How can you communicate the benefits of Staff Development to skeptical employees?

The need for staff development training needs to come from the staff not only from management. Staff should be involved in the selection of the topic, the selection of the trainer and in the process of planning and especially evaluating the training. Too often staff development feels like something done to staff because they are doing something wrong. They need to see it as building on strengths and making them stronger in order to get their buy in. Also in most situations (not all) management should attend and participate in the training.

Tailor the trainings as per the needs, interest and skills needed to perform the job. Don't try to push on trainings which the employees do no benefit from. Try to have a skill assessment and the trainings needed for the employees which suit their job, before conducting the trainings.

A small thing I previously introduced into the business I worked for was to track their early life progress and every 30 days to flip the conversation. First contact would be for the facilitator or leader to identify where they think the individual could progress to. Second stage, where would the advisor like to progress to etc. After they have completed their 120 days they get support with cover letters and cvs but this tracking has also covered all of their performance since they joined the business so works well as mini cv for the business for internal progression.

In order for the employees to be convinced in participating in staff development,I think there is need for one on one discussion on the importance and benefits of the training. Let the employee choose the training that appeals to them. Moreso, employee development should be one that would enhance skills, values and additional certificates issued after each training which will yield promotions and better opportunities. I believe workers will be motivated to be part of the development if the initiative is directed towards a common goal of establishing them in the future. They become useful to the company and themselves. Dynamism is a powerful tool to build employees trust, input and output. As it boosts their work proficiency and portfolio.

Benefits can be Tangible and Intangible. Tangible can be increased quality, productivity, retention, adaptability to new technology and updated information. Intangible benefits can be increased employee morale, creativity increased, increased employee engagement etc. The outcomes can be enhanced skills, confidence, career advancements etc.

Sharing best practice and other success stories of people within the organisation as well is vital. If people are feeling unmotivated or believe that progression is not possible, it's always good to learn about other people's opportunties and to see how many people have worked their way up with within a business. This not only shows the business supports progression but also encourages people as they will be around like minded people.

Lack of awareness is the biggest barrier. Time constraint needs to be dealt individually by the employee and the manager. They need to understand the outcomes and benefits. The training teams needs to deliver the correct communication to let the employees know how relevant is the training for their jobs.

I think the development and nurturing of a "safe, positive, and collaborative learning environment" cannot be optional. Offering learning opportunities in a community that values outcomes over process and accomplishments over learning will only serve to elevate folks who seem to have it all figured out. If you want people to take time to learn and to exercise their new learnings, the work environment has to make space for that. It is true that people make time for what's important and that is also true for organizations. If you want people to learn you have to model that learning, talk about that learning, and praise the persons that demonstrate a learner's stance towards their work.

This is definitely one of the best way to curb skepticism. Democratizing learning by involving employees in the creation of their development would definitely enlist their commitment and support. Nobody would want to be skeptic on things they help co-created. Communicate that these planned development activities were 'designed by them, for them'. Flip the narrative that they are in charge of their own career development and L&D/HR is there to enable them.

Firstly, survey what they need to learn. Collaboratively curate the training plan and the learning preferences. Make it interactive and peer discussions.

It can be good to run tests or fun assessments when someone joins the business to discover their personality type and what learning style is best for them. This automatically includes all for the new initiatives that can come from this. Conducting end of week and end of training surveys is also vital to see what they felt went well and what needed improvements. Remember people should still get a chance to raise this around a month after their training as they may now have new suggestions of what could have been done differently.

Creating and reinforcing a culture of learning and development is crucial for fostering continuous improvement and adaptability within an organization. Allocate resources, including time and budget, to support learning initiatives and demonstrate a commitment to employee development.

Companies should always have a platform for recognition but also an open platform to many different courses and a way that points them in the right direction that would be good for their current role or if they would like to broaden their horizons.

Employees participate in learning initiatives only if they see value. If the organisation wishes to launch a staff development program, it is important to communicate the benefits of the programme, its relevance to the employees’ current and future career goals, not just from the organisation’s perspective, but from the employees’ perspective too. The larger vision of the organisation needs to be communicated. It is also good to communicate the cons of not up skilling, again from employees’ perspective.While all these methods will create the pull factor, a top down approach is best to drive maximum compliance and adoption and the leadership should demonstrate the culture of learning in action and not in words

In my experience, one thing that has always helped to sway skeptical employees on the benefits of professional development is to first ground the conversation with employees in research from reputable sources that are recent and showcases the data that helps to support your case for the need for professional development. Additionally, meet with your influencers that support the need for professional development so that they can share their first hand experiences on how it’s helped them. By utilizing the strategy of having your respected influencers to share their perspectives, they “echo” what the research says and gives colleagues their first hand experience. Then, ask for a group of employees to help brainstorm what PD is needed.

Maybe we need to stop calling it staff development. Maybe we need to stop calling it training. Maybe we need to stop calling it team building. Etc. (Well at least sometimes) One of the things I tell my clients when they hire me for my Best Conference Session Ever program is to tell their people they're going on an Adventure. We're going off to have fun and any learnings, takeaways, or aha's by the participants that will make their work easier, better, or more interesting is on them. No forced contrived anything. By now any seasoned leader or manager should know that training, staff development, and team building just gets eyes rolling in too many cases.

I'm surprised this list missed, in my opinion, the most crucial element: get clear on and tie everything back to the Why. Why is the business focusing resources on staff development? Why are folks being asked to participate? Why should they care? Without clarity and communication here, people will infer their own why, leading to rampant perceptions of "meaningless training".