Professional Development for Employees
Retaining employees is a top priority for companies due to the high cost associated with onboarding and turnover. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 63% of Americans who left their employment last year identified a lack of advancement opportunities as one of the key factors in their decision making. So what can employers do to combat this problem? Read on to find out how to provide professional development to employees.
First things first— identifying areas of weakness and opportunity is necessary before offering employees meaningful development opportunities. What can you provide as an employer that would significantly benefit the success and growth of your employees? There is no one size fits all answer to this question because every company has different needs but, here are some ideas…
Paying for courses, certificates, and any other form of professional development that will advance employees knowledge/expertise. As a result, employees will be better able to fulfill their duties and become more valuable to the company.
Lunch and Learns: These can be a quick and convenient way to offer professional development weekly or monthly. These could be offered by an existing employee who excels at a certain skill or is an expert at using particular software.
Allowing each employee an hour weekly to work on skill development during company time. This option allows individuals to pick what they feel would be most beneficial for them to focus on during the allocated time.
Providing monthly or yearly stipends to employees: This is convenient because the funds could be used to purchase books, courses, attending conferences, and/or furthering their education.
Promoting from within: Creating a clear path for employees to see where their position could lead is a key to their retention. If they don't believe advancement opportunities are possible, or have goals within the company, they may decide to search for opportunities elsewhere.
Last but not least— employers should make sure that employees have coverage to complete training opportunities offered without having to give up their free time, which can be demoralizing.
Hence, offering employees development opportunities is essential in order to retaining talent and reducing turnover costs. Employers should take this into consideration when making schedules and budget plans in the future.
Lucy
RaezerConnect