Employees want opportunities to learn skills and grow. They want help mapping out their careers. And they want to stay relevant.

In other words, they want career development.

But in a time of tight budgets and the mantra “do more with less,” talent teams may feel hard pressed to provide as much learning and development as they’d like.

Still, there are ways to provide plenty of learning opportunities even if you don’t have a huge budget. Let’s look at what career development is, why it’s important, and 10 affordable ways you can help employees grow and learn.

What is career development?

Career development is the support an organization provides to an employee to help them grow and move within the organization. It includes coaching, mentoring, skills development, networking, and career pathing. Generally facilitated by the human resources or learning and development team, career development is considered a critical aspect of talent management.

Why career development is important

Learning new skills and staying relevant has become more important than ever. Linkedin research shows that the skills people need for their jobs have changed by 25% since 2015, a number that is expected to grow to at least 65% by 2030.

Because skills are changing rapidly, employees are hungry for growth. Job seekers consider career development so important that nine out of 10 want to see a skills development program, clear career paths, and career advancement opportunities when considering a new job.

Career development also plays a big role in retention. LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report found that 90% of organizations are concerned about employee retention — and providing learning opportunities is the No. 1 way to get employees to stay.

The No. 1 challenge with career development right now

Of course, it’s all well and good to tout the benefits of career development, but many learning and development teams are now being asked to do more with less. They often don’t have the resources to offer all the learning opportunities they’d like.

But there are ways to help employees learn and grow, even if you’re working on a tight budget.
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