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3 Reasons Why Increasing Your Professional Development Budget Is a Winning Talent Strategy in 2022

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What's your talent strategy going into 2022?

The world of work has been experiencing seismic change. A shift from in-office to remote work environments and an incredibly unusual job market driven by a high demand for workers, emboldened job seekers and the Great Resignation have likely forced you (and your competitors) to re-evaluate your talent strategy.

What hasn't changed? Your people. As the old adage goes, "Your people are your best asset." That's why, to find and retain the right talent in 2022, your business should invest in professional development.

In this blog, we'll cover three reasons why increasing your business's professional development budget will help you create a winning talent strategy in 2022.

1. Investing in Professional Development Will Help You Win the War for Talent

A recent Deloitte report revealed that "talent/labour" and "retention" were the top internal risks worrying CFOs for 2022.

While it's true that candidates want higher salaries and more employers are offering increased wages to drive recruitment and retention, candidates and employees also want compensation packages that help them maintain their employability and protect them in an ever-changing job market.

A December 2020 report by Citrix revealed that 82% of employees believe they need to reskill or upskill at least once annually to maintain a competitive advantage in a global job market. Out of the HR directors surveyed, 62% agreed.

If candidates and employees want to maintain their employability in a dynamic job market, to win the war for talent, your talent strategy should include increasing your professional development budget. That way, you will capitalize on a key decision-making factor that candidates (and current employees) assess when considering job opportunities.

Hear what 1Password CFO Jeannie De Guzman has to say about the extra steps 1Password is taking to address the Great Resignation. 

 

To watch the full episode of CFO Confidential: The Great Resignation on demand, become a Plan To Grow member.

2. You Will Attract Generation Z Employees

LinkedIn's 2021 Workplace Learning Report, a survey of 5,154 professionals, discovered that 76% of Gen Zers believe learning is key to a successful career.

The report also found that 67% of the workforce's newest additions spent more time on learning in 2020 than the prior year and that 69% of Gen Z learners created more time for themselves to learn.

If Gen Z candidates have an appetite for learning--one large enough for them to make the time to do so--your talent strategy should increase its professional development budget to align with their desires to learn and to maintain a work-life balance.

An increased learning budget will help you attract the Gen Z candidates--in, and soon to be entering the workforce--to your company.

3. You Will Develop a Competitive Workforce

A recent Gartner survey of more than 500 HR leaders found that their top priority for 2022 was building critical skills and competencies within their workforce.

Many large enterprises, such as PwC, Amazon and Accenture, are investing more than half a billion dollars in employee upskilling to keep their respective workforces competitive.

When your company's goals inevitably change, your workforce needs to be ready to adapt. An increased professional development budget can support your employees with reskilling and upskilling to adjust to your company's shifting priorities.

Ongoing learning can help your employees stay up to date by acquiring the latest skills and knowledge in their field, changing how they work and think, as well as receiving training in new or emerging technology.

Your talent strategy should increase its professional development budget to keep your workforce competitive so that once your company's priorities shift, your workforce is prepared and has the skills to adapt quickly.

Your Talent Strategy in 2022

Re-evaluate your company's talent strategy regularly. As work environments and the job market continue to evolve, you will need to have the ability to dynamically align and adjust your workforce planning, from current and future payroll to fringe benefits and more. While investing in professional development will be a key component of a winning talent strategy in 2022, so too will your ability to drive agile, employee-level planning.  

Click here to find out how the not-for-profit organisation, Citizen's Advice, transformed its approach to workforce planning by improving collaboration between budget holders and the finance team.

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