train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiencesEmployee Development In Flat Organizations

In team-based organizations, opportunities for promotion come rarely. So how do you provide opportunities for team members to grow and develop? Follow these suggestions:

>> Enrich the job. Increase the variety of team members’ tasks, and give them more control over their work. Suggestion: Look both horizontally – team members can learn to operate more pieces of equipment – and vertically – they can take on more “management” tasks, such as planning.

>> Encourage lateral transfers. Let them build knowledge by jumping organizational boundaries. Caution: Productivity may dip while team members learn new jobs. However, the payback in motivation and big-picture understanding usually offsets such costs.

>> Develop career “webs.” When team members have no career ladder to climb, build a web – a series of pathways that radiate from your team to other teams and departments. In fields where competency comes from years of experience and education, establish ties to other teams, inside and outside your organization. Create reciprocal relationships – you train their people in certain areas, and they train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiences

ks, and give them more control over their work. Suggestion: Look both horizontally – team members can learn to operate more pieces of equipment – and vertically – they can take on more “management” tasks, such as planning.

>> Encourage lateral transfers. Let them build knowledge by jumping organizational boundaries. Caution: Productivity may dip while team members learn new jobs. However, the payback in motivation and big-picture understanding usually offsets such costs.

>> Develop career “webs.” When team members have no career ladder to climb, build a web – a series of pathways that radiate from your team to other teams and departments. In fields where competency comes from years of experience and education, establish ties to other teams, inside and outside your organization. Create reciprocal relationships – you train their people in certain areas, and they train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiences

ping organizational boundaries. Caution: Productivity may dip while team members learn new jobs. However, the payback in motivation and big-picture understanding usually offsets such costs.

>> Develop career “webs.” When team members have no career ladder to climb, build a web – a series of pathways that radiate from your team to other teams and departments. In fields where competency comes from years of experience and education, establish ties to other teams, inside and outside your organization. Create reciprocal relationships – you train their people in certain areas, and they train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiences

es of pathways that radiate from your team to other teams and departments. In fields where competency comes from years of experience and education, establish ties to other teams, inside and outside your organization. Create reciprocal relationships – you train their people in certain areas, and they train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiences train your people. This allows team members to progress in their fields of expertise – instead of having to move into management if they want to earn bigger salaries. Suggestion: Identify levels of knowledge and contribution in each technical area. Then identify appropriate training and experiences that can lead a worker from one level of participation to another. Increase pay as the team member moves across the web.

>> Design new roles. With a little creativity and flexibility, organizations can let team members design new roles. Share your organization’s challenges with team members and ask what they have to contribute. What can they do to add value? You may be surprised at the wealth of ideas that employees pigeonholed in limiting jobs can come up with. Example: At Johnsonville Foods, an accounting clerk suggested a new product line. He ended up running the new division.