There was a time when the primary value proposition of an employer to potential employees was financial compensation: a good hourly wage, strong salary and/or lucrative bonus structure was often all the motivation many workers needed to apply for a job with the employer offering that compensation.
But, as the importance (and expense) of other lifestyle needs have grown, benefits like health and dental insurance and others have increased. In a way, these other benefits are almost akin to financial compensation, however, in the sense that there is an identifiable financial benefit associated with them. An employer-provided insurance plan may offset $1,500 in monthly costs for an employee, for example. That’s a real and concrete financial benefit.
The Value of L&D
Not all benefits are so easily quantifiable in dollars and cents. That’s especially true of the learning and development opportunities employees are increasingly expecting from their employers. In addition to a wage and benefits, today’s employees also increasingly expect to be able to learn valuable new skills and to gain useful experience on the job. These skills and experiences can set employees up for future advancement within the company or potentially for a new and more lucrative role in another organization.
Rethinking Training Offerings
Some employers may already have desirable learning and development opportunities to offer employees and simply need to effectively communicate and market those opportunities to potential employees. Others may need to rethink the state of their learning and development culture and seek out opportunities for improvement.
From a practical standpoint, adding additional training isn’t just a gimmick to attract workers; it’s also an obvious way by which an employer can increase the value and productivity of its staff.
Wages and benefits have traditionally been the key driver of how desirable a job seems to a potential employee. Increasingly, however, employees are looking for more than just financial benefits. They want experiential and development opportunities as well. These opportunities can be a surprisingly strong driver of an employee’s choice of employer.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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