5 Benefits of Developing Top Talent at Work

Developing Top Talent Matters
Our organizational alignment research found talent accounts for 29% of the difference between high and low performing companies.  Talent, along with culture and strategy, is one of the three critical elements of high performance. A relevant employee development game plan is the foundation for building and retaining the talent to execute your strategy.

Putting the right people with the right capabilities in the right slots at the right time doesn’t just happen. It requires a structured learning and development strategy to deliver, track, and manage the training your workforce needs.

The Benefits of Developing Top Talent
Our Best Places to Work Employee Engagement Survey tells us that up to 40% of employees leave their jobs within their first year when they do not receive adequate training and development. Are you willing and able to suffer that level of employee attrition?  Assuming that you can avoid the top training strategy mistakes, here are the five benefits of developing top talent at work:

1. Better Employee Retention
   Show that you value employees by investing in their development to ensure they have the skills and knowledge required to succeed.

   Provide learning and development opportunities for employees to grow with the business. Work with employees to create targeted individual learning and development plans that help to advance their career and encourage them to stay for the long-term.

2. Easier Employee Attraction
   Savvy job candidates ask about employee development budgets and plans. If you don’t invest in developing top talent, job seekers will see your company as unenlightened and uninterested in advancing the skills of your workforce.

   Leading companies provide clear, consistent, and relevant career development opportunities.

3. Stronger Compliance
   A smart learning and development plan helps ensure you meet ever-changing State and Federal regulations around making sure your workplace is psychologically safe, respectful, and non-discriminatory.

   It also provides ready proof that your business is providing the training required by law while protecting your company from costly lawsuits.

4. Greater Uniformity
   High performing organizations create a common language and a consistent approach regarding how things get done.  They have clear performance standards and ensure that information flows freely across the organization.
5. Increased Performance
   Smart investments in employee development pay off. Not only are employees more productive because they know what they must do and how to do it, but they are also more engaged in their work and deliver better results.

The Bottom Line
While many leaders believe in “investing in people,” too many are content with allowing employees to “take care of themselves.” Every learning investment must be thoughtfully designed and appropriately reinforced if you expect the transfer of training and a reasonable pay off.

To learn more about how to develop top talent at work , download The Number 1 Reason Training Initiatives Fail According to Executives