Reasons to Invest in Employee Development

Staying in tune and up-to-date with industry trends is a crucial element in your business’s growth and development. The same holds true for the professionals that make up that business. Growth starts with employees. 

While you strive for overall business growth, your employees are also striving for professional and personal growth. Studies show that 58% of employees say professional development contributes to their job satisfaction. But in the last few years, employee development has been forced to take a back seat. With new elements like a remote/hybrid work environment and budget restraints, employee development programs have fallen in the rankings, when they could very well be the solution to problems like burnout, turnover, and low performance. 

So what is professional development and how can it affect your business? 

Professional development can be defined as a reciprocated effort between an employee and employer to help improve an employee's skills and knowledge in the field for both professional and personal growth. 

Investing in an employee’s development can encourage a higher loyalty and appreciation to the company and the overall mission. Efforts may include training on new technology or strategies, providing training to promote leadership and improved communication among teams within the organization, or skill-based training modules that help improve employee performance. Since many fields are constantly changing, employee development helps workers stay afloat so they can deliver their best work every day.

6 Reasons to Invest in People Development

Reduce Turnover 

Statistics continue to support that employee turnover rates are rapidly increasing throughout the country. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, an average of 3 to 4.5 million employees quit their jobs every month. And losing an employee is more than having a position to fill. Losing an employee also means your business is now tasked with additional responsibilities such as recruiting, training, and onboarding a new employee, costing you more than just time. In fact, base-level employees typically cost 50% of their overall salary to replace. 

Investing in employee development is perhaps the most proactive method in preventing employee turnover and increasing overall employee satisfaction.  Additionally, studies show that 94% of professionals would stay at their current employer if they saw investment in their learning and development skills.

Attract Better Talent

Living in a time period where hiring is such a competitive landscape, it is imperative to set yourself apart. According to Manpower Group’s, Solving the Talent Shortage, 72% of employers are having a hard time finding skilled candidates to fill their open positions. Investing in employee development not only benefits your company directly but also exemplifies the dedication you obtain to encourage your employees’ growth both personally and professionally. 

And while your organization might be seeking opportunities to grow, employees are too. A recent study found that 76% of employees are looking for opportunities to expand their careers. By providing them with the tools they need to acquire new skills and reach their potential, they have what they need to succeed and will provide new skills within your organization on a long-term scale.

Keep Employees Engaged

Keeping your employees motivated is a non-negotiable for any business. It is also a crucial factor in avoiding situations such as quiet quitting. Quiet quitting refers to doing the bare minimum of one’s job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. So how can you avoid it? 

If your company has experienced quiet quitting, or any type of employee disengagement, it’s time to reflect on the key motivators that you are providing to your employees. In other words; are the actions taken to sustain motivation actually working?  Through employee development, you are providing tools and skills that employees need to maintain their work-life balance. These tools will decrease burnout and turnover, and fuel peak performance.

Another perk —  employers begin to develop a better understanding of their employees’ expectations, goals, and challenges, so they can execute clear communication, foster relationships, and strengthen teams.

Develop and Support New Managers

Newcomers and disengaged employees are not the only members of your organization that could benefit from employee development. While they do play a pivotal role in the overall success of the business, it starts with their leaders. In accordance with the familiar saying “people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers”, the relationship that an employee has with their manager can make or break a team. 

Encouraging employee engagement starts with management. It is important for managers to communicate clearly in order to adequately align on business objectives. Without clear communication, it results in confusion amongst the team, which leads to missed opportunities. But building a strong employee-to-manager relationship is not as simple as you might think. In fact, 60% of employees don’t think their managers have clearly defined their roles and responsibilities. 

By investing in your managers, you provide leadership insights and skills from experienced coaches to address issues and effectively communicate with the team to coordinate a plan of action, maintain stability in times of change, encourage productivity when workload increases, and establish a culture of trust. 

When managers are vigorous about their work, they’re leading by example —  and it’s contagious. It has been reported that 75% of employees describe a great manager as one that is passionate about their job. Employee development fuels that passion and creates a framework to sustain it.

Boost Employee Performance

Improving and sustaining an employee’s performance begins with their employer. Providing them with the skills and opportunities to develop as professionals, such as performance coaching and regular check-ins, can help identify problems at the root, support employee growth, solve work problems, and prevent burnout. 

Improve Job Satisfaction

Engaged employees are more likely to go the extra mile, and now more than ever employees are seeking new avenues to learn new skills through courses, boot camps, and webinars. In fact, 74% of professionals feel that having an absence of employee development opportunities limits their potential for success.

Increasing knowledge in their trade excites and motivates professionals to perform at the top of their game. Supporting your employees enables their success and will directly reflect your organization’s profitability, productivity, and retention. For example, research indicates on average, companies that spent $1,500 or more to contribute to employee development year-over-year saw 24% higher annual profits than companies that did not utilize employee development programs. 

Valor Can Help 

Working alongside Valor Coaches enables your people to become influential role models; enabling them to share valuable lessons and insights with their colleagues. In just a short time, you’ll create a ripple effect — a company-wide culture of sustainable high performance, and an environment perfectly tuned to deliver extraordinary results. Schedule a demo today to learn how Valor coaching can help your employees reach their potential.