- Jan 17
- 3 min read

Invest in Development and Find Your Secret Sauce

Updated: Feb 12

Part 3 of 6 by Sheri Bender, Pulse HR Solutions, LLC

💰Invest in Development – Not just ‘them’, for yourself too.

This is a very important area. My pinnacle HR/Training position was devoted to creating a corporate university that focused on leadership development and onboarding. Our motto was: "you only get one chance to make a first impression". This applied to new hires and anyone you met when you became their leader. Ongoing development is something that should not be overlooked, especially during these ever-evolving times.

Times are changing quickly and those who become stagnant will get left behind.

If you have been in a supervisory or leadership position for over five years, please consider investing in your own upskilling as well. Times are changing quickly and those who become stagnant will get left behind. Rogue HR was born because of all of the things I witnessed being done 'to' employees (I knew leaders could do better) and the pandemic provided employees (including leaders) the necessary time to reflect on what 'really' mattered. The way leaders have led is the past may not suffice going forward.

Now, organizations are seeing the outcome of that reflection time and employees at all levels are actually asking for and personally investing in professional development and reskilling / upskilling (aka learning new things). Not to mention the waves of turnover that we have experienced with the 'great resignation' and beyond. If you want to be a leader that supports your team and stands out, provide the opportunity for them to grow and develop.

🍳Find Your Secret Recipe-What Is It that You Do Really Well?

What is your company known for? What makes your organization stand out from the rest? Why would someone want to come to work for you versus all of the other choices out there.

As a leader, are you able to speak to your mission and values or is that just a piece of framed artwork that hangs on the wall proverbial wall? If you're not able to voice the goals and objectives (or better yet, tell a story) in your own words, it may be time to refresh the mission statement. In training sessions, I call this 'finding your secret recipe'.

If you want to build workplace culture, every employee should be able to describe (in their own way) what is 'feels' like to work for your company. This is your biggest defense against competitors. And it will be ever evolving as you will continue to have recruiting challenges, but this is why it is ever important to create a solid recipe that everyone is familiar with. How do you ensure your team knows the company's mission and understands how their unique role contributes to success?

This is Part 3 of a 6 Part Series on 10 Tips to Improve Workplace Culture and Employee Engagement in the New Year. We will explore more tips next Monday. Follow me for leadership advice.

#leadershipdevelopment #leadership #training #workplaceculture #employeeengagement

In short, here are the 10 tips to improve Workplace Culture and Employee Engagement:

1. Build Solid Relationships with Your Team

2. Value What Each Person Brings to The Organization (DEI)

3. Invest in Development – Not just ‘them’, for yourself too

4. Find Your Secret Recipe-What Is It that Your Company Does Really Well?

5. Adapt Agile Leadership (Flexibility is here to stay)

6. Be Consistent and Hold People Accountable

7. Strive for a Collaborative Environment

8. Set Goals to Strengthen Purpose and Transparency

9. Celebrate and Recognize Excellence

10. Commit to Support and Communicate (Everyone)