The argument for improved employee development is impossible to ignore. In the face of a well-documented skills shortage and intense competition, the majority of businesses now recognise that it’s vital to offer learning and development opportunities in order to effectively attract, engage, and retain staff.
On the other side of the coin, 70 per cent of employees say they would leave their current job for another which offered better development opportunities - and one in three cite a lack of career development as a reason for having left a position in the past.
So if business leaders aren’t getting development programmes right, what is it that today’s employees really need?
It’s clear that some companies still view perks and employee development as the same thing. But, while free lunches, extra holidays, and gym memberships are good to have, they won’t help employers bridge the gap between their CPD provision and the needs of their workforce.
Instead, senior leaders, together with their HR teams, should champion a long-term employee development strategy.What’s needed is a flexible, collaborative, and tech-powered learning environment that will create more engaged and productive employees, who are clearly aligned with their employer’s ambitions and who can see their ongoing career potential.
More than just ‘training courses’ or discrete initiatives, organisations need to prioritise a broader learning culture which helps employees uncover their career drivers and uses those motivators to guide objective setting and skill development.
Ongoing training opportunities, peer-learning, and instructive feedback will all help to achieve this goal, and can be delivered through the implementation of smart software.
The most successful employee development programmes prioritise ongoing mentoring and coaching, moving away from the staid ‘annual review’ towards a more collaborative approach. They also help employees foster ‘transferable’ skills like judgement, empathy, social skills, and teamwork - which many say are at risk of diminishing in an age of digitisation.
And that’s just the start. There’s much more that goes into effective development. The best organisations strive to proactively engage and align people with the company vision whilst providing the tools employees need to work towards achieving their own career goals.
Instructure has launched the Bridge Employee Development Platform to bring it all together; ultimately helping employers put their people first. Bridge enables conversations, plans, and programmes to help employees find meaning in their work and achieve long and short-term growth.
The Definitive Guide to Employee Development
This guide is designed to help HR and L&D leaders to successfully engage their workforce and foster a culture of learning, development and growth.
The Definitive Guide to Employee Development
This guide is designed to help HR and L&D leaders successfully engage their workforce and foster a culture of learning, development and growth.