Based on our evaluation of the current generation of employees, at Progressive IT we are looking to incorporate their needs into our business and create development plans for senior consultants and aspiring managers, as well as rookies new to recruitment. To ensure every person at our organisation has the drive to do their best for our customers every day, our internal development structure has evolved to offer a compelling career path based on modern training and feedback techniques, collaboration and flexibility.
Development for a new generation
You can't open a web browser nowadays without encountering a new article or report on the impact of millennials on our businesses. From a management perspective, we're seeking to understand the kind of people we are now employing, and the stimulus that is important to them. It's our job to make sure they're engaged and motivated, and as a business we're looking to make sure our culture moulds and fits around the people that will be in the workplace moving forward.
Much of what we're discovering with regards to employee satisfaction comes down to empowerment - giving people the opportunities to really make an impact on the organisation. Having a workforce that feels confident that they have a platform to challenge the status quo is essential for business success, and presenting a chance for millennials to affect and shape the business is an area we're focused on.
We're providing more opportunity - through workshops, discussions and opportunities for employees to voice their opinions - to create new initiatives, from new people coming into the business as well as those who have been established for a number of years. We also understand that not everything can come from within our own walls and are looking to increase exposure to external workshops and training.
We need people to feel they are gaining a skill set that is absolutely transferable to business, whether that's in the realms of recruitment, software sales, consulting, project management. Whatever it might be, they're given the foundation to build a career inside and outside the company.
Examples of Progressive's initiatives
To develop our employees into highly skilled and effective leaders, we've implemented a number of exciting new initiatives. We run weekly, situation-based sales training with the whole team - from rookies through to established consultants - presenting development areas as they arise in an ever changing environment.
Our consultant development program features regular organised training program for all consultants in their first two years with us. We've also devised an internal mentoring scheme involving some of our international counterparts, nurturing strong learning relationships between high-achieving consultants and offshore mentors within the SThree family to help with career development and progression.
Finally, we've begun to implement external training programs such as management courses and mentoring programs for consultants and young managers, helping to ensure the business taps into external influences and information. It's something we're looking to develop further, identifying exciting ways to drive Progressive forward in the future.
The Progressive IT development path
Our goal with Progressive's employees is to give people the support and encouragement they need to elevate themselves to be managers and leaders in future - not just internally, but in the wider workforce. For those people who choose to stay with us, we're looking to ensure they remain happy and engaged with their role, and for those who opt to leave us, we want them to leave with a skill set and experience to help them succeed.
To achieve these goals, we're ensuring our team members have a voice within Progressive IT, and that our employee experience and culture is moulded by the development areas that are important to the individual. We've created a more flexible and dynamic promotion and development plan around potential career moves, offering a spectrum of options rather than the rigid advancement structure of old. It's a system that I myself have been through and benefited from, and more and more of our young staff are moving up the ranks all the time.
From a communication and transparency perspective, our management has made a pledge to encourage employees to have a hand in initiatives we are looking to implement into the business and maintain. If people wish to be empowered with some accountability for some of the ideas, there are opportunities for them to put their hand up and have their voices heard.
We understand the world is changing and we are working hard to change with it, by empowering our staff and giving them the opportunities and skillsets to be successful within Progressive and the wider world of business.
If you would like to find out more about working with Progressive IT or how we develop our staff you can contact Iain MacHattie at [email protected] or follow our LinkedIn page for more updates on the IT industry.
Progressive is part of the SThree Group.
