Learning and Development
Why learning and development is important for employees
There are many ways for employers to provide access to training that won’t necessarily cost lots of money. We look at why learning and development is important for employees, as well as your profit margin. By upskilling your people, you could increase your productivity levels.
Most employers would agree that learning and development is a necessary part of effective employee management. When people learn new skills and acquire new knowledge, this can make them better at their jobs. Research shows that when employee performance increases, this results in greater productivity. Providing opportunities for your people to learn will make them feel valued and engaged. It could also make them more resilient when it comes to change.
“93% of CEOs who introduced advanced workforce upskilling programs reported increased productivity, as well as an improvement in talent acquisition and retention and a more resilient workforce.”
(Forbes - PwC’s 23rd Annual Global Survey)
Employee development activities
There are a variety of budget-friendly activities which can help you develop your employees. We have listed a few ideas below:
Shadowing
In many businesses, shadowing someone is the most common form of learning and development. It might occur shortly after onboarding an employee or when there is a need for someone to take on more responsibilities. Shadowing can also be useful for senior managers to observe what happens on the shop or factory floor. Seeing first- hand the daily challenges facing frontline employees can shape important decisions.Mentoring
This is different to shadowing, although there may be similar elements, where a mentor demonstrates a way of doing something. A mentor has the knowledge and skill to help an employee improve. Acting as their guide, they can aid the employee’s professional development. This is also a useful approach for onboarding workers.Leadership training
By developing your leaders, you can create lasting change in an organisation. Skilled and effective leaders can help to improve team skills and knowledge, leading to a more efficient workforce. Larger companies often use leadership training to nurture future talent, making it easier and cheaper to recruit from within. If you lack internal resources, procuring external leadership training may be a valuable investment.Lunch and learns
This is a great way for skilled people within your business to share their expertise with colleagues. You could rotate sessions over the course of a year, covering a number of different themes. Topics could include practical, problem-solving skills, as well as mindfulness and mental health awareness. You could also hold focused sessions on particular software programs that are used within the business.eLearning
In our connected online world, eLearning courses can be a flexible way to train employees. Although there is likely to be a charge for eLearning programs, it’s worth finding out if there is any funded training available. This type of learning often involves gamification, quizzes and other activities to keep employees engaged. It’s a great way to ensure that essential courses, e.g. on health and safety, or bullying and harassment can be completed on a regular basis.External training
Sometimes an external training course where specific skills and/or qualifications are part of the development plan can be beneficial. Whilst there is a cost, having an independent ‘expert’ deliver courses can result in new shared knowledge from a credible source.
Delivering learning and development
There are different ways to deliver training, whichever mode of learning you choose. Whether face to face or online, you can use either physical or virtual whiteboards to capture ideas. Visual thinking is a training technique which uses diagrams and drawing to communicate ideas for discussion. As well as being useful for problem solving, this approach is ideal for generating ideas for innovation-based projects.
It's worth remembering that people learn in different ways. Ideally, you want to present information in a variety of ways, such as text, image, graphics, video and audio. Adding an interactive element to your training courses will help to embed new knowledge and skills. When it comes to Microsoft Teams and Zoom, both offer virtual breakout rooms to enable groups to have discussions. Aim to make any training sessions as engaging as possible.
Mentoring, training and leadership development
Many learning and development approaches don’t cost anything other than time. We know that time can result in a cost for many businesses, but this will result in long-term gains. A trained workforce will be more motivated, efficient and productive.
There are lots of ways to support the development of your people in their own roles. It’s recommended that an annual development plan is implemented, where there’s discussion about not only company wide development, but individual aspirations and development are discussed. Upskilling your team could involve shadowing, internal mentoring or using an external facilitator to provide coaching and management training.
At Invictus HR, we can mentor your HR Managers so they can implement learning and development practices across your business. We also deliver bespoke HR workshops, as well as leadership and management training.
If you need mentoring or training for your business, please get in touch
Sources:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2020/reports/pwc-23rd-global-ceo-survey.pdf
https://www.tagvenue.com/virtual-events/professional-development-activities