Professional growth: an individual or team effort?

Each day that passes, the concern for professional development increases within corporations. 

Having better performance, moving up the hierarchy, and adding even more to the company is the desire of most employees. 

However, there are those who say that professional growth depends only on you, but there are also those on the team achievement team. 

In this article, we will talk about each one and portray the difference between these two terms. Follow along!

What is professional growth?

Professional growth is based on the evolution and development of an employee within the company in which he or she works. Many entrepreneurs seek to make their employees grow, after all, the corporation evolves from the improvement of individual results.

Promoting personal development goes beyond encouraging growth in the operational sphere or promotion in positions, it needs to focus on training and investment in the employee’s career. 

Difference between individual and team growth

There are two ways to achieve and promote professional growth: individually or as a team. 

Individual professional growth focuses mainly on a single employee. We could talk here about an employee who seeks to have even more performance and begin to stand out among the others. 

In many companies, this type of development starts to take shape after a mentoring given by a manager or an employee who has been with the company for a longer period of time, with tips and directions on what to do to be even more successful in his or her career. 

However, professional growth as a team can be more profitable for both parties, and even faster. This is because the evolution together makes the purposes and goals aligned, and consequently, everyone works to achieve them. 

Why encourage team growth?

As mentioned before, the development of the team as a whole is more advantageous for the business owners and managers, as well as for the employees. 

Besides the reasons we mentioned above, we cannot forget that the central point of a corporation is people, not tools. 

Another piece of information that cannot be neglected is that the market is increasingly volatile. Therefore, it is important to invest in employees both for your company to stand out in the market, and for employees not to feel undeserved within their activities and start looking for positions in competitors. 

How to encourage the team’s development? 

Now that we have talked about all the advantages of professional growth and the difference between individual growth and team growth, it is time to learn how to apply this in your company. 

The personnel department is one of the areas responsible for strategically taking care of employees and pointing out which are the possible incentives and investments to stimulate the employees’ development. 

There are several ways to stimulate this mutual growth, such as guidance, technological support, workshops on the theme, and a follow-up based on the employee and not only on the deliveries. 

But it is not enough for the personnel department to create ways to develop the employees, the leaders and managers also have a key role in ensuring that the team grows professionally. This is because they are the bridge between the company and the employee. 

Through feedback and other approaches, it is possible to polish the talents and point out which are the positive points and which need improvement. 

In this way, the team will have a much greater self-knowledge and will be able to work on the necessary points together. 

Final considerations

Team growth may be more advantageous than individual growth, however, when encouraging the development of the team as a whole, each employee must be seen as unique.

By putting this development into practice, in a short time the results will emerge and the company will be able to achieve increased productivity and employee satisfaction, attract new employees, and a consolidated learning culture.