In any area of your Middle Market organization, you are always looking for improved ROI. So, employee development should be no different. It takes time, efforts and money to develop, implement, and manage a program. So, if the only consistent payoff is a loss of employees, limited engagement or progress, your ROI is in the red. You can’t control every aspect of why employees may choose to leave or stagnate in their careers. However, it is vital you know if your employee development programs are keeping employees engaged and happy.
How To Know If Employees Are Engaged And Happy In Your Middle Market Organization
The best way to find out any answer directly is to ask. If your company doesn’t have a regular check-in process with each employee, consider implementing one immediately. Being in regular contact is the best way to know the temperature of individuals. Ask for unbiased, anonymous feedback about your development and training programs and address it in your regular check-in meetings.
Also, do some sleuthing. Slip into meetings to observe. How do employees look? Are they sitting forward, actively engaged in the conversation? Are they smiling, making eye contact, and showing interest? Alternatively, are they looking down and not participating? Do you see eye rolling, shoulder slumping, and a general feeling of “I would rather be anywhere but here” in the room?
As you walk through your building(s) and come across employees unannounced, what is the general air? Obviously, you want this to be casual – you aren’t trying to catch anyone at anything, just understand how employees feel in their environment. Lastly, if you still don’t have any idea, it might be time to bring in an independent expert or consultant to help poll your employees or develop ways to get the information you need. They also should be able to help you decide what to do with your results!
Ensure Your Employee Development Plans Garner The Most ROI For Your Middle Market Firm
What’s important to your Sales team in regards to employee development? How about your customer service team? Or, your CIO? If you polled every employee in your Middle Market company, you’d probably receive about as many different answers as you have staff. You cannot be everything to everyone. However, you can make sure you are hitting the sweet spot most of your teams, and individuals care about. How? Again, it all starts by asking. Send out a questionnaire about your current programs and find out what’s working and what isn’t.
Next, make sure employees know why you invest in them – not just why you invest in your programs. They want to know why they matter to your organization, both on individual and team levels and as a whole. Don’t just focus on why learning or cross-training benefits your company. Focus on what they are learning and how it could pay off for them in the future. Talk about the skills and talents they are building and why it’s important for their careers. Lastly, talk about why it’s important to your Middle Market organization to invest in the employees and to see their growth and to have happy, engaged employees.
You are likely investing a lot in your Employee Development programs, so make sure you are getting a good return on your time, efforts, and funds. Ensure your employees are engaged and happy with the program and your Middle Market organization.
So, what’s in the Mighty Middle Market for me? – get it right now at www.Go4ROI.com