Copy to clipboard 
Orthopedic companies face staffing shortages and are entering highly competitive markets for younger, tech-savvy workers as the industry transitions to digitized surgery and data-driven care. Finding — and retaining — top talent has never been more challenging.
Leaders in today’s workplace climate must be willing to invest time and resources into helping employees reach their true potential and advance their careers.
“It’s no longer optional,” said Daniel J. Stewart, an executive consultant and President of Stewart Leadership. “Employees, especially younger ones, expect leaders to be conversant and confident in discussing growth opportunities. If employees don’t see leaders who are ready to help them advance their careers, they might decide the organization isn’t the best place for them.”
Stewart discussed the strategies to working with employees to develop professional goals and ways to give them the tools and resources they need to take the next step in their journeys.
Personalize the approach. Identify the top skills of employees and determine how they can be maximized in their current roles. But also look at other positions within the organization or how current responsibilities could be expanded.
“Encouraging employees to develop new talents leads to greater job satisfaction and helps them make a difference with the impact of their work,” Stewart said. “That contemporary mindset is much more freeing in the workplace.”
Also, match the skill sets of individual employees with specific career goals. “Help employees improve in their current roles and sync that up with what they ultimately want in their careers,” Stewart said. “They shouldn’t be thought of as separate interests.”
Traditional job descriptions confine an employee’s skill set to a specific position and a predetermined list of siloed responsibilities. There’s another more enlightened way to outline an employee’s tasks, according to Stewart. “The concept of organizing roles around skill sets instead of job descriptions is growing in popularity, because skills are transferable and not limited by titles,” he said.
Talk about it. It’s no secret that your employees have options outside your company. You know it. They know it.
Why not discuss that possibility openly and honestly, and make every reasonable effort to help them achieve their goals within your organization? Doing so creates a positive workplace culture to which people want to belong.
Hold quarterly sit-downs with individual members of your team to have informal conversations about career development. Meeting monthly would be too often. Meeting yearly would not be often enough. Find the right balance to check in on the progress employees are making in achieving their short- and long-term goals.
During the meetings, discuss your professional journey and give employees the space and opportunity to share theirs. Help employees set goals and map out a strategy to achieve them. “It’s this mentoring, connecting of resources and exchanging of ideas that filter and shape possibilities,” Stewart said. “Having an open and honest dialogue with leaders is what employees appreciate and respect.”
Organizations would ideally sequence career development with job performance. Employees could develop new skills, receive feedback and then know how to progress in productive ways. However, it’s not easy to fold assessments of career advancement into job performance reviews. It’s typically more realistic and practical to keep the two conversations separate.
Advocate for growth. Conversations with your team about career development should focus on scenario planning for the future — where they want to be in three to five years — and involve setting specific quarterly goals that support their aspirations. “The advice you give needs to be actionable,” Stewart said. “Relate it to the current performance needs, while keeping an eye on longer-term goals.”
It takes courage to help employees develop their skills, knowing they might take their newfound talents elsewhere. That shouldn’t deter you from helping members of your team reach new heights. Stewart said that’s the fulfillment of an abundance mindset.
“Let them know you’re going to help develop their skills because you believe in their potential, whether or not they fulfill it in your organization,” he explained. “That seems counterintuitive to staff retention, but communicating that message helps to develop loyal employees. Even if they eventually leave, they’ll advocate for their former company to future potential hires.”
Encourage networking. As a leader, you’re tasked with connecting your team members with the resources they need to take the next step in their careers. You’re not expected to have all the answers, however. That’s why it’s necessary to lean on other voices — peers, human resource professionals, consultants, former colleagues — to give team members the advice they need.
It’s also important to note that people need more than one mentor. “Ask your employees to think about who else they know with the skills they want to develop and encourage them to seek out their advice,” Stewart said. “Perhaps you can help them expand their professional network by introducing them to experts in the skills they want to develop such as delegating, time management and operational leadership.”
Have employees report back with the lessons they learned from other professionals. That will keep them accountable and focused on hitting short-term goals that evolve into long-term success.
Respect their space. Some employees push back against exceeding baseline expectations. Others might not be interested in developing new skills. Keep in mind that professional development doesn’t necessarily require climbing another rung on the corporate ladder.
“It comes down to an employee’s personal desire,” Stewart said. “It’s totally acceptable if someone is satisfied with their current role. In that case, the focus shifts to optimizing their current work. Help them focus on doing great things today.”
And don’t forget to focus on your own career advancement — even if you have no intention of leaving your current position. “Develop a personal board of directors, an informal group of respected mentors you can leverage for support and advice,” Stewart said. “That concept is a very powerful tool for furthering professional development.”
