If you’ve experienced any turnover lately, you already know how difficult it is to lose valuable employees. But the reality is that employees are leaving their work if it fails to provide them with growth and development opportunities. Employers who invest in the futures of their workers are more likely to hold onto them for the long-term, which is a good business move.
Development leads to fulfillment
Employees who are given the opportunity to learn are simply more satisfied with their job. Learning gives them the chance to expand their role, rather than stagnate and get bored. It also shows they have an employer who cares enough to help them succeed and reach their dreams and ambitions. That’s important in creating a great place to work!
Four easy ways to build a culture of learning
A company culture that focuses on continuous learning is sure to be a hit with your workers, helping you retain current staff and attract new candidates. Follow these four tips to incorporate learning and development into your workplace.
- Offer learning opportunities in small, digestible chunks. If you ask employees how much free time they have to take courses, you might get a funny look. The truth is, we’re all pretty busy these days. Offering learning “micro” opportunities makes it much easier for employees to tack on new skills, rather than investing in courses or trainings. Lunch and Learns, videos, or even “learn at your own pace” courses offered in modules make it much easier to fit development into a busy week.
- Make suggestions. As a team mentor, what learning opportunities have you experienced that were helpful? Employees who are on the fence about how to get started might appreciate your insight as their leader. You could also provide a learning opportunity as part of a meeting or during the workday to help employees out who are concerned with how and when to fit something in.
- Make learning part of the job. It helps employees to learn when they’re involved in assignments or get a chance to try special projects that are a little outside their usual roles and responsibilities. Hands-on learning is very helpful, and the fact that you trust your workers to rise to the occasion can be extremely motivating.
- Work on soft skills. Sure, hard skills are important, but soft skills give employees the little extras that help push them ahead. The most popular ones are time management, leadership, communication and collaboration. Give your workers guidance and resources, or even on-the-job opportunities, that help them develop these key skills.
Effort on learning and development helps boost retention
In short, you get out of it what you put into it. When your employees know you care enough to help them grow, it can go a long way towards holding onto them for the future.
Need help assessing risk?
Turnover is one risk employers face, but there are many others—and Odell Studner can help. We’ll work with you to assess your risk and take steps to mitigate it. To learn more, get in touch with our team today!