For employees to thrive in their roles, there must certainly be some form of professional development, whether a simple certification course or an advanced degree.
Most companies already understand the importance of employee development in the workplace. However, implementing a helpful employee development strategy needs to be addressed.
Employee performance trickles down into your company’s employee retention, strategic growth, and the overall success of your workforce. Here are four robust statistics showing employee development is vital to your team.
- The Conference Board found that 96% of their survey respondents believe they must develop their work-related skills continuously.
- Bright Horizons 2022 report found that 60% of employees want additional guidance on continuing their education within their careers.
- Guild’s American Worker Survey states that 41% of employees resign due to a lack of career advancement and development opportunities.
- A McKinsey survey found that 70% of 2,100 frontline employees applied for career advancement opportunities to make progress.
Employees care about their learning and career, but are these benefits one-sided? Not really. Investing in your employees’ learning and development opportunities translates into better business outcomes, especially when considering higher education. And here’s why:
Increased Engagement and Productivity:
Employees with higher education tend to be more efficient, productive, and innovative. Considering they have a more significant knowledge base and skill set, they can take on complex tasks and projects, which, according to Gartner, can ultimately lead to a 20% higher engagement and a 10% improvement in productivity.
Reduced Turnover And Better Retention:
Investing in your employees’ further education proves that the company values their personal and professional growth, creating a sense of commitment and loyalty to the team. That’s why companies paying for their staff’s higher education tend to have lower turnover rates. In fact, the Graduate Management Admission Council suggests that 62% of employers offering tuition assistance programs have seen higher employee retention rates; this means you spend less time and money on frequent hiring.
Improved Company Reputation:
A recent survey reported that 88% of Gen Z workers are likelier to recommend their employer for their education benefits; this means companies investing in employee education are more likely to attract new talent. Plus, a study on education reimbursement programs has shown a 129% return on investment, so each dollar you invest generates an added $1.29.
Cost-Saving Approach
Employee training can be a smart investment for companies, saving them money in the long run; this is because replacing an employee can cost up to twice their annual salary, making L&D investment a cost-effective alternative. You can save significantly by retraining existing employees instead of laying off and rehiring. Additionally, developing skills in-house can be more cost-effective than competing for employees with in-demand skills.
Better Adaptability And Performance
Workspaces are constantly evolving due to market changes, new technologies, and industry trends, which means your team should be able to adapt quickly. Investing in further education equips employees with essential tools and knowledge to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your company remains competitive.
Drives Revenue Growth
Employee training can directly impact the company’s revenue beyond just cost savings. It can help develop new capabilities like data analytics, leading to the identification of growth opportunities and increased revenue. Further education also plays a crucial role in digital transformation efforts, ensuring success in delivering digitally-enabled work tasks. Moreover, it also leads to improved output and collaboration, especially with team training programs.
Stronger Overall Success
A well-trained team can take on more complex tasks and make fewer mistakes, positively reflecting your company’s overall performance. Let’s take project managers as an example. Investing in cost-effective education like Research.com’s online master’s in finance programs will help them develop accurate project budgets, monitor expenditures, and control costs effectively, resulting in better financial allocation for your company.
Core Strategies To Maximize The ROI On Employee Training ROI
Providing your employees with advanced education opportunities goes beyond simply selecting a degree program. It requires strategic planning as well as execution, and here’s how you can do it.
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Align L&D Goals With Business Objectives
You must ensure that training initiatives directly support the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. When companies align their employee education initiatives with primary business priorities, it truly brings out the value of training in driving business success; this can improve customer satisfaction, increase sales, or even enhance operational efficiency.
Research also suggests that employers who align employee training with strategic company objectives find 24% higher productivity levels than those who don’t; this ensures that the training is a wise investment that leads to better employee performance, productivity, and competitiveness in the market.
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Customizable Training Opportunities
When designing education opportunities, you must tailor them to your target employees’ specific needs, skill levels, and preferences. Start by conducting a thorough assessment to help you identify and analyze employee skill gaps, learning styles, and even passions.
This way, you can enhance relevance, engagement, and effectiveness with strategically personalized training content, resources, and delivery methods. Personalized learning experiences also increase the team’s knowledge retention, interest, and application while giving them skills in real-world scenarios, which maximizes your ROI.
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Use Innovative, Technology-Based Learning Methods
Leveraging technology to optimize training delivery is another way to make the whole process more accessible and scalable while minimizing additional costs. To name a few digital tools, you can invest in learning management systems (LMS), e-learning platforms, online degrees, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).
With the help of technology, your company can deliver interactive, engaging, and on-demand training experiences. Plus, embracing innovative approaches such as gamification, microlearning, and mobile learning benefits the learner’s capabilities and capacity while leading to higher ROI.
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Evaluate And Measure The Effectiveness
Companies must also prioritize measuring the impact of employee education investment to ensure training programs are profitable and remain effective in the long run. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs), such as employee engagement scores, productivity metrics, training completion rates, and customer satisfaction ratings, to gauge the efficacy of different training modules and delivery techniques. By establishing precise evaluation methods and metrics, you can evaluate whether or not the L&D investment is worth the ROI.
Parting Thoughts
Each year, businesses spend millions on their L&D efforts, although many don’t realize how much the company benefits from it. Advanced degrees not only ensure your employees have the opportunity for professional development but continued learning among your workforce will result in innovation and success in their daily work.
