Find out what techniques will help your organization impart important skills
HR and business leaders, along with compensation professionals, say staff training and development will be their biggest investment area this year, according to a Payscale report.
There’s clearly a need for training: Seventy-five percent of the organizations that participated in a Society for Human Resource Management study said their recruiting difficulties are being caused by a skills shortage among applicants.
In addition, more than 40 percent of companies are planning to address upcoming technology changes by reskilling, rather than replacing employees, according to a Bloomberg Next and Workday survey.
According to a 2018 LinkedIn report, instructor-led in-house classes and e-learning programs that have been developed internally are the most frequently used types of employee training.
Numerous organizations, however, are taking a somewhat different approach to offering instruction — including:
Recognizing hard skill training methods may not always work
A survey conducted by Workforce magazine’s research division and Bellevue University indicates there is a strong emphasis on soft skills in the workplace; 76 percent of organizations in a variety of industries said the skills would be a critical or medium priority this year.
Imparting those proficiencies, though, may require a bit of creative thinking. The survey results suggest formal classroom training might not be the ideal option for all organizations; respondents ranked it as the fifth most effective method for building soft skills. Instead, companies may want to try offering supervisor and manager coaching, which respondents identified as the most effective way to develop soft skills — or on-the-job learning, which they ranked second.
Supporting future leaders from within
HR professionals believe building the next generation of leaders in the organization will be the most crucial human capital challenge they face through 2025, according to an SHRM survey. Separate Linked research also found leadership development was the most important skill talent developers and executives feel employees can learn from L&D programs.
HR professionals who participated in an international study conducted by EFMD, the Network of Corporate Academies and SHRM identified having internal staff dedicated to leadership development as the element that has the biggest impact on whether development efforts are effective; top support from management was also found to be a critical factor.
Prioritizing instruction
LinkedIn’s research found L&D and HR professionals, people managers, executives and employees overwhelmingly agree getting employees to make time to learn is the No. 1 challenge facing talent developers; however, as the report points out, with 94 percent of employees saying they’d stay longer at a company if it invested in their career development, employers have a strong incentive to provide relevant staff training and development offerings — and ensure workers have time to take advantage of them.
Carving out independent learning time during the workday may help encourage engagement. Sixty-eight percent of employees prefer to learn when at work, according to LinkedIn; and 58 percent favor being able to learn at their own pace. Offering training during work hours may also help with retention — 88 percent of employees feel they should have the chance to apply their training when on the job, according to an Axonify survey.
For more about how to train and develop employees, view our blog posts on determining what type of employee training program you should offer, skills training companies can afford on any budget, using open-source software in employee training and 3 steps you can take today to prevent future skills gaps.