In today's constant state of change, we are all looking for ways to grow, adapt, and remain resilient amid uncertainty. A growth mindset thrives on change, challenges, and sees failure as an acceptable part of an organization’s culture and a springboard for growth and developing skills and abilities.  A fixed mindset stresses that risk should be avoided, and failure is not an option.  2020 is a growth mindset kind of year. It has presented organizations with multiple challenges and has HR constantly adapting, learning new skills, and testing their resilience.

When an organization supports a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation. Organizations that adapt a growth mindset will help their employees grow not only in tenure but in their skill set. To be a company that attracts talent, the company culture must make it easy for people to be curious and always focus on learning. Practicing a growth mindset sets organizations up for long-term success.

Here are some tips to cultivate a growth mindset within your organization:

1.       Recruit for the Long-Term – Hire people who think this way. Be sure to ask questions that dig into their core beliefs about growth and learning. Once hired, nurture a growth mindset with a culture of constant learning.

2.       Lead the Charge – Inspire employees, create learning opportunities and an environment that welcomes new ideas. 

3.       360 Feedback – Encourage employees to seek help from each other, pool resources, foster both positive and negative feedback to further learning.

4.       Hire from Within – Shift the employee review process to include the importance of demonstrating growth, transformation, and improvement.  Focus on capabilities not pedigree.

5.       E for Effort – Reward hard work, look at setbacks as growth opportunities, and celebrate dedicated efforts.

We cannot know what the future will bring. COVID has changed our organizations, and they will most likely never return to how things were prior to March.  If organizations want to grow and become stronger every year, organizations need to help all their employees be better every year too.

A growth mindset culture in the workplace can be a competitive advantage for organizations. Reframe your mind from looking at things as a challenge instead of a problem – something 2020 keeps teaching us again and again.

 

Additional ASE Resources
Encourage your employees to grow by offering them opportunities to develop their skills.