In today’s competitive environment, companies who can attract, develop and retain great employees are at an advantage. However, creating an environment that makes this possible is becoming increasingly challenging for organizations and their leaders.
One proven strategy linked to successful companies is the investment in employee development through training. Training results improved productivity, employee engagement and retention. Ultimately, investing in employee development is vital to success no matter the industry or company size.
MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc in its 2021 Sustainability Report said, “Investing in talent is critical to delivering our strategy. We work to build capability, both now and in the future. Our employee learning and development strategy is based on the 70-20-10 learning model.
“This approach factors in all the different ways people learn from experiences, interactions with others, and formal training. We continued to leverage our online learning platform – MTN Learn – to support employees’ learning and development. Various programmes are hosted on the platform and employees are required to complete mandatory and voluntary courses.
“Over 59,000 learning activities were completed resulting in an adoption rate of 94 per cent. Over 50 virtual instructor-led pieces of training were also deployed.”
According to MTNN, we purposely continue to enrich our employee value proposition to ensure that we remain competitive in attracting and retaining top talent.
“Ultimately, we believe in creating an environment that inspires greatness and fuels creativity and innovation. This drives business performance, increases opportunities for our stakeholders, and enhances MTN’s role as an agent of national development.”
Benefits of Investing In Employee Development
How does employee development create a better workforce? Here are effective ways to invest in employee development in the workplace.
Attract Great Employees
Company is only as good as its workers, and getting great employees needs to be a top priority. A robust employee development program will attract top talent. People who are good at what they do are drawn to companies that invest in them.
Improve Employee Performance
Most employees want to do their jobs well. Investing in employee development boosts bottom line. Employees who are well trained know how to do their work well, and this means they perform at a higher level. Through employee development, you can give your team the skills they need to improve their day-to-day work, get better outcomes, and boost your bottom line. A better-trained workforce brings increased output for your company.
Increase Employee Engagement
Executives often cite employee engagement as one of their top business strategies. Engaged employees are less likely to have safety incidents on the job, are more loyal and productive, and are willing to do more than just the bare minimum in their roles. Yet promoting employee engagement can feel vague, maybe even out of reach. While employee engagement is a multi-faceted thing, employee development plans can play a role in creating a more engaged workforce.
Train Future Leaders
Business needs leaders to help reach its goals. Can you picture who will be in management 10 years from now? Do you have a new hire that shows leadership potential that you would like to mold for that position? When you have employee development plans in place, you have the ability to choose and train those leaders. Investing in employee development now means you are able to push the right people into leadership roles in the future.
Boost Employee Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is a critical component of a successful business. Happy employees are productive employees that deliver stellar customer service. When employees know that they can trust their company to invest in them, they respond with increased job satisfaction. When employees are happy in their work, they show it through improved productivity and output.
Improve Skills and Knowledge
Ultimately, improved employee development plans improve the skills and knowledge of workforce. All of this adds up to create an environment where your people succeed. When people succeed, the company succeeds.
Online Education Makes Employee Development Easier to Attain
With so many benefits, employee development is no longer something companies and Human Resources Departments can afford to ignore. Today, online education makes it easier than ever to invest in employee development. Major universities and colleges, including post university, have flexible human resource programs that can be completed entirely online. This gives your company the tools it needs to craft an employee development plan, and then give your employees the ability to complete that plan and enjoy the benefits it brings in their day-to-day work.
