Say “tech worker perks” and some people see visions of ping-pong tables and dogs roaming the office.

But the best perk of all, according to tech workers surveyed by Indeed, is employee development or tuition reimbursement. Professional growth is key not only to attracting new hires, but also to retaining your top talent. A whopping 94% of people said that they would stay with an employer longer if it invested in their professional growth.

Of course, offering a strong L&D (learning and development) program isn’t just a perk for your employees. It also benefits you as an employer. By increasing employee engagement, professional growth programs can also improve your company’s productivity, innovation, and profit. 

The best tools for supporting employees’ professional growth

We evaluated several tools that claim to support professional growth within companies. Of those we reviewed, we recommend the following tools for employers looking to make an impact in their employees’ development.

1. The Mentor Method

The Mentor Method is a tech-enabled mentoring platform that helps its users build inclusive, cross-functional mentorship programs at scale. Created to help companies overcome the barriers their underrepresented employees had in finding meaningful mentorship, The Mentor Method is a rare tool that can meet the DEI as well as L&D needs of a range of companies. 

Another key differentiator of the platform is its patent-pending algorithm that removes bias from the mentor matching process. Instead, it focuses on relational and professional chemistry. In a field where data is scarce, we also liked that users can see the impact of The Mentor Method is having on their workplace through internal dashboards and employee feedback surveys.

2. Ceresa

Ceresa is a learning management system designed to​​ address the persistent lack of leadership diversity. While Ceresa has a focus on supporting the growth of underrepresented talent, the platform can work for all employees, regardless of background or career stage. 

In order to track growth with data, Ceresa gives users the ability to take confidential 360 assessments. These are designed to establish the user’s baseline and direct their unique journey within the platform. The Ceresa team was also mindful of how busy today’s working professionals are and included modules that can be completed in just 10 minutes.

This mindfulness has paid off— Ceresa claims its users boast an average 5x return on investment. Additionally, 75% of users felt more confident after using Ceresa and 33% of users improved performance.

3. Verb

Grounded in self-awareness, Verb uses micro-learning to give people leaders the soft skills they need to successfully manage themselves and lead others. Rather than tactical lessons in hard skills, Verb’s lessons impart crucial intangibles like how to create psychological safety and build inclusion.

Noting the importance of integrating learning, Verb doesn’t just stop at the lessons. Each module encourages users to reflect on their personal and professional experiences and apply real world concepts to their lessons, effectively closing the learning loop. Most of us know that learning and development is important, but it is rarely urgent. In this often overlooked space, Verb boasts an impressive 88% content completion rate.