“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then,
is not an act, but a habit “– Aristotle
Employee development is the collaboration
of the employee along with the employer to improve their existing skills,
knowledge and abilities as individuals and groups.
It is of utmost importance that employees keep
themselves abreast with the latest developments in the industry so as to get
ahead of the constant changes seen. It doesn’t matter if it is a profitable
enterprise, a government agency, or a non-profit corporation, development of
the employee has both indirect and direct impact on efficiency.
Organization need to provide focused attention on
how they provide these
employee
training programs and more importantly make it part of their culture of
continuous improvement for their employees.
Employee development programs can happen for the
following reasons in an organization
- Retention
& Attraction of Employees:
According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Learning
Report a whopping 93% of employees would stay at a company longer if it
invested in their careers.
HR training and
development is no longer reserved for only certain positions. It
signals that the employer values their people and are successful .Some of the
key areas to focus on here would be on certain soft skills like leadership
training, communication, collaboration, change management etc.
Having a reputation as a good employer who cares
enough to provide Employee Training Programs for them is great both for how
your customer will perceive your company as well as for hiring new employees.
HR training and development programs helps bring
in good people. Offering training, continuing education, conference attendance,
seminar involvement or even something as simple as a book allowance with the
consensus that you expect them to fully participate will go a long way in
attracting employees who are looking to develop and better themselves. That’s a
HR to hire and keep at all costs.
- Create
a Strong Talent Pool:
Every organization has talents that required to
be closely nurtured and provide significant development to take on future
leadership roles.
Employee training programs should develop and
equip your current set of employees for possible future promotion from daily
worker to management as well as show which employees have the aptitude for such
a promotion.
It is common to see companies advertise for top
positions such as senior managers and top management. This is because they
cannot find someone from within to take up such a position. This is due to the
simple reason that there is no sufficientemployee training programs and right
initial hiring to prepare them for these positions. Employee development
bridges this gap by providing the employees with the necessary behavioral
skills and functional competencies to take up these positions as and when they
arise.
Hiring from within saves the company the time
then hiring from outside will take to get used to the organization’s culture.
In spite of the advantages, not all long-term employees are ready for such a
step up. So promoting them when they aren’t could lead to problems. HR training
and development helps to eliminate this problem by equipping the employees with
the necessary skills early enough.
- Provide
positive engagement:
It is important that all employees are 100% engaged
in their work duties and provide exceptional contribution to the company’s
growth. To make sure the employees have the right habits towards doing their
daily work it is very important that they are taught the best practices in
their current job.
There might be days when the employees are not
fully utilized due to lesser work. And it is well known that an empty mind is a
devils kitchen so it is important that during this time how they utilize their
time in a constructive manner without boredom setting in. Here Employee
training programs especially the on-the-job trainings are very important.
- Make
them productive:
A well trained, confident and engaged employee is
going to deliver better work for the company in the long run. This is going to
save the organisation a lot of money.
Instead of hiring peoplefrom outside, the company
can use personnel from within since they are more efficient and proficient.
Using employees from within is in the long run going to save the company a lot
of money while at the same time earning more from the employees increased
efficiency and expertise. It’s also not a given that employees from elsewhere
will come in and make the desired impact.
In the long run HR training and development has
the potential to increase output of employees leading to increased sales and
higher profits for the company as a result. This is the reason why employee
development should be viewed as an investment instead of an expense.
- Helps
in managing change in the environment:
Change is a constant in today’s VUCA world and we
need to empower the tools to our people to adopt change. We can use HR training
and development programs to help employees go through the various changes in
their professional and personal life. This will in turn help them to turn more
understanding towards company’s goals and they will be much better in sharing
its vision with extended teams, customers and suppliers.
Employee training programs cannot happen without
proper planning. The business needs might be shifting according to customer
and industry and therefore the training that worked yesterday might not
work tomorrow, hence planning for the change is important.
An employee development plan that is going to
work necessarily forces you to consider the future path of your company in line
with its vision and changes around you. This forces companies to think ahead of
the curve for your business every day
Whatever be the change the one thing constant is
that HR training and development programs are there to stay
and companies need to use them extensively to stay on top!
