What employees want from your business

In our last blog, we discussed the importance of L&D in reaching your targets and objectives in 2022. But this is not the only benefit to prioritising learning among your employees. When it comes to retention and acquisition of staff, it seems that L&D has another party piece. 94% of employees would stay at a company for longer if the business was investing in their career development. It really is that important. Now, when you consider the costs associated with losing a good member of staff, and the sky-high recruitment costs of replacing that person, it’s not only your in-house knowledge that takes a hit when an experienced member of staff leaves – your budget does too. So, what do employees actually want from your business, and how can you effectively supply it?

Stay focused on the right target

Employees want to learn and develop. According to PwC, 77% of employees are ready to learn new skills or completely retrain, and 74% see training as a matter of personal responsibility . They really do care that much. However, according to City & Guilds’ annual skills index 2021, 30% of UK workers say they have not received formal workplace training in the last five years . So, make sure your business doesn’t fall into this category. If employees want to prioritise their own learning and development, then empower them and invest in their pursuit. Not only does it quench their insatiable thirst for knowledge, but studies have found that 80% of employees believe that learning and development opportunities would help them feel more engaged at work – which is great news for you too. 

Think of the next generation 

By the year 2025, millennials are set to make up 50% of the workforce . And, 87% of this generation report that learning and development opportunities are a very influential factor when deciding whether to accept a new job . Almost all of these individuals give great consideration to learning in the workplace. However, don’t think that just any old learning will do. The days of PowerPoint and notebooks seem to be long gone. Learners aged 18-24 years are using the fast-emerging ‘social learning’ versus just 4% of those 55+ . So not only will you have to ensure that L&D is high on your agenda, but the technology and methodologies you use for L&D will have to be up there too.

There are no excuses

86% of organisations identified at least one barrier to the delivery of learning and skills initiatives - lack of learning time (41%), limited budgets (40%) and lack of management time or support (29%) topped the list of barriers to delivery . But it needn’t be like this. There are now specialist organisations that can work with you to create programmes that not only suit the needs of your business and employees… but your budgets too.

At Arden, we provide your degree-level apprentices with an innovative ‘digital first’ learning experience that supports their career progression and wellbeing. All your apprentices will have 24/7 access to our virtual classroom, ilearn, where resources such as video lectures, library resources and a host of other interactive content is available. Importantly, degree apprenticeships provide the ability to study without putting their career on hold, and as it’s predominantly online, with just one face-to-face session a quarter – making it easier to manage for your business too. In addition to this, you as the employer will also have access to reports and dashboards that will enable you to quickly and easily track the performance of your apprentices.

To see just how much you know about your employees why not take our latest quiz now…