What is one thing your organization is doing to help employees stay engaged in their ongoing development?
To help you best support your employees’ ongoing professional development, we asked HR managers and business leaders this question for their best insights. From setting time aside for employees to learn every month to offering incentives for achieved milestones, there are several things your organization should put into practice to help your employees stay engaged in their ongoing development.
Here are 12 things your organization should be doing to help employees stay engaged in their ongoing development:
- Determine Clear Growth Path During Onboarding
- Set Time Aside for Employees To Learn Every Month
- Ensure Employees Are Being Challenged
- Schedule One-on-One Meetings To Discuss The Future
- Conduct Self-Directed Training for Team
- Provide Incentives for Continuous Education
- Encourage Self-Awareness and Self-Improvement
- Use Employee Feedback To Develop Along With Employees
- Promote Hands-on Experience Over Textbook Development
- Offer Incentives for Achieved Milestones
Determine Clear Growth Path During Onboarding
Defining a clear growth path during the onboarding process keeps employees engaged in their ongoing development. We work with new hires to design a roadmap that pinpoints their professional objective and all the milestones they need to achieve along the way to reach it. We then determine guideposts, such as mentoring, online upskilling courses, and networking opportunities to help keep them on track for success. And whether they plan to stay with us long-term or aim to work for a larger company, assisting employees in honing strengths and growing skills equips them better for their current roles.
Maria Shriver, MOSH
Set Time Aside for Employees To Learn Every Month
Ongoing development is so key in keeping employees engaged. Everyone wants to do great at work - but sometimes the resources aren't there. With over 85% of workers not engaged in their work, it is so key that there are learning, and development paths involved at your business. We have an hour of learning each month that every employee is required to do. This could be on leadership, filming, delegation - anything.
I was completely self-taught and took our business from being 80,000 in debt in 2016 to doing over a million dollars in 2022 - and that is because I had such a focus on learning. I expect the same from my team - and most of them like it. We also meet once a month for 30 minutes to go over their big wins from last month, their goals for this month and where the company can help them succeed.
Trevor Rappleye, CorporateFilming.com & FranchiseFilming.com
Ensure Employees Are Being Challenged
To keep employees engaged in their own career development, it's crucial to ensure they're being challenged in their current roles. Involved leaders will see signs if this isn't the case, such as low productivity, missing work, and overall dissatisfaction. However, if you'd like more specific information, consider using anonymous feedback so that you can review the data you've collected. Maintain an open line of communication and keep your eyes open for employees who may be better suited for other departments or tasks.
Ryan Rottman, OSDB Sports
Schedule One-on-One Meetings To Discuss The Future
Scheduling one-on-one meetings regularly is one tangible way we help our employees stay engaged in their own development. As managers, we are eager to get feedback from our teams about what is working, and ways that we can improve their experience at our company. During these meetings, we strive to discuss priorities, challenges, and goals. We genuinely care about what our employees want to achieve and aim to make those dreams a reality.
Jonathan Zacharias, GR0
Conduct Self-Directed Training for Team
We supply our employees with online resources and courses relevant to their field. The team takes turns studying a particular subject matter or course, then poses as the instructor. The designated trainer for that day would summarize key points in their assigned learning material, teach it to the team, and spark discussion. We found that this helps with employee development and engagement, especially when the theory or case studies are considered during their day-to-day tasks.
Eric Ang, One Search Pro
Provide Incentives for Continuous Education
Offering incentives for employees to continue their education is a great practice to foster ongoing development. Tuition stipends and pay raises for new degrees or certifications are great monetary incentives for workers. Partnering with a particular school or program is another way to facilitate continued education and improvement. Such collaborations can open new networking opportunities for social, professional, and community development.
Thomas Yuan, Sanebox
Encourage Self-Awareness and Self-Improvement
It is a good thing for employees to take stock of their achievements and analyze how they can do things better. It is much better if ideas for their personal development come from them rather than from company leaders. With that in mind, we have some exercises we ask employees to participate in well before their personal reviews. These are mental exercises to get them to look at both their successes and failures over the past year and use what they've learned to set goals for the next year. Participation is voluntary and we don't see what they write but we do bring it up in the review process.
Steve Mascarin, Taunton Village Dental
Use Employee Feedback To Develop Along With Employees
From the top-down, we ask employees for feedback on how management can improve their work experience. By showing this respect for their time and then acting upon their input to make the company operate better for everyone, the employees know we believe they are valuable to the company. An employee is more apt to roll up their sleeves and commit to developing themselves if we model our own development. Never underestimate giving employees a vested interest in the organization.
Oliver Zak, Mad Rabbit
Promote Hands-on Experience Over Textbook Development
When it comes to development that impacts an employee’s real-life journey at the workplace, hands-on experience is always a better teacher. Real-time feedback from all quarters, not just immediate managers, helps employees gain a deeper understanding of their role. Experimental stints in various departments teach them to be enthusiastic learners. Regular exchange of information with peers and seniors helps them share their own ideas. And one-on-one interactions with senior leaders show them what it takes to move up in the industry. No textbook can teach an employee all this, so when it comes to development, the hands-on approach always works best.
Kris Harris, Nootka Saunas
Offer Incentives for Achieved Milestones
A practical way we've managed to keep our employees engaged in their ongoing development is by offering them incentives for each milestone they achieve. Putting in place such a morale-boosting initiative ensures that we can keep our employees interested in the development program by enlightening them on its benefits for their career progression. Employees who reach more milestones and unlock more rewards end up motivating their colleagues to follow through with their development.
Mehtab Ahmed, LoansJury
These expert insights have been collected by Terkel. Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights.
