Employee development training is a topic that many people want to learn more about. After all, it's not something that most of us think about on a regular basis. In essence, training for employee development is an integral part of any successful organization's growth plan. It can help staff grow in their current roles or prepare them for new ones. But what exactly is employee development training? And why does it matter? This article will answer these questions and more!
What is employee development training?
Effective employee development depends on a formal training program that focuses on increasing their value in the workplace. Additionally, these areas of employee development can often help workers develop new skills and teach them how to use their existing ones better.
There are many different types of employee development programs to use with employee training, including mentorship programs (such as pairing up new staff with veterans), leadership training courses (that teach employees how to become leaders within their organization), or cross-training programs (which help staff members learn about each other's roles so they can cover for one another in the case of an absence).
Why is employee development training essential?
The importance of employee development can’t be stressed enough, as it helps with vital aspects of running a successful business, such as decreasing turnover, increasing employee engagement, attracting top talent and more.
Likewise, employee development training is essential to a business because it can help staff members to develop new skills or enhance existing skills that contribute to their professional development. In a nutshell, it helps with all the aspects mentioned above.
In fact, research has found that organizations that have a strong focus on employee development training are more likely to see increased productivity from their employees. And let's be honest, what company doesn't want more productivity from their staff?
Pros and cons of employee development training
There are many benefits to implementing an employee development training program. For example, employees can learn new skills or hone existing ones, making them feel fulfilled in their current roles. And research has shown that feeling fulfilled at work is vital for overall job satisfaction and engagement.
It's also a great way to increase the value of your employees, as they'll be more likely to stay with the company if they feel that their employer is investing in them. Meanwhile, companies who can boast engaged employees are more likely to see increased productivity and revenue!
But there's also a downside to an employee development training program: It requires time, resources, and money. So, like all other programs within your organization, you'll need to allocate time and resources for planning, implementation, and follow-up. And, of course, there's the cost-benefit analysis that you'll need to do to determine if it will be worth investing in an employee development training program.
What effective employee development training looks like
If you were to take a close look at effective employee development training, it would feature a range of different elements. First, it would be customized to the needs of your organization and employees through an employee development plan for employees who need development in a specific area and through an employee development program that is offered to all employees.
Also, effective employee development training is always based on what you're trying to accomplish as an organization, not just because 'everyone else does it.’ And remember that all organizations are unique—something that works for another company might not work for yours. So make sure you create a program that best fits your needs!
Secondly, effective employee development training is holistic. That means it's focused on the whole person—not just their skills or weaknesses. For employees seeking to enhance their skills specifically with Microsoft tools, consider supporting them in obtaining a Microsoft certification. Employee development programs are most successful when they're customized to each individual within an organization and consider things like personality types, learning styles, preferences, and motivators.
Third, effective employee development training is proactive. The goal of this type of program isn't to fix problems when they arise—it's to prevent them in the first place! So be sure that your employee development training focuses on soft skills like communication, problem-solving, teamwork, conflict management, etc. These are all critical skills for employees to have in today's fast-paced and competitive business world.
Fourth, effective employee development training is continuous. You'll need to focus on developing your staff members' skills throughout the year, not just at the beginning of a new project or season. That means you should be providing opportunities for learning and meeting employee development goals regularly—whether it's through reading articles, attending conferences or something else.
And fifth, effective employee development training programs are built on a solid foundation of continuous feedback. It's the only way to ensure that your employees are being challenged and developed within their current roles—not just assuming they're growing because you say so! So be sure to ask for regular feedback from them throughout the training process.
6 employee development training statistics
Here are some statistics that show why employee development training is essential:
- Inadequate employee training leads to job dissatisfaction and poor employee engagement, costing companies roughly $3,400 for every $10,000 in salary. Even more alarming is the fact that it ultimately costs the American economy $350 billion per year!
- Nearly 60% of employees took it upon themselves to update their training for their jobs last year, highlighting the fact that employers aren’t addressing their employee’s appetite for skills and knowledge.
- Roughly 40% of workers who don’t get the training needed feel professional development opportunities have dried up at the workplace and end up leaving within a year.
- A study by Deloitte found that employees who are planning to switch jobs said they did so mainly because of the lack of career progress and challenges in their workplace.
- Employees who feel they cannot meet their potential and fulfill career goals are 12 times more likely to leave the company.
- 94% of employees said that they would stay where they worked longer if the company invested in their training and career development.
7 tips and ideas for employee development training
Employees enjoy opportunities to learn on-the-job knowledge and skills that are tailored to their workplace and career development path. So if you want to provide the best job training methods for employees, look at training options you can implement internally at the workplace.
For accomplishing this objective, there are various types of employee training softwares and programs to promote employee development, including:
- Mentorship programs — This type of development program helps new staff members gain insight into how things are done by pairing them with veterans of the organization. Plus, the mentor acquires useful leadership skills and feels valued.
- Onsite training — Employee training that is given onsite typically involves giving short, regularly scheduled classes at your company’s headquarters or somewhere else that is similar in the workplace. An internal provider or consultant provides the staff with training that is usually customized to the employee's objectives and goals.
- Training with promotion — This type of employee training is highly effective since it strongly encourages growth and development in the promoted worker. When you believe they are ready, grant them the promotion. However, make sure to provide them coaching platform and mentoring sessions to keep them from having to forge ahead independently.
- Transfer — This employee training program is strongly based on an employee's willingness to learn and adapt. Employees develop skills by working in a new division or department for a period of time. They are then given more responsibility once they've shown proficiency.
- Cross-training programs — I t’s a lot easier to make a schedule for teams that have a variety of skills. For instance, absenteeism can have more of an impact if the employees present know only a few things and can’t do the job for the absent person while they are out. Cross-training programs solve this problem by helping staff members learn about the roles and responsibilities of their coworkers while developing the same kind of skills and knowledge their coworkers have.
- Leadership training courses — These courses mold future leaders and help them learn more about their leadership styles. These can be done on the job or off and are a great way to increase the value of your most experienced staff members!
- Shadowing — This is another type of on-the-job training, and it gives employees an opportunity to learn from their more experienced coworkers by watching them. The worker “shadows” the assigned employee by following them around and observing how they perform their jobs.
- Online training — Great for continuous learning and available just about anytime and anywhere, online training provides one of the most effective means of teaching workers new professional skills. The company offers online training or refresher training through web-based classes and webinars with this training method, followed by a training survey.
How LMS software aids employee development training
A learning management system (LMS) is a web-based learning management system that empowers organizations and individuals with the education, skills and knowledge needed to drive positive business outcomes and employee growth. They are utilized anytime e-learning takes place.
In addition, they are often used in human resources information systems (HRIS) by human resource management to help with onboarding and to keep workers up to date with job training and current industry knowledge.
One of the essential things an LMS will give your company is a centralized area for storing all training information, benefitting both managers and employees. A robust SaaS learning management system can enhance this centralized approach by offering scalable cloud-based storage, automatic updates, and seamless integration with existing company tools. In addition, the system allows them access to courses anywhere and anytime and offers self-paced learning options to fit into even the busiest schedules.
Having an online learning management system that can foster employee development is not only a wise investment in your company, but it’s also a great way to help your employees grow and develop. A proper one is designed to help you develop, deliver, and track training for employees.
If you don’t have an LMS or need to update your current one, take a look at the stats below that show how having one can help your organization:
- 83% of businesses currently use a learning management system, and 72% of them said that it gave them a competitive advantage after adopting it.
- A Gartner survey states that “new employees who complete a formal onboarding plan are 58% more likely to stay with the company after three years.”
- 40% of Fortune 500 firms use LMS extensively to keep their competitive edge
- 93% of organizations have plans to develop live online learning for their LMS-based programs
- 42% of businesses plant to update their LMS, according to Brandon Hall
- 35% of primary users of learning management systems are managers
- Docebo reported last year that 92% of organizations use a learning management system and that most of the systems had been in place over two years.
10 learning management systems
A learning management system can be used for anything from orientation training to developing a technical skill to leadership development. Of course, each one will work differently depending on your company's needs. Here are a few examples of top LMS systems that could help you develop employee skills:
- SAP SuccessFactors Learning —I ntegrates with the SAP applications employees use every day at work.
- Blackboard — Offers everything you need for training employees, including courses, quizzes and tests.
- Docebo — Provides a complete learning platform that can be used for any content-related needs you have.
- Skillsoft eLearning courses — Provides more than 20,000 hours of self-paced training in topics from leadership to basic computer skills, including eLearning authoring.
- Canvas — Features cloud-based learning management for organizations of all sizes and is designed to grow as your company does.
- Litmos LMS — Litmos, which has even been used by NASA, provides a complete training solution that can be adapted to suit any industry or need.
- TrainingPeaks — This customizable web platform helps companies develop programs and make their entire training process more efficient.
- LearnUpon — This LMS is another customizable learning platform. It’s used for anything from compliance training to sales and marketing development programs.
- BambooHR LMS — Provides an end-to-end learning platform that allows you to train your employees on the same system they use for their daily tasks.
- Moodle — This open-source learning management system is available for free and is easily adaptable to your company's needs.
As you can see, an employee development system is essential for growing companies that want their workforce to succeed both now and in the future. We hope you enjoyed our post about employee development training and hope you will find some valuable takeaways for your company. If you would like to find out more helpful tips & tricks for employee development, be sure to check out our other blog posts.
