8 Key Tactics For Developing Employees

Finding great talent is hard, but what’s even more challenging is keeping the talent you have engaged so they will stay. Unless you continually reinvest in developing your employees with successful on-boarding and ongoing training—helping them reach their full potential—they may leave and you will find yourself back at square one trying to procure more talent. This process can be a time-consuming, stress-inducing cycle. Despite this knowledge, it doesn’t seem that organizations are making a lot of progress in this area. In 2012, Gallup reported that only 30% of employees in the U.S., and just 13% of employees outside of the U.S., feel engaged with their companies. Now, just three years later, these figures have not improved in any significant way. Even though statistics show that it is worth a company’s effort and resources to develop employees in order to retain them, there is still a gap. According to the Wasp small business report, 56% of businesses plan on hiring in the next 12 months while 82 % plan on developing employees more. Research also suggests that having effective managers can improve employee engagement. Organizations rely on talented and inspiring managers that have the ability to keep employees engaged and that help staff achieve strategic imperatives. But not everyone who is promoted to manager has these skills. Gallup research also revealed that only one in 10 people have an existing talent to manage. Others may possess a few manager-level qualities, such as making decisions, building relationships, creating clear accountability, being assertive, and motivating others. But, the qualities that are missing can make a huge difference in employee engagement.