your business and its current aims, they’ll be better equipped to put their skills to good use to reach the same targets of the business and to help it grow.

• Provide personal growth objectives which are then supported – Back personal growth objectives with necessary resources (e.g. a new qualification or online training) to help put employees’ goals into action.

• Whiteboard sessions –Get experts within your business to host learning sessions on a subject within their niche. This is an easy and cost-effective way to pass on skills to different teams and will also educate employees on what other areas of the business do.

• Train the trainer approaches – If there’s a new software, skill, or way of working to roll out, train internal people to deliver this to others. Everyone learns differently so it can be a successful way of training individuals and ensuring knowledge is absorbed.

• Business improvement initiatives – Give people the freedom to work on refining their working environment processes. It will help them to work more efficiently and improve your business.

• Develop a shadow board of junior members of staff – This is a great way of getting junior colleagues involved in strategic decisions from the very start of their journey. It will also give them an understanding on what happens in the boardroom at top-level, so they can see what they need to do to get there.

• A reading list or free access to self-improvement books – Provide educational reading material to develop employee skillsets. You can then pass these resources around to other people within the business.

Cultivating a culture that facilitates personal growth, as well as company growth, can bring benefits that are well worth the cost.

For more on growth, take a look at Hey Me’s toolkits which give expert guidance on how to put growth initiatives into action. They also provide templates and examples to show you how even small actions can promote growth.