This article on improving employee development programs was originally published in September 2016 and updated with new information in November 2024.
We’re squarely in the age of artificial intelligence, and with AI comes a need for new skills in the workforce. As a result, there’s an increased demand for employee learning and development (L&D). That demand has also been spurred on by the fact that 90% of companies are concerned about retaining top talent, and L&D is the top retention strategy, according to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report.
If you’re a regular on the ClearCompany blog, you already know that professional development and employee training programs are not just a necessity in our changing world of work. They’re essential for businesses that want to remain competitive, both in their industries and as an employer.
A learning-focused work environment is also a priority for most of the workforce, especially among younger generations. Deloitte research shows that among Gen Z and Millennials, L&D opportunities were a top reason for choosing their current organization — and a top reason for quitting.
Unfortunately, we know that despite employees’ desire to learn new skills and hone their strengths, they don’t feel their growth is being supported. Only 32% of employees are satisfied with their company’s L&D programs, so it’s no surprise that 86% would leave their current roles for one with more opportunities.
The importance of employee development programs is clear. It helps attract ambitious applicants, retain your most driven employees, and move your company’s goals forward. Revamp your approach to employee L&D with these six tips.
1. Assess the Current State of Employee L&D
The first step toward a better employee development program is understanding how it’s being handled now. If you don’t have a formal strategy aside from legally mandated training, you get to start with a nearly clean slate. If you have any type of L&D program, including simple approaches like a mentoring program or as-needed training sessions, it’s time to take stock of those efforts.
Use these methods to gather information and get an accurate picture of where your company stands with employee L&D:
- Conduct Surveys: Send employee surveys to collect feedback about what kinds of learning opportunities they’ve had access to and how the opportunities arose. That can tell you if your people are hungry to learn or feel empowered to take control of their learning journey.
- Hold Focus Groups: Another way to gather L&D feedback is by holding focus groups, where a cohort of employees come together to share their thoughts. Assemble groups of employees from different levels and departments of the organization to ensure you’re getting a variety of different perspectives.
- Evaluate L&D Delivery: No matter how robust your L&D plan is, it’s no good if it’s not being delivered effectively. Take note of whether training and learning materials are easily accessible and digestible. Better yet, include this question in your employee surveys and focus groups to find out if learning is readily available or impossible to track down.
- Analyze Data: Analyze any existing learning data you have access to, including employee engagement in training, completion rates, and post-training performance. You can also look at HR metrics like internal mobility and, if you have it, data from exit interviews to see if L&D played a role in any employees’ reasons for leaving.
2. Define Your L&D Goals
Now that you’ve established whether or not employee development plans are on the right track — or if they even exist — it’s time to set goals for L&D. Defining goals sets the stage for the new strategy and can significantly increase the program’s success, so don’t skip this step.
Presumably, you’re focusing on L&D for a reason, which could include:
- Addressing specific skills gaps that limit what teams can accomplish
- Responding to a lack of available talent with targeted upskilling
- Improving employee retention by offering career paths and advancement opportunities
- Preparing employees to take on leadership roles in the future, or succession planning
- Enhancing productivity by equipping your employees with the latest skills and knowledge
Next, ensure that your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, if addressing a skills gap is a top priority, a specific goal might be, “Achieve a 20% increase in employees proficient in [key skill] by the end of the quarter.”
Get department heads and team leaders involved to ensure goal alignment and create a unified approach, maximizing impact across the business. With well-defined goals for your L&D program, you have what you need to build a structured, purpose-driven development strategy that benefits both your people and the business.
3. Make the Time — All the Time
There’s no way to successfully create a learning culture at your company if team members have no time to pursue learning. Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to help make learning a natural part of the workday and the employee journey.
One way to do that is by giving employees flexibility in when and where learning takes place. If you utilize a learning management system (LMS), employees can easily access training courses, learning materials, and assessments, whether they’re at their desks or on a mobile device. That also gives employees scheduling flexibility so they can fit learning opportunities in when it works for them.
Although flexibility is important for some training and development initiatives, others require dedicated time to be most effective. Workshops, online courses, and team-building activities that focus on growing skills involve multiple people and require a bit more time to complete.
Enlist your managers to promote a learning culture by setting aside time for both their own development initiatives and for coordinated learning. They can also encourage discussions about personal and professional growth to further instill that sense of commitment to continuous learning at every level.
Employee development shouldn’t be a one-off event but a continuous process that fosters long-term growth and adaptability. Keep your people and the company prepared for future challenges that come your way with continuous L&D.
4. Go Small or Go Home
If you want to make learning part of company culture, it’s critical to create as many chances to learn as possible, but that can be difficult if courses or training take hours to complete. What’s more, not every initiative is best suited to in-depth courses or team activities. Some skills take less time to acquire, and people can become discouraged by long lessons.
Microlearning — delivering content in small, manageable chunks — is proving to be the answer for many L&D and HR teams. Instead of long, one-time training sessions, microlearning offers bite-sized modules that employees can complete at their own pace. It enables them to fit learning into their schedules without feeling overwhelmed and even helps you design more personalized learning experiences for your people.
Did you know that 58% of employees said they’d be more likely to use their company’s online learning tools if the lessons were broken into shorter segments? Employees are more likely not only to engage with learning tools, but to retain information and apply it when microlearning is an option.
Make microlearning part of your L&D program with short videos, quick quizzes, and condensed content. Keep learning engaging and allow employees to progress at their own pace.
47% of businesses are deploying microlearning this year.
via LinkedIn
5. Invest in the Best — Technology, That Is
Employers today are concerned about their ability to upskill or reskill employees quickly enough to keep up with rapid technological advancements. As a result, 70% of companies are actively investing in their employee learning and development strategy. If yours is one of them, resist the urge to keep costs as low as possible. Instead, focus on finding the most effective resources and strategies.
The success of your business hinges on employee performance, so you don’t want to skimp on the tools that enable them to grow their skills. You’ll get a return on your investment — 43% of companies said revenue increased after implementing an employee education program.
Moreover, you don’t want your employees to feel like you’re wasting their time with a program. If it’s not challenging, boring, or covers information they already know, development could feel like a box-checking exercise rather than a meaningful opportunity.
Invest in a powerful learning management system to engage learners and promote a learning culture. Look for an LMS that offers:
- Customizable Learning Paths: Customizable courses that match each employee’s role and career goals keep training relevant and interesting, boosting motivation.
- Data and Analytics: A good LMS provides insights into metrics like course completion rates and assessment scores. That way, you see how employees are progressing and continuously refine your L&D approach.
- Mobile Compatibility: With a mobile-friendly LMS, employees can learn anytime, anywhere, making it easier to fit development into their schedules.
- Interactive and Multimedia Content: Videos, quizzes, and simulations make training more engaging and better suited to different learning styles.
- Seamless Integration: Integration with other HR tools lets you track employee progress and performance all in one place. Better yet, find an LMS that’s part of a holistic talent management system, uniting the entire employee journey (and all that valuable data) in one place.
With the right LMS technology, you can set the foundation for a development program that’s engaging, effective, and ready to adapt as the workplace keeps evolving.
6. Keep an Eye on Your Success
Track progress toward your L&D goals so that neither your team nor your employee learners get discouraged. Measuring success isn’t just a formality — it’s how you make sure your program is effective, engaging, and aligned with employee needs. Start by tracking impactful metrics like skill acquisition rates, promotions, employee satisfaction, and performance boosts. These indicators give you real insight into whether your program is moving the needle.
But don’t stop at the numbers. Gather feedback directly from employees who have completed training. Ask what they found useful, what could be better, and if the training has impacted their work. Employees often have the clearest view of what’s working and where improvements could be made. If the program feels irrelevant or too basic to them, you’ll know it’s time to shake things up.
With continuous assessment and a willingness to adapt, your L&D program can be a dynamic force that evolves alongside your workforce’s needs. That way, you can ensure that you’re helping employees grow and maximizing the impact of your development efforts across the entire organization.
You can support a tech-powered, seamless learning and development strategy at your organization with ClearCompany Learning, powered by Brainier. Discover more here.
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