Learning and development opportunities are what good employees want. People Management magazine found that the vast majority (83 per cent) of employees see learning and development (L&D) as a “vital factor” behind their choice of employer.
Employees committed to learning show a higher level of job satisfaction which has a positive effect on performance. Learning aligned for career growth is what works for employees – personal motivation is engaged when they see enhanced career potential. Ongoing training and development opportunities afford positive effects on employee attitude and proficiency, creating empowered advocates and stakeholders who will constitute a robust workforce for success in a volatile and uncertain world.
Traditionally the L&D profession has determined what personal development should be offered to their employees. A top-down approach on the premise we know what’s best for you and the organisation.
The advent of an employee-centric approach, that is designing jobs around employee needs, has in turn led to a change of strategy and the growth of Personal Learning Accounts.
What is a Personal Learning Account?
A Personal Learning Account (PLA) allows employees to select their own learning experiences. This enables them to gain new skills and learning while enhancing the employee experience.
At 10Eighty, we think employees are the best judge of their learning. We noticed that PLAs were becoming more popular with our corporate clients, so we decided to do some research to establish if this was a significant trend.
Here are questions and responses we received.
Do you currently offer Personal Learning Accounts for employees?
- Yes – 18% No – 82%
If not, are you thinking of introducing Personal Learning Accounts in the next 12-18 months?
- Yes – 3.64% Not Sure – 20% No – 76.36%
If you already have or are thinking about introducing these, how much money would you allocate per person?
For those who offer Personal Learning Accounts, the amounts ranged from £500 through 7.5% of salary to c.£1,000 per person.
What wellbeing services would you offer or let employees spend money on? e.g. emotional intelligence, coaching, mentoring, menopause awareness, wellbeing coaching, yoga, presenting with ease, nutrition consultation, massage, acupuncture, meditation, cooking, gong bath etc.
There was significant evidence that employers were offering access to wellbeing and mental health services either via Personal Learning Accounts or as part of the benefits package. Coaching and counselling were frequently offered.
So, overall, responses from our clients were positive in terms of their attitude towards providing Personal Learning Accounts and extremely positive in terms of the wellbeing offering available to their employees. Although, at present adoption is limited. However, we at 10Eighty think there will be an increase in their use over the next 3-5 years.
Build a learning culture
At 10Eighty, we have long championed the notion of encouraging a learning culture at work. In the current volatile and competitive environment, we have to learn faster than ever before, and leaders need to focus on inspiring learning in a dynamic way. It’s not good enough to have people just waiting on the next training programme, we need people who are hungry to learn and share what they are discovering. That way everyone in the business learns together.
A lot of money, energy and resources go into learning and wellbeing initiatives and sometimes you hear executive teams asking why they need to do these things. We should because it drives the performance of the business.
Our jobs and the skills needed within them will change significantly over the coming decades, and longer working lives will mean a greater need for people to change career and update their skills. The health and wellbeing effects of learning suggest a clear benefit to promoting learning throughout life and as part of a personalised career path plan.
Promote the Personal Learning Account
Promoting the idea of continuous learning can improve performance, enhance employee engagement, and materially facilitate the development of a talent pipeline and future management and leadership capability. It’s not just about upskilling, reskilling, and productivity, but also about being proactive in building a corporate culture fit to meet future needs, demands and challenges by fostering innovation and creativity. It’s also key thriving in a competitive and volatile marketplace.
Providing development opportunities is one of the most important things you can offer employees. Make it easier for employees to access e-learning, online mentoring, coaching and collaboration apps, career path planning solutions and let them work and study in the way that suits them best. It encourages workers to take ownership of their learning and development and develop the skills needed for the future.
It’s too easy to rely on one-size-fits-all programmes, but personalisation enables learning that is structured or on-demand for individuals and groups, both theoretical and practical – whatever your employees need, that’s how you engage them with your development offer and keep them enthusiastic.
Join 10Eighty in promoting the use of Personal Learning Accounts.
