As you manage your employees through the regular one-on-ones, performance reviews and appraisals, you will get to know them better and they you. This will begin to create a bond between the employee and supervisor, if handled professionally and according to certain EQ principles. If not handled professionally and according to EQ principles, it go the other way and work against you and your employees.
Assuming it goes the “right” way, you can begin to develop the growth of the employees, knowing their strengths and areas for improvement. Being realistic and honest is perhaps the best guiding principle that any supervisor should adopt. One key point to adopt is that not all growth should be vertical to climb the proverbial corporate ladder. Horizontal moves to develop innate or acquired skills and aptitude capabilities of individuals should be taken into serious consideration.
If employees see that organisations respect and recognise their contributions and value them as individuals, that would motivate them.
Another key point to note is that if employees are aspiring towards goals that may not be realistic and may not materialise in the organisation, within the time frame envisaged by the employees, then as part of their development it is critical that any supervisor worth their salt, should guide and coach them to realise this and work towards a more realistic outcome. That outcome could perhaps require them to move out to another organisation and if that be the case, then as a supervisor, we should guide them accordingly. This is leadership and the employees will be grateful to you in the long term.
In short, the process of employee development is not a straightforward and easy one. It requires honesty, sincere interest in the future of your employees and their growth, not necessarily in the company they are currently in but within the larger context of their professional skills, aptitude and attitude . This is what leadership is all about.
