’Where Do You See Me in Five Years?’: Job Seekers Are Turning the Tables of Professional Development
Employee engagement is a huge factor in retaining skilled talent in your organization. Increasingly, it’s also becoming a big part of the recruiting process. Employees today, especially younger job seekers, tend to place more value on training and professional development than previous generations did. Enterprises that want to stay competitive and attract the best and the brightest need to demonstrate they take professional development seriously.
Highlighting the actionable professional development strategies you have in place during the recruiting process is one way to do that.
Professional Development: a Differentiator and a Necessity
The days of employees getting hired straight out of college and staying there for 10 or 20 years — perhaps even until retirement — are gone. Instead, people change roles and companies much more frequently. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a positive in the sense that today’s employees are eagerly invested in advancing their careers and learning new skills. It’s only a negative when employees have to leave your organization because they see that you’re not interested in developing them.
Increasingly, candidates are weighing professional development opportunities in the same way they would benefits like health insurance and 401(k)s. A Gallup study found that today’s job seekers care deeply about development opportunities when looking for jobs, and 87 percent of millennials say career growth is an important factor in the job search.
Employers need to provide these opportunities in a real, actionable way; they can’t just pay lip service to the idea. As the economy recovers post-pandemic, employers can look to professional development as a way to differentiate their companies and improve recruitment efforts.
Have you noticed more candidates prioritizing professional development?
Tell us about today’s talent market in the May 2021 Recruiter Index® survey.
Developing an L&D Strategy That Attracts and Retains Talent
If employers want to make professional development opportunities available on a more regular basis, they need to revamp their learning and development (L&D) strategies accordingly. Because employees change roles and companies more often, employers must give them incentives to stay. The Gallup study clearly shows that learning and development are important to job seekers.
In addition, the desire for professional development has changed the interview process. In short, the tables are turning. It used to be that an employer would always ask the prospective employee that tired interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” But now, the prospective employee is more likely to be asking the organization,
“Where do you see me in five years? What will be your investment in me?” The fact that this prospective hire has made it to the interview process in a competitive market should speak volumes; now it’s time for the employer to show the prospect they will invest in them.
To effectively compete for and retain talent, organizations now need concrete, comprehensive L&D strategies. You need to show both your employees and potential new hires that you will invest in them. If you want employees who stick around for longer than 36 months, you need to give them — and follow through on — plans for training and development.
Establishing a culture of learning is key — that is, a culture in which professional development and growth are prioritized. A culture in which employees are seen as the soul of an organization and not just grist for the mill. Employees want to be resources you (the employer) are willing to invest in — beyond just a paycheck.
This cultural focus is gaining momentum. Companies like Microsoft are investing billions of dollars into their own learning platforms and strategies. In Microsoft’s case, the company is taking the tools it already has, like Microsoft Teams, and leveraging them to create a culture of learning that is more accessible to their customers and clients.
When you see thought leaders of this magnitude making serious investments in learning and development, it should be a sign to your company. It’s not enough to have a learning management system in place, though that is an important starting point. And learning can’t just be a point-in-time event. There must be a strategy, and it must be continuous.
Prepare to Be Competitive
Professional development has become important for both employee retention and recruitment. The idea of working for an organization that values professional growth and is willing to invest in employees’ career goals is enticing — not just to millennials but to all generations. Organizations that do so are likely to foster engagement and a sense of loyalty that is typically rare in this era of job-hopping.
Establishing and demonstrating a long-term employee development strategy is now a differentiator in the job market. Are you ready?
Todd Smith is western regional business manager for LMS365.