In their efforts to find the right talent, organizations are doing all they can to create compelling job duties and descriptions that maximize employees’ skills to their fullest—all while advancing the organization’s goals. As employers are taking more time to find talent and ensure the best job fit, they need to use creative ways to make their jobs and organization more appealing.

Unfortunately, many employee benefits have diminished in recent years. We can thank the recession. We’ve seen decreases in 401k matching and retirement funds and tuition reimbursement programs disappear. In addition, during my experience as both a coach and an instructor of MBA students (who are working adults), I hear over and over how workers feel “stuck” in their jobs. They don’t see ways to get promotions. They are bored with their work. They don’t know exactly what they need to do to get recognized by their manager. They want help but don’t know how to get it.

With this backdrop, what can an organization do to stand out?

The good news: One of the most productive—and easiest—ways to attract talent is to create a career development program. Face it, all employees want to learn new skills, develop their aptitude, follow their passion, and have more control over the work they do. A career development program fits the bill.

Here are some suggestions for getting started.

Set up an actual “Career Center” that offers access to career coaches and counselors, assessment tools, handouts and exercises, classes on career-related topics, and a resource library. This Career Center would give employees a physical space to explore their career paths internally, and ensure they are using their skills to the fullest.  Another popular alternative is a virtual career center which can work well but lacks the personal interaction that is often necessary for productive conversations to occur.

Show employees that you care about their career path. When employees know they are cared about, it equals value and they will work to their fullest. Employees also will have fun, which equals happiness (and that spills over to their work). Some ideas:

• host a career fair internally within your organization

• highlight a particular job by sending out a promo blast that works with your internal communications department

• hold a department party to recognize employees and their contributions

• offer career-related contests, such as “Identify Your Career Hero” and then have employees dress like them, take a picture, and submit them for a prize, or have employees share their favorite workplace quotes and post them around as motivation.

Encourage communication meetings between employees and the leadership team. The purpose is to identify an employee’s interests, skill sets, career goals, development needs, time-frame, and opportunities. Encourage biweekly or monthly meetings to review progress. In addition, positive interaction between organizational leaders and employees creates a workplace of inclusion and engagement.

Find ways to reward employees. This does not have to be an expensive program. Find creative, thoughtful, non-monetary options. Perhaps you can survey the organization to see what they want.

To be sure, focusing on career development is a definite perk for employees and organizations. A career development program will not only help workers enhance skills and abilities necessary to produce results, it will create happier workers—and happier customers. More importantly, knowing that career development is an integral part of an organization will help build a reputation as a learning and performance organization—which will attract current and future employees. To me, that’s a win-win situation!

Editor’s Note: For more insights from Barbara Seifert, join her at ATD 2015 International Conference & Exposition for her session, SU302 - Learn to Love the Job You Hate: Take Control and Recharge Your Career.