From: http://www.bizjournals.com/
When it comes to continuing education, many executives may be reluctant to invest in conferences and seminars for their employees.
This is especially true in industries where continuing education isn’t a requirement.
Just because an employee has graduated from college or gotten their master’s degree doesn’t mean that they should stop learning. In fact, professional development has many benefits that can help a company in the long run.
Let’s take a look at the importance of professional development and some best practices to consider in order to glean the most from these career activities for employees.
Sharpening the tools in your toolbox
Employees are the outward face of your company. As a CEO or a manager, you want the best people on your team because in the end, they are a reflection of you and your company.
Professional development helps employees continue to not only be competent in their profession, but also excel in it. It should be an ongoing process that continues throughout an individual’s career.
Actively pursuing professional development ensures that knowledge and skills stay relevant and up to date. It also allows employees to be more aware of changing trends and directions in an industry.
With the professional world moving at a faster pace than ever before, standing still will cause you to be left behind as peers expand their knowledge and skills.
There is always room for growth and improvement of professional skills. Attending a conference or seminar can provide employees with new ways to sharpen skills within their professions. The more knowledge an individual gains of a specific skill set, the more confidence they will have when performing these skills.
Retaining the best talent
Additionally, professional development helps employees stay interested and interesting.
While experience is a great teacher, it often means that we tend to continue what we have done in the past. Professional development opens us up to new possibilities, strategies, knowledge and skill areas.
Attending conferences is one of the largest contributors to new information in respective professions. It can also benefit employee retention since it helps cultivate and preserve the best talent.
As a leader or supervisor, encourage your employees to seek out conferences that are a fit for your business. You can also plan ahead and budget for these events. They don’t always have to be conferences in different cities, but can be as simple as a webinar that an employee can watch at their desk.
Boosting morale
For our company, SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas, is a perfect example of a great conference for professional development. With hundreds of panel sessions covering a variety of topics from future trends to marketing and branding, the conference is a great source for insight, ideas and inspiration.
Employees are able to get new ideas and pass them along to clients through enhanced services and increased performance. With SXSW — and many other conferences — the opportunity to learn in new and different ways and environments directly correlates to enthusiasm and inspiration upon return. It raises the bar for performance and pushes the rest of the organization to constantly improve.
This new-found enthusiasm can also improve morale. If employees are excited about their work, they typically put more effort into it, produce better results and are happier in the long run.
Investing in professional development of employees also helps to make them feel valued. Making an investment in the future of an employee can show you are willing to help them reach their full potential. When you have an organization full of valued individuals, morale — and, in turn, productivity — will be at an all-time high.
By providing opportunities for professional development, employers are investing in their employees and ultimately strengthening the backbone of the business. The next time an employee asks about an upcoming conference or seminar, take a step back and consider the potential benefits to the company — they might just surprise you.
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