Leaders create future leaders | 5 ways to help employees reach their full potential

True leaders don’t create more followers, they create more leaders. Successful leaders invest time in their employees and elevate them to reach their full potential by utilising their strongest skills and strengths and providing them with the tools they need to develop their leadership skills. This may involve a lot of investment of time, effort and money but the results along with the happiness and overall productivity of your employee make it all worthwhile.

When we say it’s a great deal of time investment, we don’t just mean the time the employee spends at work. Ensuring your employee is happy at work will also reflect throughout their home life too. Advocating a healthy and happy lifestyle at work will contribute to a happy and healthy lifestyle at home too. Simple things like providing help towards childcare, including healthy eating days and exercise at work, contributing towards work/life balance and being flexible where possible. The more you support your employee the more likely they are to reach their full potential whilst working for you.

Research suggests that there’s a link between employee happiness and productivity at work. According to a study by the University of Warwick, happiness led to a 12% increase in productivity. Companies are now paying greater attention to their staff to ensure they are happy and healthy at work and they are seeing the benefits from it. It’s difficult for employees to reach their full potential without challenging them, so by using your companies’ values and mission you can motivate your employees to grow and develop.

So, if you’re wanting to engage and motivate your staff to reach their full potential read our top five tips below:

Build strong teams

Building a strong team and promoting effective collaboration in the workplace motivates individuals to do their best. No one should have to feel stressed and alone at work, building a strong team can allow employees to lean on each other, grow and learn as a team. What is a weakness in one person well may be a strength in another; it’s important to have a friendly environment that inspires people.

Try encouraging team meetups and use team-building exercises to strengthen the team’s relationships and communication. Being part of a strong well-developed team will only contribute in positive ways to each employee reaching their own full potential. As they say, teamwork makes the dream work!

​Promote individuality

It’s important to remember however that it’s not just about teams and no two people think alike; every person has their own intricacies. What are their strengths and weaknesses? In what situations do they thrive? It is our own strengths and ambitions that drive us and keep a well-oiled machine. Once you have identified their strengths you can provide them with the tools that they need to reach their full potential. Being individual and thinking in our own unique ways are what make businesses so diverse and intricate.

Open your door

Having an open-door policy is a great way to encourage your employees to come to you with new ideas and to instil some productivity. Employees will feel that it is okay to ask for advice, feedback, or direction without getting berated. Being able to comfortably go to your boss with new ideas will only create a more resilient and creative team and help the employee realise their full potential.

Offer on the job training

Training can be a highly motivating aspect of any job. Most people thrive on learning new things and when an employer invests the time and money into helping you learn new things, you feel valued in your role.

A good place to start is to create personal development plans for all of your employees so that training and development can be tailored to help each individual reach their full potential. Some employees will keep up to date, whereas others will need a little nudge, however providing everyone with ongoing, on-the-job training can help ensure that every employee is on the same page at all times. This keeps employees up to date and therefore the company up to date.

It’s a good idea to use personal development plans so that training is tailored to each employee and help them reach their own personal goals. A successful and happy employee makes for a thriving team and company.

Care about your employees

Finally, your employees need to be a part of a positive workplace environment, where they feel that they matter, and are part of something bigger. They should feel respected and rewarded with competitive salaries, benefits and opportunities to advance their education and careers. Utilising each employee to their full potential and letting them know they are valued, is the best way to ensure that any company succeeds.

If you’re an organisation looking to attract the best talent or a candidate wanting to progress your career,  get in touch withus here.If you’re looking for a new role where you can truly let your full potential shine, browse our jobs here.