Supporting Employees Working to Enhance Their Skills
Blues Perspectives
| 2 min read
When employees within your organization continue their education it not only benefits them, it benefits your company with a more agile, knowledgeable and competent workforce. Employers who support continuing education tend to be more attractive to potential employees and can boost retention for existing workers. Identifying opportunities for training and development within the organization can also help you more easily spot future leaders. The good news is that large and small companies alike can support continuing education that will help employees sharpen and enhance their skills. Supporting continuing education doesn’t have to be limited to tuition reimbursement toward completing a degree. It can also look like:
- A webinar offered by a professional organization
- Industry conferences
- Earning a professional certification
- Stand-alone classes focused on coding, a software program or a job skill.
If you’d like to develop a workplace culture that embraces professional development and continuing education, here are some ideas to get started:
- Start with onboarding. Tell new employees about your company’s vision about continued learning, options that are available and how it fits into your company and their role.
- Use leaders as examples. Have your company’s leaders share information about their professional development experience, and have them present opportunities such as conferences, webinars or onsite training, and encourage attendance as a team.
- Make professional development part of employee reviews. Ask your employees to set training goals for themselves or identify skills that would improve their performance and find ways those skills can be learned.
- Offer options to support employees who want to participate. Offer tuition reimbursement to pay for training classes or give them time off or other options so they have time to participate in learning activities.
For more ideas about helping your employees continue their education, this Blue Cross® Virtual Well-Being webinar offers tips. You can also sign up for future employer-focused and general interest webinars here, where you’ll also be able to access past sessions and resources. Related:
- The Value of Vaccines for Your Employees
- The Importance of Preventive Care for Your Employees
- Supporting Parents at Work
Photo credit: fizkes
