Employee Growth and

Professional Development
Employee retention is one of the biggest threats to businesses throughout the
country. The tide has shifted in recent years, and the employees now have
more power than ever in their relationships with employers. In fact, 65 percent
of workers believe they can leverage this control to their advantage through
salary and benefit negotiations.

One way for businesses to keep employees satisfied and committed is through
employee growth and professional development initiatives. Udemy found that
42 percent of employees said that learning and development were the most
important benefits when deciding where to work.

By taking a proactive approach to your employee growth and professional

development strategies, you can mitigate employee turnover and drive more
productivity. Here are six ways to support employee growth and professional
development in the workplace.

1. Give Recognition and Rewards

If you want to support employee growth and professional development, you
must first keep them happy and motivated. That starts by creating a company
culture that rewards and recognizes exceptional work.

Giving recognition and rewards to your employees can motivate them, and it
encourages loyalty - which are driving forces behind employee growth. When
workers feel valued and their efforts recognized, performance levels increase.
A study from Alight Solutions found that employees who felt their
rewards were met are seven times more likely to be engaged with their work.
Recognition and rewards are excellent ways to incentivize your employees to
grow with the organization. While monthly or annual awards are great,
consider recognizing your employees spontaneously - as 47 percent of
employees said they prefer unplanned rewards.

2. Provide Feedback in Real-time, Not Just During

Annual Reviews
According to a study from Wakefield Research, more than 90 percent of
employees would prefer that their manager address learning opportunities and
mistakes in real-time, not during an annual review only. Organizations that do
not provide continuous feedback cannot expect employees to grow or develop
in the areas within which they struggle.

Knowing your weaknesses is an important step in personal and professional

development. Organizations need to implement processes that help
management organize and assess the strengths and weaknesses of their
employees on an ongoing basis. These managers need to then communicate
the results of those assessments throughout the year - either weekly, monthly
or quarterly.

This ongoing evaluation and communication process provides a feedback loop

that helps employees understand the areas they need more training in, as well
as developmental areas to improve employee aptitude and performance.

3. Use a Learning Management System (LMS)

A learning management system (LMS) offers organizations a scalable solution
to employee growth and professional development. As the name might
suggest, learning management systems are applications that help businesses
create, store, track, deliver and report educational resources, trainings and
developmental programs.
LMS software offers businesses an alternative solution to creating, managing
and delivering training materials and courses manually. Rather than investing
valuable time training new hires or working one-on-one on redundant training
programs, businesses can utilize LMS software to move that training into an
eLearning platform. Not only does LMS software streamline the employee
training, but it allows the organization to deliver consistent material and
uphold their quality assurance.

4. Encourage Mentoring and Coaching

Another way for businesses to look internally to support employee growth and
professional development is through mentoring and coaching programs. The
modern workforce has changed, and employees no longer respond well to
demands or orders. Rather, managers must learn to work in tandem with their
employees, similar to a coach or mentor.

Organizations can support the growth of their employees by creating a

management culture that encourages communication and training. Managers
shouldn't be afraid to ask employees if they need help, and they should relish
in the opportunity to pass on skills or knowledge to their employees.

Professional development and training typically fall on one's direct managers -

so emphasizing a culture of coaching and mentoring is an excellent way to
encourage employee growth.

5. Identify and Develop Soft Skills

Soft skills refer to the personal traits and non-technical attributes that help you
succeed in your career. These skills can include areas like time management,
delegation, active listening, and communication, among others. Organizations
that offer training and educational resources for soft-skill development can
increase the productivity of their entire team - not just the employee.
Surprisingly, soft-skill development is something that many of today's
managers lack. Most organizations promote their best-performing employees
to managerial positions, even if they lack proper management skills, training, or
experience. In fact, a 2016 study from Grovo found that 87 percent of
managers wish they had more training before being asked to lead.

While productivity is important, organizations need to take a proactive

approach to assess and develop soft skills for employees and managers.

6. Implement Cross-Departmental Training Programs

Today's businesses are becoming less and less siloed. Whether you work as a
production manager or the front-line sales representative, there is value in
understanding how every unit operates.

As such, organizations can support employee growth and professional

development by implementing cross-departmental training programs.
Moreover, breaking these departmental barriers can
improve communication from one unit to the next - thus, increasing the
efficiency of your entire organization.

For instance, your customer service department might notice a common theme
in consumer complaints about a product. If there is a communication gap
between them and the production team, that deficiency or issue might not be
brought up as quickly as it should.

Cross-departmental training programs can educate your employees about

different areas of your business, while also providing a better communication
channel between different sectors of your organization.

7. Continue to Look for Developmental Opportunities

To mitigate employee turnover and decreased productivity, organizations must
find creative ways to engage workers and increase their loyalty. Employee
growth initiatives and skill-development programs are two long-term strategies
that provide the foundation for improved employee experiences. If businesses
want to invest in anything in 2019 and beyond, it should be their most valuable
resource - their employees.