Developing employees is a key responsibility of every manager. It is also very rewarding, because it fulfills the essence of leadership – to make a difference in others’ lives. The problem is that you might not know where to start. Well, start with yourself, establish mutual trust and respect and ask questions frequently. Delegate, distribute stretch assignments and provide feedback. These are the best ways to develop the people working for you according to the management.about.com website.
Start with yourself
In order to be credible developing others and giving recommendations, you need to start being a role model. You have to learn how to be really good at letting others develop. Enhance trust between you and your teammates, so they can be sure that when you discuss their development needs with them it is not just a way for them to admit their shortcomings.
Questions as a development tool
Questions can encourage the one who is being asked to figure it out for himself. Questions can also reinforce lessons that have been learned and the sustainability of new skills.
Stretch assignments
No doubt about it. Changing jobs and stretch assignments are simply the best opportunities for developing and learning. Managers should be willing to look for opportunities that can be suitable for his team. He has to know about his employees' aspirations and career paths in order to offer them reasonable assignments. You have to be able to pick the right assignment with respect to an employee's developmental needs.
Successful delegation
Many managers engage in activities they like and are good at, but that are not part of their primary duties. They delegate only mundane and annoying tasks. Try to delegate some of the more interesting tasks as well. However, don’t expect your employee to do it the same way. Don’t give excessive and too detailed instructions. Remember how you learned… it doesn’t need to be a perfectly smooth process.
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