Gone are the days where companies just offer the “job” itself and leave the employees alone. Employee development is one of the top three non-financial motivators, and 76 percent of employees want opportunities for career growth, according to a blog post by Corbett. Sometimes, employee development is sacrificed for other business opportunities, but it’s time to make it a priority.
5 Reasons to Invest in Employee Development
Attracts and retains top talent
It is said that you lose your memory when you lose an employee. In a competitive market where recruiting top talent is a challenge, it’s a big loss if you can’t make your employees stay, especially a loyal and performing one.
Why does an employee development program matter?
- Benefit. Employee development is something applicants weigh in the “pros” when looking for a job. These talents may be looking for a job to provide for them, but they’re not really looking at a job that is something temporary. Dissatisfaction with the employee development program of a company often leads to an early exit by the employee.
- Loyalty. Loyal employees aren’t prone to quitting. Knowing that an employer is willing to invest in the employee’s growth makes them feel special and loyal.
- Good reputation. A good reputation helps attract applicants for your job opening. Words about how you give thought to your employee’s career growth are one major check for your employment process as well as sales.
- Good people. By offering training, education, attendance to conferences, or even something as simple as a transportation allowance, applicants who are looking to improve themselves will come to you. Isn’t that initiative a good sign?
Promoting from within
According to a study by Matthew Bidwell published in The Wall Street Journal, not only do external hires get paid more but also for the first two years, they have lower performance reviews than those that were promoted. Imagine the expenses of recruiting, screening, and hiring and then you don’t get the results you were expecting. Horrible, isn’t it?
When you invest in the development of your workers, you are helping them better themselves to take on more challenges, most likely for a more challenging job of a higher position.
A proper employee development program creates a pool of competent workers that are ready for promotion and helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses of an individual.
Employee engagement
Boredom can give rise to errors, low-quality work, and decreased productivity that will surely affect your business operations. Keeping your employees engaged by investing in their growth could help their performance.
Save and earn money
A good employee is like money in the bank.
That well-trained, confident, and engaged employee we’ve been talking about? They are going to do better work for you in the long run. Not worrying about how to fill a hole in your team and how much it’ll cost will surely be a great relief to you, your team, and your HR. And with the work these employees have been doing, you may be in for a higher sales output.
Looking to the future
Employee development is a continuous thing, which means that you always have to have an eye on the future. How will you answer the following:
- Kind of leadership do you need?
- What do your customers need from your employees?
- Industry changes might and should you expect?
You will notice that employees are an integral part of your answers to these questions, and that’s why their training and development are important.
An employee development plan that’s going to work necessarily forces you to think ahead and plan for the future path of your business and that’s a good thing, because not only are you thinking about your employees but consequently thinking of your road to success.
People Dynamics offers employee development programs such as public seminars and workshops, in-house training programs, team building, and even online courses and certification programs! For more information, contact us or email us at solutions@peopledynamics.ph.
