Why Should You Be Creating Opportunities to Learn New Skills

Aug 2, 2022 | Experiential Learning, Leadership, Productivity

leadership training

Providing continuous learning opportunities to our team, can be a challenge.

We typically need to negotiate with internal resources to provide this, or source external providers who will deliver exactly what’s needed, or maybe your business requires a request for proposal (RFP) process which can stretch out the time for a solution to be available. Point is, finding and providing new learning isn’t always an easy process and as a result, we may become overwhelmed just thinking about the route to success.

However, we must persevere. As research tells us that employees are expected to be developed in their roles. LinkedIn’s 2020 Workforce Learning Report, indicates that 94% of employees will stay with a company longer if there are investments in developing their learning. Here are the top 3 reasons why you should be creating opportunities for your team to learn new skills:

  1. Personal & Professional Growth: Job learning and development is one way that employees can demonstrate they can perform new and additional job tasks, ultimately upping their value to their employers and the workforce in general. This also builds confidence and self-worth.
  2. Knowledge & Advancement: Beyond the obvious benefits that development has for one’s job, professional development enhances employees’ values, drives their motivation and ensures they remain relevant in their field.
  3. Skills Can Be Taught & Practiced In The Context Where They Will Be Used: Learning opportunities allow for engaged learners to further develop and practice skills in the setting where they will use them most. Many development opportunities are customizable and are created to fit the situation that your organization needs. With this, your team can build the learning into their daily routines and activities. Providing opportunities to apply what they have learned to real-world problems prepares learners to address challenges they may encounter in their work.

A wise leader would tell you that employee development is not a cost, rather a high-returning investment. Creating opportunities to continually develop our teams needs to be something that is constantly pursued.