All About Employee Development And Why It’s Critical For Your Company’s Success

employee development involves mentorship and other learning opportunities

Employee development is as beneficial for companies as it is for the employees themselves. It creates a culture of growth that helps your workers expand their skill sets and become more productive employees.

To foster professional growth, it needs to be a central tenet of company culture. Here we’ll discuss what professional development is, why it matters, and five employee development strategies you can begin implementing today.

What is Employee Development?

Employee development refers to employees growing their skills and improving their knowledge in an employer-supported setting. 

A large part of professional development involves building an employee’s skill set in ways that extend beyond the scope of their current role. This development aims to encourage growth in the employee as a person, furthering them along in their career.

Why Does Fostering Employee Development Matter?

From an employer’s perspective, creating an environment that supports growth is incredibly beneficial. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, employees who continue to improve and expand their skills make more valuable workers. They’ll bring better ideas and be more productive across a broader range of tasks. 

Secondly, a Glassdoor study found that 77% of adults from four major countries rank consider company culture before choosing to apply to an open position. Fostering employee development is a large part of company culture. To attract elite talent, you’ll want to create an environment that supports professional growth.

The Importance Of Recruitment For Employee Development

According to Workable, 20% of employees quit within the first 45 days. Although there are various reasons for this, one predominant cause is poor culture fit. Whether this is because the reality of culture at your company doesn’t align with the employee’s perception or because the employee was a poor fit to begin with, the fact remains: you’ve got to get hiring right from the get-go.

If you want to promote employee development, then the right worker for you believes in professional development, too. You need to determine this during the hiring process.

Culture fit is never more critical than when hiring at the c-suite level. With Jennings Executive, hiring the right candidate who believes in professional development has never been easier. Learn more today!

5 Employee Development Strategies You Can Use

Deciding you want to encourage employee growth is the first step towards making that a central part of company culture. The next step is implementing strategies that promote professional development. Here are five ways to help get you started.

One-on-Ones

One-on-ones between employees and their superiors are vital if you want to promote employee growth. The typical one-on-one structure is between a person and his or her manager.

These should be regularly scheduled check-ins, either weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. One-on-ones are when an employee gets a mini performance review from their manager, including strengths, weaknesses, and overall feedback.

One-on-ones are also the perfect opportunity for employees to ask questions and discuss their upward growth with their manager.

Conferences

The best employee development strategies involve conferences. These events can focus on the development of soft or hard skills.

Some popular conference topics include:

  1. Preparing to take on a management role
  2. Making compelling presentations
  3. Conflict resolution
  4. Strengthening public speaking skills
  5. Handling challenging customers and complaints
  6. Diversity and inclusion at work

These events are a chance for employees to focus on developing one concrete skill that can serve them in their current role and beyond. To encourage people to attend, make conferences accessible and count them as working hours. 

Promote Upward Mobility

One way you can foster employee development is by encouraging upward growth. This is vital, as over 70% of “high-retention-risk” employees are considering resigning because they don’t feel they can grow at their current company.

There are various ways to give employees the skills they need to move up the ladder, including:

  1. Pairing them with a mentor (see below!). 75% of executives note that mentoring was critical for their career development.
  2. Offering honest and helpful performance reviews that give employees a chance to improve.
  3. Encouraging employees to ask for more responsibility. This can be done by respecting personal boundaries (preventing burnout), encouraging mistakes, treating them as learning opportunities, and promoting cross-functionality.

Peer Mentorship

Giving employees access to mentors is critical. Mentors are people who are more experienced and can offer their mentee insights during times of difficulty or otherwise. This is a chance for employees to learn and evolve faster than they would on their own.

According to HR Daily Advisor, 67% of employees state that their mentor is not their manager. While the previously discussed one-on-ones with managers are excellent, they can’t fill every need. Encouraging peer mentorship at your company helps fill those gaps and level up your employees faster.

To do so, reward mentors for their time and assistance, whether by offering extra benefits, perks or, bonuses. Figure out which employees are natural helpers and enjoy giving back to others, as these people make the best mentors. Avoid forcing someone into a mentorship position, as this can lead to a mentee not receiving the time and attention he or she deserves.

Tuition Reimbursement

While this certainly isn’t feasible for every company, incorporating tuition reimbursement as one of your employee development strategies helps attract the best talent. 

This perk gives employees the freedom to go back to school and level up their skills; they’ll return to your company with more abilities and experience than before.

Some of the many benefits of tuition reimbursement include:

  1. Sourcing top talent
  2. Boosting productivity
  3. Reducing turnover
  4. Providing tax benefits for your company
  5. Improving employee engagement

Promoting Employee Development: Yes or No?

You can’t go wrong with a company culture that values employee development. Not only does this attract more qualified talent, but it also reduces turnover, increases productivity, and creates a more cohesive workforce.

Which of the five employee development strategies discussed here will you try first?

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Brian Banister

EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

BRIAN BANISTER IS AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER AT JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH.

BRIAN HAS A BROAD RANGE OF EXPERIENCE, HAVING WORKED IN STRATEGY & CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL PLANNING & ANALYSIS, AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTING ROLES FOR LEADING COMPANIES AND CLIENTS IN THE HOSPITALITY, REAL ESTATE, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING, AND TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA, AND TELECOM (TMT) SECTORS.

HE BEGAN HIS CAREER AT DELOITTE & TOUCHE, WORKING AS A LICENSED CPA. AFTER DELOITTE, BRIAN PIVOTED INTO CORPORATE FINANCE, WHERE HE HELD POSITIONS IN STRATEGY & CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT AT INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP (IHG) AND COX COMMUNICATIONS, AS WELL AS AN FP&A ROLE AT BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (BCG). THESE ROLES ALLOWED BRIAN TO GAIN VALUABLE EXPOSURE IN AREAS LIKE CLIENT SERVICES, STRATEGIC CONSULTING & PLANNING, FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, AND M&A AND INVESTMENT ACTIVITY. HIS BACKGROUND, COMBINED WITH A PASSION FOR BUILDING LONG-TERM, VALUABLE RELATIONSHIPS, HAS LED HIM TO PURSUE A CAREER AS AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER.

BRIAN’S EDUCATION INCLUDES BOTH A MASTER OF ACCOUNTANCY DEGREE AND A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION IN ACCOUNTING DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA.

Lori Shad

EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

DRIVING TRANSFORMATION THROUGH PEOPLE IS OUR MISSION AND LORI’S PASSION AS AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER WITH JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH. SHE CONDUCTS THOROUGH RESEARCH ON EACH ROLE AND BUILDS STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH CANDIDATES TO HELP CONNECT PROFESSIONALS WITH THEIR NEXT GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

LORI SPENT 22 YEARS AT A FORTUNE 500 INSURANCE COMPANY IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, SALES/BUSINESS CONSULTING, AND RECRUITING ROLES. SHE USES THIS EXPERIENCE AS SHE SEARCHES FOR THE BEST TALENT TO HELP DRIVE CLIENT SUCCESS FORWARD. SHE’S FOCUSED ON DELIVERING RESULTS AND GETS THERE THROUGH DISCIPLINED AND TENACIOUS HARD WORK WITH AN EMPATHETIC, COMPASSIONATE, FUN, GENUINE, AND POSITIVE APPROACH. SHE HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING CLIENTS ACHIEVE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES THROUGH UNDERSTANDING NEEDS, CREATING INDIVIDUAL, DATA-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS, AND SOLVING PROBLEMS, AS WELL AS POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING AND TEAMWORK.

LORI GRADUATED WITH A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA.

Justin Graves

EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

JUSTIN GRAVES IS AN ACCOUNT MANAGER AT JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH.

JUSTIN HAS A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE WORKING WITHIN PUBLIC AND INDUSTRY ACCOUNTING. HE BEGAN HIS CAREER WITH PATHSTONE FAMILY OFFICE PREPARING TAX RETURNS FOR HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATIONS IN THE ATLANTA AREA. IN JANUARY 2015, HE JOINED COHNREZNICK, LLP, A TOP 10 PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM, IN AUDIT & ASSURANCE WORKING PRIMARILY IN THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AND HOUSING MARKET. PRIOR TO JOINING JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH, JUSTIN WORKED AT FAST GROWING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, SS&C TECHNOLOGIES, WHERE HE WORKED IN THE REAL ASSETS DEPARTMENT DOING FUND ADMINISTRATION. JUSTING BRINGS OVER 4 YEARS OF TAX AND INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE.

JUSTIN GRADUATED WITH A BACHELORS OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ACCOUNTANCY FROM OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY, MAY 2014, IN ATLANTA, GA.

Justin Jennings

EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

JUSTIN JENNINGS IS AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER AT JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH. HE COMES FROM THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY WITH 15 YEARS OF MEDICAL SALES EXPERIENCE. HE ATTRIBUTES HIS SUCCESS IN SALES TO LISTENING AND LEARNING FROM HIS CUSTOMERS AND ENJOYS THE PROCESS OF SOLVING PROBLEMS. HE IS SKILLED AT DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ACTION PLAN FOR EACH OF HIS CLIENT’S UNIQUE NEEDS AND COMMITTED TO HELPING THEM CHOOSE THE BEST SOLUTION.

JUSTIN HAS TAKEN HIS SPIRIT AND PASSION FOR SELLING TO THE WORLD OF RECRUITING. HE HAS A GOAL OF SURPASSING HIS CLIENT’S EXPECTATIONS AND ASSISTING THEM WITH TALENT ACQUISITION.

JUSTIN GRADUATED WITH A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT FROM GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. WHEN NOT AT WORK, YOU CAN FIND HIM ON HIS MOUNTAIN BIKE, THE GOLF COURSE, OR SKIING OUT WEST IN THE WINTERS.

Chip Locke

PRACTICE LEAD, TECHNOLOGY RECRUITING

CHIP LOCKE IS THE TECHNOLOGY RECRUITING PRACTICE LEAD FOR JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH.

CHIP BRINGS 15 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN TECHNOLOGY AND TECH RECRUITING INCLUDING HANDS-ON WORK AS A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER AND BIG 4 SYSTEMS CONSULTANT. HE IS A TRUSTED CIO ADVISOR WITH EXPERIENCE ACROSS INDUSTRY VERTICALS AND A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS AND THE FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF DELIVERY THAT ENABLE BUSINESS OPERATIONS. HIS EXPERIENCE INCLUDES RECRUITING EXECUTIVES AND COLLABORATING WITH THEM FOR THE STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF IT ORGANIZATIONS. CHIP TAKES HIS ROLE AS SEARCH PARTNER SERIOUSLY, AND AS A TRUE PARTNER, HOLDS HIMSELF AND HIS TEAMS ULTIMATELY ACCOUNTABLE FOR DELIVERING ON CLIENTS’ HIRING GOALS.

HIS CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES CAN BE FOUND AT COMPANIES RANGING IN SIZE FROM STARTUP TO FORTUNE 500 ACROSS AVIATION, ENERGY, FINANCE, HEALTHCARE, HIGH-TECH, MANUFACTURING, RETAIL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

CHIP GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA WITH A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DEGREE IN MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS.

Brian Gelfand

PARTNER

BRIAN GELFAND IS A PARTNER AT JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH.

HE BEGAN HIS CAREER AT DELOITTE & TOUCHE IN AUDIT AND ENTERPRISE RISK SERVICES, WITH A FOCUS ON THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE INDUSTRIES. AT DELOITTE, BRIAN GAINED VALUABLE CORPORATE EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PUBLIC MORTGAGE SERVICING CORPORATION, AND A NOT-FOR-PROFIT FOUNDATION WITH OVER $10 BILLION IN ASSETS. BRIAN HAS PASSED ALL FOUR SECTIONS OF THE CPA EXAM ON HIS FIRST ATTEMPT.

BRIAN’S EDUCATION INCLUDES A MASTER OF ACCOUNTANCY FROM KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY AND A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION IN ACCOUNTING FROM GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY.

Jon Jennings

FOUNDER / MANAGING PARTNER

JON JENNINGS IS THE FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER OF JENNINGS EXECUTIVE SEARCH. ESTABLISHED IN 2014, HIS VISION WAS TO SHAPE A FIRM ANCHORED IN TRANSPARENCY AND VALUE CREATION. OVER THE YEARS, JON HAS HAD THE DISTINCT OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE WITH AND LEARN FROM LEADING INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES, GLEANING INSIGHTS FROM THEIR EXPERIENCES AND COMBINING THIS KNOWLEDGE WITH THOROUGH RESEARCH. THIS HAS EQUIPPED HIM TO OFFER A DEEPER, MORE STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE ON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND TALENT IDENTIFICATION.

FROM INITIALLY SPECIALIZING IN FINANCE, JON DOVE INTO PRICING AND EVENTUALLY INTO MORE BROAD COMMERCIAL STRATEGY. BY 2017, HE RECOGNIZED THAT EFFECTIVE PRICING STRATEGY HARMONIOUSLY MERGES FINANCE, PRODUCT, MARKETING, AND SALES. HE DISCERNED THAT PRICING, WITH ITS INTRICATE MIX OF ART AND SCIENCE, HAS THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER TO IMPACT NOT ONLY PROFITS BUT ALSO MARKET DYNAMICS AND AN ORGANIZATION’S OVERALL IDENTITY. TODAY, JON, TOGETHER WITH HIS EXPERIENCED TEAM OF EX-CONSULTANTS, COLLABORATES WITH PREMIER CONSULTING FIRMS TO ENHANCE THEIR PRACTICES. SIMULTANEOUSLY, HE ASSISTS PRIVATE EQUITY GROUPS AND THEIR PORTFOLIO COMPANIES IN REFINING AND FORTIFYING THEIR COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIC OPERATIONS.

THE CULMINATION OF THESE EFFORTS IS A BOUTIQUE FIRM THAT INC.COM CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES. BETWEEN 2019 AND 2022, THE COMPANY WITNESSED A STAGGERING GROWTH RATE OF NEARLY 600%.