By Neal Glatt

Everyone wants better employees and today that usually requires growing them internally.  By starting with a high-potential worker and developing them intentionally, companies are able to build a near-ideal employee ready to tackle their specific issues.  But employee development only occurs in the right environment.  Here’s what a company has to have in place:

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Advanced Expertise - Growth can only occur when someone is ahead of the employee to be developed because someone has to be setting the pace for production and sharing knowledge.  This doesn’t mean the smartest person in the room has to quit, but rather that they need a coach or mentor outside of the company to guide them.

Continually Challenged - Advancing to the next level never happens by accident, so an environment where everyone is challenged to reach higher levels of performance creates the tension needed to advance intentionally.

Future-Oriented -  A team which is focused on past mistakes doesn’t have the right outlook to grow their team.  Growth is always the result of forward thinking where a better reality is a goal and positive intent around its achievement is embraced.

Affirming Atmosphere - Development takes a lot of extra work beyond simply the status quo so teams that encourage each other to the next level of their skills are the ones that usually stick it out to see the results.  It is the consistency of effort over long periods of time that is enabled through encouragement and brings true results.

Mission Driven - When team members understand what their company does to enhance the lives of their customers and how their role contributes to making a difference, they are more likely to wake up excited and be driven to be the best version of themselves.  This energy is essential to growth.

Failure is Embraced - When we learn new skills and put them into practice, failing is a large part of the learning journey.  In fact, learned experience is the quickest way to actually know anything.  But a negative reaction to mistakes will deplete growth momentum so wise teams expect and embrace them when they occur.

Mutual Advancement - People always work best when they're working together, so teams where every member is growing are far more likely to see positive results.  The best environments for growth have individualized and continuous development happening for every person and the culture is one of learning.

If your team needs more help growing itself to the next level, be sure to check out all of the resources available here on GrowTheBench.