Why is Professional Development Important in the Workplace?

What is Professional Development?

After a person has entered the workforce, professional development refers to ongoing education and career training to assist them in gaining new abilities, keeping current on current trends, and progressing in their careers.

Ensuring that individuals are able to stay relevant and up to date is one of the reasons for the importance of professional development. This is due to the fact that it allows for employees to stay up to date with the trends in their industry. Encouraging professional development allows for an increase in employee retention rate as employees are more likely to see growth opportunities and feel more involved and important to the company and their higher – ups.

Ways to Offer Professional Development

There are a few different ways to encourage professional development in the workplace, including mentorship programs, the use of technological advancement, and encouraging active participation. Creating internal mentorship programs helps employees connect with each other to discuss ideas, work together on improvement, and increase general relationships. Keeping employees current with technology and its advancements benefits the company and creates more diverse skills for individuals. Encouraging active participation creates a less hostile environment , and more efficient work environment, which increases productivity.

Some real life examples of companies that invest in their employees through offering entry – level employees out of the ordinary professional development includes Adobe, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte. Adobe visits college campuses and companies to recruit a big and varied internship programme. For all new recent college graduates or persons entering the industry, Adobe additionally provides a number of educational tools about the company’s operations. Boston Consulting Group has a LAB Learning Portal, which provides employees with on-demand access to training and information from all of their areas of expertise and is available to employees all around the world. Deloitte is one of the best companies to work at regarding professional development. The CEO had created a learning centre, known as Deloitte University, which serves as a continual education resource for all levels of employees at the organisation, not including the specific training interns and new recruits receive.

Implementing Professional Development as a Business

Implementing professional development in the workforce involves creating a more community based workplace, which can be created through the internal mentorship programs. Encouraging active participation of the employees also allows a better feeling of community. This is important due to employees reporting a higher level of happiness and satisfaction at the company, and allows for company culture growth. Teaching employees about technological advancements also allows employees to increase their skills, while benefiting the company through quick and efficient completion of tasks.

What is Employee Morale and How to Improve It?

Employee morale refers to an employee’s mood, contentment, and general outlook while working for a company or organization, meaning the overall mental and emotional condition of the workplace.

The importance of improving employee morale is that employees will be more likely to put in more hours and be more productive and efficient with their work. An increase of attention to detail is also more likely, creating less mistakes and more safe work. There are a few different ways to boost employee morale, including asking for feedback and making sure to implement the feedback, supporting and encouraging employee – led initiatives, and promoting a good work – life balance.

Asking for consistent feedback allows employees to feel more heard and appreciated in the company. Implementing the feedback received allows employers to listen to their employees, maintaining employee retention, and more productive employees. Supporting and encouraging employee – led initiatives, it allows the company to demonstrate that it cares about its employees, and also listens to what they want. Promoting a good work – life balance allows employees to seem more energized and upbeat during their time at work.

Employees growing in their roles and constantly learning through professional development encouraged by their employers allows for a boost in employee morale.