Why Prioritize Development?
Every winning team has one thing in common: talent.. From the very moment each leader and team member sign their contracts and choose your team, what are you as a leader doing to ensure their success?
Leaders of every business should look beyond just excellent training in place for their employees, but look to actually develop each team member from the moment they step into the office for the first time from the moment they leave for the last. Development not only helps you retain talent and build an incredible team, but it also builds a good reputation for your company and overall brand.
If prioritized, development can be a game changer and will impact your success and legacy as a leader!
Below are 5 key reasons why development is so critical for your business today:
- Over 50% of employees are actively looking for another job. A big reason people are looking for other work experience while still in their current role is due to the lack of development in place within careers. Many companies think their responsibility for development is complete once they train new talent; however, the end of training is simply the beginning! Creating opportunities for your employees to be promoted, develop a certain skill, or build on their responsibilities are all things you as an executive should be looking to do for your teams.
- 22% of the workforce fears that their job will become obsolete due to AI. While AI can be a useful tool for many businesses, it is truly in human talents and unique creativity that innovation can thrive. Developing your employees to be more innovative than AI can help them feel more at ease during this technological revolution, and also help them to realize their own inherent value and skills. Educating yourself and your organization on the weak spots of AI and then capitalizing on this can help yourself, your employees, and your customers to build brand trust.
- Increase engagement and loyalty. Professional loyalty starts with a promise to benefit each other. By helping your employees become the best professionals they can be, you’re providing more than just a salary or really cool benefits— you are providing an actual career. In turn, if you have alumni or current employees raving about their development journey, your company will notice more engagement from applicants as well as your customers!
- Attracting more talent. Oftentimes, people are hired through previous colleagues, classmates, or referrals. Having leaders and employees who are loyal to you and are talented at what they do can lead to them bringing in new talent that they already know and trust will be a good fit.
- Pipeline of future leaders. Lots of employees simply show up for training and then leave the company unexpectedly. However, if you have a reputation as a company of one that develops their employees to become leaders one day, you will attract lots of talented leaders who want to stick around and choose you over many other companies who will simply train them and end the process there.
Development is beneficial in many ways— for you, your team, your customers, and your overall culture. The ability to recognize this vital element of a workplace could be the very thing that sets you apart from your competition. Moreover, it could be the very reason your team is more than just a talented one.
