Why Investing in Employee Development Improves Performance

Organizations that invest in employee development can reap significant rewards. Employees who participate in development programs often feel more connected to their work, stay with their company longer, and offer a better customer experience.

A successful employee development program will understand employee needs and provide useful training. Implementing a development program can feel daunting, but this guide will walk you through the process and give you tools you can use to create a successful program.

Understanding employee development needs

If you’re thinking about creating an employee development program, you should first understand the different areas of development. Addressing each area in your program will be essential to developing well-rounded, satisfied, and knowledgeable employees.

Skills development. Skills development helps your team members hone their skills and cross-train on other jobs, creating a more seamless work environment. Skills development increases employee understanding of your company and their role in it, giving them greater confidence in their work, which leads to improved performance and higher morale. Focusing on skills development also allows company leadership to discover hidden talents and identify future leaders.

‍Career development. Career development helps employees determine where they are in their careers and where they want to go. Investing in career development for your employees, including goal setting and opportunities for hands-on experiences, helps create satisfied, loyal employees. It also attracts outside talent eager to develop within a supportive company. Successful career development can make your company the go-to workplace for motivated, creative, and eager talent.

Personal development. For an employee, personal development means becoming the best version of themselves, including professional growth. Employees will inevitably feel more enthusiastic and committed to their job if they have goals and feel supported in achieving them. Creating that passion in your team members can mean a more creative, talented, and motivated group.

Examples of employee development areas

Within the three general areas of development are specific characteristics and principles to focus on:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Goal setting
• Conflict resolution
• Decision-making
• Time management
• Teamwork

Leadership

Positive leadership skills can take a team to new heights, encouraging team members to push themselves and succeed. Most employees have seen examples of effective leadership in the workplace, but positive leadership doesn’t happen on its own.

You can help your organization by training in key areas: management, self-confidence, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and strategic thinking. You can also train in team management, including delegation and decision-making.

Some of the most effective methods to help develop these skills are hands-on. Options for mentoring, opportunities to lend expertise to a new area, and participation in a group or committee allow employees to step up and flex their leadership muscles.

Consider pairing employees in leadership training programs with a mentor. Mentors provide both guidance and constructive criticism, and can help employees refine their leadership style through support and encouragement.

Communication

Communication between co-workers can make or break an organization. It is essential to have an environment where communication is open and encouraged by all team members. To help develop open communication, you can focus on a few critical areas of employee growth: interpersonal skills, collaboration, listening skills, empathy, public speaking, and relationship building.

Formal training is an important piece of the puzzle, but you also want to include one-on-one and team meetings to practice managing the flow of ideas. Group projects encourage open communication, offering a chance to listen to and participate in a group of diverse thoughts and experiences. Communication development should also Include feedback sessions where employees and managers practice giving constructive feedback and accepting the feedback positively.

Goal setting

A team that knows how to set appropriate goals is happier in their roles and more successful in their work. One method of goal-setting is to set SMART Goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-framed goals.

Implementing training for goal setting can be done in two ways: formal training sessions and mentoring between veteran team members and new employees. Managers can also engage in goal-setting sessions as a whole team and individually.

Conflict resolution

Some conflict is inevitable, but developing your team’s ability to deal with conflict positively means they will work together for the good of each other and their organization. A few specific skills to focus on for conflict resolution development are self-assessing one’s situation, seeking out a neutral party for mediation, and acting professionally in the workplace.

Formal training is usually your best option for conflict resolution; bringing in a third party to teach an entire team can alleviate fears of personal judgment. You can also have employees on a leadership track take additional training on arbitration. Mentoring is also helpful, as more experienced team members can coach less experienced members on resolving issues specific to your company and their team.

Decision-making

The ability of your employees to problem solve and make decisions is important at every level, not just management. You can help everyone succeed by training them to make those decisions while keeping company objectives in mind. Train your employees on decision-making styles, ethics, evaluating decisions, and common decision-making mistakes. Formal training will take you far in this area of professional development.

Time management

Good time management hinges on prioritization and efficiency. Time management training can teach employees how to multitask, manage calendars, maintain productivity, and meet deadlines. Mentoring and one-on-one training with a supervisor is the most effective way for employees to learn these skills. Companies can also use time-tracking apps to help employees improve their time management.

Teamwork

Collaboration and teamwork is an essential aspect of any successful business. Teamwork training is most effective through group projects, team-building exercises and activities, and team outings and retreats. Some of these activities and outings should be unrelated to work, offering a more relaxed and natural atmosphere for team members to bond. As your team develops respect for one another beyond the workplace, teamwork within the workplace will naturally improve.

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Benefits of investing in employee development

Employee development has always been a sound investment. But shifting expectations from employees are making it more important than ever. Older generations who worked through the recent pandemic, and younger generations who are just entering the workforce, expect to feel connected to their profession and fulfilled in their personal life.

Instituting a robust employee development program helps employees feel valued, find purpose in their job, and view their career development as part of their personal growth. But employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from employee development programs. These programs can help companies realize higher retention rates, increased productivity, and greater customer satisfaction.

Improved employee retention

Employee turnover is a drag on any business, causing interrupted projects, fragmented teams, and an endless cycle of hiring and training for human resources. Retaining employees means fewer interruptions to your teams’ productivity and workflow, not to mention reduced costs in recruiting and onboarding. While turnover can’t be completely avoided, a 2018 report from the Work Institute found that more than three-quarters of turnover was preventable.

A BetterBuys survey of 2,000 employees found that 92% felt development opportunities were important. In addition, companies that offered professional development opportunities had a retention rate that was 34% higher than companies that lacked development opportunities. Offering ways to learn new skills and fine-tune existing ones is an excellent way to attract and keep top talent.

Increased productivity

According to an EdAssist survey, 72% of Millennials feel their education did not help them prepare for the workforce. Training programs can reap enormous benefits for your company’s productivity, employee satisfaction, and retention.

Job training is essential for talent development. Teaching new employees the skill sets necessary for success gives them a confident start. Continued training ensures company best practices are followed and helps employees keep up with technology, regulations, and customer needs. Regularly training your employees increases job performance, confidence, and productivity, leading to a better product and greater profits.

Better customer satisfaction

When it comes to customer service, having well-trained, happy employees can make a significant difference in your customer experience. When employees feel knowledgeable in their role and supported by their company, they can better respond to customer needs. Employees engaged in regular employee development can upskill and discuss long-term, creative solutions with the customer, making them feel heard, helped, and valued. Employee development has such a strong impact on customer satisfaction that companies with over 50% employee engagement retain 80% of their customers.

How to create an employee development program

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Creating an effective employee development program requires several steps. Here are a few tips on what steps are needed and how to best implement them.

Know your goals. Look at your company’s strategic goals and ask how you plan to achieve those goals. Identify specific actions and tasks your team will need to complete, then evaluate your current employees and identify skills gaps. Brainstorm how missing elements can factor into your employee development goals.

Identify where goals align. Once you know the new skills your team needs to develop, you can focus on individual employees. Identify skilled employees and help them take those skills to the next level with individual employee development plans. Find personal employee goals that align with your organizational goals. If you work toward a shared goal, the employee will be more likely to take ownership of and be proactive in their development.  

Use all resources available. Formal learning opportunities, both in-person and online learning, are a great way to help your employees learn, but they’re not the only way. Combine traditional learning with on-the-job learning, cross-training, and mentoring. Use programs to build soft skills and technical skills.

Use frequent progress updates. As your employees progress with their development plans, conduct frequent check-ins and complete regular employee performance evaluations. These one-on-one meetings allow managers to provide positive feedback and constructive criticism. They also offer a chance to tweak development plans to better achieve individual development goals.

Practical tips for investing in employee development

As you establish your employee development program, there are a few things you can do to help the process go smoothly.

Offer training and development opportunities

One of the first hurdles to establishing an employee development program is deciding which skills to focus on first. A 2019 Compensation Best Practices report asked 38,000 employees what training they most desired. With 32% of the vote, the most wanted skill was management and leadership training, followed closely by professional certification (30%). Technical training came in third (17%), followed by teamwork and interpersonal skills (8%), employee-subsidized degrees (7%), and communications and public speaking (4%).

Of course, your employees may have different goals, and the easiest way to find out is to ask them. However, you should also consider your company’s needs and goals.

Provide mentorship and coaching

Coaching and mentoring are not quite the same: in coaching, the coach drives the relationship, but in mentoring, the mentee drives the relationship. Establishing both programs takes a certain amount of work.

If you want to implement a coaching or mentoring program, there are a few steps to follow.

1. Take another look at your goals and strategy. Align the program strategy with program goals. You should also consider the program budget.
2. Work with management-level leadership to get everyone on board. With positive leadership, the program can reach its full potential.
3. Decide how to launch the program. You will need clear criteria for mentors and coaches and their trainees. Include training for mentors or coaches before the program begins.
4. Continue to develop the program. Be sure to have regular check-ins to monitor how the program is going and provide additional training as needed for all participants.
5. Recognize and reward employees in the program. Most people like to be recognized. Rewarding those willing to work within your program is an excellent opportunity to increase morale.

Offer career advancement opportunities

Employees want to work at companies that will help them achieve their career goals; ignoring that desire can lead to high turnover, loss of productivity, and low morale. There are many ways to support an employee’s desire for career advancement.

• Train manager-level employees to meet regularly with individual employees. As managers are interested in employee career goals, they can discover ways that individual career paths align with your organizational needs. Managers can then set goals that serve both the company and the employee, helping the employee feel valued and loyal.
• Implement shadowing or job rotation programs. Allowing team members to work in related positions within the company will help them grow camaraderie and learn new skills. It will also increase their understanding of the company and better define their role within the larger picture.
• Put a succession planning program in place. Identify your strongest employees and assist them in learning the skills and core competencies they need to advance into key leadership positions.

Hire the best employee training specialists on Upwork

The benefits of implementing an employee development program are clear. Yet, the path from concept to program success can feel overwhelming, and you may wonder if you even have the time. You don’t have to do it alone.

Hiring an employee training specialist, like the experts you can find on Upwork, can take employee development off your to-do list. Let us connect you with the right specialist today so you can start reaping the benefits of your very own employee development program.