The business world faces different challenges almost every day, requiring employers to look for employees with a growth mindset – the belief that workers are able to improve their abilities to tackle new, tough, competitive, and unfamiliar situations rather than putting their arms down.

A growth mindset, in other words, is a “can-do” mindset that is unfortunately difficult to cultivate. You should be comfortable embracing challenges, enduring criticism, and being persistent in all difficulties.

Developing such a mindset is a tough row to hoe as your brain is wired to believe your emotions. When your inner critic says, “you are not good enough to do this job,” you eventually believe it instead of recognising an opportunity to learn.

With a growth mindset, you will be able to call out your innate skills to deliver the desired output, cope with failure, and develop attributes to help your career.

What do you mean by growth mindset?

A growth mindset is not a novel concept. It dates back to the 20th century when students failed to carry out a task despite their innate ability when they faced difficulty. Your attitude towards challenges is what decides the mindset you will have – fixed or growth.

People with the former mindset can do nothing much about their abilities. They will be bound to perform within the scope of their knowledge. However, the latter mindset will encourage you to push the boundaries.

You cannot have either a fixed or growth mindset overnight. It will be your choice if you accept the challenge with a growth mindset to a flat one. Some may have this kind of mindset naturally, while some would have to break the shackles of a fixed mindset by taking up challenges.

Suppose your boss has lambasted you for a mistake you made in a presentation. You will likely find it harder to concentrate on your next project. Your confidence level will suddenly be shattered, and you will feel like you are just for nothing or inadequate for the assigned project. This is an example of a fixed mindset.

On the contrary, when you take up the challenge by not letting your personal feeling come in the way and realise that there is a scope for improvement, you are more likely to deal with such a situation. This is an example of a growth mindset.

As long as you are ready to get out of your comfort zone and accept certain levels of risk, you have a growth mindset. You may find it uncomfortable but, at the same time, attractive. You have got the potential to learn something and you need to realise it.

Why is a growth mindset important?

Fostering a growth mindset in the workplace can make your employees resilient. Every day you are supposed to face different challenges, and to streak ahead, you need to ensure your employees can break the barriers controlling their actions.

• Improved problem-solving abilities

When you are in a fixed mindset and feel pressure, you tend to focus on what you cannot control. However, it is always better to focus on what you can influence. People with a “can-do” attitude take problems as challenges and learn from them.

They do not fight shy of picking new ideas from different places and giving them a try. This is a great way to break the monotonous cycle of traditional ways of bringing output.

• It makes you more creative

It is not surprising to see people with a growth mindset are more creative. As they do not hesitate to take up a project despite several challenges, they get an opportunity to learn new things.

Rather than saying they cannot do it. They think about what aspect they missed to look at to carry it out. Employees with growth mindsets are more likely to come up with new ideas that contribute to the growth of a business.

• It helps build good relationships with colleagues

Research has found that employees with growth mindsets seek collaboration from their colleagues. They are more likely to work as a team compared to those with fixed mindsets. They are more likely to look at their colleagues as competitors.

How can you advance a growth mindset in the workplace?

As an employer, you must know the importance of workers taking the initiative to face challenges. You have to confront with many risks while running a business. If your employees run on empty, you will find survival hard. Things become worse, and they will worsen until and unless you have already taken on loans from money lenders in Ireland.

They can offer loans on affordable ways and with flexible repayments. You can utilise their loans to survive quickly.

You cannot simply expect your employees to take responsibility. You will have to make some effort on your own to develop a growth mindset in the workplace.

• Establish programmes that allow employees to learn new skills.
• Consult your staff about what they want to learn.
• Try to hire people who are motivated by growth rather than hiring just the best candidates.
• Reward your employees for their hard work, the challenges they faced and the skills they used to deliver the output.
• Avid harsh criticism. Instead, point out at learning scope.
• Group thinking should be curbed because employees with fixed mindsets can influence decision-making power.
• You should divert the appraisal system from performance-based to growth-based.
• Do not be uncertain to invest in training and learning methods for your employees.
• Let your employees know the importance of learning and growth in their careers.

The final word

A growth mindset is imperative to develop in the workplace as it keeps employees motivated to find new ways to do certain things when they come across difficulty. This prevents them from using the same method to do the same thing.

Though you will try your best to hire people inspired with a growth mindset, do not forget that you will have to create an atmosphere in the workplace too. As an employer, you will have to ensure that you provide enough training resources to them.