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Photo by: Deborah M. McCormick

If you have ever planted a vegetable garden, you may know the amazing pride of growing and harvesting your own fresh vegetables. Or, you may have learned that growing a garden requires a lot more care and attention than you expected. Gardening, the practice of growing and cultivating plants, offers some interesting analogies to the workplace.  Do your employees have what they need to thrive?  Is your garden growing?

Vegetable plants need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. The more sunshine, the greater the harvest and taste. Are your employees planted in a sunny location? Do they have opportunities to maintain and increase their skills and knowledge (both their technical and soft skills)? Are they growing?  Offering a continuous learning environment will ensure that your employees have the skills necessary to perform their jobs – both today and in the future.  Offering training programs can improve productivity and efficiency – and increase confidence and morale at the same time.  In addition, training can identify skills gaps and help employees become more adaptable to change.

Plants need good soil.  If your soil doesn’t have the nutrients it needs already, you can enrich it.  You can also provide proper drainage so your soil, and plants, have just the right amount of water. What about those pesky weeds and bugs?  Make sure they are not pulling all the nutrients and eating your plants. In other words, are you developing your employees and providing them with the environment they need to perform their jobs – and flourish?   Provide the right tools and resources and you’ll see your employees thrive. Otherwise, you’ll see dissatisfaction and distractions.  And you’ll see productivity and initiative suffer. Develop your employees through mentorships, goal setting, performance review, and other regular feedback mechanisms and give them the tools and resources they need.

Employees need the same kind of care and attention as vegetable gardens to keep them operating at their full potential. Training and development leads to increased job performance and satisfaction.  And it leads to a bountiful garden.

Let Pfautz Consulting Group, LLC help you design and implement, or enhance, your training and development programs.  Please contact us.

Submitted by: Deborah M. McCormick