Employee Development Systems and Planning

Introduction

The department of human resources seems to be one of the most significant branches in any organization. The achievements demonstrated by the representatives of the human resource department influence considerable the work of the rest of the sections: if human resource members succeed in their activities, the rest of the company has all chances to grow as well; however, if the department under consideration fails to complete its functions correctly, the rest of the group is under threat.

Globalized organizations should be as competitive as possible to promote fair competition with other respective markets and promote equal competition between the employers within one particular organization. Change management demands that competent employees are hired to facilitate the process of adapting to foreseeable challenges in life. Taking into consideration the variety of employee training programs, the programs which are based on employee development should be designed the way it is possible to influence any kind of employees’ work.

The issues which impact achieving professional goals may be of different types: corporate values, some sort of organizational missions, etc. In this report, the definition of employee development will be given, the identification of training and development will be offered, the significance of the chosen process will be highlighted from organizational and personal levels as well as the differentiation of the developmental approaches and the role of the selected issue will be discussed in an exact way (Rothwell, 2010).

The Essence of Employee Development

The idea of employee development has appeared at the beginning of the 1920s. It has been improved considerably due to the variety of ups and downs inherent to the chosen labor market. The unemployment rates may rise substantially so that the necessity of jobs appears, and organizations have to develop programs to encourage their employees. In case the market is not stable and characterized by constant downsizing, an employee should take the courses to improve their marketable skills. In recent times, it is stated that one employee is offered to employers until the latter is retired.

This is why some organizations find it necessary to develop the programs according to which employees are trained to set their professional and personal goals and think about how it is better to achieve those using current technological devices. To succeed in the chose programs, it is obligatory to develop a particular culture with the help of which employee development is embraced, and the success of the organization is possible to predict (Sims, 2001).

Employee development is, therefore, an opportunity for many employees to develop their potential by their constant skills’ improvements. If an employee is able to gain a better understanding of an issue, he/she gets more chances to become a good leader. The following aspects may be considered in the program mentioned above: career management, hire operations, and management development (Cavanaugh & Kail, 2008).

How to Differentiate Training and Development

There are two main processes with the help of which employee may get the necessary access to information that helps to understand an organization’s needs and set several goals. They are training and development. These processes aim to help an employee realize how it is to make the right contributions and promote an appropriate performance. However, it is necessary to differentiate these two processes. Daft defines training as an “attempt to improve employee performance on a currently help job or one related to it” (2009).

And with the help of Taylor’s definition of development as a process that “is not always directly tied to observable, behavioral change…” and that may cultivate “individuals so that their organization and workgroup collectively possess the competencies essential to meet present responsibilities” (2002), it becomes clear that training and development have many differences. So that training is responsible for evaluating some currently appeared problems within an organization, and development, in its turn, deals with some prospects of the work.

In other words, training is the process that aims at defining employee skills, which may be used immediately to solve the problems, and development is used to prepare an employee for some activities in the future. If training may impact only the activities at the chosen moment, development deals with a hope that may be maintained by both employers and employees in the future (Hawley, 2004).

Importance of Employee Development

Employee development is the most salient aspect of organizational management towards achieving set business objectives. A qualified and competent workforce ensures that company objectives are realized through more remarkable job outcomes. Training of employees equips them with appropriate skills and competencies in performing their duties satisfactorily (Keeton & Sheckley, 2001). This leads to quality job outcomes that meet the expectations of stakeholders and customers alike. Satisfied clients are hitherto retained. Employee training also facilitates acquiring new job skills relevant to solving challenges at the workplace by employees.

The development of employee training programs by a company integrates a culture of responsibility and accountability amongst the workforce in line with expected standards of quality and performance. Employees are equally motivated to work on their assigned duties towards developing their careers. To this end, employee training motivates workers. This is why employee development is considered an integral part of any organization, with which employees make everything possible to prove their status and powers.

Employee Development Systems

A proper system for training employees integrates a multifaceted structure, including the “composition of the workforce, learning objectives, and allowing for individual differences in learning styles” (Society, 1996). All the approaches mentioned above may be divided into several essential parts, and some of them are formal education and an idea of assessment,

Formal Education

One of the most significant parts of formal education is connected with the idea of tuition reimbursement. The vast majority of organizations provide their employers with an excellent chance to visit various courses and improve their understanding of the matter. As a rule, it has the form of distance education.

Advantages and disadvantages of off-site versus on-site approaches can be differentiated as follows:

Advantages are the following:

1. Understand better varieties of cultures existed;
2. Get access to some new perspectives;
3. Improve personal creative thinking in the chosen sphere.

The disadvantage observed in the program is the only one, and it is connected with the nature of information taught. Employers may be disturbed with the material offered because it cannot be directly used in the organization an employer has to work.

Assessment

Assessment is usually based on information that comes from different people: employers, managers, and, what is more important, customers. The reasons of why organizations have to pay more attention to assessment point are the following: the employee has to be aware of his/her potential, managers should be able to evaluate the strong and weak points of their activities as well as recognize the steps to be promoted (Taylor, 2002).

Hints on How to Develop a Powerful Planning Process

With the help of employee development, it is possible to improve the implementation of various HR plans; however, the vast majority of organizations fail to develop a good employee development plan. This is why it is crucially important to consider the steps which promote the success of an employee development plan.

As a rule, there are many steps to be considered; let’s talk about the most integral ones:

1. Each group should have its own list of duties to complete;
2. Each group need to be aware of the purposes set by an organization;
3. The members of each group should consider the possibility of changes within their purposes and duties;
4. The group should identify how many people can participate in the chosen program;
5. It is necessary to establish several long-term and short-term plans for each group;
6. It is obligatory to compare always the supplies which are desired and which are available;
7. The identification of development purposes and needs should be taken into account;
8. It is necessary to spend more time developing a proper timetable and measurements that are integral in the process.

Woods (2001) admits that the effectiveness of employee development is more evident in case this program is a part of the HR system, and this system should be a part of a career management process. There are four essential steps in this process: self-assessment, the setting of goals, planning of activities, and the necessity to check reality.

Each of the steps mentioned above requires special techniques from an employee and an organization. And the whole system will be more effective and lead to several benefits if it is connected with the purposes and needs of a company and supported by employee’s participation (Cavanaugh & Kail, 2008).

Conclusion

In general, the human resources department plays a vital role in managing any organization and consists of such parts as orientation, employee development, and training. These segments promote fair competition separately between the employees and employers. To have more chances to succeed in activities, people can use various training and development programs and gain a better understanding of the required matter (Society, 1996).

The effectiveness of development and training may undergo some challenges due to the problems connected with budgets based on the returns from the investments (Sims, 2001). This is why such crucial components like development and training have to be appropriately managed within any organization to support and even stimulate employees (First & College, 1996). Considering this vast amount of requirements and steps, it is necessary to remember that it is hard to view all of them simultaneously. Still, it is possible to choose a particular order and follow it precisely.

Reference List

Cavanaugh, J. C. & Kail, R. V. (2008).Human Development: A Life-Span View. San Francisco: Cengage Learning.

Daft, R. L. (2009). Organization Theory and Design. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

First, L. & College, O. (1996). Employee Development: Activities, Case Studies and Readings. Chicago: Open College and Learners First.

Hawley, C. F. (2004). 201 Ways to Turn Any Employee into a Star Performer. London: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Keeton, M. T. & Sheckley, B. G. (2001). Improving Employee Development: Perspectives from Research and Practice. Bloomington, IN: House.

Rothwell, W. J. (2010). Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent from Within. Pennsylvania: AMACOM.

Sims, D. M. (2001).Creative new Employee Orientation Programs: Best Practices, Creative Ideas, and Activities for Energizing your Orientation Program. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Society, I. (1996). Employee Development. New York: Industrial Society.

Taylor, S. (2002). The Employee Retention Handbook. London: CIPD Publishing.

Woods, E. (2001). Employee Development at the Workplace: Achieving Empowerment in a Continuous Learning Environment. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Pub Co.