A new survey shows that many workers don’t feel qualified for their jobs and hesitate to ask for help.
According to a recent survey, one-third of the workforce doesn’t feel qualified for their jobs, and over half say they have a colleague who they think is unqualified for his or her position. At the same time, many hesitate to ask for help; and one in three say they turn to Google or YouTube instead of a supervisor or coworker.
According to the survey, 35% of workers say their employer’s training is out of date, and a similar number say that training doesn’t meet their expectations. This is especially concerning, as nearly two-thirds of employees say learning opportunities impact their workplace happiness, and 32% say this critical for their job satisfaction.
Over one-third of respondents of all ages and half of all millennials say they would quit a job due to a lack of learning opportunities. Training is so important to workers, in fact, that 25% say they have personally paid for outside training to help them advance their career.
Poor training not only affects how employees feel about their jobs; it also can hurt their performance and affect others. Over a quarter of survey respondents admit they’ve made a bad decision or submitted poor quality work because they were afraid to admit they didn’t know how to complete a task. More millennials (31%) than baby boomers (20%) say their hesitation to admit they didn’t know something led to an error or poor performance. At the same time, more women (30%) than men (26%) say they will risk submitting poor quality work to avoid admitting to lack of knowledge or skills.
When asked how they prefer to learn, 64% still choose traditional in-person meetings and interactive learning. Only 13% say they like reading training documents, while 17% prefer training videos. Over one-third (35%) of employees say their company’s training technology is outdated.
The good news is that the majority (68%) of employees say their employers offer training and that access to this has provided them with skills needed to grow in their role. Millennials (71%) especially say that this is true.
