Even more challenging than finding high-quality talent is retaining them in your company. And quit they will if there is inadequate engagement and involvement in the workplace, including opportunities to develop employees skills. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Achievers, an employee recognition website, 64 percent of employees in the United States wanted to leave their current jobs because of lack of engagement and opportunities for career growth.
Procuring talent is not only a time-consuming and stress-inducing process. It is also an expensive one. Companies spend an average of £3000 in hiring a new employee, a study by the Society of Human Resource Management reveals. The amount does not include training costs which could go as high as £700. Can you imagine how much your company will be able to save if you invest in retaining talent rather than acquiring new ones?
If you have heard the term talent war, you know how companies fight tooth and nail for the best candidates in the workforce. To acquire the top talent, you must not only have a strong employment brand. You must also offer attractive and substantial personal and professional growth opportunities to retain the talent you already have.
Strategies to develop employees skills
But how do you develop employees skills? Here are four effective and practical ways to engage employees, support their career advancement, increase the probability that they will stay in your company for years.
Empower Employees to Want to Learn
Some companies are inflexible with their processes, making it difficult to carry out high-performance training and many workers value a setting where there is a fluid approach to discovering and exploring things. Indeed, once you take obstacles away, their interest in learning and development will flourish.
Involve employees in goal-setting and decision-making whenever possible. Listen to their ideas, input, feedback, and suggestions. Doing this does not only empower your employees and encourage them to think out of the box. It also opens your company to a wealth of brilliant concepts and solutions. Always thank your employees for sharing their thoughts. Recognition will motivate them to increase their knowledge and contribute to creative problem-solving.
Do you want to set your employees up for success in their roles? Give them all the tools and resources they require to perform their tasks exceptionally well and make professional development opportunities available from the get-go. Help employees expand their skillset by providing them with responsibilities outside of their usual duties.
Helping Employees Create a Personal Development Plan
If you want your employees to grow into innovative and efficient leaders, start with helping them know their strengths and weaknesses. From here, you can guide them on their path to career growth by creating together a personal development plan.
Like a roadmap, it allows them to reflect on their goal, what they need to do to reach it, and where they are in the process. In times of uncertainty or sudden change, the plan can help ease doubts by providing them with a solid and concrete target in sight.
You should also take into consideration that employees do not exist merely to work for your company. They are human beings who have physical, intellectual, emotional needs. Employee development should be all-embracing, nurturing your workers as they develop employees skills and grow both personally and professionally.
Allow Employees Time to Learn
So, you have established a love for learning in your workplace. You have all sorts of educational resources – online courses, video podcasts, colourful brochures. But how come no one is taking advantage of these materials? The answer is not that employees are uninterested; they merely do not have the time.
Think about incorporating training into work, from enhancing soft skills to getting familiar with a new tool to understanding the industry. And while you’re at it, make it fun. Gamification of tests and quizzes will make learning more enjoyable, engaging, and effective. Set up a learning board where employees can share information, ask questions, and get answers.
More importantly, no matter how sharp your employees are, always give them a period to internalize any information or instruction. After all, some highly complex skills do not only take years to acquire but are also constantly evolving, making them intensely tough to master.
Invest in Employee Training
The market has myriads of first-rate employee development courses designed to suit all kinds of organisational structures. The subjects are wide-ranging and cover presentation and communications skills, time management, critical thinking, problem-solving, and action planning.
Lastly, ensure that the training is not one-dimensional. Integrate enhancement of personal qualities in your employee development plan, such as teamwork, leadership, and resilience courses. The final goal is to help employees become well-rounded humans and not just mere workers valued only for their skills.
