Business leaders and HR professionals are, generally speaking, aware of the importance that learning and development have in the creation of an effective workforce. Top companies invest a great deal in learning and development programs. These can include in-person education, digital learning solutions, and external qualification funding.
Companies that invest in the development of their employees are able to efficiently promote them from within instead of relying upon external hiring for senior roles. These companies can thus create upwardly mobile employee cadres and harness the power of an ambitious workforce. They are also able to retain staff and increase the quality of work that staff is able to complete.
There’s no doubt about it; increased engagement and motivation often blossom in businesses that invest heavily in employee learning. Learning and development efforts should underpin every business’ long-term Human Resources strategy.
This article is a very brief rundown of some important aspects of the field of learning and development. For business leaders that might be struggling to implement effective learning and development solutions, this brief overview should be helpful.
Onboarding
When a new employee is hired, they must be given training as part of the onboarding process. If they are not provided with this training, they will take a great deal of time to familiarize themselves with the business they have joined and their role within it. Many companies streamline their employee onboarding process by making use of digital learning platforms like Thinqi. These digital platforms not only decrease the amount of labor needed for the completion of training but also help to generate useful data about onboarding effectiveness.
According to a recent Gallup survey, only 12 percent of employees think that their employer does a good job at onboarding new arrivals. This should be a huge concern for business leaders and HR professionals. If workers are not onboarded efficiently and effectively, then there is a high likelihood that inefficiencies will develop further down the line within a company.
There is a close relationship between effective onboarding processes, company growth, and employee retention. Employee retention is an especially sticky subject for many business leaders at the moment. Employees are leaving their jobs at previously unseen rates, leading to a labor shortage that has negatively impacted thousands of businesses.
If employees are onboarded correctly, they are less likely to leave their positions prematurely.
Effective onboarding always pays dividends. Employees that have been efficiently and thoroughly onboarded are able to effectively pass on their knowledge of company policies and structures to other new arrivals. Over time, onboarding becomes more efficient as more and more employees essentially become educators.
Employee Growth
Employee growth is a term that is often thrown around boardrooms and HR meetings, but what does it actually mean? In short, employee growth is a term used to describe the creation of an exponentially developing workforce.
In order to promote this growth, education and development opportunities have to be offered to employees throughout their time at a company – not just when they join or when they need to learn a new skill. Consistent investment in the development of employee skills and knowledge enables a workforce to become upwardly mobile and active in their roles within a company structure.
Employees should be empowered to think of their work as being connected to their development as human beings in a healthy fashion. By offering regular educational opportunities, a business can truly engage employees and prevent the kind of apathy that traditionally festers in the workplace.
Combatting apathy through personal development opportunities is essential. An apathetic workplace typically becomes inefficient and reliant upon top-down intervention. Growth-oriented workforces can work and innovate with their own initiative.
Vocational Training
There are many kinds of vocational training that businesses need to offer their employees.
One of the most common kinds of vocational training involves the education of employees in order to enable them to use specialist computer programs. This kind of vocational training is usually led by a person from the IT department or led digitally using an online learning platform.
In many workplaces, dangerous equipment is used. All dangerous specialist equipment requires employees to complete vocational training before use. Most businesses that need employees to use hazardous equipment operate according to the ‘signing off’ system. This system is simple: all employees must complete enough vocational training related to a piece of equipment to be ‘signed off’ by a superior before using it on the job.
Vocational training associated with the use of dangerous equipment is a legal requirement in some countries, such as the United Kingdom as an example. Although the country’s Health and Safety Executive does not specify which machinery requires training – with the exception of chainsaws – workers can seek compensation if they have not been trained and suffer an injury. The government can also begin legal proceedings against companies that fail to protect their staff by adequately training them on machines they have to use in the completion of their work. This is similar in many countries around the world, especially in the West.
Leadership Training
In order to fully facilitate employee growth and create a company that is full of upwardly mobile and innovative staff, leadership training has to be provided. Good leaders can transform a company into a lean, exciting, and profitable proposition. If supplied with regular leadership training, a workforce will be able to take the initiative during tricky projects.
Individuals within the crew will be able to take a step back and look at objectives from a strategic perspective. They will be able to offer their seniors insight into structures that may need to be amended. Leadership training differs from management training, but it does instill in studious workers many of the attitudes and skills that can lead them to become great managerial staff.
If a business truly wants to develop a workforce, it will offer leadership training to all willing staff members. Those that apply themselves fully during this training should be considered for future internal promotions. Internal promotions are extremely important, as they allow a company to maintain mutual respect between all levels of employees while filling senior positions.
