COVID-19 has pushed companies to reinvent their approach to employee training and career development. While the need to create effective training and development programs persists, perhaps even more than ever, conducting them remotely has become a challenge.
Professional development is essential to engage and retain employees. Here we will discuss some online strategies that can be applied to the professional development of a remote team.
8 effective professional development strategies for remote teams.
Conduct an employee evaluation.
To help employees with their professional development, team managers must first understand their needs, strengths, weaknesses, potential, and abilities.
A tool as simple as a SWOT analysis can be very effective in making this assessment. It can be used efficiently to focus on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities (your potential) and threats (ie risks) of the employees.
This activity is easy to do – for example, Creately provides online SWOT analysis templates – and can help employees better understand themselves and help the manager identify where they are in terms of their career and future potential.
Launch a mentoring program.
Whether the employee is the mentor or the mentee, such a partnership can help advance their careers. Create opportunities to improve communication and leadership skills, learn new perspectives, and grow in your role.
Set clear goals and expectations.
Based on gaps in your current knowledge or experience; sets specific, achievable, and measurable goals for employees.
A professional development plan for remote teams is essential in this step. Since it helps the manager to outline the short-term and long-term objectives of the employees, and to understand the experiences (both formal and informal) that they need to achieve those objectives.
A clear vision of your career path is a great way to keep employees motivated.
Also, as you set goals, you can help them further by developing your personal action plan that outlines the specific steps you need to take to reach each milestone.
Make regular check-ins.
Regular check-ins allow you to track the progress of employees with their development and training programs and their career goals. They also allow you to give regular feedback to guide them in the right direction and discuss opportunities for their growth.
- To provide employees with the ideal learning opportunities, the manager must understand what they want. The best way to do this is by asking questions that will allow you to find out more about them and their requirements.
- Discuss both successes and failures, without judging. Congratulate them on what they have accomplished so far and point out the steps they need to take to avoid failure.
- Even if your hard work didn’t pay off, it’s important to recognize your effort. They are more likely to learn from their experience when they are not punished for their failures.
For productive discussions, he relies on video calls, which is as close to in-person communication as you can get when working remotely.
Invest in the right online courses.
Now more than ever it’s easy to find and provide the training your employees need; with numerous online courses available at affordable prices. These resources can help you expand your knowledge and develop the skills you need for your professional development.
While they can complete these courses at their own pace, help them select the courses that best fit their needs based on their previous skills assessment.
Online training in real time.
This may include presentations; demonstrations of software or tools; webinars; online lessons or discussions; etc. Real-time online training via video conferencing helps you guide your employees through learning material as they watch it; thus enhancing the effect it has on them.
It also allows employees to bring up any concerns they may have on the spot, allowing them to resolve them immediately. This opens up more learning opportunities.
Gather and store all learning materials and resources in a central location that is easily accessible to employees.
Create more on-the-job learning opportunities.
Give them challenging tasks that match their potential.
This will open up learning opportunities on the job, allowing them to learn new skills and expand their knowledge while doing their jobs; with the guidance of your manager or a senior co-worker.
Take time for occasional performance reviews.
Whether they are done monthly, quarterly or annually; Performance reviews have a lot to offer in developing an employee. During a pandemic like COVID-19, you can prioritize reinforcing organizational culture and values on remote employees over rating their performance.
Given the physical, mental and emotional circumstances and environmental conditions in which its employees operate; it is also important to show more compassion and empathy.
Have candid conversations with underachievers about the issues they are struggling with and offer your advice on how to overcome these challenges. Also, be sure to recognize high achievers for their effort and successes.
I hope these effective professional development strategies for remote teams will be of great help to you.
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