Self-development can be a frustrating subject for coaches. Ultimately, the amount of self-development that an employee does is up to them. What employees might not know is that any self-development they do benefits the entire company. Your job as a coach is to inspire employees to pursue self-development. This is where WIFT comes in.

W- what's

I- in it

F- for 

T- them

When inspiring employees to engage in self-development, you have to think about what motivates them and what they want to work towards. Studies have shown that progress is the number one motivator for employees. When an employee sees that they are making progress and reaching their goals, it motivates and inspires them to continue to get better. When employees invest in self-development, it improves their learning, retention, performance, and participation, all of which lead to an increase in progress. 

So how can you inspire employees to participate in self-development activities? 

1. One easy way to get self-development on their mind is to ask them if they are doing anything outside of the company training to improve their skills. Most people will say no, or they may beat around the bush until it seems like they gave an answer, but that is okay. The point of asking the question isn't to see what they are doing, it is to get them to think about doing something. 

2. Once you've asked the first question, ask another question, such as, "Well what do you think would happen to your progress in XYZ area if you were reading a book on XYZ topic, or observing a fellow employee?" Again, this kind of question will get your employee thinking about what they could do to improve and the benefits that would occur because of it. 

"Invest in others, and they will invest in themselves"

~Tim Hagen 

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