Feed your company’s growth with employee development

Posted March 8, 2017

By Michael Henckel, associate editor, J. J. Keller & Associates

Amidst the daily pressures of business, it may be easy to forget about managing employee growth and development. While employees are ultimately responsible for their career path, making training and development programs part of your company culture signals employees that career growth is a two-way street. And, a strong employee development program benefits both individuals and the company as a whole.

Attracting and retaining employees

Hiring job candidates that best fit your open positions and your organization as a whole can be time consuming and challenging. You are more likely to attract strong candidates that are interested in growth by showing them your company encourages professional development opportunities through training, conferences, or continuing education.

Applicants are likely to see a strong culture of employee training and development as an indicator of potential career growth at your company. This opportunity might give your company a competitive edge over another employer.

Once you find and hire ideal candidates, you hope to keep them employed as long as possible. You may be able to instill a stronger sense of loyalty by providing training or allowing employees to seek out development programs.

Keeping employees engaged

Without meaningful day-to-day work or the possibility of challenges down the road, employees often check out and take on negative attitudes. Employees who don’t have (or don’t perceive) growth opportunities may look for other opportunities. The promise of challenges and future development can be a great incentive for employees to stay with your organization long term.

Planning for the future

Whether looking at promoting key employees through professional growth, or looking for your next managers through succession planning, employee training can help.

Identifying strengths and weaknesses in your employees can help you strategically build a path for employee development. Training can help you more effectively develop those who have the skills to be promoted or the ability to lead and manage teams or departments within your organization.

Return on investment

While employee training and development is vital for employers who wish to remain competitive, it does come at a cost. Not only will you have the cost of the actual training course or program, but employee productivity will also be down during training times. But not training your employees may be even more costly.

Over time, your company will reap the rewards for the time, energy, and money spent on the professional development of your employees. Investing in employees will make them more engaged and efficient. Satisfied employees are also more likely to spread a positive message about your company, which can do wonders for your company’s reputation and help you attract more strong candidates.

About the author:

Michael Henckel is an associate editor at J. J. Keller & Associates, a nationally recognized compliance resource company that offers products and services to address the range of responsibilities held by human resources and corporate professionals. Henckel specializes in topics such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, employee classification, and compensation. He is the author of J. J. Keller’s FSLA Essentials guidance manual. For more information, visit www.jjkeller.com/hr.