Jody Ordioni — February 11, 2020 Employee engagement has become critical for business success. The failure to engage employees results in endangering the productivity and growth of the organization. Employee engagement is a complex strategic process and ‘Learning and Development’ (L&D) is part of it.
According to a survey, it was found that around 85% of employees across the world are disengaged. This means that they are not performing the best of their abilities despite showing up in the office and filling up the hours of the clock.
Nations in Southeast Asia record the lowest level of employee engagement (22%). The employee engagement rates in developing nations like India is a mere 13% which is astounding. Organizations keep on asking themselves a question, how to increase employee engagement levels?
Learning and Development is one of the areas where companies can invest to boost employee engagement levels. Training programs can be an effective communication tool, allowing employees to better themselves with each passing day in an organization.
Emphasizing on Culture of Learning
The discussion surrounding employee engagement often overlook it from an employee’s perspective. They often forget to discuss what exactly they wish the employee to get engaged in. Employees need a team to connect with and should feel that they are a part of a bigger mission and collective.
L&D professionals are well equipped to identify organizational values that promote engagement. These values are incorporated into training programs fostering a sense of pride and belongingness in the culture of learning. The leaders must work with the L&D team to formulate a culture that is well-aligned with company values and goals.
Promoting Onboarding and Training
It can be frustrating for an employee who is not aware of his/her responsibilities from the beginning. They are always running up to a finish line if they are not clear about their roles in an organization. The newly hired employees must be properly onboarded through onboarding programs.
A proper onboarding process facilitates employee retention by 82%. L&D professionals must engage new employees from the very first day they join an organization. This can help employees to learn faster and maximize their productivity.
The Importance of Employee Growth and Development
Employees often look at growth opportunities, both professional and personal, before joining a company. If employees tend to learn new things and overcome challenges easily, they actively engage themselves in other tasks. The L&D team holds the responsibility of designing training programs to enhance the skill set of employees and make their everyday routine valuable.
Nicely tailored training programs help employees to master their skills while learning the new ones in the world of technological advancements. Learning can be presented in a way that it reduces the boredom. Organizations can also offer educational assistance to their employees for aiding professional growth.
The Value of Social Learning and Collaborating
Engagement is a complex term which constitutes various working parts from involvement and interest to consulting and collaboration. The L&D professionals must build social and informal learning on such parameters in the starting.
An increased emphasis on using social initiatives to build corporate training programs can be beneficial to enhance the knowledge of subject matter experts within the organization. L&D professionals should be proficient to jump-start conversations with various groups in the company and use icebreakers to broadcast information uniformly in the workplace.
Using Technology in Learning
L&D team must employ learn-tech tools to tailor the training programs according to the needs of the company. A merger of learning, content, and technology is needed to achieve the collective goal of an organization and produce long term results.
Corporate training has made a foray into learning, from classroom-based teaching to online-based education. Artificial intelligence has greatly altered and benefitted corporate training programs developed for employee engagement. The advancement in learning analytics has also created a unique dynamic is the sphere of employee engagement that is totally irreplaceable. Organizations can easily analyze the data and alter their training programs fitting their needs.
The Bottom Line
There is a dire need to invest in the L&D function. Organizations must focus on the right learning tools that can become a great way to improve the engagement levels of employees. Employer branding agencies can help the organizations to formulate a unique training method that can be fruitful for new as well as existing employees.
Such employer branding agencies not only help the organizations to attract the right candidate for the desired role but also help them in finding methods to engage and retain the existing employees. Innovative learning strategies can create the path for organizations to discuss the issue of engagement and tackle the problem, thereby boosting productivity.
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