It’s 2021 and the workplace is changing rapidly. Who can blame it? We’re still battling through a pandemic - some staff are still working from home, we’re running meetings and conferences virtually where possible and jobs are ever-evolving!
Jobs that used to be are no longer – think telephone operator or milkman. New roles have taken their place in spades; roles that weren’t even thought about five to ten years ago. We now see social media managers, 3D printer operators and neuroscience practitioners to name but a few!
Like it or not, change is happening at a fast pace, and being an employer of choice means changing with it and taking your team with you too. Now some of you might be saying “If I teach my team new skills, they will leave and use those skills elsewhere”. Newsflash – train them, let them learn, build on their skills, and put those skills to use, or you will still lose them to the competition.
Employees need three things to keep them happy in the workplace:
Relationship – their sense of connection to their work colleagues and a common sense of purpose; to belong if you like and not be ostracised.
To be able to make a difference – they need to believe in what the company does, its values and its objectives. They need to believe in its leaders, and they need to be able to make a wider contribution to society or to their team – give them the feeling of value and purpose that they deserve.
Last but definitely not least, progression. The average person has four careers in their lifetime, so lifelong learning is essential. This could be anything from enhancing skills to moving job roles/title.
So, our question still stands – do you let your employees learn, encourage growth and ambition and allow your employees to learn about themselves, the company and their role within the industry or do you leave them stagnating, bored and unfulfilled in their role?