Workers See a Lack of Development Opportunities

As reported by HRI, many employees see room for improvement in their organization's learning opportunities, found a 2006 survey of 7,700 workers conducted by Harris Interactive. Only 42% of respondents said professional development opportunities were open to them; only 9% had the opportunity to participate in a formal mentoring program. Also, according to Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, "A bare majority expressed any level of agreement (slight, moderate, strong)" when asked to express calibrated agreement or disagreement with the assertion that "top management is committed to advancing the skills of our employees." Fourteen percent strongly disagreed. Employees at large organizations were slightly more likely to have formal learning programs available to them, but were also less likely to believe that management truly cared about skill-building. (Harvard Business School Working Knowledge [Dychtwald, Erickson and Morison], April 3, 2006)