Take a different approach to learning and development this year

The Christmas/ New Year period is often a period of reflection, mostly around career prospects and goals (or resolutions) for the following year. The New Year often sees people looking at different career opportunities and moving on from their current role and business. Some of this is due to frustration with current roles, but a large chunk of this movement is due to development opportunities.

Business approaches to learning and development quite often focus on developing talent to retain them within the business. This is a bit short sighted and a focus on what the business wants to get out of the relationship often means that the capabilities of those employees are not fully realized.

Furthermore, as soon as employees start looking outside their current business for career opportunities then the likelihood is that they’ve switched off from being engaged and productive within that business. Too often employers try to keep them on with pseudo promotions and more money. Without real opportunity and challenge these patches are only likely to retain employees in the short term.

So how do you retain employees while providing them with learning and development opportunities that could well give them the skills to leave the business? The answer is simple really; equip them with the skills and capabilities that fit their career plan, regardless of whether they may leave the business as a result. Now you’re going to ask why on earth you’d invest all that time and money on people who could leave the business? Again, its simple, they’re probably going to be less likely to leave because you’re genuinely looking out for their interests rather than what the business wants to suck out of them. The likelihood is that they are going to be more engaged and productive for the time they are working for you. Rather than doing half-assed work and thinking about what they’d rather be doing. If they do leave the business then they’re going to feel really good about it, and tell other people. And doesn’t that do wonders for employment branding?

Now this doesn’t mean that you have to front up tens of thousands of dollars for someone to do something like a veterinary degree when they are your administrative assistant or give them copious time off work. It’s about being supportive. Think about other options like flexi-time, subsidizing it, you could even bond them.  What you’re getting from them is loyalty that you cannot buy. Businesses that I’ve experienced, or heard stories of, doing this really well (without naming names) demonstrate low turnover and higher employee commitment.

The point I’m going to leave you with is that development and career plans should focus on what the employee wants to achieve with their career rather than how they fit in with the business. It might fit, and that’s great. But don’t use ‘we don’t need more managers’, or ‘there may not be positions available’, or ‘we don’t have use for those skills’ as excuses for not developing people because they’re probably going to leave anyway if you take that approach.