The Importance of Career Development

In the past, it was the norm for people to start and end their careers in the same company. Even when faced with poor working conditions, poor management and dead-end jobs, people stayed where they were comfortable and were motivated by a regular income.

Theories like Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs teach us of wider motivations which today’s workforce may relate more to, but Gen Z and millennials question things and push organisational boundaries. In 2020 if an employee is not challenged or does not feel fulfilled in a role or an organisation they are happy to walk away and seek a new opportunity with finances not coming into the equation when making this decision.

A study in 2018 revealed that 21% of millennials had changed jobs in the past year. Hiring a new team member can cost a lot of money and time. There is the candidate selection and interviewing process as well as the onboarding training. An organisation cannot change the mindset of the millennial generation, but they can take action and create an organisation culture where growth and development are at the forefront by providing opportunities for gain and advancement.

This means that organisations need to adapt their thinking and rather than employing a new hire to fill a role, they should employ a staff member with the view to offering them various stages of development throughout a career.

This can be achieved by putting in place formal training and developmental activities. Training in this scenario should not focus on developing specific skills but rather on the way they think, how to achieve goals and developing their mindset to progress and grow the company as a whole.

At SeamsCloud we can help you to train staff at regular intervals from your very own working environment. Using a learning management system for training and career developmental activities means that it can be completed at any time. One can check in to see if staff are engaging with online training and identify who is striving to improve and be the best they can be for the organisation.

This forward-thinking method will have a ripple effect within the organisation and team members taking part in such training and developmental activities will diversify and share their knowledge with the team opening their minds to a new way of thinking.

The key to creating a future-focused career path is to ensure that training can be flexible. As personnel change a new path may emerge and staff may decide that they have a motivation to focus on a different area within their role or even in a new role. Allowing staff to change their mind and offering various alternatives will help an employee satisfy their own career goals within your organisation.

Both the organisation and employees will benefit and the financial and efficiencies will be evident. The first step for any organisation facing poor retention rates and a high staff turnover is to stop, assess the organisation and see what training activities staff want to engage in.

Career development path generation is not something that should just be implemented for new hires. One needs to look at their current talent pool and identify the value that every one of them has and what it brings to your organisation.