Employee Career Growth & Recognition – Workforce Trends for 2021

GeneralJune 01, 2021 17:50

Written by Dawn Lee

What is Employee Development?

Employee development is a joint initiative between the organization and its employees so that employees can upgrade their skills and stay relevant in their respective industries.

It is of utmost importance for employees to keep themselves updated with the latest trends and developments in their respective industry to survive the fierce competition.

With a proper employee development programme, it can benefit organizations as companies can help to nurture and develop their employees who in turn, become a reliable and valuable resource. With proper support and encouragement from the employer, employees may also develop a sense of attachment towards the organization as they gain new skills, and knowledge, allowing them to perform better.

Furthermore, with a shortage of certain desired skills, employers can consider sending their employees to upgrade themselves instead of hiring new talents that result in more costs due to the need for training staff all over again.

 

Showing Recognition to your employees

According to LinkedIn, 70% of employees who receive appreciation for their work mentioned that they are happy with their jobs. It may not come as a surprise that recognized employees are more satisfied at work, but it does lead to higher employee productivity. Especially in this pandemic, many employees are working from home through this difficult time, and showing recognition is now more important than ever. 

 

Ways to show recognition

  1. Compliments (Verbal or Written)

A small “thank you” can mean a lot to employees who have taken their time and effort to contribute to his or her work. Something even better, you can consider sending employees an email or written letter showing how he or she had done well. Such compliments go a long way as it makes employees feel that their efforts are being recognized and valued.

  1. Tokens of appreciation

Gifts to employees do not have to be very expensive. In fact, many companies often show their appreciation through small presents. A small gift can show that you think about your employees and that you care about their well-being.  

  1. Team meals

Who doesn’t like treats?

Whether an individual or a team performs, meals and get-togethers are good ways to reward excellent efforts and work.

  1. Unrecorded time-off

Yet another great way to recognise an employee’s efforts, especially if they sacrificed their time during festive seasons, working on weekends, or working while unwell for urgent work. By allowing the employee some time off, you are allowing them to recover from the extra stress.

  1. Surprises

A good salary may do little to motivate employees over time. With an unexpected surprise or reward, this can be a good psychological boost. Unexpected monetary rewards show that efforts can be translated into something tangible. Such incentives can help to boost performance and motivate employees to do even better.

  1. Monetary Benefits

Your company can also consider providing monetary benefits for employees to pursue further studies. Or perhaps, provide weekly or perhaps monthly fitness sessions for employees to promote team bonding and enhance working relationships between employees.

 

Benefits for your employees & company

  1. Cultivating a habit for learning

Developing a learning culture in the organization motivates employees to learn new skills and pick up new hobbies. This can help to encourage them to register for various online or distance learning courses which will help them enhance their skills along with their jobs.

  1. Self-reflection

Picking up new hobbies or upgrading skills will encourage employees to identify their key strengths and weaknesses. Thus, enabling them to improve their performance and deliver better results.

Research is required to understand the current strengths and weaknesses of your employees, compared to industry standards. By identifying the gaps, you can conduct more targeted training to improve in areas where you are lacking in. In fact, when companies invest in the growth of their employees, it sets an impression that the company is invested in the people and committed to ensuring that their employees are given opportunities for continuous growth.

Training like seminars on industry or market trends will help in the process of the employees identifying their skill gaps and allow them to find out what are the resources they can utilise to overcome the gap between their current stage and where they would like to see themselves five years down the line. Employee development activities not only prepare an individual for the present but also for the future.

Organizations that train their employees from time to time do not face the problem of employee attrition. Employees hardly leave such organizations where they are being trained along with their routine jobs.

  1. Employee & employer relationship

When an employee knows that their organisation is committed to upskilling and investing in their people, it creates loyalty that has several layers of effect. Employees are likelier to have a longer tenure, contribute more to the organisation and committed to performing better in their company, all of which improves overall company performance and profitability.

 

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