HRM420: Training & Development

Chapter 9: Employee Development and Career Management

Learning Objectives

• Approaches to Employee Development

• The Development Planning Process

• Company Strategies for Providing Development

• Discuss current trends in using formal education for development

• Design an effective on-boarding process

Significance of Development

•Helps managers understand their strengths, weaknesses, and interests

•Helps managers expand responsibilities to meet their growth needs

• Increases retention of valuable managers

•Ensures employees have needed competencies

•Helps increase employee engagement

Development & Training

•Development refers to learning experiences that help employees grow and prepare for the future

•Development often involves voluntary learning not tied directly to the current job

•Training is related to the current job and typically required

Careers

Traditionally, careers have been described in a variety of ways:•As a sequence of positions held within an occupation• In the context of mobility within an organization•As a characteristic of the employee—one’s career

Development Planning Process

1. Self-assessment—identifying opportunities and areas for improvement

2. Reality check—identifying what needs are most realistic to develop

3. Goal setting—establishing goals to focus development efforts

4. Action planning—creating a plan to determine how goals will be achieved

The Development Planning Process

Figure 9.1 - Steps and Responsibilities in the Career Management Process

Figure 9.2 - Development Plan

Approaches to Employee Development

1. Formal

Education

2. Assessment

3. Job

Experiences

4. Interpersonal

Relationships

1. Formal Education

a. Formal education programs include: Off-site and on-site programs designed specifically for the company’s employees, short courses offered by consultants or universities

b. Executive Education: Includes executive MBA programs and specialized curricula on topics such as leadership, entrepreneurship, and global business

• Tuition reimbursement - Practice of reimbursing employees’ costs for college and university courses and degree programs

2. Assessment

involves collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, or skills

Assessment may help:• identify managerial potential

• Identify strengths and weaknesses of members’ in teams

• Self-awareness

Assessment can help employees understand the type of work environment they prefer and the type of work they prefer to do.

2. Assessment a. Personality Tests and Inventories

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

O Identifies 16 personality types based on preferences for:o introversion (I) or extraversion (E)o sensing (S) or intuition (N)o thinking (T) or feeling (F)o judging (J) or perceiving (P)

O Each personality type has implications for work habits and interpersonal relationships

The MBTI is used to understand communication, team dynamics, work

styles, and leadership styles.

2. Assessment :b. Assessment Center

Multiple evaluators evaluate employees’ performance on a

number of exercises:

i. Leaderless group discussions: A team of five to seven

employees is assigned a problem and must work together to solve

it within a certain time period

ii. Interviews: Employees answer questions about their work and

personal experiences, skill strengths and weaknesses, and career

plans

iii. Role plays: Refer to the participant taking the part or role of a

manager or other employee

2. Assessment:c. Performance Appraisals

i. Performance appraisal: The process of measuring employees’ performance

This includes providing a clear understanding of the differences between current performance

and expected performance, identifying the causes of this difference and putting an action plan to

improve performance.

ii. Upward feedback: Refers to appraisal that involves collecting subordinates’

evaluations of managers’ behaviors or skills

360-degree feedback process: Employees’ behaviors or skills are evaluated not only by

subordinates but by peers, customers, their bosses, and themselves. A special case of

upward feedback

Conditions in which Performance Measurement is useful for Development

• The appraisal system must give employees specific information about their performance problems and ways they can improve their performance

• Managers must be trained in providing performance feedback

• Managers must frequently give employees performance feedback

• Managers also need to monitor employees’ progress in carrying out the action plan

Factors necessary for a 360-degree feedback system

to be effective:

• The system must provide consistent (reliable) ratings

• Feedback must be job-related (valid)

• The system must be easy to use, understandable, and relevant

• The system must lead to managerial development

360-Degree Feedback

•Feedback is obtained from subordinates, peers, customers, managers, and employees themselves

•Individuals complete questionnaires rating the employee on a number of different dimensions

Benefits and Potential Limitations of 360

Benefits of 360:•Feedback is obtained from multiple perspectives•Employees gain a better perspective of their strengths and areas for

improvement•These systems help to formalize the feedback process

Potential limitations include:•Time demands placed on raters•Employees may retaliate against raters•Facilitators may be required to interpret results•Companies may fail to provide opportunities to act on feedback

How Job Experiences are used for Employee Development

3.Job Experiences

b. Job rotation gives employees a series of job assignments in various functional areas of the company or movements among jobs in a single functional area or department.

Relationships, problems, demands, tasks, or other features that employees face in

their jobs

a. Job enlargement – adding challenges or new responsibilities to an employee’s

current job

This could include:special project assignments

switching roles within a work team

researching new ways to serve clients and customers

Effective Job Rotation

•Linked to specific developmental needs

•Provides experiences needed for managerial positions

•Employees understand the skills to be developed

•Timed to minimize workload costs

•All employees are given equal opportunity

c. Transfers, Promotions, and Downward Moves

3.Job Experiences

Transfer: An employee is given a different job assignment in a different area of the company;

not necessarily increases job responsibilities or compensation

Promotions: Advancements into positions with greater challenges, more responsibility, and

more authority than in the previous job; includes pay rise.

Downward move: Occurs when an employee is given a reduced level of responsibility

and authorityA lateral demotion, which is a move to a position at the same level but with less authority and

responsibility.

A temporary cross-functional move for developmental purposes.

A demotion to a lower level position because of poor performance

d. Temporary assignments, Projects, Volunteer work and

Sabbaticals

3.Job Experiences

Temporary assignments: Refer to job tryouts such as employees taking on a

position to help them determine if they are interested in working in:

– A new role

– Project work

– Employee exchanges

– Sabbaticals: Leave of absence from the company to renew or develop skills

– Voluntary assignments

4. Interpersonal Relationships

Employees can develop skills and increase their knowledge about the

company and its customers by interacting with a more experienced

organization member

Types of interpersonal relationships:

a. Mentoring: An experienced, productive senior employee who helps

develop a less experienced employee (the protégé/trainee)

Group mentoring programs: A successful senior employee is paired with a

group of four to six less experienced protégés/trainees

Coach: A peer or manager who works with employees to:

Motivate them

Help them develop skills

Provide reinforcement and feedback

The best coaches are empathetic, supportive, practical, self-confident

B. Coaching Relationships

Succession Planning

• Refers to the process of identifying, evaluating, developing, and tracking high potential employees who are capable of moving into higher-level managerial positions

• High-potential employees: People that the company believes are capable of being successful in higher-level managerial positions Such as general manager of a strategic business unit, functional director (such as director of marketing), or CEO

• Key benefits• prepares future leaders and builds “bench strength”• minimizes disruptions when key employees leave• helps plan development experiences• attracts and retains employees

The Four Steps in Onboarding

O Compliance—legal and policy-related rules and regulations

O Clarification—job and performance expectations

O Culture—company history, traditions, values, and norms

O Connection—developing formal and informal relationships

OnboardingThe process of helping new hires adjust to social and performance aspects of their

new jobs

Effective Onboarding

O Focus on technical and social aspects of work and organizational culture

O There is active involvement and employees are encouraged to ask questions

O There is an interaction between new hires and seasoned employees

O Managers are involved

O There is follow up at different points during the first year

Employee Development and Career Management in a nutshell:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZF1odfd_p8