Top Tips for Professional Development to Implement a Training Programme

Well-crafted and regular professional development is a vital part of helping shape an all-rounded team that’s attuned to the current market. Investing in training programs is an important aspect when it comes to promoting growth and overall success within your organisation. Continuous professional development and training programs offer a base for your staff to learn and upskill, eventually resulting in a high-performing team for you.

No matter which sphere of business your company operates in, the market landscape evolves and changes at such a rapid pace that it can seem like a race to keep up. Arming your team with new resources and guiding them to use that in the best way possible will prepare your business for any uphill climb – and ensure your focus stays on keeping ahead rather than keeping up.

1. Improve job satisfaction and employee retention

People are making an increasingly conscious effort to evaluate job opportunities based on career and development pathways in the long run. Providing space for this continued professional development will foster a sense of ownership and investment in the company, and an excitement to keep learning and growing in their role. This makes it much likelier for them to stay with your company for longer and is a direct investment into your business’s talent.

2. Enhance your company’s reputation

As aforementioned, a big draw card is an organisation that invests its time and energy into development for its employees. Not only is this a good outward look, but when executed well from start to finish, this will skyrocket your company’s standing as an industry choice that cares for its employees, is an overall great place to plant a career and for continuing professional development.

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Training programs and professional development are two separate mechanisms, but both are just as important. By charting a clear career progression and enabling your people to pursue professional development opportunities, you invest in their talent as team members and potential as people. So what’s the blueprint for getting your business on a successful training program trajectory?

1. Provide varied types of training opportunities

Everyone is different, and it follows that everyone has a different learning style and preference. Offer your employees a variety of training methods that can include a blend of structured (activities like courses, workshops, and attending conferences) and self-directed learning (buying relevant books and materials for the office, incorporating knowledge-sharing sessions, and video watch parties).

 

2. Monitor and get in tune with your feedback cycle

Encourage measurable goals from your employees and track their progress. Consistent feedback will allow you to use the collected information to make adjustments to your program strategy as needed. Offer anonymous feedback surveys and tack on a quick and easy lottery-style “reward” to inspire participation. GIFTA’s Australian gift cards are one idea for an incentive with a painless process and seamless integration.

3. Involve your employees and make it engaging

- Implementing “hands-on” professional development training programs that include role-playing and group activities will help your staff retain more information and foster excitement around your L&D initiatives. 

- As anyone in management knows, motivating a large percentage of your team to attend and interact with your programs can be a harder task than it appears to be. On the whole, the purpose of incorporating employee development into your workforce is really that: to continuously develop your employees and ideally help them achieve targets and performance goals.

- Offering incentives such as corporate branded gift cards for hitting their performance goals has a dual effect of rewarding achievements and inspiring participation in upskill training.

- Your learning initiatives don’t have to be restricted to a professional development plan template: get creative with it and host competitions, contests, or even discussion-based trivia related to your programs. Make it fun and come up with your own awards to keep things interesting (and of course, throw in great prizes like GIFTA’s corporate gift cards that’ll actually be way worth everyone’s time).

GIFTA has the best corporate gift cards for your L&D needs. Training programs just got a whole lot more interesting.

 

GIFTA’s corporate gift card ideas are endless, offering an integrated blend of personalisation, flexibility, and complete freedom. Allow your staff to choose anything they want from our hundreds of brands on offer.

Our corporate prepaid cards offer swap cards with ranging categories that appeal to every group, from Health & Beauty to Travel & Adventure and Entertainment.

Can’t decide on a specific category? Go borderless with GIFTA’s corporate gift cards that come in the form of an Ultimate Swap Card – any choice of retailer across any category, anytime.

Our custom corporate gift cards are the perfect pick for any company event and when you buy corporate gift cards with us, you can rest easy knowing that they’ll genuinely suit the needs of all your employees.

With both physical gift cards and corporate e-gift card options available, we’ve got the perfect incentive solution for every type of event. Whether it’s a trivia quiz hosted online or an award to be given away at the next team luncheon in person, whichever route you go, it’ll be fun unwrapping our corporate gift cards for employees that come custom-made with your own branding, logo, and a personalised message. You can even tack on a photo or video greeting when you send gift cards online with us!

Our online gift cards offer ease of functionality, from planning and budgeting right up to scaling and sending, we offer full flexibility and full convenience. Set up your own custom corporate portal (in one easy step) and manage all your corporate gift cards online in a single unified place. We aim to make managing and handling corporate gift cards Australia-wide as simple and effective as you need it to be.

We’ve got a specialized 24/7 support team ready to help you with any questions you might have when you start gifting with our Australian gift cards online. Visit our Corporate Enquiries page and fill out the form to instantly get set up. We’re the best when it comes to gifting and rewarding with electronic gift cards, and we know you’ll soon see why.

If you’ve got more questions on how to send gift cards online with us, we’re happy to help! Click here for more information.