8 Ways to Develop Your Employees
Over the past couple of years, we’ve gone from a strong economy that has created job growth to a down turn that has led to layoffs and rising unemployment. The current economic trend is indications of improving. Regardless of the economic climate, there is challenge of recruitment and retention.
One strategy that can improve recruitment and retention is training. Investing in staff training and development can alleviate skill shortages by improving your current staff’s abilities to handle increased or new challenges.
Training may sound expensive, but the cost of turnover is even more expensive. Replacing and employee can cost between 50 and 100 per cent of a positions’ annual salary! With this in mind, take a look at the following eight ways to develop your employees, from AILS.
- Training
- A well-designed training program that maximizes learning before, during and after instruction translates into positive, lasting changes on the job.
- Effective programs should include orientation, on-the-job training and classroom instruction.
- Internet-based learning is an option that allows employees to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule.
- Self-directed learning
- This approach puts individual employees in control of their own learning, allowing for personal differences in learning styles and encouraging ownership of the learning process.
- When using this approach, many employers work with employees to develop a learning contract or personal development plan. The contract or plan, which is signed by both parties, outlines clear learning goals.
- Coaching and mentoring
- Demonstrated benefits of these approaches include improved quality and quantity of work, transfer of learning and, for employees, improved communication and problem-solving skills.
- Effective coaching and mentoring programs depend on the skills and personality of the mentor or coach, adequate time for coaching and mentoring sessions and established time-lines and goals.
- Employee promotion
- Promoting someone to a position of greater responsibility is a traditional way of rewarding good performance, developing employee skills and retaining valued employees.
- Effective promotion involves careful consideration of many details, including identifying gaps in skills and experience and providing support through training, coaching or mentoring.
- Job enrichment
- Job enrichment increases the employee’s authority or responsibility within their current position. Examples include committee work, special assignments or serving on cross-functional teams.
- This approach increases interest and motivation by allowing employees to try new skills, build new relationships and explore new areas of specialization.
- Job rotation and cross-training
- Job rotation moves an employee through one or more different positions. The rotation can last several hours, several months or even a year or two. Cross-training is a specific type of job rotation where an employee learns the skills of a different position.
- These approaches can effectively add diversity and interest, prepare individuals for promotion, rejuvenate work units and improve communication.
- Lateral moves
- In a lateral move, an employee moves to a different position with similar status, pay and responsibility. A lateral move may offer new challenges or encourage the development of different skills for an employee who may not necessarily want increased responsibility.
- This approach increases flexibility and communication among work units and, in small businesses with few opportunities for advancement, helps to retain valuable employees who might otherwise leave.
- Job aids
- Job aids include checklists, tip sheets, wallet cards, posters, pictures, code lists, flow charts and diagrams—anything that offers on-the-spot practical help or reminders. Job aids can reduce the amount of information employees need to recall by providing easily accessible facts.
- Well-designed job aids are concise, written in plain language and make good use of white space and graphics for easy interpretation.
Effective training and development better equips an organiztion to meet business challenges from filling staffing shortages to retaining current staff. Developing employee skills help generate the kind of performance that carries employers and employees forward.
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