As market demands evolve, the gap between the skills you need and the skills you already have in your workforce will continue to grow. The solution? Expand your current workforce\u2019s capabilities to meet these changing needs by incorporating employee development plans into your talent strategy.<\/p>\n
Consider these employee development ideas to drive your business forward.<\/p>\n
The role of learning and development<\/a><\/span> has never been more vital to business success. A culture of continuous learning and upskilling supports your employees\u2019 needs and creates tremendous business value. By investing in your employees\u2019 professional development, you can increase the value of your workforce \u2014 and the value the workforce provides to the business.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want to build processes for employee development into existing people processes. The more impact you can create with less work, the greater the payoff to the business. Incorporating learning and development into existing processes also minimizes disruption to employees, increasing their likelihood of adopting employee development plans.<\/p>\n The pace of change isn\u2019t slowing, and the labor market remains tight. You can\u2019t afford to rely on external talent to fill skills gaps created by this continuous disruption. Upskilling the workforce internally to meet your changing needs is a more sustainable talent strategy and one that produces several collateral benefits.<\/p>\n Here are five positive changes that investing in employee development can drive in your business.<\/p>\n The Great Resignation has made it an imperative to proactively engage and retain your workforce. Aligning employees with company goals and showing them options for mobility can build stronger bonds between employees and the business.<\/p>\n By strengthening this connection through learning, you can provide context and meaning for every individual\u2019s daily work, no matter where they\u2019re slotted on the organizational chart.<\/p>\n Seeing pathways for growth within that context gives employees something to work toward and helps them feel more engaged with the work itself. And the more engaged employees are, the more likely they are to stay \u2014 and thrive \u2014 in your company.<\/p>\n Employee development supports greater workforce productivity. Employee development helps people become better at their jobs, enabling them to perform tasks more efficiently and effectively.<\/p>\n Beyond improved performance, employees will appreciate opportunities to build learning and development into the flow of work. This learning model is more engaging, which drives productivity up.<\/p>\n Mapping out employee training and development opportunities prompts your HR team and managers to be more intentional about career development.<\/p>\n Look for ways to be deliberate and strategic as you design learning pathways alongside career pathways. Aligning learning with opportunities for advancement gives employees clarity and a more compelling reason to pursue training and development.<\/p>\n A robust employee development program supports higher business profitability. Building capabilities internally can trim your talent acquisition costs and optimize the value of your existing workforce.<\/p>\n Additionally, when employees are more engaged and productive, business revenue is likely to increase, driving profitability. And the better employees become at their jobs, the lower your overall labor costs, which also adds to your bottom line.<\/p>\n One of the most significant benefits of employee development is expanding workforce capabilities. That gives you opportunities to fill skills gaps internally so you don\u2019t have to rely on an uncertain external labor market to meet your talent needs.<\/p>\n You can better prepare your business to meet growing market demands and future needs when you can count on internal talent.<\/p>\n Employee development plans are customizable for each employee\u2019s unique needs. Here are some types of development plans to consider at your business.<\/p>\n A professional development plan is a comprehensive growth program designed for an individual employee to achieve their larger goals, which may \u2014 or may not \u2014 be something they can do at their current company. An accountant at your firm may hope to one day follow their passion and pursue a career in teaching, for example.<\/p>\n While it may seem counterintuitive to help an employee prepare for a career that takes them away from your business, finding ways to support their journey will optimize their engagement and contributions to your business.<\/p>\n A professional development plan outlines the employee\u2019s long-term learning and career goals while encompassing personal goals that affect their ability to grow into their careers. An accountant hoping to pursue a teaching career, for example, may need to improve their communication, teamwork, or social skills \u2014 learning opportunities you can provide them in their current role.<\/p>\n Career development plans are more targeted than professional development plans. They address the skills and competencies employees need to bring their career goals to life. They have four primary components: Where the employee is now, where they want to go, areas of improvement, and the plan for improving.<\/p>\n Managers, acting as coaches, can help employees identify these elements. If the employee\u2019s career goals align with roles in the organization, the people in those roles can serve as a valuable resource for mentoring aspiring talent.<\/p>\n Skill-based training and development plans are the most targeted type of employee development plans. Skill development plans set short-term goals for improving immediate performance in the employee\u2019s current role.<\/p>\n Skill development plans are closer to training programs, which are targeted learning programs designed to fill operational skills gaps. Typically, the primary goal of these programs is to get employees to a baseline competence for their role.<\/p>\n Training and development plans are especially valuable for career mobility. To remain agile in the face of change, you need to be able to move employees within the company to fill shifting needs. Being able to quickly upskill an employee into an adjacent role provides tremendous value to the business.<\/p>\n The success of an employee training and development program depends on several factors. Here are some of the environmental elements of an effective development program, as well as who\u2019s responsible for making them happen.<\/p>\n Culture is one of the best tools for leading employee training and development. Culture is how work happens between people, and it\u2019s everyone\u2019s responsibility to uphold and put into practice. Recently, we\u2019ve been able to be more intentional about how we design culture specifically around values and the behaviors that drive those values.<\/p>\n What are the behaviors, processes, and practices that can support what you believe to be most important? To build a learning culture, for example, consider these questions:<\/p>\n While culture is created by everyone, the tone should be set at the top. The way you frame development programs to employees can grant them permission to spend time learning.<\/p>\n When it comes to identifying specific gaps in skills and organizational capabilities, HR has to take the lead. There\u2019s a lot of focus right now, for example, on \u201cpower skills\u201d like leadership, coaching, strategic thinking, and change agility.<\/p>\n HR has to communicate learning priorities to managers, who can cascade them down to their reports. Goal alignment software can help by clarifying what needs to get done and empowering employees to act accordingly. It\u2019s really important to be clear about the opportunities employees have for developing at the company and what that means for their future with you.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, the management role has evolved to provide more coaching and advising.<\/p>\n Managers can help give employees the ability to grow and develop skills in daily work. On-the-job learning is the best lab you can provide, and managers are instrumental in finding those opportunities for their reports.<\/p>\n How do we embed learning into the flow of work rather than making it another task to complete? One answer is to tie it to your business objectives and key results (OKRs)<\/a><\/span>. Learning should be elevated to the same priority level as other projects. If possible, help employees apply their learning in a targeted way while accomplishing their organizational goals.<\/p>\n Employees share responsibility for learning and development, too. It\u2019s important for employees to express their learning interests and where they\u2019d like to move within the organization. Effective learning goals are born from performance and development conversations between employees and managers.<\/p>\n Employee development plans, like individual employee goals, start at the top and gain momentum as they move down the org chart to land with each employee. Here\u2019s how to create effective employee development plans to drive learning and skill development in the right direction.<\/p>\n Employee development plans always start with the big-picture business goals. Review the business strategy and your plan for executing it. Identify the specific actions and tasks that the workforce needs to complete to achieve business goals.<\/p>\n Your findings from this process will become the blueprint for your employee development plan.<\/p>\n Given what the business wants to accomplish, assess your current workforce capabilities. Do you have the skills and competencies you need in your existing workforce? Identify points where you need to build new capabilities to drive business results. What specific skills does the workforce need to accomplish business goals?<\/p>\n Work with talent acquisition and workforce planning professionals to determine which of those skills, abilities, and competencies to build in house and which you need to source through external talent marketplaces.<\/p>\n Using workforce development needs as a guide, identify specific career development and growth opportunities for individual employees. Employees with adjacent skills to those you need, for example, are prime candidates for upskilling to fill gaps. Link upskilling opportunities to distinct career development tracks to show employees what they\u2019re working toward.<\/p>\n Take the employees\u2019 interests and personal goals into account when identifying growth opportunities. Employees and the business need to be working toward shared goals. If employees aren\u2019t personally invested in what they\u2019re learning, they\u2019re less likely to absorb the skills and knowledge they need.<\/p>\n There are several learning formats employees can use to learn and grow their skills.<\/p>\n Traditional classroom learning involves one teacher and numerous students. In this model, students can collaborate with each other to enhance their learning. Online learning modules mimic classroom learning but in an individual, asynchronous format. Employees can engage in these modules on their own schedules.<\/p>\n Blended learning combines traditional, live learning with asynchronous online formats. Microlearning is an updated version of online learning. It consists of short one-off or continuous learning modules that employees can fit into their schedules more easily.<\/p>\n The most effective learning format is learning on the job. Building development into the flow of work gives employees the opportunity to practice and apply skills in the course of their daily tasks. You can blend on-the-job learning with any of the other learning formats to drive home learning outcomes.<\/p>\n The ideal format to use in an employee development plan depends on the individual employee and your company resources. Build a customized employee development program to produce the best learning outcomes.<\/p>\n With clear goals and a learning format in place, develop an action plan<\/a> to help employees achieve their learning goals.<\/p>\n Managers and employees can collaborate to identify specific projects and tasks they can complete to apply their knowledge. Exercising new skills and abilities as they\u2019re learned improves outcomes. Managers play an important role in emphasizing the connection between the employee\u2019s learning goals and the business strategy.<\/p>\nWhy Is Employee Development Important?<\/h2>\n
Employee Retention Goes Up<\/span><\/h4>\n
Workplace Productivity Increases<\/span><\/h4>\n
Job Pathways Become Clearer<\/span><\/h4>\n
Business Profitability Improves<\/span><\/h4>\n
Workforce Capabilities Grow<\/span><\/h4>\n
3 Types of Employee Development Plans<\/h2>\n
Professional Development Plans<\/span><\/h4>\n
Career Development Plans<\/span><\/h4>\n
Employee Training and Development Programs<\/span><\/h4>\n
Who Is Responsible for Leading Employee Training and Development?<\/h2>\n
Learning Is Everyone\u2019s Responsibility<\/span><\/h4>\n
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HR Sets Learning Priorities<\/span><\/h4>\n
Managers Reinforce Training and Development<\/span><\/h4>\n
Employees Take Responsibility for Their Own Goals<\/span><\/h4>\n
How to Create an Employee Development Plan<\/h2>\n
Establish Business Goals<\/span><\/h4>\n
Assess Work Development Needs<\/span><\/h4>\n
Identify Career and Growth Opportunities<\/span><\/h4>\n
Consider All Training and Development Formats<\/span><\/h4>\n
Create a Clear Action Plan<\/span><\/h4>\n
Track Plan Effectiveness<\/span><\/h4>\n