If you’re a Learning and Development Director, motivating staff within your organisation to learn and embrace new challenges is one of your key priorities. People are busy, departments are often stretched, and sometimes employees can see your L&D plans as an inconvenient add-on.
But the good news is that, when staff are motivated to learn, the new skills and knowledge they gain can transform a business and reduce employee turnover.
Create a development plan
One surefire way to increase motivation is to work towards clear development goals. With a development plan in place, staff will see their learning and development work as a journey towards specific skills and qualifications to advance their career, rather than something to tick off the ‘to-do’ list.
Like the needs of your business, the needs and goals of each employee are unique, so opening discussion early on can help achieve both. Working with employees to create a personal development plan also achieves more buy-in from your employees.
Provide mentoring programmes
It’s been well documented that Millennials appreciate mentoring in work to support their self-development, but research from Deloitte shows that workers across the age ranges appreciate mentoring and are often able to advance in their careers more easily where mentoring is present.
Mentoring can draw on the expertise of existing senior staff, so while it requires some HR planning the return on investment can be great.
Encourage e-learning
E-learning is a brilliant motivator as it removes many barriers. Learning can be done remotely, removing travel and time wasted. E-learning is also flexible and can work within your employee’s schedule.
That said, it’s vital that the e-learning courses you utilise are engaging and interesting, and provide relevant and reliable training.
Reward results and training goals
Who doesn’t love a reward? Acknowledging your staff’s training by rewarding results achieved and goals hit can keep motivation levels up over the duration of their training.
While financial rewards can work, remember that employees of all generations are also fuelled by recognition and appreciation. Something as simple as a card or a voucher for coffee can go a long way.
At NTG, our team creates tailored apprenticeship training packages for your staff and your business. To find out more contact our team today.
