Why Employee Development Should Be A Core Focus For HR And L&D

Employee Development Tips And Strategies

In the modern-day workplace, employees’ development is ever more an integral part of human resource management and Learning and Development (L&D) strategies. New data highlights just how important that focus can be: Employee development presents a significant opportunity to boost engagement, retention, and performance. This analysis will discuss why employee development should be at the top of HR’s or L&D’s agenda, and also how organizations can effectively implement employee development strategies toward employees’ and business’s best interests.

Rebuilding Employee Development Process

Employee development has traditionally been something done by the individual, sometimes requiring employees to find time after work or on weekends to actively develop their skills. Managers have operated with limited resources and bandwidth to develop the skills of those on the team. The outmoded model of this approach has left most employees in a state of limbo, or developing skills not aligned with the company’s strategy. However, based on employee data from more than 6500 organizations, growth and development are the biggest drivers of engagement, retention, and performance. This study indicates that organizations must make their approach to employee development more strategic and supportive.

Balanced Employee Development Process

An effective employee development strategy should therefore strike a balance between three core aspects: business needs, individual aspirations, and current skills and strengths. The research brings to the fore the fact that these should mutually help or benefit both the employee and the company, that is, framing company needs in terms of employee interests, but with transparency on where there is no match. It is an approach that ensures that employees are engaged in their development, and the organization generally is moving forward toward its goals. The ideal employee development strategy finds a “sweet spot” where business needs align with employees’ aspirations and skills. This balance is crucial for both short-term wins and long-term success.

Impact Of Employee Development On Retention

According to the data, the reason why employees leave include no development opportunities. Twice as many employees leave within 12 months when they do not think they have access to Learning and Development. Actually, career growth and lack of development are also the most important reason why the employees say they left an organization.

If employees have to wait till they get some other job offers to “save” them, then there is disruption and a negative impact on the organization. Rather, continuous development and career progression should be part of employee experience.

Building A Culture Of Employee Development

To implement a development strategy, the organization needs buy-in at all levels. The most important things to do this include clearly communicating the company’s vision and potential career paths to employees. Steps in building this culture are:

1. Identifying company and team needs
   Establish criteria on when new roles will be created or expanded.
2. Building out career paths
   Provide an opportunity for employees to explore and attempt several roles and competencies.

Encourage recurring development discussions anchored on career paths and competencies. Employees who are informed about the vision of the company and possibilities for career growth are much more motivated and engaged. Developmental discussions keep employees and managers aligned as regards career objectives and progress.

Development And Its Impact On Employee Engagement

Development opportunities are one of the most significant drivers of engagement in employees. Employees who can develop skills that are related to their interests show high engagement. The research highlights self-reflection as part of the development process. By reflecting, employees learn to identify their strength, values, and what helps them to get motivated. It also gives them empowerment to set useful development objectives.

Career paths and employee development plans also motivate employees by allowing them to perceive their probable progress in the organization. This includes upward and lateral moves, required competencies for further progressions, and inspirational examples of career progressions.

Employee Development And Performance

Companies that invest in a Learning Management System (LMS) for employees reap benefits of improvements in the performance at both the individual and business level. Firms that have employee development also enhance their chances to achieve sustainable growth, more funding, and better overall performance indicators.

Investing in employee development benefits the individual but also enables organizational growth. For instance, firms that emphasize development have higher growth in head count and face fewer funding caps than firms that are not developing. For an employee development strategy to be successfully implemented, organizations must acquire top-down buy-ins. This would mean inculcating a development mindset into the company’s DNA and ensuring proper communication of this understanding among all the employees, thus enlisting everyone as participants of the development process.

HR leaders and L&D have good reason to support having a more formal approach to employee development within their organization. A more formal program of employee development with continuous learning opportunities is likely to greatly enhance motivation and performance among employees.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the bottom line for today’s organizations is that employee development is a high-priority task. Companies can leverage opportunities around business needs and individual aspirations and strengths to improve retention, engagement, and performance. Ultimately, it will be up to HR and L&D, as the direct providers of development throughout the employee lifecycle, to create such progress and success for the employee and the organization.