HRM

What is employee development?

Employee development refers to training and related opportunities for employees to gain new skills and competencies.

Employers today must often develop the employees they have rather than find new staff in the marketplace. Reasons for emphasizing employee development include:

  1. Remaining competitivee

  1. Dealing with ongoing skills shortages.

  1. Creating a culture of learning.

  1. Reducing turnover.

  1. Aligning employee development with the organization's needs.

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.

Dealing with ongoing skills shortages

Facing a tight job market and a dearth of employees with the right mix of skills, some employers are investing in training that will enhance workers' expertise and prepare them for new jobs with better opportunities.

Creating a culture of learning

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.

Reducing Turnover

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.

Aligning employee development with the organization's needs.

Employers should let strategic needs drive development.

Guidelines for Effective Employee Development

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:

  1. Gain executive support

  1. Involve management

  1. Relate to performance management

  1. Assess and adjust workloads

  1. Look for skill adjacencies

  1. Understand what the employee values

  1. Know the desired outcome