26 Employee Development Statistics You Need To Know In 2023

There are a few ways to differentiate a great workplace from a good one.

One of the easiest ways to tell is when an organization invests in their employee development. With a proper employee development initiative, employees feel more valued, they have a clearer career progression and best of all, they are more likely to stay longer.

Here are some statistics to convince you about the power of employee development in 2023 and beyond.

The importance of training

One of the most important aspects of employee development is the training. Here are some important statistics that can help you:

1. Replacing a trained employee costs 200% of their annual salary

If you already invested heavily in your employee development, you stand to lose a lot when an employee leaves you. Depending on your industry and the position, replacing a trained employee costs anywhere from 33% to 213% of their annual salary.‍

2. Providing e-learning training opportunities increases your retention rate by 60%

There is a large variety of methods you can use for training. Providing online, e-learning opportunities (such as courses, webinars, eBooks, etc.) increases your retention rate by as much as 60%. This is most likely because employees can review the materials in their own time.

3. 59% of employees claim they are self taught

According to one study, 59% of surveyed employees state that they learned the skills they need to do their job while on the job. In other words, they had no formal training in place.

4. 34% of employees are happy with their job-specific training

Only about one third of employees are satisfied with the training they get that is immediately tied to their everyday work.

5. Every third employee claims that their company’s current training processes are out of date

One in three employees states that the training process in their company is outdated.

Employee development and leadership

For every employee to take the position of a leader, their skills need to be nurtured. 

A company should not only aim to develop their employees’ skills to become better at their roles, but also to see them become leaders in their departments and within the company.

6. 60% of surveyed millennials say that they want leadership training

Millennials now make up the majority of the active workforce and this will continue to be the case in the upcoming years. They are a generation that wants to be trained in their future leadership roles.

7. 42% of critical roles can be filled internally

According to one research, only 42% of all critical roles for the company can be filled internally. In other words, very few companies plan ahead and promote internally and when the time comes, they are forced to look outside the company instead.

8. 83% of all businesses state that it’s important to promote leadership at all levels

There is a pretty big discrepancy between what companies want and what they actually do. While many companies agree that it’s important to promote leadership, very few act on it.

9. 48% of leaders want to be educated by external coaches and through developmental assignments

When leaders go through training, they want it to be structured and given through assignments. Moreover, the training should be delivered externally.

10. 39% of leaders prefer formal training delivered in-person

For people who are already in leadership positions, it’s more preferable to have their training delivered in person rather than online or through courses.

Employee attitudes towards employee development

Before investing heavily into employee development initiatives, it’s worth knowing what employees think about development in the workplace. The good news is that the feedback is overwhelmingly positive.

11. A lack of career development and advancement (41%) is the number 1 reason why employees left their jobs between April 2021 and April 2022

The argument ranked #1 before Inadequate Total Compensation (36%) and Uncaring and uninspiring leaders (34%).

12. 94% of employees would stay longer at a company if it offered learning and development opportunities

One of the best ways to increase your employee satisfaction and engagement is to offer them chances for development at all times. Moreover, this will have a significant impact on your turnover rate.

13. 34% of employees who left previous positions did so because of a lack of opportunities for career development

Want to find out why your employees are leaving you? There’s a good chance that you’re not giving them enough opportunities to hone their skills.

14. 58% of all employees prefer learning at their own pace

Formal training such as courses can make a world of difference for educating your employees. However, the majority of employees prefer learning through electronic materials that allow them to set their own pace.

15. 68% of employees prefer learning at work

One of the best ways to provide effective learning and development opportunities for your employees is to make sure they have them at their job. External sources are fine but learning on the job is what makes a difference.

16. 70% of employees would leave their current company for one that invests in employee development and learning

If you’re looking to stay competitive, it’s best to start investing in employee development initiatives now and show the world that this is a major part of your employer branding strategy.

Employee onboarding and development statistics

Onboarding is one of the key elements of great employee development. The first few weeks and months are crucial for retention and proper engagement. Here are some findings related to onboarding.

17. The average onboarding procedure consists of 54 different activities

Learning should be fun, especially for new hires who need to absorb new information. This includes going through a series of processes that are neither fun nor geared towards learning. For better employee development, simplify your onboarding process with an onboarding tool like Zavvy's.

18. 88% of companies don’t have a good onboarding process

The verdict is out - the vast majority of companies have poor onboarding. Since your employees are most likely to leave during those first few weeks and months, investing time and money in proper onboarding can pay dividends later on. Give your employees ample opportunities to learn (in)formally and from their managers to improve your onboarding and decrease turnover rates.

19. 87% of companies that assign a mentor during the onboarding process say that it increases the efficiency of their new hires

One of the best ways to learn is together with a mentor or a buddy. If you want to maximize the efficiency of your employee development during the onboarding stage, assign your new hires with a mentor or a buddy that can work directly with them.‍

20. Companies with formal onboarding training are less likely to lose their workforce in the upcoming years

According to one research, those companies that have a formal onboarding training program have a lower likelihood to lose more than 60% of their employees in the upcoming four years. In layman’s terms, make your onboarding training structured and you’ll set your employees for success – retaining them in the years to come.

21. 69% of employees will stick with a company for more than 3 years if provided a great employee onboarding experience

Investing a little bit more time and resources, in the beginning, provides a great return later on. Making the onboarding experience more structured and higher quality will ensure better retention rates even three years down the line.

For more onboarding statistics, read 65 Employee Onboarding Statistics HR Managers Need to Know

Employee development and retention statistics

Retaining good employees is the aim of every organization. Besides offering them the right kind of salary and benefits, having a proper employee development initiative in place will have a great impact on your employee retention as well.

22. Employees who feel like they are progressing in their careers are 20% more likely to stay with their company over time

According to one research, if an employee feels like they are making progress within the company, the chances that they will stay with you increase significantly.

23. 70% of employees say that they will be forced to leave their current employer to advance their careers

When employees can’t find development opportunities within their own organizations, they are forced to look externally. To retain your top talent (and especially the groups which are likely to leave), make sure to have a formal employee development program.

24. 93% of employees are willing to stay with a company if it invests into their careers

Look at the big picture instead of thinking small. Those companies that invest in their employees’ careers are much more likely to retain those people over a longer time period. One research states that over 70% of employees would leave their current job to work for a company that wants to invest in their long-term career.

25. Better employee engagement = better employee retention

It comes as no surprise that the more engaged your employees are, the less likely they are to leave your company. According to one research, engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their current company.

26. Without proper management skills, employees are 4x more likely to quit

Here’s a slightly different angle: you need to develop your managers’ skills as much as you need to work on your employees’ skill sets. If your executive management is lacking the right skills, everyone lower in the chain of command will suffer and they will be more likely to leave.

Conclusion

Employee development is more important than ever before. As the numbers show us, its importance is only increasing throughout the years and the current workforce demands their employers to provide them with enough opportunities to improve their skills. 

With “the Great Resignation” now fully in motion, showing yourself as an organization that values their employees, start investing in employee development as soon as today.

And if you are looking for one platform that makes it easy to onboard, engage and develop your employees, our experts would love to show you around our solutions!

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Sources:

30 Troubling Employee Retention Statistics

39 Statistics that Prove the Value of Employee Training

49 Impressive Employee Training Statistics

10 Employee Onboarding Statistics you Need to Know in 2022

33 Startling Employee Onboarding Statistics to Know in 2021

17 Surprising Statistics About Employee Retention

The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools? (McKinsey, 2022)