5 Professional Development Practices That Will Help Your Employees Soar

Effective management of organizational expertise is crucial for staying competitive and encouraging professional development within the workforce. It’s about handling internal processes and customer support information in ways to ensure that all team members are informed. Managing knowledge and information isn’t solely about technology or data storage—it’s about empowering people to apply the insights they have. Sharing this expertise is one of the core practices in this process and plays a major role in supporting career advancement.

A challenge in an organization is creating an environment where knowledge is freely shared, promoting an organizational culture of trust, team empowerment, collaboration, and communication while helping employees experience career growth. In a 2022 survey conducted by The Conference Board 0f 1,200 individuals, 96% of those surveyed said professional development was important or very important and 58% of those surveyed said they would be likely to leave without professional development opportunities. When trust is strong, teams can overcome challenges, innovate more freely, and achieve higher levels of performance.

Team members feel as if they are part of an organization that watches out for their best interests. Here are five professional development methods where organizations can implement knowledge sharing practices to enable their employees opportunities to excel and promote in their careers.

1. Include Rather than Exclude

One of the first steps in using professional development is by presenting opportunities for collaboration as much as possible within the organization. Employees need to feel secure when sharing their insights, experiences, and even their mistakes. Leaders can encourage this by promoting a culture where open doors and open communication are valued, and where there is no fear of retribution for speaking up. This approach not only promotes trust but also ensures that valuable knowledge is not withheld due to fear of criticism. Regular team meetings where everyone are encouraged to contribute, and where diverse perspectives are respected, can go a long way in building a safe space for quieter voices to speak up.

2. Prioritize the Need for Knowledge Sharing

Recognition and rewards are essential in promoting career growth opportunities among your employees through knowledge sharing. When individuals realize their contributions to sharing knowledge are valued, they become more motivated to engage in this behavior, which accelerates their professional development. These behaviors can be encouraged through formal recognition programs, awards, public praise during meetings, or positive feedback in performance reviews. Publicly acknowledging how knowledge sharing contributes to team success not only strengthens collaboration and trust but also opens pathways for career advancement by equipping everyone with the skills and insights needed to excel within the organization.

3. Leverage Peer-to-Peer Learning

Mentorship and on-the-job training with peers are powerful tools for helping each other experience career growth which also makes for stronger teams. These efforts should not be strictly one-on-one events. The American Productivity and Quality Center identified that organizations should determine whether a one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many approach is best when using peer-based knowledge transfer to avoid siloing of knowledge and ensuring successful transfer of the knowledge.

By creating opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, collaboration thrives, and pathways for career advancement are expanded. When employees share their expertise with one another, it not only accelerates learning but also strengthens relationships and trust. This process enables a culture where knowledge sharing is both expected and valued. As personal relationships develop, employees and their teammates are recognized as key contributors, benefiting the organization by deepening their understanding and expertise within the company.

4. Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration

Cross-functional collaboration is a powerful method to develop knowledge sharing across the various departments of the organization. Silos exist when departments only share knowledge of the processes, challenges, and needs within their departments. By eliminating silos through purposeful knowledge sharing, collaboration across the organization increases and this improves problem-solving. Initiatives such as lunch-and-learns, cross-functional projects, cross-training programs, and gamification can formalize these efforts, ensuring that knowledge sharing is not limited to within teams but extends across the entire organization. By participating in these events opens the aperture to allow those looking for career growth to better see the bigger organizational picture and broaden experiences.

5. Allow for Funded Professional Development Opportunities

When organizations fund professional development opportunities, they demonstrate to their employees that professional development is not just a sales pitch but is important enough that management is finding ways to are take on the task of funding the opportunities. By providing access to training to online courses, allowing time and funding for training opportunities to certify in their area of expertise, or even attending a conference on the company dime, employees can continuously upgrade their skills and share new knowledge with their teams without worrying about their finances.

Don’t be cheap. When organizations pay for the lunches for the lunch-and-learns participation increases and the corporate knowledge grows. A continuous improvement mindset, backed with the appropriate funding, supports professional development. Employees tend to stay longer with the organization providing necessary stability of the corporate knowledge.

Showing your employees that you are interested in their career growth and making professional development opportunities accessible will keep your employees from leaving for the competition and aid them in soaring through the clouds of uncertainty to reach their professional heights.