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Employee surveys show that workers will stay if companies invest in their development. Managers are in a unique position to drive employee retention and engagement, and companies should ensure that they have a more active role in employee training and development. These five steps can help: 1) Let managers tell you what they need; 2) Create dedicated time and space for learning; 3) Give managers a specific role in training; 4) Help managers turn training into action; and 5) Collect feedback on the training from managers as well as employees.
As the costs of the Great Resignation continue to grow, companies need more ways to attract and retain employees. One clear approach is to offer more training and development — according to a 2019 LinkedIn study, 94% of employees said they would stay with their employer if it invested in their development.
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What does it take to become more productive? Based on their recent research, the authors propose a process to help knowledge workers increase their productivity. This process involves thinking consciously about how you spend your time, deciding which tasks matter most to you and your organization, and dropping or creatively outsourcing the rest. These tasks can then be sorted into quick kills (things you can stop doing now, without any negative effects), off-load opportunities (work that can be delegated with minimal effort), and long-term redesign (work that needs to be re-conceived or restructured). Once these low-priority tasks are disposed of, the newly freed-up time can be spent focusing on more-important work.
More hours in the day. It’s one thing everyone wants, and yet it’s impossible to attain. But what if you could free up significant time—maybe as much as 20% of your workday—to focus on the responsibilities that really matter?
A version of this article appeared in the September 2013 issue of Harvard Business Review.
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| Working conditions | 22 | 10 | 10 |
| Workload | |||
| Understaffed | |||
| Physical environment/noise | |||
| Lack of structure in working hours | |||
| Type/nature of job | 20 | 11 | 9 |
| Dealing with clients | |||
| Unpredictability, unexpected difficulties | |||
| High responsibility/demands | |||
| Shifts/nights/travelling | |||
| Management practices | 13 | 10 | 9 |
| Unrealistic demands, pressure, conflicting role, effort–reward imbalance | |||
| Lack of support/appreciation, unfair treatment | |||
| No participation in decision-making, lack of transparency | |||
| Poor communication | |||
| Life events | 11 | 5 | 5 |
| Work–life balance | |||
| Family/personal issues | |||
| Unexpected life events, sickness | |||
| Financial factors/problems | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pay/benefits, lack of appreciation in salary | |||
| Money-making goals | |||
| Job insecurity |