The following originally appeared on LinkedIn.
When I spoke to business owners and HR leaders this week at the Work It Connecticut! Conference in Hartford, it marked more than three dozen times in the past six months that we have shared with audiences the details of Amazon’s innovative Career Choice program.
And as the year draws to a close, I thought it a good time to reflect on the things I have learned from sharing the peculiar aspects of our tuition assistance program with a variety of groups and companies across the country.
So, here are my five biggest takeaways from the feedback we have received. I hope companies will take these thoughts to heart when planning new programs and budgeting spending on benefits for the new year.
1) Every employee could benefit from opportunities to learn and develop their skills.
No matter the jobs your employees are currently doing – dealing directly with your customers, manufacturing your products, supporting through administration or other work – every single one of them could benefit from learning new skills and progressing along their career path. I’ve spoken with those working in pest control, laboratories, hospitality, food service, retail, and many more – and a common thread is that there is opportunity for growth and learning in every industry and every role. Our newest leadership principle at Amazon is to Learn and Be Curious. We believe that every leader – from those fulfilling customer orders in Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers to members of our most senior executive team – should seek opportunities to learn, be curious, and thereby grow. For some employees, a company should work to provide those opportunities.
This piece was excerpted from “5 Reasons to Double-Down on Employee Development in 2017” by Juan Garcia, Global Leader for Associate Career Development at Amazon. Click here to read more.
Amazon is frequently recognized for its upskilling efforts and is a featured player in our UpSkilling Playbook for Employers. Learn more about Amazon’s Career Choice program in our section on Models of Upskilling: College Degrees and in this exclusive interview with Juan Garcia, Amazon’s Global Leader for Career Advancement.
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