Why constructive feedback can develop employee skills

As an employer, it’s important to ensure you’re helping your employees grow, both professionally and personally. An excellent way to help streamline their growth is to provide regular constructive feedback.

However, it’s important to ensure you’re not damaging the confidence of your employees – which is why it’s important to show emotional intelligence in the workplace.

Learn more about how you can help to develop the skills of your workforce, as well as why online courses can help them thrive!

How to assess employee skills and competencies

There are many ways that you can go about assessing the skills and competencies of your employees. Different employees will respond to your methods in different ways, so it’s important to discuss with them whether they feel certain assessments will work better than others.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your employees, as some approaches may not suit all personality types.

Some of the ways you can assess your employees include:
 

• Hold team meetings with your department/specific team members, where everyone is encouraged to provide feedback on how projects are going/have gone
• Simulate situations that regularly come up in the workplace, and provide feedback on the performance of your employees (including what you would have done)
• Encourage employees to conduct self-assessments, which are then combined with your feedback
• Pass on anonymous feedback from clients/customers and advise them on where they could improve/rectify mistakes

Giving constructive feedback to your employees is something that needs to be practised – it may not come naturally to everyone.

Some things that are worth keeping in mind when you go to provide constructive feedback to your workforce include:
 

• Make the feedback session a conversation, not a lecture
• Talk face-to-face whenever possible
• Stick to professional feedback, not personal
• Be specific, and don’t leave room for interpretation

Above all else, it’s important to ensure that your constructive feedback highlights your employees’ successes, not just where they’re failing/could be improving. No-one wants to receive a constant stream of negativity, so ensure that you’re highlighting what’s going well when your employees are making improvements!

How to develop employee skills

Training is a key part of professional development, and as an employer, it’s important to be across what training your workforce is completing. Online training can help improve your employees’ skillsets, while also providing them with the confidence they’re looking for in the workplace.

Some things to keep in mind when looking for suitable online training for your employees include:
 

• Ensure that the training provides practical, job-ready knowledge
• Check that the assessments are practical, rather than theoretical
• Find out whether the training is taught by professionals that have worked/are working in your business’s industry
• Confirm that the training’s schedule can fit around your employees’ work commitments

There are many benefits to having your employees complete regular online training, especially if your industry is one where knowledge is constantly being updated. What might be best practice today may not be best practice tomorrow, and for your business to succeed, your workforce needs to be up-to-date with what industry leaders are doing in their workplaces.

Upskilled’s courses provide a range of industry-specific and transferable skills, in industries like business, human resources and more.

In addition to industry-specific knowledge, online courses can teach your employees skills like:
 

• How to solve complex problems
• How to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders
• How to think critically and process new information
• How to become an effective leader

What are the benefits of developing employee skills?

Of course, your employees aren’t the only ones that benefit from online training. Your business benefits too! Investing in your employees is an important method of investing in your company’s success, especially if you’re looking to build trust and camaraderie within your workforce.

Some of the ways your business can benefit from developing the skill sets of your employees include:
 

• The improvement of your company’s reputation, both with customers and potential hires
• A better company culture, as your employees know you’re committed to their continual improvement
• The creation of future leaders, so you know that there are always people ready to take the next step
• Better buy-in from your employees, as they know you’re going to back them in even in tough situations

It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of employee training. PwC reported that 74% of employees are ready to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable, so your employees are more than likely to engage fully with any online training that you might suggest. If you haven’t spoken to your employees about the benefits of online training, and how it can set them up for future success, then it’s time to have that conversation!

If you’re looking to help your employees improve their skill sets, or you’re looking to complete further study of your own, then Upskilled is here to help. Upskilled provides a wealth of nationally recognised qualifications in a range of industries, so you can be confident in the knowledge you and your employees are receiving.
 

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