{"id":12870,"date":"2024-11-21T06:55:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T13:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/compt.io\/?p=12870"},"modified":"2025-04-21T12:35:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T18:35:45","slug":"your-professional-development-systems-are-broken-and-you-might-not-realize-it-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/compt.io\/blog\/your-professional-development-systems-are-broken-and-you-might-not-realize-it-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Professional Development Systems Are Broken, and You Might Not Realize It (Yet)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We all want to grow, don\u2019t we? In life, at our job. It\u2019s human nature to want more. And the same is true of your employees, who cite limited career advancement<\/a> among the top reasons they leave their organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that most companies say they value professional development and growth and development, and there is some research to back this up. Companies spend an average of $1,207 per employee<\/a> on L&D, including professional development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in practice, the systems to support it are falling apart, and here are the main reasons why.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approval process? A nightmare of endless manager and HR sign-offs.
The systems in place? Outdated and inefficient.
The resources available? Hard to find, not personalized, and oftentimes mediocre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The process is bogged down by tedious manual tasks, budget confusion, and bureaucratic hoops that no one \u2014 not employees, not managers, and definitely<\/em> not HR \u2014 has the time to navigate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Every one of these problems feeds into the next, and it creates a vicious cycle that leaves HR, managers, and employees frustrated and worse off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after getting deep into the minds of L&D and professional development leaders, I\u2019ve realized: It doesn\u2019t have to be this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m passionate about greater access to education and empowering employees at all levels to level up. Prior to joining Compt and leading the Product and Customer Success teams, I was a co-founder of a startup dedicated to making entry-level hiring more inclusive and equitable through a skills-based process.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

When employees understand what\u2019s available to them and find personalized ways to grow and develop, they do better work.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But right now, thanks to no one in particular, the system is broken. HR, managers, finance and <\/em>employees are just working with what they\u2019ve got. And no one is questioning: Isn\u2019t it time to build a better mousetrap?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tedious approval process with too much manual work <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over the last quarter, I’ve spoken to countless  HR leaders who explained their process to me. The typical process? Somewhere between 7 and 10 steps involving multiple approvers and different documents. It\u2019s often so complex that employees are discouraged from even starting <\/em>the process. Think about it \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You\u2019ve got HR, managers, and employees all slogging through a tedious chain of manual tasks \u2014 approvals, red tape, and endless back-and-forths between HR and finance systems, emails, and spreadsheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"example