An essential factor in edging out your competition is hiring and retaining the best talent. A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study showed that when asked why they 
would look elsewhere for work, 35 percent of employees said it was because they were dissatisfied with their current career paths. Thirty-two percent reported that they needed a different experience with new challenges.
Many candidates will not even consider employment with a company unless it offers career development as a basic component of its culture. As an employer, it behooves you to begin establishing a career development partnership with your team members as soon as you begin to court them for employment.
The Benefits of Employee Success Plans
One of the main reasons employees stay with an organization is because they have formed strong connections to others there. Leaving would mean separating from a network of professionals with whom they have formed solid bonds. Employees become embedded in a company’s culture – and vice versa.
Clearly defined employee success plans:
- Help attract the best talent. While many companies focus on salary and benefits packages, the strategic leaders know they need to offer more. Especially among millennials, who soon will dominate the global workforce, many candidates care as much or more about potential advancement as they do financial compensation.
- Enhance your employer value proposition. Build your company reputation as a place where people can grow. Your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors – as long as they’re fulfilled and satisfied. Creating a positive work environment with strong advancement potential will not only keep current employees happy, but incite them to spread the word.
How to Create Career Development Plans
In order to succeed in formulating new hire success plans, you must grasp and nurture your employees’ point of view. With this insight, you can partner with them so they achieve their career goals and your business also emerges a winner.
- Provide multiple opportunities for growth. In addition to the best in training, consider a company mentoring program. This will demonstrate your commitment to employee development, while providing the knowledge and guidance needed to achieve that growth.
- Optimize your employee review process. It’s about more than just annual performance reviews, though those are excellent forums for discussing career paths. Make the connection between employee and company needs part of your ongoing dialogue, in order to minimize unpleasant surprises and make adjustments as needed.
- Have current, detailed job descriptions. Well-defined job descriptions will help facilitate effective recruiting ads, which will draw the right candidates. In addition, they will keep employees clear and focused on what is expected of them.
Having career success paths in place shows candidates and team members that you value them, both now and when you share a vision of what they might be able to offer your organization down the line. If you need further guidance or assistance in developing your employee development strategy or setting up a success path for new hires, read our related posts or contact PrideStaff Fresno today.