Team Health Check Action Guide

QUESTION 12
In my role, there are ongoing opportunities to learn and grow.

Watch a brief video that walks you through Gallup’s take on their version of this question.

In addition to having a need to be recognised for doing good work, most employees need to know that they are improving and have opportunities to build their knowledge and skills. Great managers choose training that will benefit the individual and the organisation.

Key Insights

  1. The need that sits behind this question is ”Challenge me”

  2. 59% of workers say this factor is extremely important.  It is about creating an environment where people are not afraid to learn, supporting a growth versus fixed mindset

  3. This question is about hope.  Are our best days ahead or behind us?  Today can be different to yesterday.  Hope means I can delay immediate gratification based on the anticipated reward

  4. Engagement drops with tenure and this is one of the key tools to keep people excited about their role.  Important to keep learning and something that happens everyday on the job.  If this is met, 60% expect to be in their role in the next year.  Ask the question "What do you want to learn about today?"

  5. Important that learning happens with other people (a) co-create learning plans (b) what networks you can leverage "who do you want to learn from?" (c) creating mentoring relationships either mentoring or being mentored

Team Activity to Unpack

One way employees can learn and grow is to find more efficient ways to perform their roles

  1. Ask each person to identify two or three important expectations related to their role and create a list of ways to improve how they perform tasks to meet these expectations

  2. Ask each person to bring their list to the next team meeting and be prepared to share one or two ideas with the team

Additional Questions to Ask

  1. What are we looking forward to as a team in our work this year?

  2. Are there things we need to learn in order to do our jobs better?

  3. What new projects or responsibilities are we challenging ourselves with this year?

  4. What are our goals this week/month/quarter?  What do we plan to accomplish?

  5. Are we doing anything differently this year compared with last year?  Are we slower or faster, struggling, or smarter?

Suggestions for Action

  1. Ask at a regular check in

    • What is the most important thing you have learnt in the last month?

    • Is there a particular skill or area that you would like to learn?

  2. Ask team members to identify two or three expectations related to their roles and list a question they have about each one.

  3. Create a list of current challenges that the team can only overcome with additional learning.