Employee Development Programs: Boosting Engagement & Productivity - Essay Sample

Introduction

Employee development programs refer to ways to improve the broader skills of an employee over some time period in a holistic approach. Opportunities for development help to boost the engagement of employees as well as their productivity (Nguyen, Guevara, Barnett, & Thorpe, 2017). For an organization to develop an employee development program, they need to consider the goals of the business, talk to the employees and consider their options to achieve the same.

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Training is the ideal plan for developing the skills of the employees where employees are encouraged to join the local industry groups, they are given opportunities to work directly with a subject matter expert or they receive one-on-one mentoring and coaching. All the tactics lead to better productivity levels for the organization and it is a way of showing employees that the firm cares about their needs.

What does the current research suggest is the most effective way to develop employees?

The best way to develop employees is by offering them a means for individual growth through training. The organization needs to set quarterly goals because they are quicker and easier for employees to derive meaning from what they want to do every day (Noe & Kodwani, 2018). This way, achievable goals and monitoring their progress will help revisit their goals and ensure that they are still applicable.

Teaching and training employees to be better at what they do helps to create individual growth since they learn new skills or receive special training to advance their careers. When a firm provides coaching and activities for development helps to create a culture of growth in the workplace. This way, to ensure continuous growth and improvement in productivity, the employees are equipped with tools to functions at peak performance.

Evaluate the current development programs

The organization has a training department that has programs used to conduct employee development. There is a 5- day management development programs that were created by the former training director. It is conducted several times in a year and those sent to the program when being offered are the up and comers.

The focus of the program is on planning, controlling, organizing, and delegating and employee discipline. There is also the job shadowing program that is offered to the same employees. This particular program involves a two-week planned shadow of selected employees who have the goal of exposing trainees to the key jobs and duties involved (Noe & Kodwani, 2018). There are also individual departments that are set up and run their department-level training.

Which parts would likely not be successful in developing today's employees?

The job shadowing program is likely not to be successful in developing employees because it is not about job experience. It is only a way to train new employees but not a way to develop the existing ones. The newcomers will benefit from asking questions about a particular field and getting advice. However, the existing and older employees will find it a waste of time because they are already aware of their job description and the efforts are in vain.

The job shadowing program will not help an employee seeing individual growth to know the kind of workday they are having. There are days where it feels dull, others where the employee is overwhelmed and others when there are just enough activities to keep one occupied. It is necessary to know the kind of day because it shows progress in positivity.

What are the specific limitations you see in these plans?

The key limitations of these plans are time because the programs take time from the daily operations while the firm requires one to be fully committed to their job description. In training employees, there is no adequate time especially because the firm is seeking to maximize profits (Aleem, Purwani, Ali, & Bhojani, 2018). This way, the trainer may have to rush through important parts.

Another limitation is that the quality of the product is dependent on the qualifications of a trainer. The firm may think that if an employee is very talented at their job, they will make a good trainer for the new employees. However, it is not the case because being able to train employees requires special skills hence at high-level positions, it is important to hire a corporate trainer.

Which parts would likely continue to be successful? Why would these plans be worthwhile to keep?

The part that would continue to be a success is the individual departments doing their level training. It helps to build expertise in the field and be more knowledgeable of all elements surrounding the same department. It allows the employees to strengthen the skills and identify on areas that they should improve.

The 5-day management development program to focus on planning and employee discipline is a way to help new employees as well as other existing ones. They need to be taught the necessary skills that help them reduce any forms of weak links within the company and stop to rely heavily on others to complete basic tasks.

Make recommendations for an evidence-based employee development program.

The firm can introduce a program for personal development because employees do not just exist in a professional capacity for the service of the organization. They are also human beings having physical, intellectual and also emotional experiences and they need to evolve both personally and professionally.

Employees also need physical health such that the organization cultivates the core value of health and vitality by providing employees with different membership for areas like gyms or classes that contribute to general physical health (Kinley & Ben-Hur, 2017). The company can also provide intellectual growth through seminars that continue to provide education concerning personal finance or fostering healthy relationships.

What is your rationale for the changes you plan to make? Why do you recommend these changes? What is the research that supports your recommendations?

The rationale for making the changes is to ensure that the organization deals with the short-shelf life of learning and development needs. Across history, it was stated that what one has learned remains valuable for many years but in the recent days, knowledge and skills can become obsolete within months (Kinley & Ben-Hur, 2017). This way, the need to learn rapidly and regularly is quite important.

This way, the organization has to rethink how learning and development will happen in a more continuous and ongoing manner. It is also important to avoid information overload hence strike a balance between giving too much and offering the right information. It is also important to teach employees to own their career development as well as control their learning futures.

Would a mentoring or coaching plan be more successful than the current program? If so, why, and how would you recommend developing this plan?

A coaching and mentoring plan would be more successful compared to the current program as it ensures that the company leaders are intentional. The managers tend to be overwhelmed by the present program and they may no longer pass on skills and insights through coaching the employees (Kinley & Ben-Hur, 2017). This way, it is necessary that the organization supports and incentivize managers to perform such activities.

Mentoring and coaching involve having the right conversations like asking questions on the obstacles that employees may be facing and the actions that they can tale to improve their overall performance. This way, when the leaders are intentional, employees can self-reflect on the things they have accomplished and managers can offer their support to achieve the true potential.

Analyze the elements that would be needed to create a successful development plan.

One of the elements is to use an intentional change framework. It will involve determining the desired end state by looking at the current reality. It will be necessary to describe the strengths and challenges involved when making changes. Another element is to understand what it means to build capacity (Stone, 2016). There are essential aspects that help leaders to move up in development such as reflection, polarity thinking and seeking perspective.

Another element for a successful plan is being led by values. These include the things that people care about and more so about the reason that one wants to make the change. Other questions to answer when creating the plan will include the who and what the change will serve and determine if it is truly meaningful to the organization.

Identify and discuss at least three key factors that are essential to creating an effective development program.

It will be necessary to consider the vision and clarity of employees. Creating a detailed vision of what the program will achieve helps to put things correctly since it will not be a trial and error kind of strategy. The clarity of the plan helps to make a clear vision. Once one has the picture of what to achieve they begin to create a structure for completion. This way one first creates a structure and then identifies the steps that will lead to putting the pieces together.

Another factor to consider is the threat and opportunities that will ensure the success of the program. Existing behaviour and habits cab support or not support the ways to achieve the organizational goal (Stone, 2016). There will be things that the organization will need to stop doing and some other new actions they will start doing.

Discuss how to ensure that the plan supports targeted minority groups and is culturally inclusive. What other methods would be successful in developing these targeted employees, based on your research?

The plan supports targeted minority groups since it is culturally inclusive and takes care of diversity and inclusion. The plan helps to build trust among the staff members where people crave transparency, honesty and openness. Building trust will ensure that employees engage in learning and development without worrying about biasness.

Other methods that may be successful include igniting the passion of managers to coach the employees. There has been the erosion of the role of managers by the global, complex and competitive world. They seem to be overburdened with responsibilities and it would do great to ensure that they can offer to coach and mentor.

References

Aleem, M. U., Purwani, M., Ali, U., Ali, S. B., & Bhojani, N. (2018). Power of Training and Development on Employee Retention in Pharmaceutical Organization. IBT JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STUDIES (JBS), 14(2). Retrieved from http://jms.ilmauniversity.edu.pk/index.php/jbs/article/viewFile/506/231

Kinley, N., & Ben-Hur, S. (2017). The Missing Piece in Employee Development. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(4), 89. Retrieved from http://ilp.mit.edu/media/news_articles/smr/2017/58421.pdf

Nguyen, J., Guevara, N., Barnett, R., & Thorpe, B. (2017). Strategic employee development in the government sector. Retrieved from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170010300.pdf

Noe, R. A., & Kodwani, A. D. (2018). Employee Training and Development, 7e. McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved from https://bsee_prod.opengov.ibmcloud.com/sites/bsee.gov/files/research-guidance-manuals-or-best-practices/attendance-at-meetings.pdf

Stone, R. D. (2016). Employee growth and development: Perspectives from the field. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2015-16097-005