Employees say professional growth hurt by remote work

Many workers worry that professional development and growth opportunities are stagnating as they continue working remotely.

That’s what 9,000 executives and rank-and-file employees told Wakefield Research in a survey published in September.

Wakefield found that many execs and employees are generally positive about the shift to remote work.

But they also have serious concerns about the future.

About 99% of executives and 94% of employees said they see the benefits of working remotely, including more efficient use of technology and time savings from reduced commuting.

Still, they worry about productivity and reduced collaboration.

Training and development concerns

About 31% of employees who responded to the survey say the changes wrought by the pandemic have hurt opportunities for professional growth.

Even at the larger companies (500+ employees) included in the survey, most training and professional development courses (61%) are still not available online.

And many smaller companies like yours face even more economic pressure from COVID’s fallout as you try to fit online training into your budget priorities.

So it’s likely that your employees are just as concerned as the survey respondents about access to and availability of on-line training resources.

Prioritizing online training

The good news amongst all of the challenges you face is that the shift to remote work has actually pushed down many operating expenses, especially opex related to operating physical locations.

That creates an opening for HR to highlight the long-term benefits of a robust remote training and development offering.

And to make the case for shifting some of those savings to T&D.

Another bit of silver lining is that the number and variety of remote training options is growing.

It takes a bit of work to identify which of those options best fits your organization’s needs and delivers the most value.

But that will pay off in employee satisfaction, improved recruiting and retention, and the overall skill and flexibility of your team.

And that makes the effort worthwhile right now and for your long term success.