Help Employees Learn Faster by Using Two Simple Tips

People learn and grow at a different pace. So how do you help an employee who isn’t learning fast enough? According to Executive Coach Anne Sugar, there are two actions that you can take to close the learning gap, since it’s your responsibility as a leader to help guide your employee’s performance and success:

• Mentorship: Seek out a mentor for your employee to supplement your own guidance. It’s helpful to select someone who is more experienced than you in a specific practice area where he or she can guide an employee’s development. For instance, if your employee needs to learn new technical skills to succeed, engage someone with technical skills outside of the department to help. There’s a good chance your employee will be exposed to a fresh perspective from this outside source, which will supplement your guidance.
• Consistently Provide Feedback: Your employee will learn faster if you provide consistent, specific, and actionable feedback. Consider meeting with the employee weekly so you can discuss their development area in detail. In addition to identifying the specific area where the employee needs to improve, provide feedback on what the employee can do to improve (actions). It’s also important to share feedback on what the employee has begun to do right.

WHAT CAN I DO? Jill, only two actions? Yes, only two. If you’ve heard me speak, you’ve heard me say that I’m a three to five girl. If you want to succeed in business, keep it short and simple. While it can be frustrating when an employee isn’t learning fast enough, these two strategies should help speed up the rate at which the employee gets up-to-speed. A bonus? This works with children too. Go forth and conquer!