Skills development must be prioritized within the organization and pursued by every department manager. A lack of business and IT skills has a direct correlation to revenue loss and employee stress. The solution? A skilled workforce. Our solution architect team can uncover skills gaps and design an employee development plan that will upgrade employees to meet enterprise business goals.
Importance of Employee Development
Investing in employee training and development results in greater engagement and retention as well as increasing the value of that individual to others, the company, and the bottom line.
Why is Employee Development important?
- Higher employee job confidence & satisfaction
- Decreased Customer Complaints /Increased Customer Satisfaction
- Higher employee retention rate
- Increased Job Productivity
- Process efficiency, flexibility, & productivity
- Problem-solving skills
- Innovation in strategies and products
Upskilling your Employees
Upskilling will be a corporate responsibility in the 2020s. So where do you start? There are so many employee training program options out there. Every one of them is different. But given the data and trends away from globalization people are going to want training from a local trusted resource like New Horizons Learning Group. A live instructor will always be more impactful than eLearning. You wouldn't pay for college to go spend 4 years in the library, without professor and classmate interaction and hands-on immersive learning, would you?
More businesses need to adopt this methodology: Forum experience with a facilitator and/or a coach. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that hiring managers report skills matter more than degrees. This is important, but the biggest mistake we often see? One and done versus continuous.
The value of training compounds over time. Do professional athletes stop practicing as they get higher and higher status or levels of success? The exact opposite. Why do we stop in our companies if we know results and value have a compounding effect through continuous training? Mentorship and facilitation will be key versus command and control.
Business Return on Investment
Despite the initial monetary costs, training from New Horizons Learning Group will deliver a return on your investment. New Horizons training yields a 4:1 return relative to costs and predicted increases in job performance.
- Over 98% of our clients report utilizing knowledge and skills gained in New Horizons classes.
- Over 50% of performance improvements are directly related to New Horizons training.
- Up to 70% of employee retention rates increase with proper training investments
One of the best ways to maintain and increase your competitive advantage is to provide your employees with the computer training they need to be more productive. In fact, surveys often show that employees value skill development as much as they value an increase in salary.
When taking into consideration the resources that go into establishing a new hire, or growing an established team, the proper training can have a huge impact on your bottom line!
How to Create an Employee Development Plan
Step 1: Identify the Appropriate Type of Training for Your Organization
As a training leader, you and your team are tasked with implementing a full slate of programs for your organization. Where to start? Start by taking steps to analyzing your company training needs. Depending on what industry you work in, there may be a number of annual compliance training programs you need to conduct.
Examples of the different types of training an organization may require, include:
Oftentimes, these types of training are required by regulatory agencies, or even for insurance purposes, so they demand your full attention. Adding professional development training courses to your docket may seem like a great idea, but realistically, you may not have time to put this together on top of the training, you are already required to conduct—which is where professional development training organizations come in. If you are still asking ' what are the benefits of professional development? ', the earlier you start to answer that, the sooner you begin to see the positive impact any professional development training brings to your organization.
Step 2: Consider Partnering with a Professional Development Organization
According to a study by Axonify, only 41 percent of employees report that their employer offers some type of professional development training.
Many of the organizations that do offer professional development training take the most cost-effective approach by investing in massive, on-demand e-learning programs that are often traditional and directive in nature. Unfortunately, this approach may not cater to each individual’s unique needs and desires.
If you find this situation all too familiar, you may want to consider partnering with a professional development training organization. Although you and your team may be quite capable, there are times when this strategy makes sense. For one, partnering with an outside organization for professional development training helps you deal with the diverse needs of your organization.
When you have multiple departments within your company, you know that there are different training needs. The skills required by one group may not be necessary for another. Different professional development training courses also fall into different paths consisting of:
Another time when partnering with an outside organization likely makes sense is when you need to conduct large-scale professional development training that requires extensive planning, coordination, and oversight. Turning a training project over to a trusted provider will allow you to focus on the business-critical training components that you already have in place and are accustomed to providing.
Finally, you and your team may not be equipped to deliver professional development training. You have spent years honing your skillset to create, update, and deliver the training programs your organization expects from you. Adding another catalog of courses means you have to become an expert in knowing what to look for when it comes to the course materials.
Step 3: Get Buy-In from Your Internal Team
Before kicking off a professional development training program, you need to present a strong business case internally to get everyone, from executives and managers to entry-level employees, on board. Here’s how to make it happen:
- Work with a training provider that has a number of success stories you can share with your team.
- Demonstrate clear alignment between your company’s performance goals and the training program.
- Outline how you plan to measure the return on investment (ROI) of your professional development training program.
Whatever the end result that your organization is looking for, find ways that training can help you achieve it, and spell out your plan. Resources from the Association for Talent Development (ATD) can help you determine the ROI of your program if you are struggling to measure it.
Also, don’t be afraid to use post-training surveys to determine how successful your program was and where it can be improved. The same resource catalog from ATD outlines how to build an effective post-event feedback survey and provides guidance on when you should conduct it.
Step 4: Choose the Type of Professional Development Training Program
The right partner will help you identify the skill gaps in your organization and implement a successful program. When you’re looking for a professional development partner, there are generally three different types to choose from: niche training organizations, Gurus or well-known personalities, and Centers for Leadership and Development. For more information, visit our blog to learn How to build a successful training and development program.
What are Employee Development Areas?
There are various areas for employee development, each, with its own goals. The basic element in today's business climate is a growth mindset. New Horizons Learning Group offers a variety of growth-centered professional development and technical courses designed for business professionals in every department in every company. Deciding between Employee
certification or employee skills
? Browse our links below, or download our full course catalog.
How Can I Improve IT/Business Alignment?
Business- IT Alignment comes down to vocabulary. To understand alignment, try this. Ask everyone in your department to draw a chair. Take a look at the drawings and you will most likely agree that everyone drew a chair. However, add up all the variations of ones that look like office chairs, lounge chairs, gaming chairs. Were there chairs with arms, or without? What about the rollers of the chairs? Size? We can all draw a chair, and look at other people's chairs and agree they're chairs. But if you do not define a common vocabulary (what we mean when we say chair) and what that vocabulary means, everyone else in the room is imagining a different chair. This is having alignment. To move the company forward, not only does IT need to be aligned with the business, but also with itself.
The languages we speak within the IT department can include:
- Process language
- Coding language
- Service Management language
When you ask your team, "Did we hit our KPIs", you need to expect that everyone knows exactly what you are talking about. It's not enough to say the right things, but everyone in the room needs to understand what that means.
Employee Tuition Reimbursement
If you have training budget dollars available but have no time to determine which employees need training and when, and you need your dollars to go as far as possible, we have a solution for you:Learning Credits.
Our Learning Credits program provides you with the opportunity to use your allocated budget, but schedule training in the future with the assistance of our training staff to help coordinate efforts.
You will have up to one year to select any course noted on nhlearninggroup.com. As classes are selected and students are enrolled, we deduct the course cost noted on our website from your available Learning Credits pool.
Below you will find the learning credits contribution ranges as well as the key benefits to utilizing this pricing vehicle to fund your training:
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New Horizons Learning Credits - Education Savings Plan
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Your Investment
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We Contribute
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Total Training Budget Available
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$10,000
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20%
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$2,000
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$12,000
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$20,000
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25%
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$5,000
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$25,000
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$30,000
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30%
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$9,000
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$39,000
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$50,000
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35%
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$17,500
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$67,500
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$100,000
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40%
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$40,000
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$140,000
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If you are not sure if Learning Credits are right for you, the best way to find out the breadth of training needs at your company is to conduct a training survey. A training survey allows for smarter budget planning, efficient use of time and resources and gives better employee feedback for their training needs. Read more about the benefits of a training survey.
Reinforce with eLearning
Training at your own pace is perfect for those who know when and how they can fit in their development. Gain access to Unlimited Online eLearning to 1,600+ Information Technology, Project Management & Soft Skills career certification training courses. Train when you choose – learn all at once or for a few minutes at a time. Members earn PDUs, CEUs, CPEs.
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 Unlimited Online Access
Learn what you want, when you want via your computer or mobile device
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 1,500+ Video Courses
On-demand, Instructor-led certification training specializing for IT and Project Management careers
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 Authorized Training
Official and authorized training curriculum from Axelos, Mile2, and more
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 Earn CPEs and CEUs
Earn hundreds of Continuing Education Units and Continuing Professional Education Credits
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 Obtain 611 PDUs
As a PMI® Registered Education Provider, our members can earn up to 611 PDUs
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 Certification Exam Preps
Prepare members for IT and Project Management career skills & certification exams
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 Earn 38 ITIL® Credits
Earn up to 38 ITIL® Credits towards the ITIL® Expert level qualification
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 Certificates of Completion
Earn a Certificate of Completion for each Course Series completed
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 Add-on: Hands-On Practice Labs
Over 70 Hands-on practice labs available to purchase via our online marketplace
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As business technology increases in complexity, it is very important to invest time and money into employee computer training. When employees are trained in new technologies, they can use them to provide better results for your business.
Employee training continues to produce one of the highest returns on investment a company can make. Increased employee efficiency creates a ripple effect in your business, leading to greater satisfaction for all, including your customers.