According to Wikipedia “self-development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develops talents and potential, builds human capital and facilitates employability, enhances the quality of life and contributes to the realization of dreams and aspirations.”
When self-development takes place in the context of a business, it refers to the methods, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support self-development at the individual level.
DEO Dental Group delivers these methods, programs and tools for self-development. It is our assertion that self-development is one of the primary reason for our outstanding client success.
In today’s world of dentistry, retaining good employees and associates is the cornerstone of success. In our experience, the greater self-development that occurs through work, the greater the retention rate, and the better the individual and the team performance.
When the theme at work is solely “what am I getting out of work,” the culture is directed at the “survival” part of being human. Protecting yourself. Defending yourself. Shielding yourself. Caring only about yourself. This creates what I term a “selfish culture” or an “individual-based” culture.
In a selfish culture, it becomes about the tangible things – money, status, title, position, bonuses, vacation, pecking order, etc. Things that you can never get enough of, and even when you do, someone, either in your company or outside, is getting more. Thus, people move on to where they can get more.
When the theme at work is “what am I becoming,” an unselfish culture is created, based on the driving force of self-development, and by focusing on self-development the “what am I getting” part doesn’t dominate.
How are you helping your staff and associates be better human beings? As a company, what are you doing to deliver methods, programs and tools for self-development? The more employees and associates improve themselves, the more self-aware, the more self-developed they are, the more they can understand and contribute to others.
It just makes sense to focus on ‘becoming’ rather than ‘getting.’ Without self-development, there’s no change, and if there’s no change, you’ll keep only what you have right now. As Jim Rohn said, “To have more than you’ve got, become more than you are.”
More important, when people continuously expand their self-development, they have more devotion to their job, more commitment to the company and others. They can bring forth more power and intention, provide far better customer service, and generate greater team chemistry. Simply put, work has much more meaning than just a job.
