Well-designed learning and development programs pay for themselves before taking into account the savings from reduced attrition, recruiting, and onboarding costs.
Even in companies without formal learning and development programs, career mapping provides a valuable retention tool, because it allows employees to see what their future at the company can be and to take steps on their own, or with the support of their newly emotionally-intelligent boss, to prepare themselves for bigger and better things in the company. Just 22% — fewer than one in four — have done the work to map career paths; yet creating visible career paths should be an area where mid-sized companies can claim a competitive advantage over big companies — not because they hand handfuls of promotions to pass out, but because they can make the road to success more visible and less impersonal, giving each employee agency in his or her own future. Address Cultural Issues Mid-market and emerging enterprises ought also to have an edge in culture, because their teams are close-knit and they are less likely to have competing tribal cultures—sales vs. marketing, HQ vs. branch offices, staff vs. line, core vs. skunkworks—than big businesses are. But culture needs tending. About three out of ten finance and HR executives call out culture as one of the top reasons for employee attrition, and an equal share say that they are addressing culture issues as part of their talent strategy. It makes sense. If employee referrals and social networks are the most effective ways to attract talent, then the engagement and experience of current employees is a crucial element of your employer brand and value proposition. In addition, a positive culture that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion can give enterprises access to pools of talent that have not been overfished.
“The value of an investment in the workforce starts with productivity, but it is much greater than that. When people feel they are learning and growing, their engagement and loyalty increase, too.” — Milton Corsey, Managing Director of Executive Coaching and Executive Career Services, AchieveNEXT
2021-2022 Mid-Market Talent Acquisition, Executive Compensation and Culture Study — Powered by Insperity I 21
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