Uploaded byAhmad Thanin
Developing employees
Employee development is important for organizational growth and retaining talent. If not implemented properly, development can be frustrating and of little value. Effective development methods include coaching, mentoring, cross-training, stretch assignments, and online learning. Development must be supported by leadership and aligned with business needs. Common issues include lack of accountability, gaps in capabilities, and inconsistent execution. Overall, development requires commitment and a strategic, well-planned approach.
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Developing employees
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- 2. Overview • Employee developmentis almost universally recognized as a strategic tool for an organization's continuing growth, productivity and ability to retain valuable employees. • If organizations neglect certain challenges, then the employee development process will be cumbersome for the organization, frustrating for employees and of uncertain value for both.
- 3. Business Case Employers todaymust often develop the employees they have rather than find new staff in the marketplace. Reasons for emphasizing employee development include: • Remaining competitive. • Dealing with ongoing skills shortages. • Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. • Create a culture of learning. • Taking employee development "off hold." • Adapting to changing business structures. • Increasing worker productivity. • Reducing turnover. • Aligning employee development with the organization's needs
- 4. Business Case -Remaining competitive Organizations are competing not only for market share but also for employees. Employees want to work for an employer that will upgrade their skills to keep them competitive with peers from other companies
- 5. Business Case -Dealing with ongoing skills shortages According to SHRM's skills gap research • 83% of HR professionals are having recruiting difficulty and of those HR professionals. • 75% say there is a shortage of skills in candidates for job openings In the short term, organizations should rekindle entry-level job training programs. In the long term, businesses should participate in community partnerships to rebuild the broken talent
- 6. Business Case -Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion Corporate diversity initiatives all too often focus on external recruiting rather than reskilling current employees to encourage promotion of women and people of color
- 7. Business Case -Create a culture of learning 3 Steps to Make Learning Part of Company Culture: Own your learning. Build and keep building. Activate ambassadors. An agile learning culture is needed now more than ever— one that enables employees to demonstrate their ability to quickly adapt to new environments, new protocol and shifting market demands.
- 8. Business Case -Taking employee development "off hold." Previously, many U.S. employers placed some individual professional development initiatives on hold due to limited budget and resources, shifting business priorities, lack of time, and lack of senior management support. In today's labor market, companies must invest in employee training to build the talent needed in the current workplace
- 9. Business Case -Adapting to changing business structures. Leaner, flatter, continuously evolving organizations need employee development to ensure engagement and commitment. By providing creative development, executives signal that they value employees.
- 10. Business Case - Increasingworker productivity. Workers who receive training and educational opportunities are more productive.
- 13. Business Case - Reducingturnover. THE MORE MONEY AN ORGANIZATION SPENDS ON EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, THE GREATER THE CONCERN THAT THE HIGHLY SKILLED PEOPLE WILL LEAVE AND TAKE THEIR KNOWLEDGE SOMEWHERE ELSE; HOWEVER, RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT EMPLOYEE TRAINING ACTUALLY REDUCES TURNOVER AND ABSENTEEISM
- 15. Business Case -Aligning employee development with the organization's needs. Employers should let strategic needs drive development. For example, facing impending retirement of many older workers, an organization might broaden those workers' skills so they can add variety to their jobs and take on new responsibilities. Such measures could encourage experienced workers to stay on the job.
- 16. Guidelines for EffectiveEmployee Development These guidelines can help management plan employee development programs: Gain executive support. Involve management. Relate to performance management. Understand what the employee values Know the desired outcome Successful employers integrate development and succession planning programs into the organization's overall strategy, ensuring all programs drive toward the same set of objectives.
- 17. Guidelines - Gainexecutive support. Ensure executives understand and agree with how development fits into workforce planning, a succession process or a retention program. The 9-box grid is an employee assessment tool that divides and plots employees across 9 key data points. It is a grid-based system used to evaluate employees’ performance levels and potential for growth to fit them into each of these 9 segments
- 18. Guidelines - Involvemanagement. If executives show support, there is a good chance that management will pay attention to employee development. Managers play a vital role, ensuring a connection between development strategy and real-world implementation.
- 19. Guidelines - Relateto performance management. The employer must be clear about development's place in the performance management process. Managers should differentiate between • short-term plans for projects • long-term plans for the organization • career development plans for the employee and • skill building for immediate performance deficiencies. Each should be handled at the appropriate phase of the performance management process.
- 20. Guidelines - Understandwhat the employee values Employees often have an intense interest in their own development. Knowing what each employee values and how that relates to his or her development needs should greatly affect the type of development activities provided for the employee and, ultimately, for the success of such activities.
- 21. Guidelines - Knowthe desired outcome. Have a clear understanding of exactly which skills will be enhanced by particular employee development initiatives
- 22. Remember Although these guidelinesdo not guarantee a successful program, failure to follow any of them will almost certainly make the development program less effective for the employee and the organization.
- 23. Employee Development Methods COACHING.MENTORING. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS THE 9-BOX GRID CROSS-TRAINING "STRETCH" ASSIGNMENTS JOB ENLARGEMENT AND JOB ENRICHMENT JOB SHADOWING JOB ROTATION SUCCESSION PLANNING ASSESSMENT CENTERS CORPORATE UNIVERSITIES. ONLINE EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT
- 24. COACHING Coaching involves amore experienced or skilled individual providing an employee with advice and guidance intended to help him or her gain new skills, improve performance and enhance the quality of his or her career. The hallmarks of coaching are that it is personalized and customized, that it has a specific business objective, and that it is usually accomplished one-on-one over a period of time. Coaching should be approached like any other strategic goal. Successful execution requires commitment from the organization and the person being coached, a plan to obtain results, qualified coaches, and a follow-up evaluation
- 25. MENTORING Mentoring matches lessexperienced employees with more experienced colleagues through formal or informal programs. Formal mentoring programs can reduce turnover, enhance recruitment, and improve performance and the work environment, especially for women and people of color. • Effective mentoring programs do the following: • Match mentors and mentees based on skills and development needs. • Outline and track goals. • Designate minimum time commitments. • Monitor the mentoring relationship. • Hold both parties accountable. • Link mentoring to talent management strategy and goals. • Link mentoring to business strategy and goals.
- 26. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS To accelerate thepace of employee learning, organizations may use an individual development plan (IDP). This document details an employee's intentions and learning outcomes as well as support necessary to meet his or her tangible growth goals. Beneficial IDPs reflect adult learning strategies, experiential learning and symbolic interaction.
- 27. THE 9-BOX GRID The 9-boxgrid is an individual employee assessment tool that evaluates the employee's current and potential levels of contribution to the organization. The grid is most commonly used in succession planning as a method of evaluating an organization's talent pool and identifying potential leaders. For performance appraisal purposes, the 9-box grid provides a visual reference that can include appraisal and assessment data to allow managers to view employees' actual and potential performance. With information from the grid, managers can design IDPs
- 28. CROSS-TRAINING Cross-training refers totraining employees to perform job duties other than those normally assigned. Cross-training can be a short-term or ad hoc fix, or it can be an ongoing, planned process. Cross-training usually does not result in immediate advancement, but it does indicate that an employee is interested in learning new skills. This skill diversity may help him or her meet qualifications for future career advancement. Employers find value in cross-training because it is usually more efficient than bringing in new hires. Many managers take those efficiencies to the next level by leveraging technology to improve cross-training efforts. Many employees appreciate cross-training because it allows them to broaden their skills. All cross-training should begin with two basic steps: • identifying the knowledge and skills needed for each position. • cross-referencing that list of knowledge and skills with an inventory of current employees' proficiencies. These steps reveal gaps between employees' current skills and those the organization needs. Technology makes it easy to gather and analyze such information.
- 29. "STRETCH" ASSIGNMENTS Getting to thenext level in business often means having the right experiences. Developmental assignments allow employees to develop new skills, knowledge and competencies necessary for higher-level positions. On-the-job training projects and "stretch assignments" give employees a chance to learn while doing real work.
- 30. JOB ENLARGEMENT AND JOB ENRICHMENT Job enlargementinvolves expanding the employee's job by adding more tasks and duties, typically at the same level of complexity. Job enrichment builds more depth to an employee's job through more control, responsibility and discretion. Organizations often redesign jobs to increase employee motivation; however, when jobs are enlarged but not enriched, motivational benefits are unlikely. Although the distinction between job enlargement and enrichment is fairly straightforward, employees may not correctly perceive the changes as enrichment or as enlargement.
- 31. JOB SHADOWING Job shadowingrequires more than just having an employee follow a colleague around all day. Shadowers view the organization from a different perspective and learn firsthand about the challenges facing workers in other departments. This perspective helps employees realize the impact their decisions have on other groups
- 32. JOB ROTATION Job rotation isthe systematic movement of employees from job to job within an organization. Rotation programs may vary in size and formality. Though larger employers are more likely to invest in a formalized job rotation program, organizations of all sizes might consider implementing a job rotation program. Typically, formal rotation programs offer customized assignments to promising employees to give them a view of the entire business. Assignments usually run for a year or more. Many reasons exist for implementing a job rotation system, including the potential for increased product quality, giving employees the opportunity to explore alternative career paths, and perhaps most importantly, preventing stagnation and boredom.
- 33. SUCCESSION PLANNING Succession planning identifieslong-range needs and cultivates internal talent to meet those needs. Succession plans typically focus on a one- to three-year process of preparing employees— not preselecting them—for new roles in the organization. succession planning can also benefit smaller organizations with fewer resources.
- 34. ASSESSMENT CENTERS An assessmentcenter is not necessarily a physical site, as the term might suggest, but a program of tools and exercises designed to assess an employee's or job candidate's suitability in relation to a particular role. Centers may be used for selection or development purposes. Assessment centers usually take place over one or two days and can involve several employees or candidates at a time. Evaluators rate participants based on standardized activities, games and other simulations to predict the candidates' future performance. Assessment centers may help the organization make decisions about filling jobs, promoting employees or identifying employees for placement in succession planning programs
- 35. CORPORATE UNIVERSITIES Corporate universitiesfocus primarily on on-the-job skills, company-specific proprietary knowledge and branding, and certification. At a corporate university, the focus is on learning that will benefit the organization, not just the individual. Benefits of the corporate university format include strategic alignment with company goals, consistent quality and uniform messages that reach all learners. A corporate university is also a tangible symbol of the organization's commitment to learning and growth
- 36. ONLINE EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT Organizationstypically use classroom-based learning for topics unique to the particular employer and online learning for more universal topics Online training allows self-directed, just-in-time, on-demand instruction. Employees in e-learning situations have more control over their time than they have in a classroom. To keep employees engaged during online development activities, the training should deliver content in small, easily understood pieces. Employees also need to understand how the content will help them do their jobs better.
- 37. Common Issues andChallenges in Developing Employees Lack of accountability. • Few organizations consistently hold managers or executives accountable for developing their direct reports. Gaps in talent development capabilities. • Research shows that few organizations have the managerial capability to grow people in their jobs or provide feedback to support employee development. Lack of alignment between human capital and business strategy. • Fewer than one in five organizations consistently aligns workforce and business strategies. Inconsistent execution. • Most organizations have fundamental processes in place, such as workforce planning, high-potential development programs and succession planning, but few employers execute these programs consistently. Limited use of meaningful analytics. • Few employers track the metrics that matter, such as the effectiveness of talent management programs.