Why is staff development important?

Every successful business depends on a highly skilled workforce to deliver its vision and keep things running smoothly day in, day out. 

Despite this, it’s surprising how many employers fail to take the opportunity to develop the talent within their business. Having partnered with hundreds of organisations across a wide range of industries, we know the difference that a structured approach to internal career progression can make, as well as the reasons why companies should invest in employee development. 

So, why is staff development important exactly? 

Here are four key factors to keep in mind:

1. Staff development is important to enhance retention 

Today’s job market is incredibly agile. It has never been easier for employees to jump online and search for a new job if they don’t feel happy and engaged in their current role.  

One way that employers can enhance staff retention is through employee development, and there’s plenty of research to back it up.  

A recent Harvard Business Review study found that employees who offer regular development and training opportunities are 34% more likely to stay than those who don’t.  

This is one of the major benefits of staff development. Plus, when you consider that as an example, 50% of Fintech employees are planning to move jobs within 12 months, it makes sense that employers are doing whatever they can to hang onto people with in-demand skills. 

2. Investing in employee development maximises performance 

By developing key competencies employees are likely to perform their role more efficiently and deliver better results. Such skills to maximise employee performance are vast and varied, but include: 

• Team work 
• Problem solving 
• Digital literacy 
• Emotional intelligence 
• Management skills 
• Critical thinking 
• Assertiveness  

Individual performance feeds straight into your collective performance as an organisation. An intuitive personal development platform will help you identify and plug weaknesses, whilst also empowering employees to take charge of their own career progression. All of this is crucial to sustainable, long-term growth and another answer to the question ‘why is staff development important’.  

3. Staff development uncovers and nurtures leadership potential 

Between the time, resources and effort it takes to recruit talented leaders, it’s easy for the total cost of hiring externally for more senior roles to quickly mount up. The prospect of nurturing leaders within your existing workforce is another reason why staff training and development is important. 

A skilled employee might be competent in their current role, though it takes a certain set of competencies to turn them into a great leader with the ability to effectively manage their own team. If you provide opportunities to learn those skills, both individuals and the company will reap the outcomes and benefits of staff development for years to come. 

4. Investing in employee development can make you an employer of choice 

As your business grows, you’ll need to attract more talent to bolster your workforce. The challenge is that skilled employees are in high demand and there’s no shortage of job roles they can choose between.  

Often it’s the company with the stronger employer brand that wins the battle for talent. Salary is a key factor, of course; yet more and more we’re seeing people look beyond pay grades in search of a more rewarding experience at work and more opportunities for their future. 

An exceptional personal career development journey is an enticing prospect for ambitious professionals – and it could be the difference between attracting your next best employee, or losing them to a direct competitor. 

The modern worker knows the value and benefits of staff development to their career and to their job satisfaction. The importance they place on having an employer that invests in career development cannot be underestimated, and it could make you their employer of choice.

One of our clients, Baxi Heating, talks about the importance of a career development platform in their latest case study. Here’s a snippet of what they had to say: 

“Supporting our colleagues to drive their own career development is a vital strategy for Baxi Heating and working with the Access Career Development platform has enabled us to scale the support you would expect to receive from a career coach via 1-2-1 sessions.” 

Baxi Heating – Access Career Development Client 

Time to take your staff development to the next level? 

• Make sure to download your copy of our latest free guide – Empowering Your Talent – for more expert guidance and insights into the benefits of staff development. 
   
• Find out more about Access Career Development - software that supports your employees at any stage of their career. This system delivers professional coaching advice to build employees’ skills and develop their confidence which in turn can help you to retain talent and benefit from measurable differences to your business and workforce. 
   
• Get in touch with our friendly team of professional development experts for a no-obligation consultation to discuss your current challenges and how our career development platform can underpin your learning and development strategy.