Necessity Of Learning For Employee Engagement

How to increase employee engagement? At first glance, the question seems too simple. But the more HRs analyze engagement statistics and how it can be achieved, the more vague and unclear this question. Employee learning is essential for increasing employee engagement.

It's hard for employees to be engaged at work if they don't acquire the appropriate skills and education over time. Gallup's study found that 87% of young workers say personal and career development is essential for the job. So, HR technology solutions based on mobile learning, digital learning, professional and personal development courses, and job-specific training can play a critical role in creating a more engaged workforce for virtually all companies.

What does it mean to be an engaged employee? 

Engagement does not describe how hard employees work, how satisfied they are with their work process, or how often they are overworked. Employee engagement primarily means understanding the company's values and mission. It also means that the employee's goals and objectives are aligned with the organization's goals.

This alignment doesn't come out of anywhere. It takes a lot of effort, time, and investment to make every employee engaged.

Corporate training is the best investment for developing employee engagement. Corporate training helps communicate the company's mission and put employees on the proper development path. 

What is the essence of learning for employee engagement?

Training employees in the company is a crucial business process, the essence of which is the purposeful and systematic training of qualified specialists. It is one of the key drivers for employee engagement. This system includes not only the transfer of knowledge and skills to employees but also regular checking of this knowledge.

Regular appraisal of personnel helps to understand how well an employee understands what company he works for, what the aim of this company is, what product or service it produces, what problem it solves, and for whom. An employee must understand his job duties clearly, what result he has to produce at his workplace, and what contribution he makes to the company's overall outcome. Knowledge control after training is a necessary attribute of any professional training.

Training of employees in a modern company should have a continuous nature. This is due to:

• The development of new technologies and the acceleration of their implementation in real business.

• High competition in the market, in which those who know and can do more - win.

• The continuous necessity to get high returns from personnel and to increase the work efficiency.

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According to HRdrive study, 80% believe frequent/regular training is more important than formal workplace training. Applying the skills and knowledge received during the training, every employee improves their indicators, which increases the competitiveness of the whole company. After training, each employee becomes more engaged in the technological process, i.e., works consciously, understanding his role and contribution to the common cause.

Why is learning necessary for employee engagement?

In many companies, the employee engagement strategy is built through the connection "growth of the company - growth of employees". This is a very organic and natural connection: there is no artificially created interest, but there is motivation to develop personally and for promotion within the company. 

To find out where the company would like to move, the HR department conducts an anonymous employee engagement survey. This is also a tool for employee engagement.

Most companies have several areas of training for employee engagement:

• Mentoring. Experienced specialists prepare adaptation programs for newcomers. It helps to introduce new employees to their work faster and familiarize them with their duties, tools, and corporate culture.

• In-house training and coaching. Some employees are always willing to share helpful information with colleagues and teach what they know how to do in any company. This makes everyone win: employees get practical skills, and the speaker improves their soft skills.

• External training. Companies receive training from external experts or services like Studocu. They buy the courses that their employees are interested in. 

One of the critical indicators of engagement is initiative and desire to develop. Everyone who strives to improve their skills improves themselves and the entire company. According to CNBC, 67% of Gen X leaders want more external coaching and 57% want external development opportunities. Both gen X and Z want to learn new skills.

Some companies even have a corporate university for these purposes. Employees can pass courses on soft skills with feedback, online training, tests, and homework to practice the knowledge obtained. And to improve hard skills, each employee can take external training at the company's expense.

Improvement of skills and engagement of the employee

To enjoy working for the company, employees should constantly improve their professional skills and broaden their horizons. These include highly specialized functional knowledge, technical skills for mastering various digitalization tools, and training to develop leadership competencies and soft skills.

Courses are available to every employee at any location at any time. He chooses what and when to study to achieve their goals effectively and builds an annual plan for personal development with his manager. According to HRdrive, 59% of employees invest in their own upskilling, to a certain extent. In this way, companies stimulate employees' continued interest in development and growth, which is directly linked to satisfaction and engagement.

Big companies like Google, IBM, and Amazon have a long corporate training and mentoring history. Such companies regularly organize various corporate events, including team-building events. Of course, you should understand that you cannot change the system of values already formed by a person, but you can influence it. It is crucial during the adaptation period of new employees.

Many companies use a coaching approach. They do coaching training for managers of all levels, and among employees are a few certified coaches. These tools really have a practical impact on employee engagement.

From ordering books in the office library to participating in specialized conferences/seminars/webinars, the company must provide opportunities for training. Due to the pandemic, everything was moved online, and it became even easier and cheaper to organize. 

“Smart Thursday”, niche clubs, and employee engagement

"Smart Thursday" is a popular project in many companies. It includes lectures for the interested employees and invited specialists which are devoted to different aspects of professions. Popular topics of "Smart Thursday" are biohacking, literature, fashion, and history. This helps people get away from routine and inspires new ideas.

Employees also like to participate in niche clubs. These are clubs on various topics, for example, marketing, analytics, and SMM. Niche clubs consist of representatives from different project groups and the back office, where experiences are shared, new products are developed for clients, and company management solutions are proposed.

Conclusion

Continuous employee learning and strong learning culture lead to increased employee engagement over time, which increases profitability in the long run. Using this HR tool to create a positive employee experience gives organizations a more significant opportunity to attract and retain top talent who value the company and strive to perform at their best every day. Positive learning experiences also contribute to increased employee engagement and encourage employees to stay at a company longer.

About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!