5 Key Actionable L&D Insights for Employee Learning and Talent Retention

The struggle for retaining good talent is likely to continue in 2022. Constant digital disruptions and increasing corporate complexities have reshaped today’s employee, while incessant uncertainty, and emerging technologies have all placed a higher impetus on skills. A Mckinsey research has pointed that hiring for skills is one way to bring in the right influx of talent and ensuring that the workforce remains competitive. However, the buck does not stop there.

If these people aren’t provided with the right kind of learning and development opportunities, chances are that they may continue to leave. The Mckinsey Great Attrition research shows that one of the main reasons people quit is because they do not have enough opportunities to learn new things.

This discussion brings the spotlight back on the importance of Learning & Development (L&D). The onus of ensuring that employees have access to the growth opportunities they crave for during their tenure with the organization rests largely on L&D teams. And for this, it’s imperative that L&D teams are aware of industry trends, best practices and business priorities in order to meet the challenges of skills shortage and talent development.

To make the most of employee training programs, L&D professionals need to adopt an agile approach while building a comprehensive and sustainable L&D strategy that encourages employee learning, and in turn talent retention.

Here are five actionable insights that L&D can put to use for achieving better learning and business outcomes for talent retention:

1. Offer Development Plans Related to Career Paths

We are in an age where employees like to be in control of their own professional development and career growth. They seek development opportunities before joining any organization, and the lack of such opportunities is enough reason for them to quit and look for superior avenues.

This means that it’s a necessity now to offer employees career development paths that align with their skills and help them better those skills. Each role within the organization needs to have clear paths toward future development. Employees should be able to be in a position to identify their learning opportunities early in their tenure and then work with their leaders on the development plans that suit them.

2. Focus on Leadership Development

Across businesses and industries globally, the significance of effective leadership development is well established since long now. A Gallup poll says that companies giving priority to leadership development can see employee engagement rates doubling and earnings-per-share increasing by 147%.

Leadership training is essential at all levels and it’s important that organizations focus upon having have proper leadership development training programs in place. Organizations ready to invest in effective leadership development programs are sure to see higher returns. In order to ensure that employees are motivated, it’s necessary that leaders know how to lead teams positively. It is their responsibility to encourage a culture that will help the company as well as employees grow and thrive.

Leadership development should be a priority for every organization irrespective of whether it is operating remotely, physically or is in a hybrid setup.

3. Build a Culture of Continuous Learning

When it comes to talent retention, a key consideration is offering professional development that is an ongoing routine where employees continuously seek out new knowledge and skills to constantly improve their work. Continuous learning can foster talent that contributes to business productivity by innovating, and formulating new strategies.

However, while building a learning culture is crucial for organizations to future-proof their workforce, it is easier said than done. The current workforce has gone digital and is globally dispersed. So, it’s up to L&D to build a culture of learning to help employees scattered across different locations to stay relevant and competitive in the years to come.

4. Engage and Motivate employees

Given the constantly evolving nature of today’s business, it has become absolutely crucial for organizations that their employees feel completely connected to the core of the organization in terms of values and aspirations. In simple terms, each employee needs to be engaged at the workplace in order to perform better and add value.

Employee engagement has now become the glue that binds employees with the organization. And, to engage and motivate today’s employees it is vital to offer them L&D opportunities so that they can develop newer competencies. When employees are highly engaged and have access to relevant skills to further their careers, they are more likely to stay with the organization and work towards a collective business objective.

5. Invest in a Robust LMS for Effective Employee Training

We are in a time when more employees have transitioned to remote and hybrid work. Investing in a robust Learning Management System (LMS) is one of the best bets to ensure strong employee development. Organizations can create, manage, distribute and analyze their end-to-end training programs seamlessly through a feature-packed modern LMS. Investing in a robust corporate LMS can offer several benefits for any business irrespective of shape, size, headcount, or industry.

An LMS offers myriad benefits when it comes to employee learning with the right features, tools and support to deliver and administer training to employees according to different needs and specifications. It allows employees to access training programs from anywhere in the world as per their convenience and time. It also lets them self-analyze their progress and identify their skill-gaps paving the way for improvement.

Read our eBook to know more about how an LMS can make learning easier for modern learners.

In Conclusion

As technology progresses, organizations need to launch more efforts to offer learning opportunities to their employees that are related to their skill sets. The terms and conditions for a great work culture are fast changing, which in turn, has led to a deep impact on the battle for talent. L&D teams must step up to the challenge to effectively retain their people by providing them with the opportunities they want for growth and development