Your employees’ personal development is crucial to their job satisfaction.
Without new opportunities and challenges coming their way, individuals begin to feel stale and frustrated in their current role.
This is proven to have a huge impact on employee retention—research by The Harris Poll suggests that up to a third of employees who seek new roles do so due to lack of learning and development opportunities in their current positions.
When those opportunities are available, staff are not only more likely to stay with the company, but also they are likely to feel more fulfilled at work, leading to greater productivity.
Whether you’re an employer looking to push your staff and nourish their talents, or an ambitious careerist seeking your next step to progression, these are 3 strategies for employee development that are sure to build skills, nurture talent, and benefit your business in the long term.
1. Focus on your company culture
Your employees’ working environment should be one that encourages openness, ambition, and free thinking.
Allowing your staff to bring forward their own ideas helps them feel personally invested in work projects, increasing their passion for their role and in turn boosting their productivity. They should also feel able to challenge leadership when necessary—without this, staff become stifled, frustrated, and will ultimately lose enthusiasm.
Your company culture should also focus on creating team spirit—this is good for morale and strong bonds between staff members, as it encourages collaboration and creativity. While team-building opportunities appear thin on the ground, there are plenty of virtual activities designed for professional organizations, hosted via video calling apps such as Zoom.
2. Actively discuss career development
Periodic reviews are a must in healthy employer-employee relationships.
They’re an opportunity to make employees aware of their strengths and successes, as well as areas for improvement, and allow the employee to share their own feelings about their role.
Conversations around career development should also be standard—ask your employees where they see themselves in six months, twelve months, two years, etc. By understanding their ambitions, you can agree on areas for development and assure them that you are invested in their progression and fulfillment.
3. Take advantage of business opportunities
Even in the remote age, there is a wealth of networking opportunities that are not just beneficial to your business, but also your employees as well.
Amongst these is Arise Innovation, a business hub with bases in Harlow and Chelmsford that brings together experts and professionals from a range of fields. Offering both physical spaces and virtual office facilities which give access to exclusives and webinars as well as expert advice, such hubs are ideal for businesses who are still transitioning from the traditional office environment to one that is totally remote.
Engaging with business expertise in this way gives your employees a way to connect with other similar professionals and gives you the chance to see how other organizations handle employee development.
These are just three suggestions to help your employees progress in their roles, boost development, and maximize job satisfaction.
