8 Professional Development Courses for a Successful 2024

For most companies, the end of a year includes things like employee evaluations and planning ahead for the year to come. This is also an excellent time to focus on what your team members are doing and how you can better invest in their development in 2024. Perhaps there is someone you have your eye on for a future leadership position, perhaps you notice some of your employees struggling to perform their roles effectively, or perhaps there are certain skill sets you would like to boost in your organization.

All of these scenarios can be greatly remedied by developing an intentional plan for professional development training for your workforce. Not only is this an excellent way to cultivate a healthy and positive workplace culture for your employees, but it is also shown to play a vital role in businesses retaining their top talent.

Plan Ahead for a Great Year

Failing to create a professional development process for your employees could end up costing you a lot. According to a survey by The Execu|Search Group, 86% of professionals said that they would change jobs if they were offered more opportunities for professional development somewhere else. On the flipside of that statistic, LinkedIn Learning’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report, reveals that 94% of employees said they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career. When you invest in your team, you are also investing in your business.

Professional Development Training to Take Your Company to the Next Level

As you identify the needs of your various employees, here are some top professional development courses from Vector that can help you plan for a great 2024.

1. Time Management Basics: Help your employees take control of their time and tasks to be more productive. Time management experts will teach learners how to avoid patterns and habits that make it difficult to get things done and how to implement proven methods for working more efficiently and becoming more productive.
2. Managing Up: Strengthening Business Relationships: Have a great rapport with your employees and your peers? You’re not done yet! Learning how to “manage up” is a key component of any successful career. Through application exercises and a rich multimedia process, this course will teach learners what they need to know to create positive relationships with those to whom they report.
3. Successful Negotiation: One of the more valuable skills to have in life and in business is the ability to negotiate effectively. After all, a successful negotiator can generate valuable returns and preserve relationships in the process. In this course, learners will get a comprehensive overview of how to be an effective negotiator. They will learn that negotiation is not all about “defeating” your competitors, but rather about reaching a mutually beneficial solution that keeps everyone happy. This course contains all the essentials for your team to become better negotiators – in both their professional and personal lives.
4. Problem Solving: This course is designed to familiarize participants with a basic process that can be used to solve almost any type of problem in the workplace. After completing this course, participants will be able to define a problem and the goal for its solution and then apply it to real-world scenarios that they encounter in the workplace, making them more effective and an even greater asset in their roles.
5. Clear Communication: This course is designed to familiarize participants with ways to improve their basic communication skills. After completing this course, participants will be able to describe effective methods for improving listening skills, ways to ensure that listeners receive a message as the speaker intended, and techniques for effectively giving and receiving feedback. By improving their communication skills, your team will be setting up themselves – and your business – for a more productive and smoother year ahead.
6. Developing Your Leadership Style: Everyone has a different leadership style. In this course, participants will learn to identify their personal leadership style and how to incorporate that style into any role through the use of application exercises and a rich multimedia process. Knowing their specific style will allow your team to be more effective in choosing team members, managing up or down, and in getting work done efficiently and effectively.
7. Decision Making: This course is designed to familiarize participants with techniques for making informed decisions and implementing them successfully on the job. After completing this course, participants will be able to describe common examples of poor decision making, some general types of decisions, several questions that should be asked before a decision-making process begins, how to define the desired outcome for a decision, and how to gather information to make an informed decision. Participants will also be able to describe how to build consensus during the decision-making process, how to use an impact/effort grid and weighted voting in the decision-making process, and the steps for successfully converting a decision into action.
8. Conflict Management: When people work together, there will inevitably be disagreements. Some of these disagreements are minor, but some can turn into major conflicts. If conflicts are not resolved, they can lead to long-term tension and unhappiness among employees. This course illustrates how to resolve conflicts using the SLOW method, reasons for different points of view, and tips for face-to-face communication. Following the ideas in this course can help your team use conflict situations as an opportunity to solve work or personal problems, thereby becoming more productive and unified.

Invest in Your Team to Drive Results Now

Regardless of your industry, an organization that prioritizes the wellbeing and professional growth of its employees is setting itself up for success. After all, empowered employees feel better and perform better. As you get ready to close the last pages of 2023, be sure to use employee evaluations as an opportunity to get to know your team even better, including what their professional goals are for the future.

Ultimately, professional development can be an overlooked category of training for many businesses, but strategic and empathetic leaders know the only way to drive results long term is when your employees feel valued and seen.