Dive Brief:
- Despite “major recruitment challenges” and global need for talent development, 85% of corporate training departments in a recent survey by The Josh Bersin Company said they feel ill-equipped to create new career paths.
- Learning and development operations still have value, however, as the survey also found that leading L&D operations delivered a 260% increase in financial results as well as additional gains in growth, innovation and market leadership, Bersin said. The creation of “extensive career growth options” was found to be the most impactful L&D practice.
- "The shortages of talent that exist around the world today will only get worse in the future, and half of the battle is keeping existing employees engaged and interested,” HR veteran Josh Bersin said in a statement. “If workers can build skills that will amplify their career growth potential and find opportunities to apply those skills and grow their careers within your organization, they will be less likely to leave in search of those opportunities outside your organization."
Dive Insight:
Various research, including a January survey by American Staffing Association, show that many employees value professional development and training when choosing jobs. Employers likewise see training as an integral part of their efforts to take advantage of new technologies and innovations, according to a recent report by Economist Impact.
Amid these realizations, L&D is still hindered at many organizations, according to the Bersin survey. The range of challenges facing departments may be financial or strategic in nature. L&D content may not suit employees’ diverse learning styles, for example. Elsewhere, time can play a factor; employees who are already burned out by the daily grind may not have the space on their schedules nor the energy to invest in career development.
L&D departments have a role to play in addressing why training and development fail, but other organizational processes also may contribute to the problem. In recruiting, for example, the push to hire talent for skills rather than more traditional credentials has faltered in some circles even as high-profile HR organizations, such as the Society for Human Resource Management, have repeatedly pushed for a new approach.
