Investing in your talent isn’t just good business – it’s one of the best ways to stay ahead in a competitive talent market. According to a recent Gallup report, the American Upskilling Study: Empowering Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow, 65% of workers consider employer-provided upskilling to be an important factor when evaluating a potential job. Employees are seeking opportunities where their learning and development (L&D) journey is continuously nurtured.

To gain more insight into building an effective and supportive L&D function, we spoke with Greenhouse L&D experts, Will Leahy, VP of People Development & Business Partners and Minji Lew, Director of People Development. Here are their top five tips to help you develop a successful L&D programme that increases employee engagement and retention.

1. Learning requires real-world practice and a collaborative ecosystem

Real learning happens when people are engaged and invested in solving actual challenges they face. Minji explained, “While workshops and training programmes are beneficial, expecting people to learn a new skill in a session that immediately solves their problems isn’t realistic.”

Minji added that it’s important to give people the time and space to practice, fail and reinforce what they learn in real life, among the other people processes and programmes they work with. “A collaborative ecosystem that reinforces learning in this way is a powerful tool for achieving long-term progress,” said Minji.

2. Fostering community is essential for effective learning

As more organisations adopt distributed work, it’s becoming apparent that community is crucial for effective learning. “While e-learning is helpful, it can also be isolating since it lacks the core element of contextualising with others,” said Will. “Relying solely on e-learning is unlikely to result in behavioural change, so it’s essential to create opportunities for cohort learning, community debriefs and thought-sharing on Slack.”

”Encouraging dialogue and collaboration among learners can enhance the learning experience and lead to better outcomes,” added Will.

3. Emphasise the importance of skill-building for professional growth

Will explained that organisations need to communicate their value and provide clear guidance on how people can effectively build their skills.

While learning and development should be enjoyable, Minji emphasises that it’s also critical for employees to recognise and prioritise its importance in their professional growth. Development programmes take an extraordinary amount of effort and time and often face limited resources.

4. Humanise learning and development to increase employee engagement

It’s essential to approach learning and development with a human touch and prioritise humour, relatable experiences and equity. “Capturing people’s attention, especially in a virtual setting, can be challenging, but it is possible to teach complex change management concepts while keeping learners engaged and excited,” said Will.

Will and Minji agreed that it’s important to factor in different learning styles and use inclusive images, language and accommodations. If the goal is to create space for open and vulnerable conversations, the learning experience must be humanised.

5. Measure the impact of L&D programmes on business goals

L&D programmes should help solve business problems in a way that can be measured. “Consider the following questions when evaluating the impact of L&D,” recommended Will.

• Do the participants in your programmes stay longer at your company than non-participants?
• Are they more engaged?
• Did they retain more customers or improve sales afterward?
• Did their performance ratings improve?

“Aligning your L&D programmes with your company’s goals or OKRs helps ensure that they’re addressing specific business needs,” he explained.

With more jobseekers and employees looking to grow in their careers, it’s clear that investing in learning and development is vital to boost employee engagement and retention. By implementing these tips, organisations can create effective L&D programmes that help their employees grow and develop, resulting in better outcomes for all.

Want to learn more about nurturing great talent? Check out the Talent Makers book on how to create a world-class hiring system.