4 Tips for Keeping up With Company Growth
This article was updated on August 20, 2018.
Business and competition is global, and to survive in such an environment you should have a plan to stay ahead of the competition. Your competitors are moving just as fast as you and are just as hungry to own the market. To compete, HR leaders should nurture and grow the people they've put in place to help the businesses succeed.
Here are four tips for keeping up with company growth and scaling your learning programs as your business scales.
1. Scale Your Leadership
Every business starts with leaders, and those leaders need to learn and grow with the organization. If you train your leaders to be confident ambassadors of your business growth, this should deliver direct benefits to the organization, providing effective, consistent and informed guidance for employees. It should also serve to nurture the next generation of leaders. It shows leaders the importance of learning and lets them trickle down that knowledge to those they manage.
2. Steward What You Have
When leaders are your organization's teachers and mentors, they can pass on specific knowledge that's relevant to the people they're teaching. At the same time, they're building recognition and trust in their abilities, developing greater connections in the workplace and ensuring their knowledge is spread throughout the organization at all levels. This is a big competitive advantage in times of change, and also sets up future leaders with skills and knowledge, as well as an appreciation for your corporate culture.
3. Engage the Self-Starters and the Learners
As an organization, you need big ideas and adaptability, so it's important to engage both the self-starters and the learners in your office. The challenge is to retain and excite both groups, making subtle changes to their way of doing things. Think about what would work better — grouping participants in similar roles or locations to take advantage of shared experiences or mixing it up to increase the amount of interaction and cross-pollination of ideas.
4. Make It Relevant
Scaling your learning programs as part of keeping up with company growth is important. What might have worked when your organization was smaller might not work now. Don't be afraid to have fun and be creative, but make programs practical and relevant by linking what's happening in your organization to the wider market.
You should also plan ahead to keep up with future company growth. For example, if the business is growing and you're about to hire more entry-level positions, you may want to increase learning offerings that specifically help new hires track improvement and create goals for moving up in the organization.
The world is increasingly interconnected and competitive, and having an educated staff with a passion for the organization is more important than it's ever been. A plan and a clear goal for scaling your learning at the same pace as your organization grows should allow you to take proactive control of your environment and foster success throughout the organization.
