This article is part-two of a six-part series that includes what we are advising small and medium-sized employers to do right now to create a superior workplace. In last week’s post, we discussed the importance of Onboarding New Hires Effectively. Click here for the post on Onboarding New Hires Effectively.
Overview
One of the most pressing employee issues for professional services firms is employee retention. According to a State of the Workforce report, by 2023 voluntary employee turnover is expected to rise to nearly 30%. As such, it’s more important than ever before for organizations to have a strong employee retention plan.
In this article we provide an overview of the strategic and practical considerations for small and medium-sized employers creating or maintaining employee development programs.
Employee development is without exception recognized as a strategic tool for an organization’s continued growth, productivity, and ability to retain key employees. However, you may find that in your company’s day-to-day routine, providing professional growth opportunities may not seem like a priority. After all, the workday should be focused on, well, working!
Why Should Employee Development be a Priority for your Business?
The top 3 reasons to emphasize employee development are:
1. Reduce Turnover
Employee turnover is one of the most difficult employee challenges to manage when operating a professional services firm. According to the Work Institute’s 2019 Retention Report, employee turnover costs businesses over $600 billion every year. It estimates that for each employee you lose, it will cost up to 33% of their annual salary to replace them. Turnover causes major disruptions to day-to-day business operations and clients alike, and if it is not properly managed, it can be detrimental to a business’ revenue stream and reputation. Imagine having to turn clients away due to employee turnover and staffing shortages. How could you possibly expect your business to grow?
2. Remain Competitive
Organizations are competing not only for market share but also for employees. Employees want to work for an employer that will upgrade their skills to keep them competitive with peers from other companies. When asked which characteristics make an organization compelling to work for, millennials rated training and development opportunities as number three on their list.
3. Increase Productivity
Research shows a clear correlation between employee training and productivity. When employees are engaged in their jobs and their strengths are valued and supported, it creates a culture that fosters high performance and greater productivity.
How to Encourage Your Employees’ Growth?
There are many methods of employee development. Some occur on the job with the manager or an experienced co-worker leading the development activity, while other development occurs at a training facility. Increasingly organizations are using online methods to develop employees.
Here are 7 practical ways to develop employees, keep them engaged, and increase the probability that they will remain with your organization:
Employee Development Methods
1. Coaching
Coaching typically involves a more experience individual providing an employee with advice and guidance that is intended to help him or her gain new skills, improve performance, and enhance the quality of his or her career. To be effective, coaching should be personalized, objective, and usually accomplished one-on-one over a period-of-time.
Coaching is ideal for influencing and developing employees’ skills, motivations, attitude, judgment, and ability to perform in their current role and to prepare for future roles.
2. Cross-Train
Cross-training refers to training employees to perform job duties other than those normally assigned. Cross-training can be a short-term or ad hoc fix, or it can be an ongoing, planned process. Cross-training usually does not result in immediate advancement, but it does indicate that an employee is interested in learning new skills.
Employers find value in cross-training employees because it involves developing different skill sets if a key employee leaves, or simply to prepare lower-level employees to progress in the organization. Either way, cross-training can be extremely beneficial to your organization.
3. “Stretch” Assignment
This method gives employees a chance to learn while doing real work. Typically, management works with the employee to understand where they wish to improve, and then finds assignments to develop those skills.
“Stretch” assignments are a great way to train for flexibility and adaptability while also preparing employees for higher-level positions.
4. Mentoring
Successful companies large, and small, are using mentoring to tackle complex human resource challenges. Mentoring involves matching less experienced employees with more experienced colleagues through formal and informal programs. Career mentoring is by far the most common mentoring program we see in the workplace and is often used to retain skilled employees and develop future leaders. This traditional one-to-one mentoring relationship can last 6 to 12 months.
5. Job Enlargement & Job Enrichment
Job enlargement involves expanding the employee’s job by adding more task and duties, typically at the same level of complexity. Job enrichment adds depth to an employee’s job through responsibility, control, and discretion.
Job enlargement and job enrichment play a crucial role in an employee’s career growth as they not only prepare them for unpredictable circumstances but also help them acquire additional skills and gain new knowledge.
NOTE: Organizations often redesign jobs to increase employee motivation. However, when jobs are enlarged but not enriched, motivational benefits are unlikely.
6. Job Rotation
Job-rotation is the systematic movement of employees between various projects or from job to job. Many organizations use job rotation to give employees the opportunity to explore alternative career paths, to broaden employee skills and to build employee networks. This encourages cross collaboration. By ensuring that employees do not stagnate or remain stuck in a particular project or job for an extended period, organizations can motivate and inspire performance from employees.
Final Thoughts
A well-thought-out employee development program provides your employees with opportunities and clear direction on how to increase their skills and advance their careers. And with an expanded skill set, they have more tools to help your business forge ahead. It’s a win-win for you and your employees!
How effective is your employee development program? Learn how to design a powerful people-focused develop program by contacting us today.
Your HR Solution
Between recruiting and retaining employees to managing employee performance, there are many challenges small and medium-sized businesses face when it comes to the responsibilities of HR management. Outsourcing your HR through First Avenue Consulting can help businesses save time and money and allow you to focus on growing your business.
Get affordable and complete HR support that’s right for your business needs. Contact us for a free consultation info@firstavehr.ca or by phone at 647-406-4476.
Print this article