According to the recent CGS (Computer Generated Solutions, Inc.) What Employees Want in 2019 Infographic, Learning and Development (L&D) is becoming more critical than ever before—for both employers and employees.
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Here are the key takeaways to keep in mind from the report.
Employers Should Focus More on Technical Training Right Now
While employers are beginning to invest more and more in leadership training and soft skills training programs, implementing training programs for technical skills should be a more immediate concern. And employers should begin to focus on training their existing staffs’ technical aptitudes as soon as possible.
At least 50% of employees in the retail, telecommunications, and hospitality industries are anxious about their current level of technical skills. And nearly 40% of employees in the telecommunications industry claim that they will need to seek out their own technical skills training opportunities because their employers aren’t providing them.
Currently, 57% of executives think that soft skills are more important than technical skills. But the organizations that focus on their employees’ technical skills in the immediate future will be able to help close the digital skills gap in the current workforce, as well as keep the skills of their staff relevant and up to date as technology continues to evolve and change.
Employers Must Prioritize L&D to Stay Competitive
Twenty-nine percent of job candidates claim that training and development is their main priority when considering a new job or position with a company. Organizations within the retail industry especially need to focus on L&D programs and initiatives to avoid their high attrition rates.
In fact, 40% of retail employees consider training and development to be as important as their salary when weighing employment options. But employers across industries need to invest heavily in high-quality L&D programs in order to remain competitive.
In addition, 74% of employees are prepared to learn new skills to remain employable in the future. And employers who offer better L&D programs will be able to attract and retain the best talent in the coming years, regardless of their industry.
Most L&D Programs Aren’t in the Right Format or at the Right Frequency
Employers are not implementing their L&D and training programs in the correct format or at the right frequency. And this leads to L&D programs that aren’t engaging. For example, even though 37% of employees claimed that instructor-led training sessions were the most engaging, only 13% of L&D leaders claimed that they planned to invest in that format of training.
In fact, 22% of L&D leaders claimed that they were actually reducing their investments in instructor-led training formats. Furthermore, employees stated that new training initiatives weren’t as frequent as they would like or need. While employees must adapt to new policies each week or month, they only encounter new L&D programs and initiatives once a quarter or once a year.
Overall, such research has indicated that when L&D programs aren’t well aligned with employee learners’ needs and concerns, they can actually “weaken the knowledge and performance of an organization.”
If you want your L&D initiatives to yield high return on investments (ROIs) and keep your employees engaged this year, remember the key takeaways from the CGS report highlighted above.