The right learning and development can greatly enhance employee engagement by developing talent and helping them learn new things and improve their performance.
Almost everybody around the world wants to feel that they are doing a good job and producing positive results. Moreover, it is critical that they are valued by their organization for the important role they play in serving internal or external customers.
In addition, few people like to remain static in their work environment, and prefer to have variety in their work and development potential in their role.
Learning and development provides the best solution to satiate all of these human needs while dramatically improving employee engagement!
Additionally, innovative companies who invest in their people through learning and development are viewed more favorably by employees than those organizations that don’t.
However, if your organization’s learning and development is going to make a significant impact on employee engagement, employees must see the personal benefits of undertaking developmental activities. This is where most companies’ good intentions fall woefully short!
Organizations and leaders who desire to demonstrate their commitment to their people can sometimes get carried away with the “sheep dip” approach to learning (one size fits all); leaving some people confused about the rationale behind skill development.
In order to harness the positive effects of learning, employees have to see the link between where they are now and where they want to get to, and how learning and development is going to bridge this gap.
It sounds obvious but without this being made explicit, organizations run the risk of learning and development being viewed as a chore or a one-size-fits-all program instead of a personalized reward.
The answer is to create personalized and customized learning and development with action plans that facilitate employees and their managers to have one-on-one conversations about the purpose of the learning and what’s in it for them.
When done efficiently, learning and development will then provide the fuel to motivate and engage employees like never before. Employees will feel valued for their contribution and they will understand that the organization supports them by providing skills and development to make them more productive, successful, and marketable!
If you think about it, providing learning and development really is key to having an engaged workforce and achieving sustained business success.