The Importance of Employee Development: 6 Benefits of Online Training Opportunities

Employee development can be pivotal for many reasons, but at times is overlooked. After an employee is onboarded and trained for their role, there are many benefits of continuing the access to ongoing, online training opportunities as they build tenure. Here are just six of the benefits underscoring the importance of employee development.

Supports Feeling Valued

Employees understand the importance of employee development, with 60% of employees feeling their skills will be outdated in three to five years. By providing online opportunities for employees to continue improving their own skills, they feel valued and nurtured in their roles.  

Nurtures Manager Relationship

By building the relationship between managers and their direct reports through recurring, structured conversations, opportunities arise for employees to specify where their interests lie. Both parties can discuss the importance of employee development as it pertains to their role and goals.  This turns the process into a two-way street, where managers can make sure their team is getting the best training for their role, but also the ability of the employee to express where their interests lie.

This strategy builds the relationship between the manager and employee by increasing recurring dialog, gives the employee ownership of their career goals, and sets the foundation for a clear, customized training path that will be an effective use of time.

Strengthens Organization

By investing in the skills of your employees, you invest in your company. According to Gartner, 58% of the workforce requires additional skills and knowledge within their field to fully function in their positions. Many roles require up-to-date information as industry standards change and improve, and it is in your best interest to ensure all employees are up-to-date with their professional knowledge. 

Aids in Recruitment and Retention

Employee development is a huge contributor to employee recruitment and retention. When a new candidate or employee understands that your organization structures to set them up for continued success and understands the importance of employee development, you will have an easier time recruiting and retaining the perfect hire for the role. 

Eases the Process

When you find an online tool that is right for both your company and your employees, there are many benefits within the mere efficiency and ease of access to an online learning platform. Using an online training or upskill program will allow both the administrators of the program and your employees to access it at any time. It allows for the ability to provide each employee access to the material specific to their role, and easy progress tracking for accountability purposes. You can also pre-build and reuse content for similar roles that may benefit from the same training.

Finding the Right Tools

With an abundance of online platforms available, how will you find one right for you? Here are some factors to consider: 

• Determine which skills you want to provide training for. This could help direct you to a platform with specific content or the ability to create your own.
• Find a tool that allows for both onboarding and ongoing training to track progress from the very beginning. 
• Consider which platform is the best for your industry and organizational size and culture. This could direct you towards content that is industry-specific, industry-agnostic, or a combination of both. 

There are many benefits to providing initial and ongoing employee training to support the importance of employee development, and many options to consider when looking for the right option to make it as easy and efficient as possible. Cangrade’s Workforce Development tool integrates the pre-hire assessments and onboarding process into upskilling employees and could be the right fit. Contact us to schedule a time to learn more.