Help Employees Reach Their Potential 

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

– Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric

Help Employees Reach Their Potential

No matter how talented an employee might be, there is no guarantee that their talents will translate into great work performance.

As a business leader, it is your responsibility to help make your employee be the best they can.  While employees need to want to be better at their jobs, it is up to you to provide help by giving them opportunities to learn and excel.

How to Help

The adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” is true.  Your job is to provide the water and place it in front of your employees. But they need to take advantage of the opportunities you provide.

Here are several proven practices that will help your employees take advantage of those opportunities.

1. Promote individuality. No two people think or act alike. Everyone has their own curious set of character traits the make them who they are.  And, those differences are what makes each business different. Embracing each employee’s individuality will create a dynamic and powerful business.
2. Keep statistics on each employee. When facts drive motivation, there is no denying them.  Showing employees where they excel can help to drive them even further. When discussing areas that need improvement, sticking to the facts will avoid the risk of deflating any employee’s motivation and can help them see where they need to change.
3. Build strong teams. No employee should have to work alone and be left to feel the stress and challenge of their job without assistance. A strong team allows each employee to build upon the strength of the others while enabling the employer to utilize each employee to their full potential.
4. Keep an open door. An open-door policy is a great way to promote productivity from an employee. A staff that can comfortably walk into the boss’s office and not be worried about the response will be more productive in the end. Employees will feel that it is okay to ask for advice, feedback, or direction without getting berated.
5. Provide ongoing training. Invest in all your employees.  Procedures, regulations, and missions change with time, which means that the way employees do their job will to change as well. Providing ongoing, on-the-job training will help to ensure that every employee is on the same page at all times. This ensures that each employee changes with the environment rather than getting lost in the shuffle and bringing the productivity of the company down.

The Bible

Psalm 32:8 says.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

God is doing for us exactly what we should be doing for our employees.   He is giving us the tools we need to be successful through His instructions and teachings as found in the Bible.  He is giving us council, yet He is carefully watching over us.  We are not alone to our own resources.  He cares for us and wants only what is best for us.

Part of our responsibility to care for our employees is to provide them with the assistance they need to reach their full potential.  God sets the example for us in how to deliver that assistance so we can watch our employees grow.