Two-thirds of employers say they will invest significantly to improve talent retention this year, and more than 60% believe reimagining career development is critical to success, Brandon Hall Group™ research shows.

This generation of employees is accustomed to continuous change and evolution. Seeking new experiences comes naturally. Therefore, employers must provide reasons for workers to stay. One way is to demonstrate that they can build their careers right where they are.

Employee Development and Retention for Lasting Success

But career development has been a difficult lift for most employers; our research shows two-thirds don’t believe their efforts are effective. There are many steps necessary for success. One foundational requirement, now more than ever in the evolving hybrid work environment, is technology. For example, TalentGuard, a Brandon Hall Group Silver Smartchoice® Preferred Provider, offers a career pathing solution and other tools that give employees a window into future opportunities so they can devise a career path that aligns with their skills and life plans.

Technology facilitates the six strategies that our research shows are critical to building a strong career development program:

• Provide Individual Development Plans for all employees. IDPs must align with an employee’s career aspirations, performance development needs and the organization’s (or team’s) business priorities, and development planning must be revised as often as necessary based on changes in employee performance or aspirations, or the needs of the business.
• Hold career discussions with employees several times per year. IDPs cannot be updated regularly without frequent career development discussions. Organizations where manager-employee check-ins are consistently held have a built-in platform to frequently broach career development. Technology facilitates this for remote and hybrid workers

• Offer coaching and/or mentoring regarding career growth. Most employers that believe their career development programs are effective provide career coaching and/or mentoring to employees, our research shows.
• Enable self-service career planning. Most employees want to take ownership of their career development. But employers must provide the tools. Only about one-third of employers said they offer easy-to-navigate apps or portals where employees can do their own career planning.
• Match employees to internal opportunities to develop their capabilities. Employers are only beginning to take advantage of a relatively new HR solution: the opportunity marketplace, which is a digital platform where organizations provide — and workers find — the opportunities most relevant to their mutual benefit and success.
• Use assessments to better understand employees. Talent assessments on behavior traits, preferred workstyles and capabilities can reveal valuable insights that can help organizations work more closely with employees to meet their career goals.