Why Career Development Programs Are a Win-Win for Your Organization

Employers and employees don’t always see eye to eye. But there’s one thing that both groups should be able to agree on: the benefits of career development programs and career growth opportunities for employees. When workers have support to grow their skills, expand their knowledge, and explore new responsibilities, they’re often happier, more loyal, and more productive, which can help make organizations more competitive, more innovative, and potentially more profitable. Career development programs represent a true win-win.

What is career development, and why is it important?

Career development means different things to different people. For employees, it’s an important way to set the stage for advancement and promotion, earn more money, and find greater purpose and satisfaction at work. For employers, the importance of career development is about attracting and retaining talented people, growing an organization’s overall level of skill, and ensuring a talent pool that can support the organization into the future. To dig a bit deeper, here’s what career development is, and what it’s not:

What career development is:

• A continuous process. It requires assessing skills regularly, setting new goals, and adapting to changes in the industry.
• Personalized. The best career development is tailored to the individual. It includes custom plans aligned with employee career ambitions and organizational needs.
• A two-way street. Career development is collaborative, with the employee and employer working together to identify opportunities, resources, and support.

What career development is not:

• All about promotions. While climbing the corporate ladder may be part of it, career development can also include lateral moves, new skills, and personal growth.
• A one-time event. Career development shouldn’t only happen during annual reviews. It’s a continual process that requires regular attention and adjustment.
• Only for certain types of employees. Development isn’t just for your highest performers or emerging leaders. Every employee should have access to growth opportunities.

Why career development is important:

Career development isn’t just a trendy perk to brag about during interviews. It’s a vital strategy to keep your employees and your organization operating at the highest level.

It’s also something that a majority of employees want: a Workplace Intelligence study from 2022 found that upskilling is a concern for employees. The survey showed that 78% of workers feel they lack the skills, and 71% are worried about their education holding them back from getting ahead. Furthermore, 70% of respondents expressed feeling unprepared for the evolving workplace.

Companies with career development programs may realize gains in job satisfaction and engagement, retention rates, succession planning, and organizational innovation and performance.

What is a career development program?

A career development program is a strategic, intentional plan to support employee growth, upskilling, and career management. It can include many types of activities, resources, and support—from training, tuition assistance, and mentoring to networking opportunities, professional development, and personalized coaching.

For employers, career development programs can be a crucial investment in the organization’s success. Career development programs for employees usually align employee growth activities with specific skills that the organization needs—creating a win-win situation for both workers and employers. 

What is included in an employee development program?

Whether your organization is large or small, your employee development program should be multifaceted. It should include learning opportunities, support, feedback, and more. There are many employee development programs examples to choose from, but here are some key elements to build into your program.

• Clear pathways. It’s important to establish what career progress looks like. Identify roles and potential career paths across the organization. Build succession plans to ensure continuity of senior leadership. And use job shadowing, cross-training, and other learning opportunities to expose employees to the potential career steps ahead of them. 
• Individualized support. Every employee is different, with different strengths, skills, goals, and needs. Career development programs need to accommodate the variety of your workforce. Technology has made it easier than ever to customize employee development, but the heart of any program is one-to-one connection. 
• Training and education. There is no growth without learning. So, any career development program should offer a comprehensive suite of learning opportunities. These could include tuition assistance benefits, in-house training, technical certification courses, access to professional conferences, and more. 
• Mentoring. By connecting employees to more experienced colleagues, you can create a mutually beneficial relationship to empower career growth. Mentees gain valuable insight and a clearer roadmap for their career path. Mentors can also benefit by learning more about the up-and-coming generation of workers.
• Frequent feedback. Most organizations conduct annual reviews, often as part of compensation decisions. Those reviews are crucial moments for employee development as well, but once a year isn’t enough. True career development is an ongoing process, with frequent conversations and check-ins.

This year, 87% of workers believe employers should be investing in employees’ continued education.*

*Based on data from the 2023 Great Retention Survey

What are examples of development plans?

There are many career development programs examples, but there’s one thing they have in common: they won’t work without structured and personalized planning. A development plan is a document that clearly lays out what an employee wants to accomplish, the specific steps they’ll take to get there, and how the employer will support them. Here are some examples of effective development plans.

Skill-based plans. These plans focus on specific skills, either related to an employee’s current job or a role they hope to grow into. Skill-based plans may include a baseline skill assessment, relevant training, or professional development, and regular check-ins with a manager or mentor to monitor progress.

Goal-based plans. Rather than focusing on skills or specific career paths, a goal-based plan is about accomplishing key objectives related to the employee’s current job—which can help them build new skills to grow their career in the future. A goal-based plan is often built around organization wide goals, which are then broken down into goals at an individual level. 

Cross-functional plans. In this approach, an employee seeks to expand their skills and knowledge outside of their current expertise. These plans may include short-term job rotations, stretch assignments, or participation in cross-departmental projects.

Leadership or succession plans. These plans are all about developing future leaders to secure the organization’s future. Leadership plans often include mentoring and training as well as project- or initiative-based leadership roles.

One key to success—no matter what type of learning and development programs examples you choose to follow—is to include goals that are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Also, be sure to assign accountability partners including mentors, managers, or human resources staff.

How to create a career development plan for employees

Planning is key to supporting the career development process. We’ve seen that there are many types of plans, but how should organizations go about developing plans for employees? Here are a few important steps to follow.

Clarify your organization’s goals. Before addressing how employees can grow, it’s crucial to know where your organization wants to be. If you haven’t already, clearly write out your enterprise goals—and note any skill or staffing gaps that might prevent you from reaching them. 

Clarify employee goals. The easiest way to understand an employee’s goals is to ask them. Where do they want to take their career? What do they want to achieve? Remember that career development doesn’t always mean promotions. Consider goals that are connected to skills, growth, and personal development. 

Include multiple stakeholders. Human Resource Management (HRM) professionals are often the ones leading these efforts, but organizations should resist the temptation to completely place career development in HRM. Instead, be sure to involve stakeholders from multiple parts of the organization who can weigh in on skill gaps, career pathways, and potential learning opportunities for many types of roles. 

Assess your employees. To navigate to your destination, you need to know where you’re starting from. Use skill assessment tools, conversations, and performance evaluations to establish a baseline for each employee. 

Create a written plan. Now it’s time to collaborate. Together, the employee and employer should craft a document that clearly spells out the employee’s career goals—and how the organization will support them. Make sure the goals are manageable and measurable.

Find the right learning opportunities. This could include any of the multiple learning opportunities we’ve already mentioned—training, mentoring, stretch assignments, professional development, networking and more.   

9 in 10 workers (91%) rate workplace learning as important, with 58% claiming that workplace learning is very important.

Review, adjust, and reward. People change. Circumstances change. Development plans will change, too. As your employees grow their skills, they may develop new interests or identify new goals. Through regular check-ins, make sure the plan is always a living document. And don’t forget to recognize and reward the accomplishments your employees have already made. 

What are specific examples of career development activities?

When it comes to supporting employee career development, employers have multiple options—some that you can deliver internally and others that might require third-party help. Among successful companies with career development programs, here are some common career development activities.

• Formal education and degree programs. In some fields, a university degree or other type of higher education can empower career development. Many organizations offer tuition assistance programs specifically for this option. 
• Training programs. A broad category that could include technical certification training, soft-skill training, or on-the-job training. Online options have expanded the universe of training opportunities while allowing for flexibility and convenience. 
• Mentoring. As highlighted above, matching a junior-level employee with a more experienced colleague is a powerful way to enable growth and new connections.
• Conferences and seminars. The presentations and info sessions included in most conferences can help employees gain new insights, learn about best practices, and stay current in their field. Plus, connecting with peers at other organizations can open new avenues for learning and mentorship.
• Professional organizations. When employees are active in professional organizations, they discover opportunities to grow new skills, make industry connections, and deepen their professional knowledge. 
• Leadership development. These are structured in-house or offsite programs designed to develop specific skills to lead people and make crucial decisions. These range from “leadership 101” training for new leaders to advanced training for senior-level managers. With leadership development, you are investing in a future pipeline of strong leaders who can guide your organization into the future. 

When you implement development activities like these, you’re showing that your organization is committed to employee growth and success.

According to a 2022 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and TalentLMS, 76% of employees say they are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training.  

Plus, career development activities can raise the skill level of the entire organization—contributing to improved competitiveness and bottom-line performance.

How to improve career development in an organization

Maybe you already have a program in place, but you’re just not seeing the benefits you’d hoped for. If that sounds familiar, here are some ways to improve your organization’s career development efforts. 

Support a culture of learning. Career-focused learning isn’t a one-and-done exercise. Organizations should offer continual learning opportunities such as training programs, workshops, and online courses. Senior leaders should make learning a priority and ensure that employees across the organization are encouraged and empowered to grow their skills—and this should be supported through investments in tuition assistance, professional development, and learning technologies.

Measure what matters. To optimize any organizational imperative, you need good data to understand where you’re starting from and how to get where you want to be. Career development is no different. Implement a plan to capture key data around career development data—things like tuition-assistance usage rates, online courses completed, or mentorships established. Track and analyze the data to unearth insights and areas of improvement.

Get everyone involved. Career development doesn’t have to be reserved for senior leaders or certain types of roles. When you support development at every level, you can improve morale and performance across the organization.

Reward career development. Incentives are powerful motivators. To get the most out of career development in your organization, reward employees for completing development activities. These could include bonuses and promotions but could also be something as simple as public acknowledgement.

Are career development programs worth it?

Career development programs take careful planning, investment, and follow-through. So, you may be wondering: are they worth it? The answer is an unqualified yes. For example, a 2022 survey by Amazon and Workplace Intelligence found that employee development is key for attracting talent. Nearly 90% of respondents said strong skills development programs (87%), ample career advancement opportunities (88%), and paths to different career tracks (87%) were important when considering a new job.  

But a well-conceived and well-executed program does more than just make your organization more attractive to job candidates. It also contributes to the overall success and competitiveness of your organization. Here are several reasons that career development plans are worth the cost.

• Increase employee motivation, satisfaction, and morale.
• Enhance recruitment.
• Support retention.
• Strengthen employee loyalty.
• Elevate organizational performance.
• Boost individual and organizational productivity.
• Encourage innovation and adaptability.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Build a talent and leadership pipeline.

Find a partner for your career development program

Career development is a crucial process for both employee growth and organizational performance. And as we’ve seen, it takes consistent investment, planning, and follow-through. But you don’t have to go it alone. At Workforce Edge, we’re ready to help you explore proven ways to maximize employee potential through learning and skill growth.

Schedule a consultation to get started.