Promote Professional Development

Attracting and keeping engaged and loyal employees is crucial to the success of a business. High staff turnover disrupts production and impacts the profitability of a company. A great way to retain staff and nurture employee skills is to consistently and actively promote professional development activities. Encouraging professional growth shows your team you care about their progress and their future, and it inspires loyalty in employees.
Support and Model Behavior
Supervisors and workplace leaders serve as role models to employees in a workplace. Take an active role in your own professional development activities and let staff know you value these opportunities to further your career. Show interest in the progress of each employee participating in online courses or special projects, and share their successes at staff or sales meetings. Encourage employee enrollment in professional associations or organizations by your own participation.
Cross-Training Work Assignments
On-the-job training is a traditional and effective method of encouraging professional development at work. Once an employee masters the tasks required in her role, offer opportunities to learn skills of complementary positions. Cross-training engages employees and shows them you value their work enough to give them other opportunities. Developing employees to perform a variety of roles also makes good business sense, because it helps avoid hiring temporary staff to cover absences due to vacation or sick days.
Access to Resources
Offer professional development opportunities to your staff with a variety of resources. Build a DVD or online video library of training material and tutorials. Arrange on-site workshops or seminars. Host lunch-and-learns with guest speakers on current issues and new developments in your field. Coordinate and take part in informal or formal mentoring and peer-coaching relationships between staff members. Assist interested employees in accessing other resource material to...