The Importance of Offering Education Opportunities to Your IT Staff

You may think that it’s up to your tech team to invest in their own professional development, but if you’re not offering educational opportunities, you could ultimately be hurting your business. Today’s employees want to work for companies that invest in their development. Education can be a strong recruiting and retention tool, helping you build and maintain a more effective team. Here are just a few reasons why it is so important to invest in educational opportunities for your IT staff.

Talented Employees Want To Advance Their Careers

Do you want your IT employees to remain stagnant? Or do you want to employ people who want to grow and achieve more? Investing in company-sponsored education shows employees you support their drive to achieve more. Providing ample learning opportunities will help you build a more successful and capable team.

Education, Training and Development Boosts Retention

As a manager or HR pro, you know the costs associated with employee turnover. As a reminder: it costs upwards of $4,129 to hire an entry-level employee, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Those costs skyrocket when you’re hiring for specialized, supervisory or management roles in tech.  Offering employees internal and external educational opportunities helps them see a clear path for growth with your organization, building up their sense of loyalty and boosting retention.

Education Increases Profits

Education is truly an investment in organizational success. According to an ADT report, companies that offer education and development have a 24% higher profit margin than companies that do not make that investment. Tech pros that are ahead of the curve work faster and smarter, innovate more and generate work that has a real impact on customer satisfaction.

Education Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive

There are a multitude of ways to invest in the education and development of your technical staff, and not all are costly. Consider solutions like:

  • Tuition reimbursement: Offer to pay for a portion of an employee’s education if they are pursuing a degree. Most companies require the employee to provide two to three years of service after the degree, helping to boost retention.
  • Certification reimbursement: If an employee pursues a relevant tech certification, offer to pay for some or all of their education and testing costs upon passing.
  • Conference and seminar sponsorships: If an employee can prove that a conference or seminar will help them boost performance on the job, pay for some or all of it, and ask that they share what they learn upon their return.
  • Lunch and Learns: Each week, have someone on the tech team share a skill with the rest of the group over a brown bag or catered lunch. You can also bring in outside trainers a few times a year to amp up the learning.

If you are looking for more ideas on improving IT hiring and retention at your organization, contact the experts at Selectek today.