Home Ideas for employee development
Local

Ideas for employee development

Contributors
classroom
(© Monkey Business – stock.adobe.com)

Every business’s success is heavily dependent on employee development. Your team is able to stay current with trends in the industry, to make sure that your company does not fall behind your direct competitors. In addition to attracting top talent within your industry, ensure that your company’s learning and development culture keeps them on board for as long as possible. We know, though, that the process of devising and implementing such a program is not easy. In this blog, we’ve put together a list of employee development ideas so you can help your employees grow.

Ensure a positive onboarding experience

A great onboarding experience can make a world of difference. There is perhaps not a better or more effective way to impress your new employees and to encourage them to stay with your company for long.

To begin with, start speaking with your new hires immediately after they accept your job offer. You must let them know your company’s vision, values, guidelines, and expectations from them as well. By making use of modern technology, you can also improve your employees’ onboarding experience. To accomplish this, you should opt for an LMS with an intuitive and advanced interface. You can use its various features to imply innovative tools and other integrations in the development of engaging onboarding materials, rather than merely providing long and boring PDFs.

Training your existing employees

It is important to continue employee development after onboarding. When it comes to protecting your human capital, regular training is absolutely necessary. Make sure you maintain a culture that encourages creativity and advancement. This will ensure that the workforce remains relevant to current technologies and trends. Ultimately, it is designed to enhance the brand and reputation of your company, which in turn leads to greater success and long-term gains. You can count on eLearning to train existing employees since it is an efficient and cost-effective method that is available to you. Some eLearning platforms, like Accord Software, Thought Industries, and many others offer a range of options to share and manage courses in an online environment. With LMS, learning can be self-paced. Learners can access resources whenever and wherever they want using computers, tablets, and smartphone devices.

Embrace microlearning

No matter what you think, lengthy modules, PDFs, Powerpoint presentations, and conference sessions lasting all day do not appeal to the modern audience. You will be wasting time and effort by bombarding your employees with too much information, particularly in the absence of follow-up. In this way, your learning standards will decline over time. In other words, if you want to elevate the employee development program, leave the old methodologies behind. Instead, adopt cutting-edge techniques to reduce the forgetting process. With microlearning, you can chunk overwhelming information into digestible bites. They are easy to absorb and remember. Microlearning allows learners to efficiently complete their training in a short amount of time instead of taking hours or days. Since the content will not be too overwhelming, they will be more likely to complete it and retain the knowledge.

Consider a mentoring program

A mentorship program usually has two main purposes. New hires benefit from it as they quickly embrace and become familiar with the company’s values, guidelines, and methods, which helps underperforming employees to reach their full potential. It will be simple to learn from a mentor. The mentor shares their experiences and knowledge and closely supervises the participant until they can work independently. Mentors will also benefit, not just participants. You will also be developing your mentor’s leadership and communication skills throughout this process.

You can also discuss various elements of your company’s operations and mentor it between different departments. By understanding how your organization works, you may create the opportunity for them. They will develop skills and knowledge that will help them to become more efficient in their daily activities.

Encourage your best performers

You can motivate your employees with rewards and prizes. This can boost their performance and help you develop employees more effectively. The more rewards and prizes they know they can receive at the end of their learning journey, the more they will strive towards learning and upskilling. Having competition among your team will also motivate them. Thereby engaging them even more, rather than just giving them reading assignments. There are many ways to reward your employees. Rewards can include cash bonuses, discount coupons, gift cards, or electronic gadgets. If you do not have a lot of money to spend, you could also give your employees non-financial gifts, such as a hand-written note.

Conclusion

A range of employee development activities prepares employees to deal with challenging circumstances and unexpected situations. Employees are constantly looking for new skills and learning opportunities. As a result, employees are more inclined to trust their organizations when they see that there is an investment in their training. Employee development will also help the organization retain its employees.

Story by Caitlyn Bell

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.