During this time of cutbacks and hiring freezes, it’s more important than ever to invest in your team and demonstrate that you truly value their contributions. In her August 22 “Your Best Next Move” video, Bobbie LaPorte shares three simple leadership tips you can act on right away to build employee retention and engagement.
Transcript of Your Best Next Move: Invest in Your Team in an Economic Slowdown
Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly leadership tip for your Best Next Move, where I help you see continuing curveballs as an opportunity.
This is my third vlog on the topic of leading through the current economic slowdown we are experiencing.
In earlier tips, I’ve proposed the idea of “doubling down” on successful, small projects to amplify their impact and also why the concept of building your social capital is more important than ever in challenging times.
This week I want to revisit the idea of investing in your team at a time when hiring freezes and people exiting their jobs seem to be continuing. It seems to me to be an opportune time to clearly demonstrate to the people on your team that you value them and are committed to their growth and development in their roles. I know, it sounds pretty trite, but do we really pay attention to this with all the other pressing issues we need to address? I think it’s worth some additional focus.
There are so many ways to do this in a resource-constrained environment; here are three ideas:
- You can invest time in building an upskilling program for your team – based on what you believe they will need to be successful 12-18 months from now. This will pay off in the long term and, in the short term demonstrate your commitment to helping your team grow in your organization.
- As a way to demonstrate “strength-spotting,” – ask each of your team members what skill/strength they have that they are not currently using. Suggest that they find an inexpensive course or instruction that will help them amplify that strength and develop a plan to put it to use within your team.
- And as a way to demonstrate social capital building, identify someone in the organization who could be a good contact for your team members – whether it’s a peer on another team, another leader they could learn from, or someone who can benefit from their expertise. And make the intro – show them the value of this practice.
So here is my leadership tip:
These are just three suggestions; there are countless other ways to invest in your team in challenging, resource-constrained times. The important thing here is to use your personal agency and ACT – pick one. Keep it simple, involve your team and make it happen.
You might be surprised at their appreciative response – which can go a long way to building retention and engagement.
That’s my tip for this week. Please also check out my “Summer Slowdown” tips on LinkedIn each Thursday…to help you make the most of this summer.
Have a great week; I’ll see you next Monday.
One thought on “Invest in Your Team in an Economic Slowdown”
Comments are closed.