Employees that continuously learn are the most productive and engaged. One of the research found that 94% of employees are more likely to stay with a company if the company invests in their continuous learning and development.
It has been seen over the years that despite the employee’s willingness to learning, not much of the organizations provide their employees with effective training. One of the studies shows that nearly half of the organization’s employees are uncomfortable to ask for learning budget.
Those employees that don’t have much of the training are likely to turn stagnant in their career and have a higher chance to leave their present company for more engaging job opportunities.
Is your organization having any strategy in place to encourage employee learning and development?
Below attached are a few key tips your teams to ensure employees have resources they need for continuous growth.
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Set a budget aside:
As we just saw, that the employees hesitate to ask for a budget for any kind of training. It is the responsibility of the organization to be transparent about any learning budget available. One of the ways for determining a learning budget is by allocating a stipulated amount to an individual employee, which can be used by them throughout the year as and when learning opportunities come up.
When employees are to complete a certification course, attend an industry event or find another learning opportunity, encourage them to explain the need and how the opportunity will help themas well as the organziation impact and grow.
If the organization invests in the employee’s training and development, the employees feel inspired and valued to be part of the team and can continue to drive great results for the company to benefit from a similar approach.
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Convert managers to coaches:
At a few organizations, training and development are handled by the HR department. However, the reporting manager of each employee has the most knowledge about the strengths and key areas of improvement of the employees. Managers should help HR to drive successful employee learning and development.
For continuous growth, managers should meet their teammates individually once in a month or should find another way to review overall skills and prospective learning and development opportunities.
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Collect employee feedback:
To ensure the success of the learning and development program employee feedback is essential. This helps the managers and the organization ensure utilization of the resources the employees are being provided for their growth and development.
The organization can also consider sending a survey to its employees so they can share their feedback about the learning opportunities, what was great about the training, what was missing, and it can be thus improved further.
Once the feedback forms have been collected, outline an action plan for the next steps of improvement and share it with the employees to maintain transparency. This will help the employees ensure that their feedback is being considered.
Hence it is evident, from the bottom to the top, each and every employee should have learning and development resources available for their continued growth. When you commit employee about their learning, it will ensure that employees don’t hesitate to reach out for help. As these growth opportunities will ultimately lead the organization to increased productivity, profitability, and employee engagement at the organization.
Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
