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Employee development leads to better retention 

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One of the most effective ways to increase employee retention is employee development. A 2018 LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report determined that 94% of people say that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in its employees’ careers. Retention rates are 34% higher in companies that provide employee development opportunities than those who do not.

What is employee development?

There is a difference between training and employee development. According to Steve Hawter, Vice President of learning and development at The Learning Experience, training fills a gap, whereas professional development focuses on employee and company growth.

3 ways to develop employees

1.   Develop Soft Skills – Soft skills can help you build strong relationships, problem solve, and maintain organized and efficient operations. Soft skills differentiate between qualified candidates and candidates who may exceed expectations by putting effort into their professional relationships. You could check out local programs such as Soft Skills Solutions.  

2.   Offer Micro-Learning –Microtraining delivers short bursts of content for learners to study at their convenience. It’s the more engaging, less time-consuming, and cheaper to produce branch of regular eLearning. You could check out one of the many micro-credentials programs offered through Georgian College or Lakehead University, such as their upcoming Executive Leadership Program

3.   Create mentorship opportunities – A comprehensive mentorship approach involves people from across the company establishing oversight, delivering training, feedback and dialogue for the mentors, establishing clear guidelines, expectations and schedules for mentoring activities, and engaging all new hires as a key part of an overall new hire integration strategy. Check out Forbes’ seven steps to an Interactive Mentorship Program

For more resources on developing your employees, check out Workforce Connect Conference keynote speaker, Dr. Lisa Belanger’s podcast on just this topic. 

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