An Overview
It would be nearly impossible to find a business owner or manager who is confident in their workforce development strategy. It is because of the reactive, forceful, and inadequate approach to the employee. Employee development is among the most important things you can ever do for your workforce. According to the Deloitte Millennial survey 2019, 71% of millennials are expected to leave their jobs in the next two years because they are unhappy with the way their leadership skills are being developed.
That being said, let’s explore what workforce development is, what are the advantages, and what are the best workforce development practices and strategies.
What is Workforce Development
Workforce development is a crucial process for organizations that want to propagate a high-quality workforce. It can include changes to attitudes, changes to culture, and changes to people’s potential that help to positively influence a business’ future success.
Workforce development opportunities can be highly individual at times and can be completed at any time, through a variety of mediums. They can be self-selected in a way that training opportunities cannot. Skills like public speaking, presentation building, and leadership development are few that constitute workforce development.
Advantages of Workforce Development
The primary benefit of workforce development is that it provides individuals with the opportunity to acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes that result in improved work performance. Moreover, it provides employers with an effective method to communicate, share, and meet their demand for skills.
Secondly, workforce development includes challenging and engaging employees in the workplace, often resulting in increased engagement and retention. Such features allow the employees to develop the confidence required to meet challenges in a more resilient manner.
Workforce Development Practices And Strategies
A few of the best strategies for creating successful workforce development include:
Method of Delivery: Classroom learning may have been the traditional approach, online development opportunities are the key to the future. Apart from providing an interrupted workflow, it also helps in removing obstacles to on-the-job learning and allows an employee to choose the time that fits best for their learning style. A few of the workforce development tools include discussion forums, videos, self-paced eLearning modules, webinars, and resource banks.
In-depth Learning: Some employees may resist mandatory training, however, presenting opportunities as being simply about learning a new skill or developing an interest can increase uptake. A few inclusions of learning opportunities are mentorship, online programs, group brainstorming sessions, or trying something new without failure or fear.
Improved Communication: Conducting transparent and regular discussions about business objectives and employee goals enable everyone to be on the same page and creates a supportive relationship between employee and employer. Receiving real-time feedback from employees can quickly tell you if a development strategy is working, and how to fix it if it isn’t.
Put the learner at the centre of development: It is one of the most important strategies for workforce development. They should be given the chance to choose what to learn, where to learn, and how to learn for their development. This way, employees can concentrate on the skills they need to develop for their roles, without wasting time on something they already know. eLearning tools, informal learning approaches, and microlearning can drive employees to learn in a way that is tailored to their development needs and goals.
Let’s Wrap It Up
Ensuring the incorporation of bite-sized chunks of learning and their easy accessibility is a key way to encourage employees to drive their own development opportunities. In this way, you can give them all the necessary resources required for engaging in development activities at a suitable pace. Proper workforce development can enable organizations to use their employees’ newly acquired skills. On the other hand, employees can take advantage of learning opportunities that enhance their value in the workforce.
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