Your employees are one of your organizationโs most valuable assets. They donโt just spearhead your day-to-day operations, but can also offer their creative skills and individual perspectives to enable innovation. You donโt get these advantages simply by hiring the right people. Rather, like any resource, you need to commit to caring for and developing your workforce.
This is often considered a priority for people today when theyโre looking for jobs. Businesses that show theyโre willing to invest in their employees can attract more committed and engaged employees. Being effective requires you to adopt strategies that help you keep employee development an active and clear priority in your company.
Make Development a Priority from the Outset
Itโs important to start fostering learning from the outset of employment. The sooner you can start implementing solid educational processes, the sooner it becomes clear to the new recruit that development is a core part of the company culture.
This can form a part of your efforts to overcome the common challenges of onboarding. New employees often find it difficult to adjust to a new company culture, understand their roles, and deal with information overload. Integrating interactive training practices into onboarding can help them gain a more practical grasp of these elements, which provides a strong foundation for long-term success. In essence, youโll need to design hands-on training to not just include the specific tasks of the job, but also how the company culture and protocols fit into them.
How do you do this? Well, often it can be useful to design initial training modules that tackle specific areas. A customer service call handling module can involve role-playing to practice the technical aspects while also confronting circumstances that require the employee to behave in line with company values.
For instance, they might answer a call in which the customer is requesting they make choices that might be unethical or against policy. This trains them not just in how to respond but also gives them a better understanding of how protocols and values are applied day-to-day.
Following initial onboarding training, give employees a road map to the next stages of their development. This might outline the types of tasks theyโll be learning and the elements of the company culture theyโll explore. Youโre not just showing them the skills theyโll learn, but also reassuring them you have a plan for them to be a part of the business in the long term.
Invest in Continuous Education
One of the most important ways to foster employee development is to not simply treat it as something that happens when they need to learn new tasks. Rather, encouraging continuous learning throughout employeesโ lifetimes is far more valuable to both your business and your employees. When candidates see that you actively invest in continuous learning, this can draw high-quality talent that prioritizes their professional growth. Your company also fills skill gaps by ensuring your workforce gains varied abilities and experiences.
There are a range of ways your company can effectively invest in continuous learning for your workforce.
eLearning modules
More businesses are starting to design eLearning modules specifically for their business. Wherever possible, create a database of eLearning modules freely available to your employees regardless of their role or level of seniority.
Some companies make this more accessible by creating a dedicated learning management system (LMS) website or mobile application. Unrestricted access to knowledge makes for a more agile workforce. This also allows your human resources (HR) department to note where employeesโ interests lie, so you can encourage further development in these directions.
Subsidized certifications
Formal industry certifications โ whether in-person or online courses โ are valuable sources of development. Primarily, they provide employees with a recognized level of technical knowledge. Achieving a qualification also tends to be a big morale booster, which increases engagement and retention.
This is something your company can subsidize for employees. Wherever possible, donโt just fund certifications directly related to your business. Allowing learning options based on employeesโ interests can encourage engagement and provide your company with a more diverse set of skills.
Arrange Effective Mentorship
Initial training and formal courses are only part of the development picture. For true growth, your employees should have access to professionals who can guide them in their development journey. Mentors donโt just pass on skills. They also offer invaluable moral and emotional support through tough times.
Some of the types of mentors you might consider having in your program include:
- Senior staff: Supervisors, managers, and even executives can be natural choices as mentors for staff members. They have a good understanding of the types of skills and qualities that need to be developed to progress through the organization.
- Peers: Peer mentorship is a convenient approach and supports a culture of collaboration. This effectively involves pairing new employees with longer-term staff in their own teams. These mentors have a good understanding of what the teamโs needs and challenges can be. Not to mention theyโre often more readily available on a day-to-day basis.
- External professionals: Utilizing mentors outside your organization can provide your staff members with more diverse perspectives and skills. One approach to this is to partner with an organization in your industry or otherwise connected to your business and โswapโ staff as mentors.
Remember that any successful mentorship program relies on effective matching. Youโll need to assess the personalities, experiences, and goals of mentors and mentees. Compatibility tends to mean thereโs greater engagement in the program.
Conclusion
By adopting employee development strategies, you can boost your organizationโs success. These can include embedding development in the onboarding process and establishing continuous learning resources, among others. Be open to making changes in your development approach, though. By regularly assessing the impact of your program and adjusting it, you can make it more relevant and impactful for your workforce.
Featured image by Christina Morillo at Pexels.