Learning must be thoughtfully considered throughout the employee lifecycle – from preboarding to onboarding to professional development and career transitions. Many employees have a desire for growth and want to see their skill sets evolve as they progress in their careers. Training professionals have an incredible opportunity to nurture this development by ensuring training programs are available to support employees at every stage of their career journey.

Since every individual’s interests, goals and aspirations are unique, supporting an employee’s learning journey can be challenging. Learning and development (L&D) must work to identify the skills and experiences necessary to perform job roles and make that information visible to employees. Connecting learning to internal career mobility enables employees to grow at the company and stay longer. And in today’s job market, organizations need to invest in their people or risk losing them to the competition.

Leaders play a critical role in the development of their employees. Creating development maps can help employees identify their career goals and create a roadmap to achieve those goals. Listening is an extremely powerful tool – listening to the challenges of employees, listening for their passion, listening for their wants and needs. All this information can help managers advocate for their employees, recommend them for new opportunities and give them the support they need to grow.

The cover story for this issue of Training Industry Magazine examines the integral role of onboarding in shaping the employee experience. This introduction to the company is incredibly important in helping the employee feel a sense of belonging and generate excitement around the work they will be doing, which is necessary to improve employee engagement and retention. This edition also examines topics on amplifying role-based skills training, experiential and mobile learning, and leveraging training to connect employees across the business.

I hope this edition of Training Industry Magazine provides you with some tips and insights to create learning experiences that allow your employees to grow and transform at every stage of their career journey. Leveraging employee passion can unleash limitless potential for the organization. How we channel that passion is going to be key to success.

As always, we love to hear your thoughts, so please reach out to our team and let us know how you’re channeling the passion of your employees through learning.