The Importance of Continuous Learning and Development in Employee Retention

19 Jul The Importance of Continuous Learning and Development in Employee Retention

The workers of today are not the same as their parents and certainly not the same as their grandparents. 

Younger workers, and even those well established in their careers, want to keep learning, they want to keep their skills sharp and they want to add to their existing skills by adding to them on a regular basis. The good news is, if your company supports them in these efforts, it’ll benefit you as well. 

Here’s why it’s important to encourage and support your employees who want to learn new skills. 

• It boosts job satisfaction and engagement. If your employee is eager to learn something new, and you discourage or don’t allow the opportunity for them to do that, they’re going to feel like the only way to add to their knowledge is to work somewhere else. They might decide that going back to school is a higher priority for them than staying in this job, because they might not feel like they can do both at the same time. That means you’ll be dealing with increased turnover (more on that in a moment) and unhappy employees. Employees who feel like their company doesn’t support their efforts to better themselves won’t stay there for long. But if a company encourages and finds ways to help people learn new skills, they’ll stay, they’ll be happier and feel supported and will gladly tell others about how great their company is. 

• New skills add to your teams’ abilities. If you provide access to training and educational opportunities, giving your employees the room and encouragement to add to their skills, your company gets to benefit from that knowledge. That could mean the ability to take on different kinds of projects, maybe even new clients, that weren’t a possibility for you before. The better your employees get, and the more skills they add, while learning new things, the stronger your potential as a company becomes. 

• It allows for internal promotion. Empowered employees who feel confident and secure in their abilities and their position are natural leaders. They’re eager to share their information and new skills with those around them and are happy to help others benefit from what they’ve learned. In due time, that means you can create a new position for them, acknowledging their abilities and talents, giving them an increased sense of satisfaction and, importantly, loyalty to the company. New titles represent a kind of respect toward an employee’s abilities and skills and shows an investment in the person and their interests, which is a very powerful motivating and rewarding tool to have as an employer. If someone learns and adds to their skill set but isn’t recognized for their hard work, or feels like there’s no way to utilize their interests, they won’t stay where they are for long. 

• Improved retention and reduced turnover. Employees are more engaged when their interests are utilized. Someone who feels like they’re stuck in their career, because they can’t learn new things, or if they learn new skills but they can’t use them, will not stay where they are for long. That increases your turnover rate, which means not only are you shorthanded for the duration of the hiring process, the remaining members of the team have to take on more tasks, plus they’re likely frustrated after seeing their team member and friend stifled and held back. Who knows, maybe the company where your employee went has more positions available and that could increase turnover even more. Encouraging your employees to learn and grow under your roof keeps them where they are and spreads positivity and enthusiasm, increases engagement, loyalty and boosts morale. That’s a win for everyone! 

Your company doesn’t need to create a new school or take on massive expenses to help encourage your team to add to their abilities and sharpen their skills. But making programs available to your employees, encouraging them to learn whatever strikes their interests and allowing them to do so and grow while working for your company creates so many opportunities. Happy employees tell their friends, which helps create a pipeline for referrals the next time you need to hire, which is great for your company too. 

If you need help filling positions, or if you want to expand your team’s abilities by hiring new job titles, look no further than LeadingEdge Personnel. We have qualified job applicants and candidates eager to join a new team and ready to start right away and we’d be happy to introduce you. Call LeadingEdge Personnel today and let’s get started.