By Alex Hattingh, Chief People Officer of Employment Hero
In a job market that has never been more competitive due to the Great Resignation, a comprehensive learning and development programme can make all the difference between hanging onto your most talented employees and losing them.
Our recent Employee Movement and Retention Report revealed that 16 per cent of UK workers cited a lack of training and development opportunities as a key motivator behind changing roles, so it is vital that businesses of all sizes understand the importance of detailed and tailored learning pathways for retaining their top talent.
Learning pathways can take a variety of forms depending on the industry or sector, but to be most effective the learning solutions that you provide to your teams need to be flexible, focused, incremental, accessible and supported. To mark National Careers Week in the UK, here are our top 4 tips for implementing learning pathways in your business that motivate and excite employees about the future.
Tip One: Be flexible
Remember, learning and coaching can happen in a variety of ways. You don’t necessarily need to pick up additional tertiary education or attend conferences to gain valuable knowledge. Instead, look for flexible online options, certifications and micro-learning opportunities that employees can pick up regularly.
Look out for learning opportunities that can run to an asynchronous schedule and be taken at the employees’ own pace. Flexible options include using a Learning Management System (LMS), attending on-demand webinars and sharing cloud-based resources. You should also ask your team directly which solutions they would prefer to have access to.
Tip Two: Be focused on specific outcomes.
Make sure that employees are learning exactly what they need to know and not getting distracted by side-topics. When a skill is applicable and actionable, your employee is more likely to stick with it, therefore make sure that they introduce their new skills into their work as soon as possible.
Tip Three: Be accessible.
Courses that can be accessed through a mobile-friendly online portal are particularly valuable because employees can train wherever they are. In addition to the courses themselves, help and support should also be easily accessible.
Tip Four: Be supportive
By being supportive and giving your staff the time and financial backing that they need to complete their training, you are showing them that you care about their development as well as cultivating a supportive workplace culture. Employers could also offer study leave to employees to give them time to properly apply themselves to their training, or give them a training budget where they have an allocated allowance to purchase courses or learning materials.