Both small and big enterprises are aware that their employees form the backbone of their daily operations. Because of this, they have to invest as much as they can into their professional development.
This is why organizations keep on investing in employee training, and this trend continues year after year. In return, organizations benefit from increased productivity and controlled employee turnover.
There are many opportunities to pursue if you are focused on helping your employees grow and develop. They range from training seminars launched via employee training software to organizing mentoring programs.
Continuing the discussion, here are the 14 best ways for employers to help their employees develop.
1. Use Employee Training Software
Employee training software is powered by cutting edge technologies. It is built to help organizations streamline their training across the board while saving both time and money.
Employee training software such as cloud-based LMS or learning management system empowers organizations to deliver training across mobile devices and enable convenient on-the-go learning.
Thanks to reporting tools that are featured in LMS software solutions, organizations can monitor and track training in real time, identify knowledge gaps, and tailor the learning experience for groups and even individuals.
On top of that, LMS software allows deep customizations so that courses are in line with the overall branding strategy of your organization.
2. Organize Meetups With Other Companies
There are plenty of learning opportunities in your niche. All you have to do is identify them. You can then send emails to business representatives, offering some memorandum for collaborating in the field of L&D.
You can organize field trips to their facilities and offices so that your employees can learn about their internal processes and best practices. Make sure you repay the favor by letting them bring their workforce to your establishment.
3. Keep An Eye Out for Business Programs at Colleges
There are many community colleges and universities offering various business programs in afternoons and evenings. You should do your research and find one that resonates well with your business model. Make a list of learning opportunities at local colleges and email it to your employees.
Make sure you implement a tracking and feedback system to learn which program is the most beneficial for your organization.
4. Send Employees to Professional Association Seminars
Among all external training opportunities, the ones found at professional association seminars are the most welcome among employees. They will get the chance to travel, meet colleagues, learn, and exchange experiences with them.
Track the performance to assess the value of these seminars.
Professional associations also organize meetings and conferences, which are also valuable learning opportunities for your employees.
5. Organize Onsite Seminars
Seminars launched by professional associations are not tailor-made to your specific needs. This is why you should consider launching an on-site seminar for your employees.
Make your L&D department assess the knowledge gaps and launch a survey. If you have access to your LMS software, you can do this very efficiently.
This will help you organize a customized on-site seminar.
Give your workforce the information they really need.
6. Incentive Internal Coaching
Internal coaching is another valuable training opportunity many organizations fail to pursue. It leverages the existing relationships among employees and allows them to share knowledge at their own pace. This ensures that the knowledge vital for success gets passed on.
The best thing about internal coaching is that each department already has the most experienced and knowledgeable worker which makes the entire concept of training more affordable and easier to organize.
7. Launch Formal Mentoring Programs
Unlike internal coaches, mentors can come from the outside. Mentoring programs are very popular in the HR niche, but we don’t see why they could not be extended to cover the training needs of various internal departments.
You will have to find mentors for each department and make formal mentoring programs so that you can easily assess the results.
8. Implement a Book Club at Work
Book clubs provide powerful learning opportunities for workers. After the workers read the same book, they are bound to discuss it. Make sure that every book is relevant to your organization so that employees can transfer this knowledge to their day-to-day activities.
9. Start Building a Learning Culture
An organization that encourages active learning continuously grow and develop. This is an ongoing project, and it will demand constant monitoring for it to succeed. Before you decide to pursue building it, make sure to read as much as possible on how to build a culture of learning.
10. Add Learning to Work Hours
Employee development is an ongoing process, especially today when rules, regulations, best practices, and new technologies are under constant change. Make sure that everyone has time to devote to training – add obligatory weekly hours for training for each employee.
11. Give Access to a Professional Library
You can help your employees develop further by providing them with free access to learning material. Start building a professional library at your office. Your employees should have access whenever they feel the need. Launch a survey to discover the titles of resources that every department needs.
12. Make College Tuition Reimbursement Available
Some employees don’t want to attend college programs because they don’t have the necessary funds. If the programs are relevant for your business, you should consider offering tuition reimbursement. This will allow you to keep top talent within the organization.
13. Give Your Employees Time to Develop
While 9 to 5 are the most common work hours, you should add some flexibility to allow your employees to benefit from various learning opportunities, especially if you decide to allow them to attend classes at local colleges.
14. Invest in Conference Attendance and Professional Association Memberships
And, finally, you can add more items to your learning opportunities list by paying for memberships like conference attendance and professional associations. Just make sure you track attendance so that your cash doesn’t go waste.
Wrap Up
These 14 professional growth and development opportunities will help you diversify your workforce development strategy. Before you decide whether to go with LMS software, mentorship, or college programs, take your time to identify the course of action that you can sustain over an extended period of time.
Author Bio: Kamy Anderson is an ed-tech enthusiast with a passion for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of corporate training and education. He is an expert in learning management system & eLearning authoring tools – currently associated with ProProfs Training Maker.
