There’s a lot for job seekers to consider when looking for the right company to work for: culture, salary, location, benefits and … training?
It’s true.
There’s a new wave of potential employees who are keen on finding positions that allow and encourage personal and professional growth. As human resources professionals, you can use this to your advantage to recruit new talent and engage current employees.
Promote your training and professional development opportunities in your job postings, throughout the interview process and during onboarding. This will not only pique the interests of potential employees, but attract candidates who are willing and eager to grow within your company.
It’s also important to promote training programs to current employees to keep them actively engaged and invest in their own development.
Start by understanding what sort of opportunities your employees want and need. Consider how the programming supports your employees’ growth and advances the company.
This is a great way to open a dialogue between employees, human resources and upper management. It will help all parties create an understanding of what is wanted, what is possible and what goals can be set for the future.
“Continuously assessing the wants and needs of your employees is important and is done through occasional surveys, ongoing evaluations of current offerings and informal conversations with staff, “said Harley Blake, manager of professional development programs at Central Michigan University. “From this information and other input, you can carefully design and implement training opportunities to meet those needs.”
Clearly communicating what is available for employee training and development is also critical.
“We broadcast our training offerings through a variety of methods, including emails directly to supervisors, university announcements and newsletters, and a specific employee training website where employees can view and register for upcoming offerings,” said Blake.
Finally, every effort must be made to develop the culture where supervisors are empowered to help their staff grow and develop and view it as part of their job. This can be done through supervisory training and be made as a part of a performance review process as well.
As job seekers and current employees become more informed and have a better understanding of what they want in an employer, human resources must use training and development opportunities to attract and engage talent.
Make sure you have all the tools you need for effective HR leadership with your choice of two master’s degrees in human resources from Central Michigan University.