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Getting Employees to Grow

Most organizations I've worked with spend a great deal of time, money and energy on recruiting. They want to make sure they get the best people they can, so they focus heavily on hiring and initial training. While I think these efforts are great, I don't think they're enough. As I speak with leaders in the mortgage industry, I run into quite a few people who tell me that they're struggling to get their employees to grow.
It's important to realize that training and development are just as important as recruiting and hiring. Your best employees won't be the ones you've just hired, no matter how greater your recruiting efforts were. Your best employees will be the ones who have stuck with you for a few years, learned the ropes, and then taken it to the next level. So, when I run into industry leaders who seem to have just let their employees stagnate in their development, I am sure to ask the question, “What are you doing to help your employees grow?”
Of course, there are things you can do to help your employees develop in a more formal way. There are seminars and classes, training and consulting sessions. These sorts of things are important for giving employees ideas and direction. I highly recommend investing in your employees in this way. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to your expectations. Are you challenging them? Are you entrusting them with more responsibilities. Are you giving them things to do that will force them to grow? At the end of the day, the simple truth is that your employees will really start growing who you expect them to.
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
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