Understanding the principles and processes of human growth and development helps parents, trainers, and educators to foretell how a child/learner/trainee will develop with time and under specified conditions. This is the understanding that explains differences in behavior, developmental abilities, and activity levels in different people. For example, it explains why certain developmental milestones are dependent on age and experience while others are not.
No one can teach you to be a good husband or wife- you have to learn through experience. It is the same way that no one can teach you how to be a good grandparent- you learn that with age. You have to go through the entire learning curve for you to master the said techniques. Some developmental milestones, such as speech development or public speaking skills, on the other hand, aren’t entirely dependent on age or experience. You will find a 20-year-old CEO with better leadership and speech skills than a 50-year-old. These scenarios are only explainable through the principles of growth and development.
In the corporate world, growth and development principles help business leaders and corporate trainers to organize effective talent development or learning and development (L&D) seminars. A good trainer engages corporate trainees in different unique ways depending on the development level of a particular trainee. With that in mind, how do you create an engaging learning environment within your organization so that your subordinates can benefit optimally from the training seminars you organize? Below are 3 key points to valuable growth and development.
1. Public speaking and presentation skills matter greatly
You need to arrange for uniquely-tailored public speaking courses for your staff members if you want them to develop their skills and grow their careers. These courses help trainees to interact with audiences fruitfully and to share their ideas with a heightened sense of authority.
Public speaking prowess enables an individual to connect with and change the mentality of other people. It is the most effective way of driving a corporate agenda and whip potential clients and investors towards a shared goal. People cannot grow or develop without coming into consensus in regards to a given idea, and that consensus cannot be achieved without speech. Your company vision will remain an idea until you spread it to all stakeholders, with the help of your subordinates.
Have you ever thought why some people deliver great speeches and others struggle to convince people that their idea or vision is mutually beneficial? Well, it all boils down to the developmental level that an individual is in. A good public speaker knows how to choose words, speak with the right speed, use the right tone, and make convincing non-verbal actions. It takes public speaking courses to master the art of making eye contact with an audience and address huge numbers of people efficiently.
2. It is important to understand that humans love to belong- to fit in
Every working citizen world over wishes to become a viable person later in life- to establish himself in the company, industry, and the world. People want to advance their education, make more money, meet new people, make professional connections, and generally get ahead in life. They want to fit into a society that seems extremely competitive and challenging. They want to get things right; not to lose.
In the same breath, the ambitions of every employer are intertwined with the need to relax and belong. They want to find a balance between work and life. Some employees are religious people, others are involved with family and community services, while others are fighting to meet elusive social expectations. This kind of back and forth process contributes greatly to an individual’s growth and development.
3. It is important to understand that everyone develops uniquely
If you are leading a development team, it will help if you understand that humans learn at their unique pace and communicate in their own different ways. In that understanding, you will be able to tailor unique approaches for unique trainees, thus increasing your effectiveness. The learning content you create should be helpful to whoever it is created for; otherwise, the entire career or talent development seminar will be an effort in futility. The delivery approaches you take, on the other hand, should be engaging enough if the participants are to get any value in attending the training workshop.
Conclusion
Developmental psychology is hard to understand and so are the phases of human growth and development. That is why many trainers and educators make broad generalizations, with the hope that what works for one learner works for others too. That is a wrong assumption to make. You will get value in any growth and development investment you make by understanding that development is personal, just like therapy is.