Professional Development as an Attraction and Recruitment Tool

At any point in time, employees form the backbone of an organisation. Thus an organisation to survive is always on the lookout for such employees. New employees are interviewed, recruited and most importantly trained. The training forms a part of the recruitment these days as there are new technologies coming up day by day and every employee may not possess them. This then becomes the responsibility of the employer or the organisation.

As an employer, such kinds of training help to gain the loyalty of the employee (whether new or old). The current scenario requires that the employees be trained and skilled well enough to handle any projects or situations relating to their skill. For this they need to be updated all the time. Professional development is not something that is forced by the employers, it is a requirement of the employees as well. This establishes a bond between the employer and the employees.

Why Invest in Learning?

That’s an interesting question. Why should I invest in a person who might be leaving me or my organisation in the coming times? Even a Harvard Business Review article, pointed out that people with developed skills and abilities are less likely to stay in one place or organisation for that matter. Every employer wishes to get a result for something he is spending his bucks on. When the employee's changeover to another organisation they are taking the bucks and the skills both with them. Nobody likes that. In fact, what happens is just the opposite. Research has shown that employees are more likely to stay when their employers have invested in developing their skills.

 In times of crisis, budget cuts to education and development might be necessary, but they must not be avoided altogether as they are a vital component towards the organisation’s growth. Professionals whose skills have been updated in-house will work with full enthusiasm in any role the organisation puts them in. They become an internal pool of knowledge for the organisation.

 Developing Talent

 Employers / Organisation can develop/upscale the talent of their employees in the following ways:

• Provide the individual employees with self-directed learning paths.
• Up skill the developers on the latest technologies and tie the training directly to company projects.
• Encourage the retiring employees to take up training and remain with the organisation so that the new ranking employees can benefit from their experience.

Concluding

Using an organisation’s budget to invest in the training and career development of current and new employees will help increase employee retention by nurturing allegiance. It will also improve recruiting outcomes by helping the organisation to stand out from other employers who do not offer professional development.