Why and how should you invest in developing your employees' skills?

The professional world is constantly evolving. On the one hand, with technological advances, and on the other, with the emergence of new professions. So how do we cope? How do you keep up with the competition? One solution is to invest in developing your employees' skills. It's no longer just an option, it's a must.

4 good reasons to develop your employees' skills

Firstly, to meet a legal obligation in terms of professional training

In France, employers are required by law to invest in their employees' skills development. In particular, they are required to provide employees with the means to adapt to their workstations, and to maintain their employees' employability. To meet these two obligations, employers must draw up a skills development plan. This document lists all the training initiatives planned by a company. As an HR professional, opting for HR software can make it easier to keep track of training courses and the employees concerned. This way, you'll have an overall view of the types of training your employees will need to undergo.

Then, anticipate needs and stay one step ahead

In the world of work, competition is fierce. That's why it's crucial to stay productive, stay ahead of change and be proactive. By doing so, you prepare yourself for all possibilities, anticipate changes in the market and are thus better able to react and expand your field of action. Recruiting talent may be necessary, but it's not always the most beneficial solution. For, in addition to training your new employees, you generate more costs. Instead, it may be worth investing in developing the skills of your current employees. In this way, you encourage both internal mobility and professional fulfillment.

Improve agility, productivity and efficiency

When you pay attention to the efforts made by your employees, rewarding them and enabling them to develop their skills, they gain in motivation, which has a major impact on your company's overall performance. Indeed, employees who are committed to their work are highly productive. But not only that; these people also improve in the way they work. Among other things:

• They have better priority management,
• They are faster at solving problems,
• They become more autonomous.

This improves your company's collective agility. Everyone has a better understanding of their missions and responsibilities, while the impact on your company's overall performance is positive.

Finally, increase the loyalty and retention of your employees

By investing in your employees' skills development, you show them that you care about their professional development and well-being. In so doing, you make them more committed and loyal to your company. But it's not just your employees who benefit. In fact, by promoting internal learning and development within your teams, you also improve the social climate and working environment, the employer brand and, ultimately, talent retention. What's more, enhancing your employees' skills is good for you. They, in turn, can attract new talent to your company.

How can you encourage continuing education in your company?

Creating a learning culture

Developing your employees' skills doesn't have to be limited to compulsory training. In fact, they may only take part because they have to. And once these one-off, required training courses are over, they can get carried away by their work and forget to feed their curiosity. This is where your role comes into play. As an employer, it's vital that you foster a learning culture. You can do this by:

• Value your employees' individual initiatives,
• Listen to their suggestions for improving working conditions,
• Exchange with your teams and share your experiences to encourage them to learn new skills,
• Let your employees use and discover new tools.

By giving them the freedom to work in their own way, you're encouraging them to continually seek ways to evolve.

Providing your employees with the resources they need

Motivation alone is not enough to develop your employees' skills. To achieve this, you need to offer them all the resources they need to succeed. Here are a few ideas that might help:

• Offer training in a variety of formats, including videos, online modules and virtual sessions.
• Customize training materials to suit your employees' levels and types of training.
• Choose digital tools that are easy to use and suitable for all ages.

After certain training courses, particularly those that are mandatory, support may be required. In this way, your employees can smoothly adapt to the new tools.

How do you set up a skills development program?

Identify current and future skills needs

Investing in training requires an upstream study of needs and expectations in a number of areas. More specifically, it's essential to know: who to train, why to train them and how to improve their skills. The first step in identifying these needs is to assess current and future requirements, as well as market trends. Being aware of these trends will help you prepare the types of training your employees need. Then you can determine who will be given priority for training. This can be done by :

• Regular meetings with your employees,
• A strategic analysis of the company's businesses and the outlook for changes in the sector,
• Active listening to your employees' needs.

By doing so, you can identify the priorities for your company's future growth.

Create a skills development plan

The skills development plan is a framework enabling an employer to define its training policy for its employees. It applies to all employees, including those on work-study contracts. To ensure that your plan is as effective as possible, here are a few tips:

• Focus first on target competencies, such as technical or cross-disciplinary skills.
• Opt for teaching methods adapted to your teams.
• Determine the training budget and identify monitoring indicators.

Drawing up such a plan requires a study of market trends, but above all of your company's training needs. So don't hesitate to involve HR staff and managers in the creation process.

Deploy and monitor actions

How can we be sure that the skills development program has taken effect? How can we ensure its continuity? The success of this initiative relies heavily on its operational deployment. Ongoing evaluation is also a key success factor. In other words:

• Regularly communicate to your employees the objectives you wish to achieve and the means to achieve them.
• Outline the benefits of the actions to be taken.
• Instill in them the desire to learn regularly and to progress.

Also, by listening to their feedback, you can make modifications to training courses and adapt them to their levels and needs. What's more, your employees' satisfaction after a training course is very important for improving your strategy. Ask them for feedback on their impressions. Finally, make the most of your efforts and those of your employees by formalizing what has been learned. This makes it easier for your employees to keep track of their training. Recognition of their efforts encourages them to continue.