Personal Growth: For You and Your Employees
Most businesses love to see the year-end numbers be larger than last year’s numbers. However, before profit increases, personal growth must happen. Technology certainly plays a role in becoming more efficient and effective with your work; we see that especially in an industry where building cars are your primary objective. Robots build quicker than most humans. What about 99% of the other business industries? Well, robots and technology can’t perform our work just yet, so it’s up to us.
We have to become smarter, more effective, and flat-out better at our jobs. Growth is expected and even demanded in most careers. You’re expected to make profits grow, get your tasks done more efficiently, and bring in more work while you’re doing that.
Is this expectation unfair? Perhaps. If they’re expecting unrealistic results, certainly. However, personal growth is very attainable for most people; we simply don’t make the time or effort to improve ourselves. Whether you’re the boss running your newest venture or a long-time employee low in the ranks, you should be growing. Here are a few, simple ways that you can attain personal growth.
Be Accountable — To Yourself
Your boss will surely keep you accountable; you don’t have to worry about that part. Yet, how often do we hold ourselves responsible for our work? Do we make it good enough for our bosses or good enough for ourselves? Laziness can creep into our daily work, especially for long-time employees and managers. We’ve found what works, what makes people happy, and we’re content to continue to deliver that product. If it makes people happy, why change? Unfortunately, people change, and with that, our efforts must change. People are expecting higher quality for less money these days. Fair or not, these are the expectations of most modern consumers. Why do you think most of these vast corporations have to start in millions of dollars of debt? They need the product to be amazing from the beginning.
You should keep yourself accountable for your work; whether that’s internally keeping it in mind, or more likely, keeping a list of the actions, you should take for your process. Double-checking, having some buddy your project, getting insight from others, taking a break and revisiting it later; whatever your method, evaluate it and follow through.
Be Invested In Growth
We get it. Some employees don’t care about their work; they’re at the office so they can get that $$$. But let’s assume that because you’re reading about personal growth, you care about your work. You either care about your company, your product, or what this could mean for your resume and future career opportunities. Most people work 8-5 and spend all of their time at the office working on projects, fulfilling regular tasks, and performing the daily duties of their job. This is inherently good because it means that you have things to work on and they’re being completed. However, when’s the last time you spent time at work, not working, but training and organizing? Do you take regular time to stop fulfilling orders and attend a webinar about how you can work more efficiently?
I have this hunch that most businesses don’t go under because they don’t have enough clients, but because they never spent the time to work on the company. They serviced the clients they had and hoped new business would come, or else. Do you meet with your staff, not just about work duties but how they can be successful outside of the workplace? I know that you’re thinking that all of this sounds like you’ll be losing money, but the rewards for investing in yourself and your employees will trump the lost few hours of work.
“Most businesses don’t go under because they don’t have enough clients, but because they never spent the time to work on the company.”
Finding Tools That Make Life Easier
I opened this post talking about technology making life easier, and well, it turns out that work is made easier by technology as well. In a world filled to the brim with CRM programs, marketing tools, and more, the opportunity is there. What is part of your regular workday that could be made simpler? How could it be cut down using technology? The answer isn’t always obvious, but we have search engines that are waiting to find your solution. Type in common problems that you face, and you will surely find programs and tools that will alleviate the stress.
Your personal growth numbers won’t categorically appear on your end-of-year report, but they will influence practically everything else on that paper. It will affect employee morale, new business, workflow, and most importantly, profits.