How Learning and Development Fuels Tech Business Success

Quick look: The need for top tech talent expertise is expanding rapidly, and industry leaders are responding by creating strategic learning and development (L&D) programs. This blog explores the business advantages of investing in employee upskilling and career growth.

A strong, knowledgeable team is the backbone of the technology industry. As the market evolves, it’s essential for these workforces to exercise adaptability and build up their in-house knowledge. This shift is prompting tech small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to reevaluate and enhance their investment in professional development to meet customer demands and outperform competitors.

Learning and development makes this possible, allowing tech SMBs to continually educate their employees with valuable course and resources. Below, discover how a well-structured L&D program improves professional growth and team efficiency. 

Fill tech talent gaps

Tech professionals are in high demand across the nation. One industry report expects these jobs to grow at twice the rate of the overall workforce in the next decade. The rising need to fill these roles—especially ones requiring niche specialties and experiences—boosts the competitiveness of the market and can cause recruiters to oversaturate limited candidate pools. Consequently, more businesses are facing talent gaps.

L&D programs shift tech SMBs’ focus from relying solely on external hiring to upskilling and reskilling their current workforce. This strategy enables executive and departmental leads to customize learning roadmaps that equip employees with the latest practices and tools, helping them to stay agile and effectively apply new skills to internal operations.

By investing in the learning and development of their existing teams, SMBs can quickly cultivate the talent they need sooner, resulting in faster project completion with fewer delays and errors. Plus, SMBs earn greater cost savings since it’s 2.5x more expensive to hire a new employee than to reskill a current one.

Enhance employee performance

A company’s success is tied to workforce productivity. Employees contribute more frequently and at their best when equipped with the right on-the-job skills. Keeping top talent up to date is especially important in the technology industry, where knowledge quickly changes and often becomes outdated about every 2.5 years. Further, supporting learning and development creates more engaged employees, who are 22% more productive at work and 21% more profitable than disengaged ones.

Ongoing education through L&D programs enables employees to enhance their performance and stay ahead in their fields. Employees gain technical and soft skills in key areas like data analytics, AI and machine learning, computer programming, and more, through:

• Hands-on workshops
• Specialized IT certifications
• Higher education courses
• Relevant conferences and events

Tech SMBs can also prevent cyber threats and data breaches from hindering performances by setting up regular security awareness training that addresses GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA, and other regulations.

Boost employee retention

Professional development drives loyalty and satisfaction across the industry. One study states 45% of employees would stay longer at a company that invests in their personal L&D growth. Alternatively, seeking career progression is a key job-change motivator for 17% of North American tech workers.

That’s why many tech SMBs implement L&D plans aligned with their team’s career goals. The following strategies help achieve better employee retention rates:

• Structured onboarding: Set new hires up for success with essential compliance training, job responsibility overviews, team introductions, and insights into company culture and values
• Mentorships: Strengthen collaboration and problem-solving by pairing new and entry-level employees with experienced team members
• Leadership training: Prepare employees for managerial positions with leadership development workshops or exercises on topics like emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, negotiation, and team building
• Cross-training and internal mobility: Offer opportunities like rotational programs, job shadowing opportunities, and internal career coaching to promote continuous growth

These learning and development initiatives demonstrate a tech SMB’s commitment to supporting career advancements and motivating employees. Additionally, they help companies establish a practical succession pipeline through career ladders and lattices.

Career ladders let workers progress in a company in a traditionally hierarchal and linear fashion, while career lattices provide more flexibility to move across different roles and departments in a diagonal, lateral, up, or down manner. Both cases influence more job satisfaction and top talent retention.

Master L&D for your workforce with ExtensisHR

Learning and development enables tech SMBs to promote team growth and increase business success. Still, setting up and managing an efficient L&D program can be challenging for companies juggling tight schedules and limited bandwidth.

ExtensisHR, a certified and experienced professional employer organization (PEO), gives SMBs the guidance and tools to deliver the right continuing education to their workforce. With a dedicated HR Manager, we help create and refine professional development plans tailored to your specific needs, from mandatory compliance training to role-specific coaching.

Our HR Knowledge Cloud takes your L&D program to the next level. This trusted and on-demand knowledge base offers a wealth of informative materials and immersive courses to enhance your employees’ expertise. It also features integrated learning schedules, customized training modules, and structured learning paths to help ensure employee development aligns with your business goals.

Working with ExtensisHR means gaining an expert partner in workforce development that helps your tech SMB build highly skilled teams and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.

The first step to better L&D starts here. Contact us today to learn more about professional development programs for your tech team.