Today’s talented and ambitious workforce demands opportunities for professional development, learning, and growth. And as an employer, you should be thrilled! Having knowledgeable and highly-trained employees will only strengthen your business. To retain these valuable employees, it’s important to offer them paths for development and career advancement. Learning new skills and working toward advancement can keep employees engaged and motivated in their job roles. Younger employees, in particular, can become antsy without the prospect of growth and promotions. The median tenure for workers age 25 to 34 is a mere 3.2 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 “What happens if we invest in developing our people and they leave us?”

“What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”

Where do you begin?

Gather Feedback

In order to successfully help your employees prepare and train for career advancement, you must first understand what their goals and desires are. Career advancement can mean many things; employees may not necessarily strive to be promoted, but may want additional responsibilities, and to continues their professional training and education. Have these conversations candidly with managers and team members. Additionally, scores from the Employee Engagement and Satisfaction survey can indicate

Identify Gaps

Set Attainable Goals

It’s not enough to create the illusion of a career ladder, but then hire from the outside when positions open up. Offer enrichment plans that actually develop employees’ skills enough to prepare them to move up. Pairing up team members on lower and higher rungs of the ladder will expedite the learning process. In teams that do have vertical structures, the goal from day one should to prepare each person to move up the ranks, and hire at the entry level.  You’ll not only perfect your training plan, but also motivate each of the members of the vertical team to advance forward.

Offer Training and Cross-training

Your best employees are life-long learners. Allot budget each year for workshops, conferences, or virtual training courses that interest your employees and enhance their skills. Training that pertains to specific job functions is helpful, but also consider including continued education from the broader industry as well. Being up-to-date and in touch with the industry can equip your staff to make better and more informed decisions. Staying in touch with industry trends can also lead to fresher ideas and more innovation. Perhaps a process could be improved with new techniques or software.

An added benefit of offering regular training and development opportunities and that is that you can actually boost employee engagement by doing so. Cross-training gives an employee a more holistic view of the organization and how it functions. The outcome of cross-training may surprise you; employees may excel in other areas of the organization and consider interdepartmental shifts.

Consider Succession Planning

Creating a succession plan for every key position within your organization sends the message to your employees that you’re willing to invest in them and help them to evolve into future leaders. Encourage mentor-mentee relationships within your organization to help employees learn from leaders and executives.