Dive Brief:
- As the economy improves and job opportunities expand, businesses should invest in their workforce development plans—or potentially risk losing their employees to competitors, writes Small Business Trends. The data is based on recent research published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
- 47% of those interviewed by researchers said that they considered career advancement opportunities as part of job satisfaction.
- Some ways to commit to workforce development and attract new talent include offering job specific training and tuition reimbursement programs.
Dive Insight:
Letting employees know that you see them as an investment is one way to keep ahead of competitors in the coming year, according to Small Business Trends. Employees should be encouraged to develop their unique skills and be given opportunities to use those skills. Nurture talent and, in the long run, your people will stick around longer.
When interviewing potential new hires for positions, be sure to emphasize both career paths (horizontal career movement) and ladders (vertical career movement), says Small Business Trends, as both are appealing to those entering the workforce. Tuition reimbursement and paid job training are also particularly appealing to Millennial and Gen X hires.
