How to Retain Employees in 2022

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

If there is one thing executives need to keep top of mind in 2022, it is employee retention. Qualified employees are leaving jobs in record numbers across industries. And executives are feeling the pressure to provide better employee experiences to retain their talent.

Yes, it is important to protect your talent. Just look at the impact your employees have on innovations for your solutions and products. Importantly, employee retention also means protecting the investment that you put into your employees, from the onboarding process and beyond. To that end, it’s important to examine the ROI of investing in your employees. And to challenge yourself to make smart investments in employees in the new year, so that you can continue to give them what they need, and they can continue to contribute to your success in meaningful ways.

Why is Employee Training Important to Keep Your Employees in 2022?

To keep your employees in 2022, think about what you are training them for, and how and when you are training them. Employee training matters in 2022 in a way that it did not before. Turnover is significant. It needs to be acknowledged and planned for. Add to that the changes all businesses have encountered since the pandemic, and the associated challenges that continue to arise. Now is the time to look at employee training as a unifier, in addition to an opportunity to provide a baseline set of skills and a branded approach to delivery.

So, thinking back to investment. Does that mean you need to break the bank on creating extensive, customized L&D Systems for your organization? Given current budgets, time constraints, and the wealth of affordable technology options that are out there, no, it does not.

What is an L&D System?

L and D, short for learning and development, is the scope of resources dedicated to teaching and training employees to enable them to improve their performance. Learning and development initiatives promote professional development. They enable your organization’s employees to stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and other skills related to their responsibilities within your organization.

The scope of learning and development is broad. And, in many cases, large enterprises choose to develop customized, expensive L&D Systems specifically to ensure that their employees are provided with a continuous series of learning initiatives throughout the course of their tenure.

These kinds of systems, usually managed by an internal human resources office, can be effective in providing employees with access to the tools and resources they need. However, they can be costly to set up and to maintain in-house. So, if training and development is a relatively new priority for your organization, or if you have a tight budget (but also have a pressing need to retain your employees and keep them competitive) creating your own, unique L&D System may be both cost and time prohibitive.

How Can You Train Employees without Creating Your Own Tools?

A variety of cloud solutions is available to support a broad range of learning and development needs. And, while these solutions are not custom-built from the ground up for (or by) your organization, they can be adapted in ways that directly suit your needs and requirements, and your employees.

Accessing cloud solutions to connect your employees with ongoing learning and development opportunities will go a long way to keeping your employees in 2022. Let’s look at how the numbers bear out. According to Lorman Education Services, “70% of employees would be somewhat likely to leave their current job to work for an organization known for investing in employee development and learning.” Access to learning resources is even more important to the much-watched demographic of millennial workers, of whom “86% would be kept from leaving their current position if training and development were offered by their employer.”

To avoid losing employees who are motivated by access to learning and development, consider connecting them with affordable learning tools. And remember, these are not tools you need to create. In our case, we work with a variety of cloud-based and other solutions, and work to integrate them into the employee experiences in mid-size to large businesses.

Tips for Developing Learning and Development Solutions

To that end, as we head into 2022 with the shared goal of keeping our employees in the new year, we have come up with a list of tips.

1. Create an Integrated Experience Using Out of the Box Tools

You do not need to make the significant investment of building an entirely unique L&D System in order to accommodate the needs, interests, and goals of your employees and your organization. You do, however, need to provide your employees with an integrated, unified experience.

Things like setting up an internal system in which employees can access multiple training solutions via one login go a long way to making training easy, accessible, and enjoyable for employees. These are the kinds of solutions we help employers build. And we do so with the understanding that your employees deserve top shelf experiences that are easy to navigate, and productive to engage with. Learning experiences that are equally cost effective and productive for you.

2. Work with Trusted Partners

Do not rush the process. Do not purchase a variety of disconnected solutions that you throw onto your employee retention challenge like a patch. Instead, take the time to connect with a solutions provider who can help connect you with the right learning and development resources. And make sure that partner understands the goals you have for your employee experience and your overall organization.

If, for instance, ease of use is a particularly high priority (as it should be), make sure to communicate that with your partner, so the partner filters all decisions through that lens. Ultimately, that enables you – and your employees – to get the feeling of customization without the cost.

3. Use Trusted Sources

Trusted resources are just as important as trusted partners. And, in the best scenarios, your partner will be able to introduce you to those resources or provide insight into resources you are considering for your employees. We caution against simply going with what is popular or opting into the first outreach you receive. Research the tools as seriously as you research your partners. Question them as rigorously as you do your new hires. After all, when done correctly, learning and development, hiring, and your overall company culture all work in tandem to keep your employees strong and to keep them connected to you, and ready to serve your customers.

4. Ask Your Employees What They Want

This brings us to what might be the most important tip. Listen to your employees. Ask them what they want, and what they need to do their job better. And to retain their levels of satisfaction. They may have resources in mind from previous employers, or from their own research. Take the opportunity to benefit from this experience and interest. And use this discovery exercise as a new way of engaging with your employees.

After all, an employee who feels like you are listening is much more likely to stay in 2022 and beyond.