Personal Investment - Investing in You!
During March, our focus is personal development- investing in ourselves and our teams.
Whether you work solo, run a business, or are part of a business, your own learning and development are your own toolkit, it is in your power to make time to develop it.
What does this mean for you?
When people think about learning and development, they mainly think about in-person training courses, but there are a whole host of ways to keep yourself up to date and in the right mindset; these include podcasts, articles, books, online courses, workshops, mentoring, peer-to-peer groups, coaching, accreditations as well as more formal certificated courses.
What skills, learning and insights do you (and your team) need to hit your 2022 goals?
Do you have a personal development plan that aligns with your business goals? We know that what gets measured gets managed. (Thanks, Peter Drucker!) So, how can you make this work in your business?
For example, one of your goals this year might be to grow your team. You may have the skills required to recruit and train new employees, but you might feel that you’d like to develop coaching skills to ensure that your new staff members are supported as much as possible in their new roles.
In this instance, one of your personal development goals might be to compare two different online, certificated coaching courses (specific) for content and price (relevant) with the objective of helping you build a strong team (measurable). To make it SMART, you would need to add a time element, perhaps to enrol on your chosen course within one month. Is it achievable? You would need to ensure that you can ring-fence your time to commit to completing the course.
Do you think you do enough in keeping your skills up to date? If you have a team, what do you do to encourage and invest in their learning and development?
A recent report by Dell Technologies predicted that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t even been invented yet. That’s a scary statistic as most businesses (and their employees) haven’t prepared for this yet and the impact it will have on upskilling and retraining staff in emerging technologies.
As our economies continue to evolve, the most successful companies will be those that adapt quickly and effectively. So, one of the key reasons for training employees is that it keeps their knowledge and skills up to date, whilst boosting their self-confidence. According to a Gallup poll, when your staff know that you’re investing in their training and development, they become happier, more loyal, and productive in their work. It’s a win-win!
In a world where we all check our smartphones at least nine times an hour, and there is so much competing for our attention, it’s not surprising that shorter digital learning content courses are becoming more popular. Online courses that can be accessed on mobile devices, whilst on the move and in smaller pockets of time are becoming recognised as more effective.
It’s called micro-learning and we can all fit it into our day!
Think of a morning podcast when you are walking the dog, an article a week, a module of a course, it all builds up; little and often is the key to effective learning. Back in 1885 Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the ‘forgetting curve’ and he found that learners are much more likely to recall knowledge if it’s broken up into smaller chunks that they can revisit on a regular basis.
What action will you take this March to invest in your personal development? We’d love you to share your thoughts!
Oh, and if an accredited coaching skills course is on your list and you are ready to ‘Think like a coach’ you can join our waiting list here: Think Like a Coach