continuous training and development is key to employees according to research.
How important is it that your organization offers continuous training and development for employees in order for them to upskill themselves? Very, it turns out - for both your company and your employees.
Among the advantages of offering training to employees are improved retention and better talent attraction. This means you can’t afford not to offer it. It’s also a key aspect of your organization, one which you should be highlighting to potential candidates.
employees want to learn
If companies want to attract the most qualified and experienced talent, they will have to offer training and development opportunities for candidates to develop their skills.
The global Randstad Workmonitor report for the second quarter of 2017 found that lifelong learning is considered essential to increase employability and avoid unemployment. A total of 86 percent of people said they need to keep learning in order to retain or boost their employability. Meanwhile, 89 percent said they would be willing to be retrained to avoid unemployment.
Our third quarter report then found that 90 percent believe they should be regularly refreshing their skills and competencies to enhance their employability and 88 percent stay up to date with developments in their fields. However, 75 percent said they feel they need more training and development opportunities to stay up to date.
download our guide to learn more about reskilling and upskilling your workforce.
attracting younger demographics with training
If you want to focus on attracting younger workers - which you’ll have to in order to ensure your business is prepared for the future with a solid talent pipeline - you’ll need to provide opportunities for professional growth. And offering training is probably the easiest way to do so.
For millennials - the biggest group of younger workers - opportunities to learn and grow are “extremely important to them when applying for a job”, with 59 percent reporting this to be the case, says a Gallup report into the issue.
Gallup has also found that the chance to learn and grow is one of the top three factors in retaining millennials. However, only 39 percent of this age group strongly agreed that they learned something new that can help them do their jobs better in the past 30 days. If your company can offer them what they want by providing them with training opportunities, you’ll be setting it apart from your competitors and putting yourself in a great position to attract top talent.
highlighting your ability to offer training
In order to capture the attention of this top talent, you need to ensure that you’re putting your business front and center in the minds of candidates. This means you’ll have to act before candidates have decided where to apply.
You can highlight the training and development opportunities your business offers on your careers site, your social media accounts and through external media, including forums and industry publications. Get your employer brand out there and you could see real improvements in the quality of your hiring.
If you offer accredited training programs, you can leverage the provider’s brand to attract new talent by emphasising your position as a corporate partner on its own site. You can also consider letting your employees describe their experiences with your training and development schemes through blogs or videos, which can then be amplified through your social media networks.
When 71 percent have carried out activities in the last 12 months to upskill themselves, shouldn’t you be doing your part to ensure your employees are highly skilled? It will have tangible benefits to your talent attraction strategy, as well as your company’s bottom line.
Find these insights useful? Download our mini-guide on skilling, reskilling and upskilling and learn how these vital processes can help your organization succeed.