Importance of Learning and Development in Employee Retention

Importance of Learning and Development in Employee Retention

To recruit and retain people, organizations need to create learning and developing culture. Learning and development in an organization is an essential element to manage human resources and it gives line managers and leaders to create their pipeline of talented employees.

Walton (1999) Strategic human resource development involves introducing, eliminating, modifying, directing and guiding processes in such a way that all individuals and teams are equipped with the skills, knowledge and competences they require to undertake current and future tasks required by the organization.

A progress of learning and development will lead the business to achieve the set goals through talented human resources capital. But it is  also important for an organization and its employees to have people with encouragement to learn and grow.

Learning	Development
Continuous process of enhancing existing and new skills, knowledge and attitude.	Process that enables people to progress from present state to future state for a higher level of skills and knowledge.

(Source : Armstrong's Handbook, 2009)

Learning Culture

A culture which promotes learning that grows their employees to achieve organization goals and which allows the management and line managers to identify and build their talent. Empowering employees provide freedom for them to manage their work independently within the set guidelines.     

Reynolds (2004) describes a learning culture as a ‘growth medium’, which will ‘encourage employees to commit to a range of positive discretionary behaviors, including learning and which has the following characteristics: empowerment not supervision, self-managed learning not instruction, long-term capacity building not short-term fixes.

As Harrison (2000) comments, the notion of the learning organization remains persuasive because of its ‘rationality, human attractiveness and presumed potential to aid organizational effectiveness and advancement’.

           

Benefits of Learning and Development

• Develop individual and organization performance, quality and productivity.
• Attract talented people, enhancing skills, provide job satisfaction and allow them to gain rewards.
• Enhanced knowledge and skills provide operational flexibility.
• Improved skills create higher commitment of employees.
• Provide higher level of customer service, both internal and external.
• Help to develop a positive culture in the organization.
• Provide line managers the required skilled peoples to develop.

Creating a learning and developing culture in an organization will create job satisfaction, better understanding and a flexible environment, which makes a better place for talented employees to work and will make direct impact on employee retention.

References

Harlow Wick, C W and Leon, L S (1995) Creating a learning organisation: from ideas to action, Walton, J (1999) Strategic Human Resource Development, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Human Resource.

Reynolds, J (2004) Helping People Learn, CIPD, London Scarborough, H, Swan, J and Preston, J (1999) Knowledge Management: A literature review, Institute of Personnel and Development, London.

Harrison, R (2000) Employee Development, 2nd edn, IPM, London.