Why It's Important To Help Your Employees With Their Professional Careers
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Why It's Important To Help Your Employees With Their Professional Careers
The concept of a professional career has transformed over the years as much as the labour market and the way companies operate have changed. In traditional understanding, a professional career refers to an evolutionary sequence of professional activities and positions, usually within the same company. It’s about climbing the company ladder.
However, nowadays a career is not so much tied to what the current hiring company of an employee has to offer. But rather, it depends on the personal choices of the employee. Because people change jobs more easily now, they can have multiple chances to find the development opportunities they want at the time they want them.
In the past, people who changed jobs frequently could be seen as unreliable or unstable, but nowadays, it’s perfectly acceptable to change jobs every three or five years. In fact, if a person stays in the same job for ten years, for example, without significant growth in their tasks and responsibilities, they could be seen as too comfortable, someone who might find it hard to adapt to a new job or someone who lacked the qualities needed to evolve in their role. Therefore, it could be a disadvantage.
Even if you’re perfectly fine with a person doing the same activities in your company for a long time, it’s not the same for that person. Even though some people take their career more seriously than others and have stronger needs for development than others, growth remains a fundamental human need.
Some companies have formal paths through which a person can obtain higher positions or responsibilities, while others don’t.
Why it's beneficial for a company to offer development opportunities to its employees
1.
To have more skilled employees
Helping your employees to develop their skills is beneficial for them and your company as well. This leads to better results for your business.
2.
Higher job satisfaction
Satisfying the development needs of employees leads to higher job satisfaction and motivation, which also has a positive impact on their performance. In general, people are grateful for the opportunities they get and want to give back. They also often develop strong relationships with the people who help them grow, which contributes to a sense of belonging and being part of a team.
3.
More engaged employees
If the employee knows what his/her next step is, he/she is more likely to reach it. It’s like driving a car; you have to know where you’re going to reach your destination. Otherwise, you keep going without knowing where you’re going.
Having a development goal directs the employee’s efforts in a certain direction that is rewarding for him and for the company too.
4.
Lower costs
The company doesn’t have to hire people from outside to fill higher positions or for new tasks and responsibilities. This way it saves money, time and energy not having to search for the right people, selecting them, integrating or training them.
5.
Increased employee retention
Employees are more likely to stay with the company if it offers them the development opportunities they want or need.
The number one reason for which people leave their jobs is that they don’t feel fulfilled in their work, they don’t have the tasks and responsibilities they enjoy. This also goes back to how these people were hired and how the job was presented to them. Were they hired for a job that they were overqualified or underqualified for, or was the job description inaccurate or unclear? If the job activities were inaccurately presented to them, they may not have had a realistic image of what they will be doing in the company.
Or, they may have been selected properly but then they didn’t have opportunities to develop. They may have reached a plateau, where they wanted something new and they couldn’t get it.
What are the disadvantages of the companies that don't offer development opportunities for their employees in a planned way
Some companies don’t have career development programs but facilitate employee growth occasionally. The downside of this is that employees may not know what opportunities are available to them and may miss taking actions that would lead to the positions or tasks they want. They may even search for growth opportunities in other companies. So, they can miss all the above advantages.
As I said before, in the past, people usually concentrated their efforts on advancing within the company they worked for. Nowadays, however, people are changing jobs more easily and they can advance changing their jobs.
For example, some companies may have limited opportunities for career development, and instead of waiting years for a position to become available, without knowing for sure if they will actually get it, they prefer to go where the opportunity is available when they are ready for it.
For some employees might be easier to apply for the job they want rather than go to their current employer and ask for a promotion or change. This is because they would have to know how to ask, negotiate, sell themselves, manage their emotions, and handle the situation in case they are rejected, which can be much scarier than going to an interview.
That’s why it’s important for the employer to take the first step and ask the employee about how they want to develop professionally and see if and how they can facilitate this for the employee and also for their own benefit.
The advantage of having a business that is not a corporation is that you can make changes faster. You can get to know your employees and create the opportunities they are looking for that are good for your company too. Take advantage of your company size. It will be harder to do this when you have hundreds of employees. Even if their direct leaders know about their professional development goals and communicate them to those who can decide what will happen with this information, it will take longer, personal interests can intervene, and so on.
What mindset may prevent you from offering development opportunities to your employees
One worry that you may have about investing in your employees’ development is that they will leave after they get the skills they want, after they learn the things they were interested in. This can happen. You might invest money to train them, you might have patience for them to perform at a higher capacity, and then they may leave. It’s true. It’s a risk involved.
Even if you close an agreement for them to stay in your company for a certain period of time after the training you gave them, you may still feel frustrated by the fact that some of them leave right after this contract ends. If they leave, it’s because other areas of their jobs are not fulfilling. The salary may be lower than they want but they accept it for a short time just to get the training and experience they need. Or they may discover that the company’s values and practices are not what they expected or what they would like them to be.
Development opportunities are just one of several factors that impact employee motivation. The more you can fulfill employees’ needs in different areas, the more you’ll be able to retain them and create a stable team. See my online program that helps you work on seven areas of your employees’ jobs and create personalized motivational strategies for each of them. This will also help you level up your current general motivational strategies.
Coming back, as people have a fundamental need for growing, even if you don’t offer learning opportunities to save money and time, employees may still quit, looking for the chances to improve. The risk is still there. But you’ll have a lower-skilled team, with lower job satisfaction, and lower engagement.
In conclusion, investing in the professional development of your employees is a win-win situation. It benefits both the employee and the company. By providing your employees with opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge, you are helping them to grow as individuals, which in turn leads to better performance and productivity in the workplace.
So, take the time to identify the development needs of your employees, provide them with the necessary training and resources, and create a culture of growth and learning within your organization. By doing so, you will not only help your employees to reach their full potential, but also contribute to the long-term success of your company.
Key Points:
1. How the concept of professional career changed
2. Why it’s beneficial for a company to offer development opportunities to its employees
3. What are the disadvantages of the companies that don’t offer development opportunities for their employees in a planned manner
4. What mindset might hold you back from investing in your employees development
Let me know what are your thoughts about this blog post. If you have questions I’ll be happy to answer them at: daniela.tancau@improvework.ro
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Also, check the online program below. You can increase your employee motivation on your own, enrolling in this program.
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