Employee Development
What Is Employee Development?
Employee development is an on-going effort on the part of the employee and the organization for which he or she works to improve the employees' skills, abilities, and knowledge. In order to achieve successful employee development there must be a balance between an individual's career needs and the goals of the organization.
A more highly-skilled workforce will accomplish more and, in turn, with a more experienced and knowledgeable workforce the management team and organization will accomplish more.
Why Should Employee Skills and Abilities Be Developed?
Employee development programs have a profound effect on an organizations performance. By providing employee development opportunities for employees to develop new skills increased employee retention, which saves the organization a great deal of money in increased training and placement fees incurred when replacing employees who have left the company.
The Role of the Supervisor in Employee Development
There are a few basic roles for a supervisor in developing employees. They include:
- Coaching employees to help them determine what they need for development
- Providing both positive and corrective feedback
- Offering organizational insight, information, and advice
- Guiding the planning through goal setting and implementation throughout the year
- Allotting time and money for development experiences
- Ensuring opportunities for applications of new learning
It is very helpful for employees to get an honest assessment of their work, as well as access to others who may be able to provide information or coach the employee.
The Role of the Employee
Some things the employee should understand when beginning work towards personal development:
- Specific goals; identify goals for new skills and look for ways to meet those goals
- Energy to make the development possible
- A variety of work assignments
- Asking for feedback
- Opportunities to coach others and finding good coaches for him or herself
- Developmental relationships that provide a variety of learning
The Consilium Group believes that effective employee development systems and processes are a key success factor in a business. We can either customize an employee development program for you or build upon one that already exists.
