The variant of the famous quote from James Carville, strategist of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992, has never been so relevant.

The ability development for employees is a daily practice in companies big and small. An employee who is unable to carry out their daily tasks within the company may be (and is, for a fact) more expensive than the onboarding investment.

In this sense, both leaders and employees have already come to understand that in order to thrive, the organizations need employees to be lifelong learners who can grow with the business, embrace continuous changes, master new technologies, and develop skills for the future.

As organizations rethink their business models – redesign work to harness the power of technology and adjust to a fast-changing world – it’s clear they can’t succeed without making people a priority

According to Mercer’s report Global Talent Trends Study – Unlocking Growth in the Human Age, when it comes to onboarding, the biggest concern for HR executives and leaders regarding employees is the lack of critical abilities. This gap can be narrowed through structured training and ability building programs.

A recent research published by LinkedIn, called “2018 Workplace Learning Report,” tried looking at the learning process in the workplace with a holistic approach. 1,200 professionals from “talent development”, 2,200 employees, 200 executives, and 400 managers were interviewed. The result of the research is very interesting and matches what has been said above:

1. The top priority is the training of “Soft Skills.” The report shows that the top priority for talent development in 2018 is the training of “soft skills”.
2. Today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities must be balanced. Focusing the training only in current activities can have an impact on gap prevention in the employees’ future abilities.
3. Technologies are changing the talent development. Companies are increasingly choosing online (and customized) solutions to meet the needs of a more diverse and “multigerational” workforce (several generations, such as Generation Y, X, etc.).
4. The scarce time employees have available must define the teaching strategy. Companies must provide solutions on platforms users are used to, adapting them to match the professional needs and aspirations of the employees.
5. The managers’ engagement is critical. Manager’s involvement is a critical factor to increase the employees’ engagement with the learning process.

All these variables must be considered by managers (mostly in HR) when developing the appropriate training strategy for the employees. This strategy must be efficient and effective.

And which is the best way to onboard employees? That is something for the next article.