Invest in L&D to reverse the post-pandemic talent drain

The seis­mic shift in the work­place dynam­ic means an urgent need to address the post-pan­dem­ic tal­ent drain.

Hybrid work­ing, the rise of dig­i­tal and data, and a fun­da­men­tal change in employ­ee expec­ta­tions are reshap­ing the world of work.

With fore­casts that as many as 40% of the glob­al work­force could leave their jobs as part of the great res­ig­na­tion, a peo­ple-dri­ven strate­gic approach to attract­ing and retain­ing tal­ent is essen­tial.

Work­place train­ing deliv­ered through robust, engag­ing and mean­ing­ful learn­ing and devel­op­ment pro­grammes is key to cre­at­ing a careers-focused cul­ture that gives organ­i­sa­tions a dis­tinc­tive edge.

“The pan­dem­ic has cre­at­ed a unique set of chal­lenges, rang­ing from employ­ee burnout to issues with hybrid work­ing and the expec­ta­tions of the work­force chang­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly and rapid­ly,” explains James Kel­ly, chief exec­u­tive of Corn­del, a spe­cial­ist train­ing provider work­ing with large cor­po­rate organ­i­sa­tions.

“The UK is fac­ing the high­est num­ber of vacan­cies in record­ed his­to­ry, and 2022 looks no dif­fer­ent. Busi­ness­es are los­ing top tal­ent, but work­place train­ing can help to re-engage and retain employ­ees.”

A desire to kick­start career growth and the chance to reflect on per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al goals are among rea­sons for the exo­dus, but work­place train­ing, upskilling and a focus on some of the soft skills need­ed in the hybrid world can stem those issues.

Research from Corn­del, which works in part­ner­ship with organ­i­sa­tions includ­ing BP, Asda, The Adec­co Group and Zoopla, found 84% of clients report­ed L&D pro­grammes were effec­tive at reduc­ing turnover and retain­ing good employ­ees.

How­ev­er, with fig­ures show­ing sharp increas­es in expe­ri­enced employ­ees leav­ing their jobs, there is a fresh chal­lenge fac­ing firms as ‘acci­den­tal man­agers’ strug­gle to cope with
new demands.

“The great res­ig­na­tion will have a direct impact on employ­ees as their roles expand to take on addi­tion­al work,” points out Kel­ly.

“Mar­keters will now have to be data pro­fes­sion­als too; project man­agers will need lead­er­ship skills to take on new chal­lenges – the impact will be felt across all depart­ments and lev­els.

“There is a real need for qual­i­ty, bite-sized learn­ing, as employ­ees will need to learn at speed.”

At the same time, con­cerns that hybrid work­ing and a lack of in-per­son men­tor­ship could lead to prox­im­i­ty bias and ham­per devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties must be addressed through empa­thet­ic lead­er­ship train­ing.

Part of a robust strat­e­gy that embeds L&D into organ­i­sa­tion­al cul­ture are appren­tice­ships.
The Open Uni­ver­si­ty found three-quar­ters of organ­i­sa­tions report­ed increased reten­tion as a result of appren­tice­ship pro­grammes, while almost half of all appren­tices are aged over 24.

The pro­duc­tiv­i­ty ben­e­fits of skills devel­op­ment are recog­nised by the gov­ern­ment, which has pledged to increase fund­ing for appren­tice­ships by £170m to £2.7bn in 2024–25.

Corndel’s own research high­lights that 88% of employ­ers also believe the skills cri­sis can be effec­tive­ly mit­i­gat­ed through appren­tice­ships.

Mean­while, a new online ser­vice launched in Sep­tem­ber to make it eas­i­er for large employ­ers that pay the Appren­tice­ship Levy to spend their funds, and for oth­er employ­ers to apply for fund­ing.

BP cur­rent­ly has more than 300 peo­ple under­tak­ing career appren­tice­ships and Rob­bie Wat­son, the firm’s future skills and learn­ing man­ag­er for dig­i­tal, said the strat­e­gy showed a “com­mit­ment to devel­op­ment”.

“When we look at attract­ing tal­ent, it’s about offer­ing so much more than a job,” explains Wat­son.

“Some­one that joins BP starts their job on day one, but they also start their learn­ing jour­ney on day one.

“We are try­ing to change the cul­ture with­in BP to a con­tin­u­al learn­ing envi­ron­ment and career appren­tice­ships real­ly feed into that.”

As soci­etal and eco­nom­ic changes cre­at­ed by the pan­dem­ic con­tin­ue to impact employ­ee burnout and issues with reten­tion and attrac­tion, a high-qual­i­ty work­place train­ing strat­e­gy can help build a cul­ture of life­long learn­ing and a curi­ous,
inno­v­a­tive work­force.

“It can’t be under­stat­ed how sig­nif­i­cant­ly the world of work has changed in the last two years,” con­cludes Kel­ly.

“All these issues require clear, strate­gic plan­ning that recog­nis­es that shift rather than incre­men­tal changes to an organisation’s L&D strat­e­gy.”

Find out how your organ­i­sa­tion can make the most of your Appren­tice­ship Levy fund­ing and solve skills gaps with­in your busi­ness at corndel.com

Pro­mot­ed by Corn­del