We’ve all seen the headlines spouting ‘the great resignation’ as people flee their jobs in the thousands looking for more fulfilling careers and a better work life balance…but what does it really mean, and how can employers and employees find the best scenario for the benefit of all?
Aside from the obvious salary and other financial incentives, and flexible working opportunities which are becoming more and more expected, the tried, tested and research-proven solution is investment in your people and providing them with opportunities. This will greatly impact the attractiveness of your overall employee value proposition.
In fact, even right at the beginning of the pandemic, Deloitte found that “Seventy-four percent of respondents believe[d] that developing worker skills and capabilities is important to their organization’s strategy, but only 34 percent [were] happy with their organization’s investment in them.”
Providing an established opportunity for continual professional development, including stretch projects and formalised training, as well as a career development pathway, shows your employees they are valued as individuals. In addition, their knowledge and development will not only help their performance and well-being, it will save you significant investment in recruitment and re-training new employees, and loss in productivity from resource changes.
A broader organisational focus on developing and providing career growth opportunities for people has been shown to improve retention rates and productivity. In fact Deloitte found that “One of the surest ways for leaders to create better opportunities for their organizations is to create better opportunities for their people.”
Eric Garton wrote in the Harvard Business Review back in 2017 that focusing on investing in and support employees would improve not only retention, but also “Reinvesting in [human capital] could unlock new levels of labor productivity for the economies and companies around the world that are sorely in need of it.”
So how best do you reframe people management as people development?
One important factor is that this needs to include employees from the top to the bottom – training your leaders in how to effectively lead and inspire their teams and provide growth opportunities for their line reports, will help foster a culture of loyalty, passion and commitment and in turn, help develop junior staff as they move up in their own careers.
Ensuring your organisation’s leaders have a solid understanding of best practice leadership tools and knowledge is a foundational step. AVELING’s BSB40520 Certificate IV in Leadership and Management will help them (or you) develop a leadership approach through practical and interactive learning. This course provides the broad range of skills needed to be an effective and well-rounded team leader, and also earns a nationally recognised qualification.
Of course, training and development is best approached based on role requirements, individualised training plans and career goals. Explore all AVELING’s courses on our courses index, or talk to us about bespoke opportunities to best suit the needs of your organisation.
Contact us to discuss your needs: 08 9379 9999.