As a law firm owner, you saw a problem and decided to try and solve it by starting your business. When you did this, you had to work hard. You had to put a lot of effort into professional development just to get your firm up and running. In this way, professional development comes naturally to many entrepreneurs.
The problem is, this makes the professional development of your team a challenge. You expect your team to work on it independently but many of them won’t. Not everyone wants to start their own business or has the perspective of an entrepreneur. It is your responsibility to make sure they are developing professionally.
If this feels overwhelming or confusing, this episode is for you. Tune in to learn why the professional development of your team is so important and practical strategies for promoting it!
Show Highlights:
- The benefits of professional development.
- How professional development opportunities lead to employee retention.
- Why professional development should be fostered, not dictated.
- Practical ways to build professional development into your company culture.
- Why having one-on-one meetings with your direct reports is crucial.
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Supporting Resources:
Harvard Business Review Article
Action Steps:
- Write down each role at your company. Remember some people may be doing multiple roles right now, depending on the size of your firm. For each role, write down the key responsibilities that define someone being successful in that role.
- Next, jot down the skills required to handle those key responsibilities.
- In your next one-on-one meeting with each of your team members, review the document with them and ask them to score themselves on a scale of 1-10 in each of the skills so that you can help them identify areas to get additional training and improvement.
- Let them know that you encourage them to take one hour a week or a couple of hours every other week for training or an all-day class once a quarter on company time.
- Bring it up and follow up in future one-on-ones.