While pay increases remain the top choice of employers looking to retain their best employees, the second most popular option is training.

But, according to PayScale, Inc.'s Professional Development: What Employees Want report, employees have very definite notions about which sorts of training they are most interested in—and employers should pay attention.

Although pay raises were the top retention strategy for 61 percent of employers, only a hair less—59 percent—said they'd be focusing on offering employees training. But, according to Wendy Brown, director at PayScale, it's not all that simple.

"While there are some significant trends, our research shows professional development is really not a one-size-fits all approach," Brown says. "Employers should take the time to truly understand which programs and training opportunities would be most important to help every employee progress in his or her career in a meaningful way."

The report cites specific training goals among employees, such as the big winner—management and leadership training—chosen by 32 percent of respondents as their top choice for an employee professional development program. Next most popular among workers were professional certification (30 percent) and technical skills training (17 percent).

Then there are the less popular options, chosen by less than 10 percent of respondents: teamwork/interpersonal skills training (8 percent), employer-subsidized degree (7 percent), communications/public speaking (4 percent) and diversity and inclusion training (2 percent).

Men look to training courses as stepping stones for promotion/advancement, at 37 percent, while women see them as means to higher pay, at 35 percent. And when it came to type of training, that varied depending on the field in which employees work. For instance, 36 percent of health care employees said they were most interested in professional certifications from the selection of training program options, but workers in human resources were the most likely to want professional certification (43 percent) when compared to other occupations.

Then there's the age variation. Millennials wanted professional development across the three top programs: management/leadership training, professional certification and technical skills training. But boomers were more interested in teamwork/interpersonal skills training and public speaking training than millennials.

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Employers focusing on training to retain employees

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