Culture has become a topic that is talked about daily. If you haven’t been working on and developing a strong culture; you’ve missed the bandwagon. Having a vibrant and robust culture is paramount to growing and retaining your talent especially in today’s extremely tight labor market. But, what about training and development for advancement and growth for existing employees?
In order for businesses to thrive and grow in today’s highly competitive environment, finding and retaining the best talent is paramount. Recruiting and retaining top performing employees is especially difficult for small businesses and nonprofits; competing with larger businesses that have bigger budgets and room to offer more perks and benefits. Benefits play a large role in employee retention, and employees now want benefits personalized to their needs – but what about training and investing in the growth and development of each employee?
Employees that are happy and engaged help businesses thrive and grow. Happy employees are more productive, connected, and participatory to a successful thriving company culture. Recruiting and training a new employee requires a significant amount of time and money. A SHRM study states that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 months’ salary on average. For a manager making $40,000 a year, that’s $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses. Costs could increase further CAP study depending on whether the salaried employee is a high-earner, in a sales/performance role, or an executive-level employee. An easy calculation is 20 percent of the annual salary for midrange positions (earning $30,000 to $50,000 a year). The cost to replace a $40k manager would be approximately $8,000 and up to 213 percent for a highly educated executive. Calculating precise costs is difficult as there are often many intangibles and variable costs associated with employee turnover.
Culture and rewards align with the value of employees today and get them through the door, but learning and employee development will keep them from walking back out. We must look at this from their perspective and understand that employees become restless without challenge and potential advancement. Employees today expect a sound strong culture. What they really want is to learn and bridge the gap of skills that they have yet to develop. Year after year, studies find that the investment in technical and leadership skills and knowledge for Millenials and Gen Z is lacking. Only 4 in 10 millennials and 3 in 10 working Gen Z believe that they have the skills and knowledge needed to advance and thrive. Developing leadership skills and competencies that help them unleash their unrealized potential doesn’t have to be home grown. This is where disappointment turns to discouragement and disengagement. Sending your employees to monthly workshops and peer groups is an inexpensive long term investment for both your employee and you. Having them sit in executive meetings, encouraging them to sit on discussion panels, or even start a business book club are all investments that are inexplicably worth it. It’s time you start investing in training and developing of your employees or someone else will!
Add this link in article as well: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-perks-no-longer-cut-it-for-workers-1543846157
