In 2020, about 255 million jobs were lost during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The massive layoffs contributed to the creation of over 4,4 million new businesses and the corresponding increase in the number of entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals. Today, we have over 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide, and the need for personal development for entrepreneurs has never been more crucial.
Regardless of the motivation behind these new businesses and startups, without proper training and development, they may go down as part of the millions of failed projects over the years. Keep reading to learn more about how personal development for entrepreneurs can influence career growth and lead to happier employees.
How Can Entrepreneurs Foster an Environment of Self-Improvement and Growth?
Before proceeding to how entrepreneurs foster an environment of self-improvement and growth, we must first answer the question: what is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is a person who uses an idea or product to set up a business, taking on short- and long-term risks in the hope of profit. As an entrepreneur, it is your duty to create an environment for your employees that encourages growth and self-improvement. Here are some ways to achieve this:
Setting Clear Goals
Goal-setting allows you to communicate your expectations, values, and how you intend to achieve them. This way, your employees are better informed on what to do. Additionally, it eliminates the feeling of being overwhelmed with tasks while creating a safe environment for growth and self-improvement.
Feedback and Recognition
Your employees and associates need to know how they’ve fared in any task they undertake, and this is where feedback comes in. Every entrepreneur must learn how to properly dish out feedback and recognition because they are propellers that inspire employee growth and self-improvement.
For instance, 69% of workers said they are willing to do more work if their efforts are acknowledged through feedback. So, to foster a healthy environment, provide regular employee feedback, acknowledge a job well done, and point out areas for improvement.
Leading by Example
While learning the nitty-gritty of how to be an entrepreneur, it is important to know that a leader sets the tone for every work environment. Since only 15% of employees worldwide feel motivated at their workplace, making a personal development commitment as a leader is a great way to motivate your employees to grow.
Coaching and Mentorship
Another significant point of personal development for entrepreneurs is the area of adequate leadership through coaching and mentorship. Beyond helping you achieve your corporate vision, proper mentorship encourages a growth mindset and healthy competition.
You can start by providing the right environment for adequate learning on the job while setting good examples for your employees. Then, you can go a step further by leveraging the expertise of renowned industry experts to train them and watch your employees transform into the professionals you want them to be.
Employees Want to Work With Employers Who Value Personal Development
Personal development builds better leaders, and because executives lead by example, employees will become better and more trustworthy. Besides making leaders and employees more credible, here are other reasons employees want to work with employers who value personal development:
Career Growth
Business owners who appreciate the importance of personal development for entrepreneurs are more likely to motivate employees to invest more in the company's growth. Consequently, these employees will go above and beyond to ensure the company's long-term success. This will, in turn, lead to increased revenue, offer a competitive advantage, and boost customer retention.
Job Satisfaction
Research shows that only 20% of employees in the U.S. are passionate about their jobs; hence, they're willing to give their best. Personal development for entrepreneurs can increase the satisfaction employees get from their jobs. Increased satisfaction brings a feeling of belonging to employees, making employee retention easier.
Increased Productivity
Employers who invest in personal growth for employees can triple productivity in the workplace. This is because employees will begin to set their minds on the goal they intend to achieve and sustain the right motivation to ensure that every task assigned to them is done effectively.
The Impact of Personal Development on Employees' Morale and Productivity
Often, employers ask, “Why is personal development important in entrepreneurship?” or “What’s the correlation between personal development and the overall morale of employees?” Here are some of the impacts of personal development:
Increases Employee Self-Confidence
Employee self-confidence is directly proportional to the business's success. In fact, 70% of people acknowledge their career success as integral to their self-confidence. So, an employer who fosters personal development in employees can prepare them to take on tasks regardless of how difficult they may seem. This makes them willing to invest time in learning, no matter how long it takes to gain mastery in that field.
Creates Work-Life Balance
Personal development entrepreneurs are people who have mastered the act of work-life balance. This means they can intentionally differentiate and balance the amount of time they spend at work and the time they spend with their loved ones. So, it is easier for them to foster this skill in their employees to increase employees' productivity and commitment, lower absenteeism, reduce job turnover, and improve the overall well-being of employees.
Success Stories From Companies That Have Implemented Personal Development Initiatives for Their Staff
Amazon, over the years, has offered and is still offering development training programs to employees that allow them to take on new roles, even in different industries. Interestingly, the company has about 275,000 full-time U.S. employees and plans to retain 100,000 workers, which is estimated to be almost one-third of its U.S. workforce, by 2025.
Aside from Amazon, Urban Company, India's largest home service market, has been able to help thousands of customers get the services they need. After moving over 1,300 office-based workers to remote work, they realized the need for employee personal development and training.
Therefore, they launched their urban academy as an employee learning and development platform. With this, they were able to cut down on creative production costs by 85% and grow the interest of employees, which in turn generated revenue for the company.
Workday is another company that has made giant strides in initiating employee personal development. The company is leveraging technical tools to identify and develop skills. According to a survey of Workday employees, 95% of participants say they’ve been able to develop their skills, and 65% said they have gotten results from their team.
How Entrepreneurs Can Easily Cultivate the Right Personal Development Skills
Not all entrepreneurs are natural leaders, and even those who are leaders still need to learn a thing or two from other industry experts in order to achieve greater results. Whichever category you fall into, you can improve your personal development skills when you associate with other leaders with proven track records within and outside your industry.
This is where EO Boston comes in. EO Boston is an exclusive organization comprising various entrepreneurs and business owners in Boston across various sectors of the economy. At EO Boston, we believe that mentorship and peer learning are part of the most powerful tools for every growing business. That’s why we organize impactful events and workshops aimed at helping you bond with other entrepreneurs and grow your business. Click the link to see if you qualify for an EO Boston membership.
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