Seventy percent of U.S. employees say they’re at least somewhat likely to leave their current company and accept an offer with a new company that’s known for investing in employee learning and development, according to a study from Instructure conducted by The Harris Poll.
That statistic is a pretty clear indicator that employees (likely your employees) want opportunities for workplace learning and development, but the survey also found that there is a disconnect between how employers and employees view the opportunities they’re offering.
Here are some other findings from the national survey of 310 employers and 1,433 full-time employees:
- Employees give an F to their employers for employee development. While 98% of employers say they offer career development tools, only 26% of employees rate their employers’ tools as delivering development very well.
- While 69% of employers feel career growth is extremely important to retention, a third of employees who have left a job (34%) have done so because they craved more career development opportunities, making it a leading reason why people leave jobs—second only to compensation (46%).
- Three in four people (77%) reported that they feel like they’re on their own to determine their career development.
- Even though 98% of employers say they offer career development tools already, when asked what they want to invest in, career development tools was the top choice of employers. They have the technology in place, but it’s not meeting their needs.
What does it all mean?
In short, your employees crave opportunities to build their skills and grow their knowledge, but they may not be getting what they need. As a result, they could already be seeking out new employers who will offer them those growth opportunities.
It also means, that while you may be offering some opportunities, you may not be doing enough to keep your people on board. For example, it’s not enough to just have a career development tool in place. You have to ensure employees are using it and growing as a result of it, and that you aren’t wasting money on your training efforts.
What can you, as the leader, do?
The first step is really quite simple: Talk to your employees about what type of learning opportunities they want. What skills do they want to build? What knowledge do they want to gain? That open dialogue is critical. The next step is to offer the right training to develop your employees. The final is to ensure that employees are practicing those new skills and using that new knowledge.
It’s easy to say, less easy to execute. However, it isn’t a process you can overlook or a responsibility you can shirk. “Today’s workforce has options, and people are clear about the fact that they want to work for companies that will invest in their careers,” said Mitch Benson, SVP of product at Instructure. To keep your best people on, you must be willing to make the same investment.
Instructure launched its new Bridge Employee Development Platform this month to help employers address this need. Instructures Bridge Employee Development Platform is a next-generation learning solution used to design and deliver scalable, effective, engaging, and purpose-driven learning programs. The expanded platform includes Career for career pathing and Engage for employee voice, in addition to the existing capabilities around Learn, Perform and Practice. Learn more.
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