Now more than ever, growth is essential to the survival of businesses of all shapes and sizes. From meeting rising demands to upholding higher standards for employee relations, fostering a growth mindset provides a profitable future for companies. To give employers a game plan, Top Applicant’s management experts are sharing the basics of promoting a growth-driven culture.
Growth means more than just building shareholder value these days. Instead of focusing solely on profits, start by considering the people that drive success in your company. In this deep dive, we’re going over the impact of empowering teams and reviewing some strategies managers should consider to promote a successful growth mindset in their everyday work.
The Value of Growth
Top Applicant’s experts define this mindset as a collective drive for an organization to overcome obstacles and exceed expectations. It always feels good to surpass your goals and build value in your career. But in reality, the top brass of a company doesn’t shoulder all the work on their own! If you foster a growth centric culture, every level of a company plays a pivotal role in driving success. As our experts look into the practical value of a growth mindset, these are some of the most impactful improvements this mindset makes.
Boosting Employee Engagement and Motivation
Employees that believe in their ability to grow and develop stay more invested in their work. A recent Gallup study of over 2.7 million employees shows marginal improvements in 10 key performance indicators. From higher profitability to lower turnover, this study is a clear indicator that engaged employees are good for business.
By instilling a growth mindset, employers emphasize continuous learning and personal development. With a deeper meaning behind their daily work, it’s easier for staff to stay engaged in daily work.
When employees feel their work has purpose, they’re more willing to go the extra mile, take ownership, and strive for excellence. This provides a stronger sense of connection and overall satisfaction, leading to lower turnover and higher expertise over time!
Strengthening Teamwork and Collaboration
This collective motivation for growth also fosters a culture of open communication and mutual support. Employees with a growth mindset are more likely to share their knowledge, offer constructive feedback, and support their colleagues. This discourages “siloing” and strengthens a cohesive work environment.
As employees internalize a collective drive for growth, they’re more apt to share knowledge and expertise with other team members. Thanks to increased retention, tenured staff are more likely to help newer team members grow their skills. A motivated, collaborative environment creates a culture of learning where everyone benefits by expanding expertise on the team!
Driving Performance and Productivity
While prioritizing employee empowerment, it’s important to encourage continuous learning and improvement. An effective culture of growth encourages a mentality of constantly developing new skills and finding ways to enhance performance. Looking again at the Gallup study, engaged workers drove the following metrics.
- 21% Lower Turnover
- 41% Fewer Flaws
- 23% Improvement in Overall Profitability
An infectious growth mindset also encourages employees to set ambitious goals and pursue challenging projects. If they believe in their ability to overcome obstacles and achieve goals, employees meet increasingly greater levels of accomplishment and form a stronger sense of expertise. As they accomplish more difficult tasks, employees develop new pathways to success.
Encouraging Innovation and Creativity
Employers that support a culture focused on growth encourage employees to see challenges as opportunities for improvement. In doing so, leadership cultivates a deeper value to ongoing innovation.
Empowered employees are more likely to embrace new ideas, take calculated risks, and experiment with unconventional solutions. This promotes creativity and creates a breeding ground for more efficient, higher-quality work.
When people believe that they can expand their capabilities, they become more curious and inquisitive. This is why growth-oriented employees actively expand their knowledge, explore unique perspectives, and evolve the status quo. With a universal drive for improvement, teams collectively fuel innovation and take on harder challenges together.
Improving Adaptability and Resilience
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, adaptability is paramount. A team that’s focused on growth builds the collective mental fortitude to confidently navigate changes. This helps the collective view setbacks as temporary roadblocks to overcome together rather than permanent failures by a singular member or department.
By leading your group with a growth-oriented approach, overcoming inevitable obstacles helps build resilience through teamwork and outcome-based strategies. Focusing on improvement, not perfection, helps teams view challenges as opportunities to learn, rather than threats to their self-worth. This mindset fosters a more productive work environment with more positive employees.
Promoting Leadership Skills
Those who embrace a growth mindset are more equipped to inspire and motivate their teams. They are the lifeblood of a positive and supportive work environment and help employees feel motivated to innovate, learn from their mistakes, and achieve their full potential. These are the growth centric qualities companies need for the next generation of leaders.
- Providing constructive, productive, guidance.
- Staying committed to understanding and compassion.
- Fostering a collective drive for improvement.
As managers foster a growth mindset throughout their organization, we encourage them to look for potential leaders that can create a more dynamic, adaptable, and successful company. A growth-driven culture promotes employees at all levels that contribute their best work, drive innovation, and achieve organizational goals.
With clear pathways to growth, companies can enjoy a driven, dedicated workforce that builds upon itself year over year. Instilling a growth-oriented approach on every level helps organizations grow organically!
Making a Mindset
We know that there is infinite value in leading a company with a focus on personal and professional growth. But since every company is different, every manager will need to foster this growth in their own unique way. To give you ideas for how to build more growth-oriented approaches, let’s take a look at some effective strategies!
Invest in Employee Development
For this example, we’ll take a look at Salesforce. This CRM powerhouse fosters growth amongst employees by offering a range of development programs, like workshops, seminars, and online courses. Salesforce’s online learning platform provides access to free and paid professional development modules on Salesforce products, technologies, and business skills. This empowers employees with in-demand skills that go beyond their current day-to-day work.
By pairing an easily accessible professional development resource with a supportive internal structure, Salesforce provides excellent growth opportunities for employees. Their “Ohana” culture emphasizes mutual respect and advocacy that helps employees professionally handle conflict and feel personally cared for. This is a powerful blend of personal and professional development that champions success through ongoing support.
Foster a Culture of Learning and Experimentation
Companies looking to foster a safe space for employees to take calculated risks and try new approaches are exceptionally successful. Netflix is a great example of this because of their A/B testing procedures, technological innovation, and unique approaches to content development. By trying new things like livestreaming and experimental content, their model expands growth by reframing failures into learning experiences.
From their UX/UI design and algorithm personalization to groundbreaking content and business practices, this company has had its fair share of successes and failures. However, Netflix’s leadership uses data-driven approaches to learn from every success and flop to drive future success. While it may seem as though they’re creating content for current times, Netflix constantly monitors industry and consumer trends to create the future of entertainment.
Provide Constructive Feedback and Support:
By utilizing multiple avenues for feedback, Adobe has become a prime example of the impact a growth-oriented approach has on employee improvement. Each team at Adobe undergoes regular, informal check-ins to ensure employees feel supported and provide guidance. While this may seem typical, their approach integrates feedback from customers, managers, and peers to help each employee hone their unique skill set and identify areas for improvement.
This 360-degree approach provides employees with constructive and actionable feedback on their performance. Adobe’s structure has created a supportive and inclusive work environment where employees feel valued, respected, and encouraged to share ideas and insights.
Their ethical approach to ongoing improvement also works to publicly acknowledge and reward employees’ efforts through promotions, bonuses, or other forms of recognition.
How ethical are your company practices? Take a look at our related read to find out!!
Ethics 101 for the 21st Century
Lead by Example
Patagonia is famous for their commitment to stewardship and responsibility through every team. By championing the purpose of their brand, they go beyond the boardroom to provide a deeper meaning to every employee’s work. This encourages their employees to take ownership of what they do to create success and shared responsibility.
With a clear, collective mission, Patagonia’s employees can lead their teams and their industry by example, living out their company values. Patagonia’s growth mindset proves that leading an industry doesn’t always mean cutthroat business tactics or undermining the competition!
Are you poised for growth?
Now that you’re up to speed on developing a growth mindset, how will you grow your team in the next year? Our experts suggest using Top Applicant! For integrated personalization, unmatched exposure, and so much more to explore, our platform is the ultimate way for employers to grow their staff. Create your profile and start filling positions with free job postings that attract qualified candidates!
The Human Way to Grow Your Exposure
Top Applicant is always open to growth opportunities too! Our platform is supported by a network of businesses that believe in the human way to hire. If you’re looking to make an impression on more than just the future of your company, we’re ready to talk. Get in touch with our team to learn about advertising opportunities!
