Every strong team starts somewhere. In the branded merch world, a junior account coordinator or sales assistant could become a leading client strategist or rep. But growth doesn’t happen automatically. It takes leaders who prioritize learning and helping junior team members see how they fit into the bigger picture.
Marc Cugnon, a management consultant, understands that busy schedules and mounting deadlines can pose challenges to developing your newer team members. But even if you feel like you don’t have time, you shouldn’t put this important task on the back burner. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share Cugnon’s best tips for creating a thoughtful learning environment for junior staffers.
Create safe environments for failure. Remind new staff members that failure is an opportunity rather than a disaster. Cugnon says it’s important to make sure that early-career learners have meaningful opportunities to contribute to team deliverables, while maintaining an environment where setbacks don’t bring things to a screeching halt. For him, that means never assigning a more junior team member a task that he’s uncomfortable with, unwilling to execute or that he’s inexperienced in completing himself.
Schedule focused time for feedback, learning and development. Then, protect it. This might sound obvious, but it’s one of the best ways to ensure that junior staff members get the time and resources to work on learning the ropes. Cugnon says that while you may have good intentions with check-ins and daily standups, these can quickly devolve into tactical working sessions rather than focused time for offering guidance or strategic direction. He likes to use standing “growth and development” sessions on a regular basis to talk specifically about development areas and how he can better serve his junior staff members.
Help people find their voices and encourage them to speak up. According to Cugnon, an open-door policy is nice, but it doesn’t mean anything if your employees don’t feel empowered to speak up. He says it’s important for leaders to accept and own their fallibility as decision-makers. You will be wrong sometimes, he says, and junior team members should feel like you’re open to input and perspectives beyond your own. Individual contributors can’t develop the skills necessary to lead if they never have the opportunity to engage with strategic decisions and ask meaningful questions.
It doesn’t take a formal program or complicated system to develop junior talent. It does, however, take intentionality. Give people room to try and encourage them to contribute their ideas. When junior team members feel supported and heard, they gain confidence and perspective.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Marc Cugnon is a management consultant specializing in the health care industry. He focuses on change and communications strategy.
