Turning Learning Paths into Retention Tools

Every company says they want to retain their best employees. You know, the ones who are constantly innovating, have that go-getter mindset, and are all about pushing the team forward. Companies love those people, and rightfully so!

But are they really giving those employees a reason to stay?

Sure, salary and benefits matter. But if you want to keep someone around long-term, it takes more than that. People need to feel like they’re growing, being challenged, and finding real purpose in their work. They’ve got to see a future where they are—or at least believe that staying will help them get to the future they’re aiming for.

So, how do you make sure people see a future with your company?

What do they need to stick around and feel like they’re moving toward something meaningful?

Well, here are a few things that really help:

1. Knowing there are real opportunities for growth within the company.

   
   

2. Having a clear vision of their career path and how they can move forward.

   
   

3. Getting access to development opportunities and training that actually support their growth.

Yet, the research points to a much different reality:

• A Pew Research survey showed that 63% of people who left jobs in 2021 did so because they couldn’t see a way to move up.

  
  

• A 2022 McKinsey study backed that up, noting that the number one reason people quit is the lack of career development and advancement opportunities.

  
  

• Gartner’s June 2021 survey shows only 51% of candidates report that they are aware of internal job openings available at their organization.

It’s hard for people to see a future when the pathways just aren’t visible.

If employees can’t see a future within their organization—if they don’t have a clear roadmap for growth or access to career development—they’ll start looking elsewhere. It’s not enough to just have opportunities; those opportunities need to be visible, accessible, and supported by structured learning and development.

So, how do we fix this?

The key is creating competency-based, career-focused learning paths that give employees a clear sense of direction. These paths should be designed to do three things:

1. Make growth opportunities within the company visible and accessible.

   
   

2. Provide clear, actionable roadmaps that show employees exactly how they can move forward—not just what’s possible.

   
   

3. Offer opportunities to build the right skills and competencies, helping employees close the gaps between where they are now and where they want to be.

To make this happen, a powerful learning management system is essential. Platforms like Absorb LMS (and others) give you the tools to build customized learning paths that are directly tied to career progression and the competencies required for each role.

Let me walk you through the process of designing these learning paths, from mapping out roles to building competencies and using your LMS to bring it all together.

Step One: Create an Organizational Chart

The first step is to create an org chart that outlines all the roles in your company. If you're focusing on a specific department, like the commercial team, you can just focus on those roles.

Work with your HR Business Partner to get this done. They’ll probably have an org chart ready, so you can just remove the names and focus on the positions. This will give you a clear picture of the structure, including how employees can move up or across into different departments.

If your company doesn’t have an org chart, you might have to create one from scratch. Canva has templates that make it easy and quick. For example: here.

Once you have the chart, it will serve as a foundation for building learning paths that show employees how they can grow within the organization.

Step Two: Define Skills and Competencies for Each Role

Next, work with HR and management to define the specific skills and competencies required for each role. Depending on your LMS, you may also be able to provide each role with a description and list of responsibilities.

If you’re using an LMS like Absorb, many roles come preloaded with competencies and skills. This can be a helpful starting point, but you’ll need to review and adjust them to fit your company’s specific requirements. This ensures employees are developing the right skills and competencies that matter most to the business.

Step Three: Build Learning Paths that Support Growth

Now that you’ve mapped out the roles and identified the key skills and competencies, you can start creating learning paths. These paths should guide employees through their development, helping them build the skills they need for both their current role and future opportunities.

Here’s how to create effective learning paths:

1. Align Learning Content with Competencies: Use your LMS to link courses, training modules, and development activities to the skills you’ve identified for each role. This helps employees close the gap between where they are and where they need to be.

   
   

2. Customize Learning Paths by Role: Not every employee will follow the same path. Make sure learning paths are tailored to each role and show a clear progression for employees at different stages in their careers.

   
   

3. Incorporate Different Learning Formats: Combine formal learning, like courses and certifications, with informal learning opportunities, such as mentorship, cross-functional projects, or on-the-job training. This gives employees multiple ways to develop their skills; you just might need to get a little creative in finding effective ways to track it.

   
   

4. Make Learning Visible: Employees should be able to track their progress and see what’s next. Use your LMS to show employees how their learning journey aligns with the competencies they need to develop.

   
   

5. Provide Flexibility: Employees will progress at different speeds. Learning paths should allow for flexibility so that employees can move forward when they feel confident and ready.

Step Four: Align Learning and Development with HR

It’s important to make sure L&D and HR are working together on this. Both departments are crucial to employee growth, so alignment is key to success.

Here’s how to make that happen:

1. Collaborate on Skills and Competency Mapping: Get HR involved from the start. This ensures that the learning paths support career development while also meeting the company’s strategic needs. And, let’s be honest, it lets HR know we need them, which they always appreciate.

   
   

2. Link Learning with Performance Evaluations: Work with HR to incorporate learning objectives into performance reviews. We need to provide a clear connection between development and career progression. This will help answer the age-old question, “What’s in it for me?”

   
   

3. Maintain Open Communication: Keep communication flowing with regular check-ins between L&D and HR. Make sure the learning paths stay relevant as business needs change.

Step Five: Engage Employees in the Learning Process

Building learning paths is only part of the job. You also need to keep employees engaged and motivated to follow them.

Here are some ways to keep employees engaged:

1. Provide Ongoing Support: Employees may need guidance on how to use the learning paths and take advantage of the resources available to them. Make sure they know where to find support and how to track their progress. A little handholding is going to be required.

   
   

2. Promote Learning Paths Regularly: Employees are going to forget about the learning paths. You're going to need to be a bit of a broken record and keep promoting them through internal channels, meetings, and newsletters.

   
   

3. Highlight Success Stories: Find your champions and hoist them up onto the highest perch you can find. Let them share with all who will listen. Their success will inspire others to follow suit.

   
   

4. Reinforce the Value of Learning: Keep reminding employees that the learning paths are not just tools for development but are also part of the company’s strategy for long-term success.

   
   

Step Six: Measure the Effectiveness and Continuously Improve

Once your learning paths are in place, it’s important to measure their effectiveness and make adjustments based on the data.

Here’s how to do that:

1. Track Progress and Completion Rates: Use your LMS to monitor how employees are progressing through their learning paths. Are they completing the courses and developing the competencies needed for their roles?

   
   

2. Identify Skills Gaps: Analyze the data to find any gaps between where employees are and where they need to be. Adjust the learning paths to better address these gaps.

   
   

3. Measure Business Impact: Look beyond course completion rates. Measure how learning is impacting employee performance, retention, and other key business outcomes.

   
   

4. Gather Feedback: Regularly check in with employees, managers, and HR to see how well the learning paths are working. Use this feedback to make improvements.

   
   

5. Adjust as Needed: As roles and business needs change, so should your learning paths. Use data and feedback to continuously refine and improve the paths.

   
   

Step Seven: Integrate Learning into the Company Culture

For learning paths to truly make a difference, they need to be integrated into the company’s culture.

1. Tie Learning to Business Outcomes: Show how learning paths directly impact business results, whether it’s increased time to productivity, improved employee retention, or other key metrics. This helps both employees and leadership see the value of continuous learning.

   
   

2. Make Learning a Priority: Learning should be a central part of the company’s operations and culture. When employees see that learning is valued and prioritized, they’ll be more motivated to engage with the learning paths and take ownership of their development.

In the end, it really comes down to this: every company says they want to keep their best people, the innovators, the go-getters, the ones driving the team forward.

But are they actually giving them a reason to stay?

If you want employees to stick around, they need to know there are real opportunities for growth. They need a clear vision of how they can move forward and the tools to get there.

By building structured, competency-based learning paths, you give them a roadmap to their future that makes those opportunities not only visible but achievable.

Until next time, onward and upward.

— G