Google reportedly has allowed its employees to spend 20 percent of their paid work time to pursue personal projects that they think will most benefit the company. The objective of this program is to empower and inspire innovation in participating employees. Many of Google's notable advances have resulted in this manner, including the development of Google News, Google Maps, Gmail, and even Adsense. However, Google has placed some rules around their 20 percent time. According to the CEO of Google, Larry Page, some aspects of their business have suffered due to this initiative of giving employees 20 percent time, which equates to one day a week for side projects. While this operates outside the lines of formal management oversight, Google's creative and talented employees are still obliged to focus primarily on the core business of the company. Inspired by the success of one of the most innovative companies in the world, some companies are also giving their team members the green light on the 20 percent paid work time rule. Nonetheless, this program can also be used as a break time to help employees de-stress and re-charge for the rest of the workday. Google maintains its focus on the broader view and they know that if they exhaust the cognitive capacity of their employees, it can have a direct impact on their stress levels and overall performance throughout the day. This free time can also be allocated for employee education and skill enhancement that will significantly benefit the employee and the company as a whole. Increased Productivity & Self Development Studies have shown that engagement among employees is immensely crucial to the overall completion of organizational goals. Based on the recent survey conducted by Dale Carnegie, an organization with an engaged workforce outperform those with less engaged units by a whopping 202 percent. This just shows the direct correlation of employees to the success of the company. The more capable and well-developed, the employees are, the better the company will be. A lack of training in the workplace can severely affect business performance, financial turnover, team morale, and its ability to attract and retain top-performing employees. Statistics show that almost half of the employees who did not receive adequate job training have left their companies in their first year. Employees feel motivated to perform well in their jobs when they feel a sense of pride for a job well done and advance higher positions. However, without additional training and skill enhancement programs, employees may not be able to understand how to perform their work efficiently, which can lead to lost customers due to mistakes made by improperly trained employees. There are various types of training and education that employers can provide their workers, from formal courses to seminars to work-based training sessions to online learning modules, which can all help them perform their roles better. Furthermore, these initiatives are not only beneficial to the company but also to the employees themselves. Most employees may want to go back to school or attend training sessions to work toward a higher-paying position, to advance or broaden their job-related skills, or for personal fulfilment. It is important that employers are aware that providing good benefits packages, including continued education can be the key to attracting and retaining high-calibre employees. In fact, according to , the prevailing reason why their company heavily focuses on internal development and promotions is that it is their only way of finding qualified employees in this fast-paced and changing generation. Although the cost of paying for training sessions, seminars, and other educational avenues may seem daunting for the employer, the benefits for allowing employees to further their professional knowledge and skills will outweigh the initial investment in the long run. Nicholas Beugg As technology continues to revolutionize the way companies conduct business, employers should develop competitive advantages in the economic marketplace and make room for future expansion to provide better production output. The majority of the workforce today, particularly the millennials set high expectations for themselves and possess a great desire for speedy career advancements. Therefore, employers should provide adequate support, rather than letting the skills of their employees stagnate as they work on a sit-to-stand desk all day long. This can be done by offering continuing education and development opportunities to let their employees know that they can grow with the company, and they won't get stuck in one position.
