The BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success as a result of employee talent development. The winners use learning as a strategic business tool to get results. View the entire list of 2024 BEST Award winners.

Learning opportunities influence whether employees stay or go.

Even after the Great Resignation, employers worldwide continue to be keenly focused on retention. Talent development and growth opportunities are important building blocks of an effective talent retention program.

Promotion propulsion

One of Valvoline Instant Oil Change's core values includes a commitment to "make learning and self-improvement a way of life." The automotive services company has a track record of developing its frontline workers and ensuring they have a visible pathway to promotion within the organization.

Its strategy focuses on structured early learning supported by just-in-time resources, quick promotions, and a consistent promote-from-within ethos, which builds retention in the retail industry. New employees follow a learning plan that earns them their first certification in 60 days, which is then followed by a 140-day program that leads to another promotion.

The talent machine is well honed and enables Valvoline to focus on building bench strength for supervisory and managerial roles. Turnover is half the industry average, and the company's internal promotion strategy has resulted in some compelling stats: One hundred percent of service center and area managers and 96 percent of market managers started as hourly employees.

The company's aggressive growth plan has led the TD team to shift some focus from in-person classes to using more virtual and e-learning programs. That transition has enabled team members to learn in the flow of work, which has increased on-the-job application of key learning concepts.

"Our investment in our proprietary talent and training systems \[has\] been the fuel for exceptional performance at Valvoline," says CEO Lori Flees. "We have achieved same-store growth every year for the past 17 years." Meanwhile, Valvoline has earned the designation of Best of the BEST for earning a BEST Award more than 10 times.

In the past year, efforts also focused on working to retain employees from the date of job offer; getting new hires to orientation is a critical step in the ability to retain them. The company put new protocols in place that equipped service center managers to get new hires in the door after receiving an offer. Managers call the individuals, informing them about orientation, what to bring, and what to expect from their schedules. The managers then follow up with a text message. When the new hire begins orientation, trainers reiterate schedule expectations, answer all questions, and ensure new staff are prepared for their first day on the shop floor. Improvements include a decrease in both no-show rates and the dropout rate, which decreased from 19 percent to 17 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Initiate greatness

University Health operates in San Antonio, Texas, where more than 12 percent of the workforce is in healthcare or biosciences. Competition for talent is fierce, but the company knows "superior performance depends on superior learning," according to President and CEO George B. Hernández Jr.

To improve its new-hire retention, University Health launched its Initiate Greatness program, a collaboration between HR and the company's Center for Learning Excellence, in 2022. The initiative's goals are to connect new employees with the organization's mission, establish trust, enhance engagement, as well as increase satisfaction, performance, and retention. The program consists of six monthly 45-minute sessions that a dedicated manager of employee experience oversees.

The personalized experience includes connecting new hires to each other, providing in-depth information on available benefits to grow and develop professionally, and offering guidance on where to find resources and support to ensure a strong start. In addition, the employee experience manager hosts sessions to help supervisors understand their critical contribution to the new-hire experience.

In the initiative's first year, University Health, another Best of the BEST winner, found that participants were more likely to stay with the company. Outcomes in 2023 were even stronger, with a 91 percent participation rate of new employees in the voluntary program and an employee loss of 12 percent, which is a 6 percent decrease from the program's launch date.

Course correction

"Our talent development team is without any doubt our partner in developing the world-class technical workforce that our company needs," states Nandakumar K, founder and CEO of SunTec Business Solutions, an Asia-based software company that provides pricing and billing services.

In the wake of the pandemic, nearly half of SunTec's workforce exited the company. In the highly competitive technology space, such a loss could have been a fatal blow. However, the company's leaders knew they could lean on the TD function to course-correct the trajectory through learning.

To enhance retention, the TD team used hyper-personalized L&D initiatives, individual development plans, skill-building programs, a robust employee recognition program, continuous mentoring by the chief mentoring officer and other senior leaders, and a Talent Buddy program through which employees partner one-on-one to talk about skills development or issues related to skill building. The company's unwavering commitment to hyper-personalized learning is a strategic play, enabling staff to craft learning journeys that meet their professional aspirations while aligning with organizational priorities. Employees can also showcase their achievements during talent engagement events and share insights on how they overcame particular challenges. Woven throughout all the initiatives is gamification to increase engagement.

With those efforts, SunTec has raised its Great Places To Work survey score to a 4.75 out of 5—results that speak to the team's dedicated focus.