How and Why to Inspire Employees to Pursue Professional Development?
By TRISOFT team
As the global business world expands, evolves and becomes increasingly diverse, workers need to understand that they need more and more knowledge and expertise in order to become essential for a company.
Aimed to endow employees with new resources to succeed in their positions or even prepare them for accepting new tasks, these programs are gaining in popularity, complexity and necessity.
Is your job enough?
Professional development shouldn’t end when a person secures a job within an organization, therefore employees should strive and be encouraged or supported to take refresher courses and accept new challenges periodically or continuously. Learning skills and methods for adapting to an ever-changing work environment is a valuable asset for both employees and employers.
It’s a good thing training courses fill in any gaps that people might have in their education or practice, while orienting them toward new technologies and future trials. Thus, they should be mainly based on the organization’s needs and goals, but should touch on other aspects as well, such as cooperation, communication, ethics or leadership skills. All of these traits combined will converge toward building a stronger, more complete worker.
Development-added-value
Professional development increases an employee’s value and ensures that they will remain relevant in the company and domain they are active in. If a job becomes irrelevant, it’s bad both for the person in question and for the organization as a whole. Certifications and diplomas can recognize a worker’s talents and demonstrate that they are competent in their field, as well as any complementary areas that they may choose to delve in.
Many people pursue professional development in order to build up their confidence with regard to the tasks they have to accomplish at work, which then leads to higher job satisfaction, greater dedication and increased productivity.
Employee retention
Another benefit to take into consideration is employee retention. Businesses that offer such options tend to have workers stay with them for longer periods of time, since it proves that they are valued and the firm has no problem with investing in their evolution.
A strong professional development program should offer continuous training and allow people to determine the rhythm and content of their advancement, thus giving them a bit of control over their own educational track.
Customized programs, for various age groups (senior workers may need to receive training for remote work or newly developed apps or devices), departments or circumstances are the best option for ensuring great results.
Development opportunities may be formal or informal, depending on specific needs and circumstances. Webinars, podcasts or even team building sessions are examples of informal learning opportunities that give people freedom to seek out assistance when and where they need it most. Formal options include workshops, courses and meetings, overseen and led by professionals and which usually end with a recognition of the participation or the results achieved (diplomas, degrees, certifications). However, development doesn’t stop with the completion of the course — follow-up activities and programs must set and practice the skills learned therein long-term, so that they won’t be forgotten or become obsolete immediately afterwards, but rather contribute to employees’ performance.
Workers may train individually or together, as a group, since the overall success of the company is due to their smooth cooperation and connection. There are many ways for employees to pursue professional development. Follow these indications to find the combination of programs that works best for your team.
1. Consult employees regarding their needs
Workers know themselves best, they can evaluate their strong points and developmental gaps, therefore they are in the perfect position to inform you regarding what would suit them most. Meet regularly with them, so as to discuss their performance and find out what their concerns and suggestions for improvement are.
Also, creating a learning environment is a shared responsibility, thus everyone should contribute with their ideas and feedback.
2. Set up an internal mentorship program
Employees with more knowledge or expertise could train and advise newer, less experienced workers, so that the overall level of the personnel will be more balanced.
3. Encourage active participation
Underline the benefits of such training programs, both personally and for the business, and stimulate educational pursuits inside or outside the workplace.
4. Make training an ongoing conversation with employees, so as to make sure that it’s a useful tool, not a burden, for new hires and training experts alike.
Conclusion
Employees want challenging and meaningful work. They wish to learn, evolve and contribute to their company’s success, which is why employers should help develop their skill sets and allow them the autonomy to make decisions that affect their work.
Not only will this keep everyone happy in their jobs and increase retention, but it will also build a strong team of people who have the ability to accomplish numerous tasks and projects.
At TRISOFT we believe that professional development programs are an essential part of this process and should be turned into a priority for the well-being of the organization.
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