Training And Developing Employees In Hrm

[Jonathon Burnside]

Employeedevelopment refers to training and related opportunities for employees to gain new skills and competencies. While many employers view development as a shared responsibility with employees, it is almost universally recognized as a strategic tool for an organization's continuing growth, productivity and ability to attract and retain valuable employees.

This toolkit does not cover the topic of employee development for organizational leaders and managers. For information specifically related to that topic, see Developing Organizational Leaders and Developing Management.

Successful employers integrate development and succession planning programs into the organization's overall strategy, ensuring all programs drive toward the same set of objectives. These guidelines can help management plan employee development programs:

Some methods of employee development occur on the job, with the manager or an experienced co-worker leading the development activity in the context of the actual work environment. Other development occurs at training facilities or other locations. And increasingly organizations use online methods to develop employees.

Coaching involves a more 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.

Mentoring matches less experienced 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.

To accelerate the pace 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.

The 9-box grid 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. See What is a 9-box grid?

Cross-training refers to training 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: 1) identifying the knowledge and skills needed for each position and 2) 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.

On-the-job training projects and "stretch assignments" give employees a chance to learn while doing real work. Developmental assignments allow employees to develop new skills, knowledge and competencies necessary for higher-level positions.

Getting to the next level in business often means having the right experiences. Yet many workers do not know what experiences best prepare them for upward mobility. Experts say that people who have experiences characterized as "accelerators" of potential will be more likely to succeed.

Research has shown, for example, that first-level leaders are more likely to succeed if they have had cross-functional experiences, midlevel leaders are more likely to succeed if they have had experiences handling tough challenges (e.g., a difficult employee situation), and new executive leaders are more likely to succeed if they have had high-risk and high-visibility experiences.

Job enlargement involves 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.

Job shadowing requires 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.

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. Possible downsides include increased workload and decreased productivity for the employee, temporary disruption of work flow, line managers' possible reluctance to allow high-performing employees to participate in job rotation programs, and the costs associated with the learning curve on new jobs.

Many business leaders believe that succession planning is a complex process, restricted to the largest organizations with the most sophisticated organizational development departments. However, succession planning can also benefit smaller organizations with fewer resources.

An assessment center 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.

Corporate universities focus 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.

Organizations typically 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. Other tips for successful implementation of e-learning employee development programs include choosing topics linked to specific business goals, providing introductory training so employees know how to use online training systems, and providing online support and easy access to supplemental information.

Organizations should be aware of potential problems that may arise in employee development programs, such as funding problems, lack of analytics and metrics, diversity issues, and generational differences. Special challenges stem from the current economic climate and diverse work environments.

When work and revenue flow, taking employees away from their desks for development is difficult. But when work slows and employees have time for training and development, there is less money in the training budget. Some employers have found ways to break free of this vicious lack-of-time or lack-of-money cycle. Here are some tips:

In earlier generations, an unspoken "sink-or-swim" approach to on-the-job training was often good enough to bring new employees up to speed. That approach might be less effective with those from the Millennial demographic, a group raised with different expectations and work styles. Millennials, possibly more than any other generation, require clear direction, guidance and goals from their managers. Most Millennials are accustomed to well-defined assignments, clear benchmarks, and continuous feedback and discussion. The lack of success many employers have experienced in working with Millennials is the result of a collision between this generation's worldview and how most organizations function.

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