To say that you want your business to grow leaps and bounds on a continuous basis is an understatement. There is no world where you desire your business to stand pat for even a moment. The timeline of your growth up until now is evidence of this. Time and time again you have put your best foot forward in order to achieve that oh so desired corporate success. And yet, you have likely reached a point where these efforts can only do so much. Try as you might, a roadblock or two just keeps getting in your way. This is where employees can make all the difference.
Tamar Elkeles, the Chief Human Resources Officer at XCOM spoke to this relationship, “Employers that are effectively linking their social missions to their employee’s daily work are differentiating themselves in the market and generating big returns. Taking the necessary steps to ensure every employee knows how they fulfill the mission, achieve the vision, and execute one or more company strategies through his or her daily job really pays off.”
While this quote does an excellent job of summarizing the full picture of what employee development can do for your business, it does not lend itself to the cruciality of the matter. See, without employee growth, there will come a time where your business literally cannot advance further than where it currently stands. Needless to say, you do not want to find yourself in this position. To help you avoid it entirely, we have laid out a few reasons why employee development is crucial for business success.
1. The retention of skilled employees
If you have ever been faced with a job opening in your business that you just could not fill with the right talent you are not alone. This is becoming more and more common across the world – companies in need do not have the requisite talent available to them. This is quite the predicament to be sure. But, by showing you are invested and interested in the future of your current employees, you might just avoid it.
“I learned early on that by demonstrating you care about employees on a level deeper than a boss-employee relationship, they are more likely to stay on with you,” said Lionel Mora, CEO of Neoplants. “You can make this apparent by investing in employee development programs.”
It is almost like a subconscious debt owed – when an employer dedicates the resources towards letting their employees better themselves professionally, these employees have an inkling that they owe them something. Other than the work they perform, they did nothing to gain the education you provided. In reality, these employees rarely owe anything. But, the presence of this feeling lends itself to employee retention.
“I’ve been part of too many hiring meetings where the person I was interviewing told me they were leaving because of the low amount of opportunities they felt were available to them,” said Gabriel de la Serna, CEO and Founder of Onpost. “I can’t stress this enough – don’t be this company or you will lose good people.”
2. The acquisition of skilled employees
The above quote is a great jumping off point for what we will discuss next – the hiring side of things. It probably goes without saying but great companies want to hire great employees. How are you supposed to show your company as a great one and consequently bring in those great employees? Make sure these people are well aware of all your company is doing to develop its employees.
“Gone are the days of employees desiring a paycheck and nothing more,” said Mina Elias, CEO and Founder of Trivium Group. “The best types of employees are those who are personal go-getters and want to improve. If you give people the space to do so, they will come work for you.
Think of it this way – each employee is going on their own professional journey. Their resume is evidence of this. As that resume grows, so do the possibilities for the end of their journey. If they do not view your company as something that will add to their resume, they will happily go work for someone they believe offers this. To be blunt here, you are actually competing with other companies for great employees.
“The job market is ruthless right now so companies are trying all they can to convince the best candidates to come work for them,” said Matt Woods, Co-Founder and CEO of SOLD.com. “Education opportunities are on the top of the list for these candidates so if you can swing it, make it part of your employment package.”
3. Increased corporate effectiveness and growth
You would be incredibly hard pressed to find any company or even a leader who is content never making advancements of any kind. This kind of attitude is simply not suited to the working world. You must be passionate, determined, and knowledgeable to just exist. To reach the heights of success, you must strive for these things and more on a regular basis. But what if you could make these efforts easier for your company as a whole? The truth is you can by using employee development.
“By giving employees opportunities to better themselves professionally you also position the company to do better,” said Melissa Rhodes, CEO of Psychics1on1. “More informed and highly-trained employees naturally perform better.”
While business as a concept has very, very few absolute truths, there is one worth noting at this point – efficient and effective companies grow. When a corporate entity conducts themselves and in a helpful, noteworthy, and practical manner, the general public pays attention. In turn, the company sees increased profits. This is especially true if the company continues to demonstrate these characteristics over long periods of time. But, your company will never attain any of these without developing your employees.
“The fact of the matter is your business is only as good as the people you employ,” said Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce at La Blanca. “Assuming you want a great business, you will need to train up great employees as they don’t walk in off the street everyday.”
4. Popular demand
Some might say that business is a game of supply and demand. Others are so tired of this phrasing that they might feel like putting their head through their desk. But, despite these feelings, the former group is in the right here – it is a game of supply and demand. While this is certainly true when it comes to customer relations, it is also true on the hiring side of any company as well. Maybe you have heard of the endless number of companies struggling to retain or hire talent recently. This occurrence is a product of the supply and demand of hiring.
“People want to work for companies that are more than slightly interested in the future of their employees,” said Ryan Delk, CEO of Primer. “They see their peers getting benefits like tuition assistance and are happy to go work for someone else to get these.”
Simply put – the general public of possible employees has spoken. They have made it crystal clear your company must have options for employee development. This can be any number of things from conferences to individual training sessions. To be frank, the methods you present to your employees are not what will make or break this relationship. What will break it though is failing to give your employees the opportunity to grow in the first place.
“Hiring is just as competitive as the sales landscape right now. So, you best do all you can to show everyone your company is about more than the bottom line,” said Harry DiFrancesco, CEO of Carda Health. “There is no doubt this will cost you but ignoring this entirely will leave you without quality hires.”
5. It shows the true colors of your employees
There are more metrics used to measure employee efficiency than you could ever shake a stick at. Furthermore, there is an overabundance of books detailing how to best evaluate employees on a professional level. It seems everyone and their boss has the next great way of determining which employees make the all-star team and which are headed for the exit. But what if employee development could help here too?
“Some of your employee development selections should be optional for one reason and one reason alone – to better understand your employees,” said Kyle Clements, CEO of Quipli. “The people who go out of their way to do something optional for work are the ones you want to keep onboard.”
It is a bit like a selection process that you do not have to monitor in the slightest. Some people are naturally inclined towards self-improvement and corporate contribution. Other people are far more focused on everything outside the working world. It should be readily apparent which type of employee you want in your ranks. If you give your employees a choice in the employee development arena, you might just uncover who amongst your employees is worth their salt.
“I don’t want to pay people to work for me who are noticeably disinterested in improving themselves professionally,” said Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB Sports. “I think the reasons for sticking to this belief speak for themselves.”
From top to bottom there is an enormous amount of information to understand here. However, for the sake of your employees and your business, employee development is worth pursuing. Author Karen Salmansohn said as much, “The best things in life are often waiting for you at the exit ramp of your comfort zone.”
