6.7 Employee Development

Steps for Employment Development Plans

According to an article by edX Enterprise (2022), the seven steps to creating a professional skills development plan include:

1. Needs Analysis: A development plan begins with a training needs analysis.  HR departments identify the gaps between the company’s needs and the employee’s skills. It assists the HR department in outlining developmental needs and ensures that training addresses them.
2. Identify skills development goals: HR departments look at short and long-term training needs to ensure these skills are a priority. They build a long-term roadmap of potential employees who meet the company’s goals. This creates a clear picture of future training needs.
3. Identify training solutions: HR departments must determine learners’ expectations to help them learn most effectively. These include the employee’s learning styles, interests, and skill sets. The trainers identify how to break down the training into sessions and lessons. They use various materials, methods and resources to adapt to the various learning styles.  Some employees may require leadership training, while others must develop technical skills. Some training may be shorter, while other training may be over a longer period. The trainers need to decide what delivery method is best for each training program to ensure the learning experience is of interest and is a satisfactory experience for the learners.
4. Stakeholder support: Without the key stakeholder’s commitment and support, training may be a failure.  When the leadership of the company buys into the training programs, employees are more eager to participate. The leadership team must be a champion of the training program and support the benefits of the training to the employees and to the organization.
5. Check-in with the employees: This is a time to return to employees and discuss the new learning and goals. HR departments want to include the employees by prioritizing employee goals, discussing the gaps, re-enforcing the need for the training and explaining how the training aligns with the strategic training goals of the organization.
6. Monitor progress:  HR departments need to monitor the progress of the employee and the training programs. They can do this through metrics and measurements of success. A continual assessment will ensure effective training and alignment with the company’s training goals.
7. Culture of Learning: Ongoing learning is part of the process of a learning culture. A Learning Culture is a workplace that encourages individual, group and organizational learning, and everyone learns and gains knowledge; they share knowledge and are rewarded for learning. An organization’s learning culture is customized to the specific needs and goals of that company. Learning opportunities are offered to everyone and is inclusive.

High Potential Programs (Leadership Development)

High potential (hi-po) programs are concerned with the early identification and development of employees who have the potential to assume leadership positions in the future. If we would transpose such a program in the hockey world, it would be a system that identifies pee-wee players with the most potential and make sure that they get the coaching and the team environment needed to develop into elite NHL players.

Keys to these programs are (a) the identification of talent and (b) the development of this talent. First, potential has to be identified early. Large organizations often flag hi-po’s in their very first years in the company. This early identification is difficult to do and often leads to false positives (or employees identified as hi-po’s who do not develop into superior executives). This is the reason why companies tend to cast a wide net and identify as many hi-po’s as possible. After talent has been identified, it needs to be groomed. Over time, the careers of hi-po’s are carefully managed to ensure they reach their full potential. For example, HR managers often use developmental experiences such as international assignments to ensure that hi-po’s are put in situations where they can grow.

Human Resources establishes leadership development programs that cultivate an employee’s leadership talent. Companies want to ensure they have people trained to be future leaders.  The individuals are provided with continuous growth and networking opportunities.  HR develops plans for the next generation of leaders through the steps outlined by Gardner (n.d.):

1. Designing a strategic plan to help employees develop leadership competencies as defined by the organization.  It is a structured, long-term plan unique to each employee’s needs.  It outlines the goals and objectives that need to be taken to reach the goals.
2. Identify a talent pool of future leaders from existing employee lists.
3. Seek approval from senior leadership. plans are an investment, and budgets need to be created.  It is essential for senior executives to “buy in” and be engaged in the process.
4. Determine the leadership style of potential leaders. (autocratic, democratic, coaching, transformational, authoritative, pacesetting, laissez-faire).
5. Identify leadership competencies.  These competencies become the foundation of the plan. These competencies include social intelligence, conflict management, decision-making, change management, industry expertise, interpersonal skills, being a good coach, trustworthiness, and inclusiveness.
6. Evaluate the potential employees against the leadership competencies.  Identify gaps and perhaps design different career paths for specific individuals.
7. Design a Learning & Development Plan with HR experts to provide the appropriate learning opportunities for the employees. Some examples of learning include micro-learning, mentoring, job shadowing, job rotation, and external professional development courses.
8. Monitor and Assess the Leadership Development Plan.  Monitor progress and determine employee readiness upon completion of the plan.

“6.6 Employee Development” from Human Resources Management – 3rd Edition by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.