Insights

It’s no surprise that a lack of career development is one of the top reasons employees give for leaving a role. A recent PwC survey found that only 40% of employees feel their company is upskilling their workforce, and 39% are concerned they are not getting enough training, especially when it comes to digital and new technologies.

Organisation-wide surveys can reveal the need for customised skills programmes to fill these gaps and help accelerate change, especially where digital transformation is concerned. Recent trends in L&D include an increase in formal training for people managers, support for digital skills, including using AI and data analysis, and training which supports the transition to new platforms.

However, a personalised approach to L&D is needed. There is an opportunity to transform the negative view of Personal Development Plans (or PDPs for short) and instead use PDPs as a collaborative tool for employee growth. This entails creating a learning plan that combines employee goals, potential opportunities within the business, and the trajectory of the existing role.

These personalised career pathways show that the business is invested in the employee and enables a positive experience by providing them with the support to succeed. They can also facilitate a culture of Continuous Professional Development (CPD), which allows the organisation to adapt and grow in the face of change.

However, a critical factor in the success and continued relevance of these plans is for employees and employers to align on their goals at the outset and to check in regularly on progress, and this requires buy-in across the organisation.

A word of warning: these goals are focused on the development of the individual and are not directly tied to business outcomes as performance goals. For example, the overarching goal could be learning a new technology; the evidence of this could be a certification and using the skill on a business project. The goal isn’t the business impact (build x widgets using the new skills), but that may be an indirect benefit. 

Download our free guide to the Employee Experience to learn more, including the 7 steps to creating a strong PDP.