Does your organization support you?
January in Canada. For some it conjures up the promise of hitting the slopes and embracing the great Canadian winter, for others, cozy nights and a dry red. Whatever your choice, for many of us it offers the excitement of a new year with aspirations of conquering our goals. With the end of January upon us, it is a good time to reflect on how you are progressing with your personal and professional goals. Do you have the support and plan to help you conquer your goals? Does your organization promote and encourage your learning and development so you can achieve your professional goals?
Successful companies believe in training and development. Companies that invest in learning and development understand they are offering a benefit that will attract and keep great people, that they are creating 'promotable' employees and that people feel valued when someone invests in them and they tend to behave more like managers or owners than employees. Happier and loyal people are positive and productive, which translates to businesses as cost savings and higher earnings.
Yes, creating and implementing a quality learning and development strategy can be expensive. And yes, companies face the risk of losing great employees to their competition. However, keeping great people is much more cost effective than hiring new people. Consider the costs of recruiting, sifting through resumes, interviewing, training, lost productivity during training, lost productivity of other employees who are picking up the slack and potential business lost, not to mention the cost should you hire the wrong person. It seems logical that furthering your current employees' learning and development would result in retaining innovative, forward-thinking, well trained people.
So how are you progressing with your goals for the year and is your organization supporting you with high quality learning and development opportunities?
