The hottest Employee Development Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Companies Do Not Transform. People Do.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 60 implied HN points • 23 Nov 25
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Change in companies happens through people, not just technology. It’s important to focus on growing and developing the individuals within an organization.
  2. To transform a company, you can either help current employees change or bring in new ones with fresh perspectives. Success often comes from a mix of both.
  3. Six key skills are important in today's work: Think critically, be creative, stay curious, collaborate well, communicate clearly, and convince others. These are essential for thriving in a fast-changing environment.

Special Delivery

The Radar • 119 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Companies tend to become challenging places to work as they grow bigger, often losing sight of the importance of trust and human connection.
  2. Balancing leadership, management, and administrative duties is crucial for organizational success. Executives must prioritize transparency and authenticity to maintain a positive culture.
  3. Having genuine values and treating employees with respect is more impactful than merely pretending to have values. Transparency and fair treatment are key to retaining a motivated workforce.

Wanna career? Move to the center!

Wednesday Wisdom • 132 implied HN points • 25 Dec 24
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. To boost your career, it's often best to move to the 'center' of power in a company. The best projects and biggest opportunities usually happen there.
  2. Being on the 'periphery' can lead to a satisfying career, but you may miss out on important projects and promotions. It might feel tough to get noticed from the outside.
  3. While working at the center can bring many advantages, it's important to choose what matters most to you. Sometimes a good quality of life is worth more than climbing the corporate ladder.

Writing better performance reviews: assembling the data

It Depends / Nimble Autonomy • 19 implied HN points • 05 May 24
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Start collecting data for performance reviews early in the year. This will help you avoid last-minute stress and ensure you remember important information.
  2. Use various sources for your review data, like meeting notes, emails, and feedback from peers. This way, you gather a well-rounded view of the employee's performance.
  3. Make performance reviews a meaningful summary of ongoing feedback. They should reflect the whole year and not just recent events, helping both the employee and the company.

Dealing with Disruptive Teammates

The Radar • 59 implied HN points • 10 Jul 23
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Innovators are crucial for sparking creativity and progress in a team, even if they may be challenging to manage.
  2. Contrarians play a role in challenging authority for the sake of driving the best decisions and should be given access to leadership for optimal organizational progress.
  3. Understanding and addressing the motivations behind disruptive team behavior is essential for extracting the best performance and reducing unnecessary conflict.
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The Talent Wasteland

Ways of Working • 39 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Talent is often wasted within organizations due to internal dynamics like bureaucracy and bad incentives.
  2. Excessive work-around-work can hinder productivity due to low trust culture, friction, and rewarding optics over delivery.
  3. Lacking an appreciation for good management can lead to demoralized teams and talent being overlooked for opportunities within the organization.

The importance of mentoring in engineering leadership — part 1

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 19 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Mentorship comes in many forms, both structured and informal, and is valuable for growth in your career.
  2. Trust is key in a mentoring relationship; the more trust there is, the more you can benefit from the mentor's advice.
  3. Sometimes, the lessons from a mentor may not be clear right away, but you often realize their value later as you gain more experience.

Not Just Investors, But Product Owners

Equal Ventures • 19 implied HN points • 02 Feb 23
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Equal Ventures focuses on verticalizing staff, with team members specializing in specific sectors like retail, climate, and insurance, allowing for deeper expertise in those areas.
  2. Transitioning planning efforts from a top-down approach to being led by Product Owners like Chelsea, Simran, and Adam enables more personalized strategies for dominating each vertical at the seed stage.
  3. Empowering employees to take the lead in shaping the firm's direction not only tailors approaches to specific markets but also fosters individual growth opportunities that benefit both the team and the firm.

Emotional and Social Competencies for New Managers

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 17 Aug 24
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. New managers need to build emotional and social skills since they shift from technical tasks to managing people. It’s important to understand that their success depends on how they relate to their team.
  2. Many new managers initially feel unsure and frustrated as they learn their new roles. Over time, they realize that managing emotions and supporting their team is a key part of being effective.
  3. Organizations should help identify potential managers early and provide leadership training to all employees. Mentorship can also play a big role in helping new managers grow their skills.

Good feedback, bad feedback, and coaching

Logos • 0 implied HN points • 14 Oct 22
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. Good feedback should be relevant and helpful, while bad feedback often lacks understanding and is not constructive. It's important for the person giving feedback to engage fully with the work being done.
  2. Coaching is more effective than just giving feedback. It involves guiding someone on how to approach problems better, which leads to long-term improvement.
  3. Companies need to change their structure to promote good feedback and coaching practices. This includes recognizing those who are good at coaching and ensuring managers are familiar with their team's work.

How Onboarding Should Look Like

ExpandAI Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
💼 Business Employee Development
  1. The first week of onboarding should focus on fundamentals and setting a strong foundation for learning and growth.
  2. To help new hires become fully autonomous, focus on teaching concepts and abstractions rather than detailed specifics.
  3. Building trust through personal connections and strong relationships is essential, especially in remote work environments.