The Best Ways for Employers to Develop Their Employees

Investment in people creates increased productivity and loyalty

Development is one of the employees' most significant expectations from
their employer

The right employee training, development, and education, at the right time,
provides big payoffs for the employer in increased productivity, knowledge,
loyalty, and contribution from employees.
"Organizations continued to make healthy investments in employee learning
in 2018”, finds the Association for Talent Development’s  2019 State of the
Industry Report. Organizations spent $1,273 per employee in 2018 on direct
learning expenditure, compared with $1,252 in 2017."
This figure captures the design, administration, and delivery costs associated
with learning programs, including the salaries of talent development staff.
Organizations continue to exhibit a commitment to employee training and
development and learning. According to the report, the average number of formal
learning hours invested in employees also grew, to 34.1 hours in 2018. This
number was up from 33.5 hours in 2017. 
This is the sixth year in a row that registers an increase in both the direct
learning expenditure by employers and the number of learning hours experienced
per employee.
The ATD report also tells the following about employee training content,
delivery methods, and what training and development education covered.
 The top three areas of training content in 2018 were managerial and
supervisory (14 percent), mandatory and compliance training (11 percent), and
processes, procedures, and business practices (10 percent).
 Technology-based learning accounted for 45 percent of learning hours
used, up from 41 percent in 2017.
 13 percent of direct learning expenditures went to tuition reimbursement
programs.
 The average cost of each learning hour slightly decreased from $82 to
$80.

Employee Training Delivery Methods

Employers wisely spent their training and development funds in diversified
methods of training presentations to meet the needs of their employees.
  Instructor-led, live face-to-face in the classroom was the delivery method
chosen for 49 percent of learning hours in 2018. 
 26 percent of direct learning expenditures went to outsourced or external
activities. ("In 2017, for the average organization, 28 percent of direct learning
expenditure went to outsourced or external activities (which include consulting
services, external content development and licenses, and workshops and training
programs delivered by external providers), similar to previous years.")
 On-the-job learning was a key part of employees’ development
experiences; learning that occurs during work was emphasized heavily in two-
thirds of participating organizations. ("Over 60 percent of the employer spending
was invested in internal expenditures such as video, manuals, training needs
assessment, and trainer salaries.")

Ensuring That the Use of Training Is Beneficial for Organizations

With this investment of hours and dollars in employee development,
organizations need to make certain that their investments are wise. Every employee
in every organization has different needs for training. They each have different
modes of training from which they can learn most successfully.
Employees have different expectations from developmental opportunities.
But, the majority of employees expect that the organization will invest in their
long-term development. According to the ATD 2017 study, direct expenditure on
employee development as a percentage of payroll increased from 4 to 4.3 percent.

Important Aspects of Employee Development and Training

How training needs are determined, how training is viewed by employees,
and how training is delivered become critically important issues. Training trends
and methods for gaining knowledge, other than traditional classroom presentations,
such as coaching and mentoring, take center stage.
New employee orientation, or new employee onboarding, is a significant
factor in helping new employees hit the ground running.
Training that helps each employee grow their skills and knowledge to better
perform their current job is appreciated as a benefit. The opportunity for
development also increases employee loyalty, and thus retention, and helps the
organization to attract the best possible employees.
Transfer of training from the training provider, whether online or in a
classroom, to the job, is also increasingly reviewed as the organization invest more
resources in training.
 Besides, organizations are increasingly asking for monetary justification that
the developmental opportunities for employees produce results.
Options for Education, Training and Development for Employees
Options for employee development are magnifying due to these factors:
 Technological innovations,
 Employee retention strategies, and
 The need for organizations to constantly develop their employees'
ability to keep up with the pace of change.
So, sending an employee off for a one-day seminar or a week-long workshop
is only one of many options that exist now.
The American Association for Talent Development (ATD), has traditionally
recommended a minimum of 40 hours of training a year for every employee. This
is consistent with the emphasis employees place on the opportunity to grow and
develop both their skills and career while in your employ.
The chance for ongoing development, is one of the top five factors
employees want to experience at work. In fact, the inability of an employee to see
progress is an often-cited reason for leaving an employer.
As a retention strategy for the company's preferred employees, employee
development rates highly. Only the employees' perception of their salary and
benefits as competitive, and reporting to a manager they like, rate higher.
When we talk about education, training, and employee development, options
exist externally, internally, and online. Choices range from seminars to book clubs
to mentoring programs.
In the ATD survey, over 60 percent of the expenditures employers made on
employee development and education was spent internally, so it's important to
recognize their contribution. 
Here is a summary of the existing alternatives to help employees continue to
grow. For recruiting, retention, and managing change and continuous
improvement, it is important to adopt all or some of these practices within
organization.

External Education, Employee Development, and Training Options

 Seminars, workshops, and classes come in every variety imaginable,
both in-person and online.
 Take field trips to other companies and organizations.
  Colleges and universities, and occasionally, local adult education,
community colleges or technical schools provide classes. Universities are reaching
out to adult learners with evening and weekend MBA and business programs.
 Professional association seminars, meetings, and conferences offer
training opportunities.
Internal Education, Employee Development, and Training Options
 Onsite seminars and classes provide training customized to the
organization.
 Coaching gives employees the opportunity to share knowledge.
 Mentoring is increasingly important in employee development and
training as are formal mentoring programs.
 Book clubs at work are a serious employee development opportunity.

What the Organization Can Do to Facilitate Continuous Learning and

Regular Employee Development Opportunities
 Create a learning environment. Communicate the expectation
of ongoing, continuous learning.
 Offer work-time support for learning. Make online learning and
reading part of every employee's day.
 Provide a professional library.
 Offer college tuition reimbursement.
 Enable flexible schedules so employees can attend classes.
 Pay for professional association memberships and conference
attendance annually for employees.
Employee development opportunities are crucial to the ongoing growth and
progress of the people and the organization consequently. They are also critical to
ensure their retention and success. The opportunities that the companies have to
train and develop their employees are expanding every year.