Successful companies develop strategies that help to improve their employees' ability to work. These strategies are called Learning and Development strategies. According to the Bayt.com ‘Career Development in the MENA’ survey, 86% of professionals consider career development very important and 80% would leave their current company for better training opportunities.
What is a Learning and Development Strategy?
To ensure your company's sustainability and how successful it will be, you need a learning and development strategy. A learning and development strategy is the process where you determine the plans and measures that will be taken to improve your employees' skills and capabilities. These new skill sets will help your employees deliver better work value to your organization.
An effective learning and development strategy promotes the professional improvement and employee’s loyalty. It will also motivate employees to increase performance and help in building your company's brand. An effective learning and development strategy is also cost-effective. This means you can create a winning one with your budget and get value for the money spent. If you want your company to be competitive and remain relevant, you must learn how to invest in the human capital of your employees.
However, the question remains, how do you build an effective learning and development strategy as an employer? Check out these tips to get you started.
Identify the skill set you currently have in your organization. Also, know the gaps that need to be filled. This can be done by interacting with your employees. You can also use questionnaires, surveys, etc., to get feedback from them. Doing this will let you know your employees’ skills to increase their productivity. Finally, you need to think of key performance indicators that can help you effectively assess different professional courses and programs that align with your company’s goals and how these programs can improve the skill sets you have in your organization.
When building a learning and development strategy, it is essential to note that a one-size-fits-all method can't work. Every employee in your organization has different skills and knowledge demands. Therefore, you need to build a strategy unique to your employees' roles and how you can develop each role. One great way is adopting e-learning. This way, employees can find skills they need in the e-learning archive you created and start studying when and how it suits them. E-learning is also cost-effective since you are not employing the services of a third party.
Building an effective learning and development strategy is cost-effective, but it's not free. Before you start to build one, have a budget. Knowing how much money your company is willing to set apart for every training you want to do will allow you to plan within your means. You will see the approach and the type of third parties you will use for the training.
It should be continuous if you plan and execute a successful learning and development strategy. By repeatedly doing learning and development activities, your employees are constantly learning and developing their skill set, which will lead to increased performance and productivity. This will give your company the edge over your competitors and make your organization fertile ground for innovative and creative ideas. Your employees will also be loyal to your organization since you are always looking for ways to invest in their professional careers and improve their skill sets.
Your learning and development strategy is incomplete if you don't track its progress and results. This is how you know if your strategy worked or not. It's only right that you expect a return on investment on every strategy you have invested time and resources on. During and after each training, get feedback from your employees and track their improvement and productivity. Ask them about the training they enjoyed and if they would like a repetition. With this information, you will brainstorm and develop better strategies that will align with your company's value and your employees' growth.
Final Thoughts
Every company will benefit from implementing effective learning and development strategies. While this can be a challenging task, with the highlighted tips above, you will be able to build winning learning and development strategies that will improve your employees’ skills and your company's brand and image.
