Align training to the
employee experience
Regardless of the org's view of professional development, you can be sure
that your employees care about their career as much as (likely more)their
day-to-day job experience. So, in the same way tech, business and design
has shifted to be more human-centered - training teams need to be laser
focused on their humans - the learners. Considering employee concerns,
we can look at two relationships that are most core to an employee's
experience: the organization as a whole and the manager.
Feeling included and supported by their employer (as well as their
immediate team) may be the most foundational aspect of workers' job
satisfaction. Revelations on the importance of Wellness, DEI and employee
belonging have snowballed since the pandemic, but there are increasingly
clear signals that they are a core piece of professional development.
More awareness in these areas help the organization at-large make more
considered decisions, but it also prepares a new generation of leaders as
the company moves forward.
Next, when considering the day-to-day, managers represent the single
largest factor in an employee's satisfaction at work, but those leaders don't
always have the support they need to be successful
4
. Often, individuals
move to managerial positions with minimal experience or expectation-
setting, beyond a minimum of core training to remain compliant. 'Soft
skills' like delegation, coaching and succession planning may not even
be on most org's radars, but someone with tenure leading a team
might wish they had gotten a crash course in some of those areas,
rather than learning on the job - or worse, realizing that they needed
help after it was too late. Setting up managers for success in their role
helps both them and their team in developing trust and advocacy, as
well as driving results.
"Feeling included and
considered by their
employer may be the
most foundational
aspect of workers'
job satisfaction."
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