With millennials and Gen Z now making up over half the workforce, and younger generations coming into the workforce holding different worldviews and different definitions of success, a key factor in retaining top talent is career development and upskilling.
Although job hoping is more commonplace today, many employees who leave their job only do so because there is a lack of career progression opportunities, or they are actively seeing career advancement. Good employees are eager to grow, develop, and learn new skills, and if these kinds of opportunities are not available in their current role, top talent will go elsewhere. The key takeaway for employers? Create clear career paths and invest in ongoing upskilling and development opportunities.
Engage employees to align with the goals and vision of the business
Employees who are engaged are just that; engaged with the work they do, their team and the goals of the business. Further to simply working to receive an income, engaged employees are invested in the overall success of the business and are invaluable to the team.
Easier said than done. It is a challenging task to connect with individual employees on a deeper level with the aim of activating their natural motivation for excellence and achievement. So, how can employers engage each team member to align with the goals and vision of the business?
Identify current skills – Measure and recognise the current skills of each employee to identify potential. This will allow employers to support team member’s personal and professional development and career pathing.
Look at future goals – Understand the longer-term plans and transferrable skills of team members. By looking at employee skills such as adaptability, problem-solving, collaboration and others, employers can use this insight to help design personalised development plans.
Identify development gaps – Use identified development gaps to not only show employees where they can grow, but also how they can utilise skills outside their current role. By creating a personalised development report, employers can have meaningful conversations with team members about career development, and provide clear, actionable feedback to nurture progression and employee engagement.
Consider the hiring stage – Begin thinking about retention at the hiring stage. Further to looking at whether a candidate could do the job and their potential, consider who will stay at the business to reach their fullest potential.
There isn’t just one way to engage employees, and employers need to know how to tap into every team member’s motivation and emotional engagement. Whether attracting new talent who are looking for growth, or giving existing team members a reason to stay, employee engagement is essential. By offering clear growth paths and investing in each employee’s future, businesses can build long-term loyalty and reduce the risk of top talent leaving.
If you would like assistance to develop a retention strategy through career development and upskilling, get in touch with our team today. Next week we delve further into retaining top talent and look at the importance of valuing human traits and characteristics in the face of AI.
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