Importance of Employee Development

Henry Ford once said, “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” Employee development and improvement are vital to any company’s success. Every year businesses spend huge amounts of money in order to provide training for employee development and skills growth. Finding talent within an organization and developing it is the key to sustainable business growth and success. 

If your company does not offer employee development opportunities, then you are missing out on a lot of potential benefits. Your company might even fall behind the competition in finding new and skilled workers.  

What is employee development? 

Employee development is a term used across multiple industries, which include various employee learning practices. Moreover, employee development involves training programs that provide employees opportunities to learn specific skills and knowledge to enhance their job performance. Likewise, a key to employee development is the formation of a learning plan for those enrolled. The plan should be in-line with professional and organizational goals. It would identify the areas of improvement or enhancement and would specify the actions needed to be taken to gain the skills and knowledge that the learners require.  

Hiring new and highly-skilled employees is becoming more of a challenge in an increasingly competitive world. Especially now during the advent of the digital revolution, where new jobs are popping up everywhere and there is an increased demand for 21st century skills and knowledge. As a result, companies often favor training their already existing staff to fulfill workplace needs. This focus or preference for employee development would lead to several benefits for the company.  

1. Employee Development Improves Performance 

Firstly, the most obvious benefit of employee development is that it enhances the skills, knowledge efficiency, and productivity of your employees. When a company provides the opportunity for workplace education and training, it will see a return in its investment in the form of improved employee performance. This increase in performance is simply because of the fact that the employees acquired new techniques, strategies, or skills to improve their overall productivity.   

Ensure that your employees are equipped with the right skills and knowledge required to properly perform their jobs. The training and development would also enhance their already existing skills, so that they could increase their efficiency and provide more value to the company. You won’t be surprised to know that your employees that underwent training programs might be performing better and finishing their tasks quicker.  

Another benefit of employee development and training is that workers can fix or overcome their current weaknesses. Everyone has room for improvement, so any employees that lack a certain skill or have a gap in their current knowledge can enroll into a training program so that they can plug their weaknesses.  

In today’s ever-evolving work environment and the continuous technological advancements that increase competition, employee development has become a necessity to have an edge against your competition and to stay relevant any industry.  

2. Employee Retention  

Is your company struggling with employee retention? Do your newly hires leave after the first six months? Then they might be looking for better opportunities in other companies, specifically, opportunities for their development and growth. Employee development is a good way to increase employee retention, because investing in their growth and improvement would make employees feel that they are valued by the company. It would also allow for continued professional progress in the form of promotions or pay increases which would make your employees want to stay longer with the company.  

Developing talent from the lower ranks of the company, so that they could climb up and be promoted to higher positions would create a wonderful workplace culture of continuous advancement and improvement. Employees obtain new skills and knowledge through continued professional education. Once they are equipped with new knowledge and skill sets, an employee can apply for more advanced or complex roles in the company. This incentive for promotion would make most employees stay within the company as they see them as opportunities to advance their careers. Your employees would be willing to stay and join as many training programs as possible if it would mean that they have a chance of promotion.   

Employee development is also beneficial to the company’s organization and continuance of its work culture. As low-level workers complete various training programs, they become more able to handle more advanced tasks and responsibilities. This development of talent from within can save the company large amounts of money from the cost of finding, hiring and training another person that is not yet familiar with company policies and culture.  

 3. Better Employee Morale 

Lastly, people want to work for companies that value their time, effort, and skills. A motivated worker is a productive and efficient worker. Which is why maintaining or enhancing morale within the workplace is a vital component of a company’s success. Employee development would indicate that the company thinks that their skills and contributions to the business are worthy of further investment. The subsequent effect is that employees would feel valued and appreciated within the organization. 

 An individual who feels needed and valued in a particular job will be far more willing to commit to the company and is more likely to succeed. As such, this would also improve their work morale and would lead to a more positive attitude about their work and the company as a whole. This would translate to a better work culture and environment, which in turn would lead to increased productivity and higher profit margins for the company.  

Tips for Employee Development 

Employees are the essential cogs in the machine that makes companies function and flourish. As a result, businesses of all sizes see the importance of employee development and training. It can mean the difference between a successful company and an uncompetitive company. Here are some tips to improve employee development. 

1. Promote a Learning Culture

Firstly, a culture of employee development within a company would lead to a higher retention rate and increases in job morale. The company must emphasize the importance of personal and professional growth as one of its core facets. The opportunity for workplace skills training and personal development is one of the factors that increase employee productivity and efficiency.  

 2. Individualize Employee Development Plans

Each employee has their own unique traits, strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Furthermore, organizations need to identify employee needs and wants, to help them get the training that they require. Each development plan should cater to the specific needs of each employee, consequently helping them overcome weakness and enhance strengths, and provide timeframes of attaining the identified goals.  

3. Lead by Example 

To encourage employee development and training among your employees, you must lead by example. Leaders that improve themselves professionally are likely to inspire employees to develop themselves as well. When managers and supervisors are seeking continuous learning, then it would promote a company culture of personal development and growth. 

4. Provide Regular feedback

Help with employee development by providing constructive feedback or advice about their performance and attitude in the workplace. Likewise, commend employees for good job performance and provide encouragement on improving any areas that they are insufficient in.   

 5. Dedicate resources

Lastly, it is vital for companies to dedicate time and resources for employee development. Provide in-company training or sponsor your employees to enroll from outside courses. It may require a substantial investment to have your employees trained and developed. However, it would surely be worth it as it would increase company productivity and competitiveness.  

Interested in Employee Development? Partner with SSA Philippines to get an edge over the competition.