Last Updated on January 7, 2022 – 10:31 am

Professional growth is at the core of employee satisfaction. It allows one to explore their talents, improve skills, and adopt knowledge.

Development reminds employees that they’re progressing and bettering themselves every day. Their confidence, expertise, and satisfaction increase in the process and make them more capable of taking on new challenges and completing their tasks.

Yet, nearly 59 percent of workers claim they’ve had no workplace training, and their skills were self-taught. Thus, 74 percent say they aren’t reaching their full potential at work due to a lack of development opportunities. 

Not understanding the value of training could lead to employee disengagement and below-average results. Without growth, the staff has an impression of stagnation and might doubt their capacity to tackle new projects or use novel technology.

In a fast-changing world, that could be detrimental to business and employee morale. Hence, it’s essential to showcase the paramount importance of talent growth to employers, talent developers, and HR professionals.

The Value of Employee Development Through the Lens of Career Growth Statistics

#1 – Ninety-four percent of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development.

Retention is among the essential elements of business success. It speaks about a company’s ability to establish stellar employee experience, provide top-notch training, and implement efficient strategies.

#2 – Seventy percent of workers would likely leave their current organizations and accept a job offer from the one known for investing in staff development and learning.

If retention indicates a company’s success, turnover is among the worst red flags. Most job seekers read online reviews about an employer before applying for a job opening. 

Seeing that many workers quit that company could turn them away from proceeding with their job application. Thus, job seekers would find it discouraging that an employer rarely or never invests in talent development as that implies they wouldn’t get opportunities to grow professionally.

#3 – Seventy percent of employees believe they lack the skills necessary to do their job efficiently. 

Employee performance doesn’t solely depend on motivation and engagement. Relevant training and upskilling is a must for high-performing workers as it helps them improve their abilities and achieve better results. 

Moreover, development allows the staff to keep up with industry-related trends, new technologies, and methods. Otherwise, they’ll lack resources and knowledge to produce innovative solutions and stay ahead of the competition. 

#4 – Eighty-seven percent of millennials rate professional development and growth opportunities as significant in a job. On the other hand, 23 percent of Generation Z candidates list professional growth as a top attraction driver concerning a potential vacancy.

The two youngest generations in the workforce see career development as a critical element to consider a company as an attractive employer. Because of that, organizations that rarely invest in talent growth could struggle to attract young job seekers. 

#5 – Seventy-four percent of employees are willing to learn new skills or re-train to stay employable.

Most workers have a zest for learning and would gladly embrace opportunities to grow professionally and acquire new abilities. Employers should reach out to employees and identify their learning needs and establish L&D programs according to these insights.

#6 – Only 41 percent of workers say their employers fail to train the staff in preparation for the future.

Automation accelerates processes and represents the future of work to a large extent. Yet, most companies don’t invest in programs that enable upskilling, teach tech-related skills, and help employees navigate the digital revolution. 

#7 – Eighty-six percent of millennials said they wouldn’t leave their jobs if offered career development and training. 

Most employees prefer to stay with their current companies than look for new opportunities. However, that’s only true if people have the necessary conditions to grow and learn, proving the value of employee development. 

#8 – More than 70 percent of high-retention-risk workers plan to leave their companies to advance their careers. 

Organizations that fail to implement efficient and relevant employee development programs risk losing rock-star workers and top performers. 

#9 – Fifty-nine percent of managers who oversee one to two workers report receiving no training at all. Thus, nearly 50 percent of professionals in management roles with more than ten years of experience claim they’ve only had around nine hours of employee development in total. 

Leadership training allows upper management to perform their jobs better and understand the needs of their employees. That also improves company culture and employer reputation, making learning a part of its DNA.

#10 – Inadequate employee training can result in an annual loss of approximately 550 billion USD. 

Workers should know their responsibilities well and have the capacity to perform them with excellence. Otherwise, they could struggle with productivity, motivation, and results, leading to severe costs for a company. 

#11 – Companies that invest in employee development and training gain 21 percent more profit. 

Career growth opportunities encourage and motivate employees to stay with a company and go the extra mile. As a result, organizations enjoy higher revenues, showing the value of employee development. 

#12 – Organizations with strong learning cultures are 92 percent likelier to develop novel practices and products, 52 percent more productive, 56 percent more likely to be the first to market with their products and services, and 17 percent more profitable than their competition. 

Employee skills and knowledge investments have plenty of benefits for businesses, including higher engagement, retention rates, and revenues. Hence, companies shouldn’t doubt the value of training when considering whether to implement development opportunities. 

Turning Employee Development Into a Regular Practice

If you want to establish an efficient employee development program, you should go beyond solely creating L&D strategies. Talent growth is much more than introducing mandatory worker training or meeting with the staff once per year to discuss their challenges and learning needs. 

Avoid looking at it as a purely financial investment because employee development efforts will have a long-lasting pay-off. It will contribute to performance improvements, better preparedness for the future, loyalty boost, retention, talent attraction, and leadership development.

Because of that, you should turn employee growth into a continuous practice instead of creating strategies you can’t apply. For instance, Yost and Plunkett, the authors of Real-Time Leadership Development, said that the best way to drive on-the-job development is to encourage employees to create an individual growth plan.  

On the other hand, you can also consider implementing peer-to-peer development. Google leverages this L&D program, allowing employees to transfer and share their knowledge with their coworkers, creating a culture that celebrates learning. 

Regardless of how you choose to build your training and development program, ensure it aligns with the critical areas of growth in your company, existing skill gaps, and employee needs. Finally, track and measure the progress of your efforts and provide the staff with regular feedback to maximize the value of employee development.