Beyond Training: The
Case for Developing
Your Employees
By Cindy Mortenson
Employee Training vs. Employee Development
Is there a difference? Yes!
Training is defined as a process by which someone
is taught the skills that are needed for an art,
profession, or job. In order to stay relevant and
competitive in today’s market, companies are
increasingly required to continually train their
employees to keep pace with modern tools,
techniques, strategies and materials used in their
jobs.
Employee Development involves helping your
employees to shape the future direction of their
careers. It refers to the steps taken within a
company to encourage each employee’s
professional and personal growth. By developing
employees both professional and personally,
organizations benefit from this growth!
Employee Development: A Win-Win!
If we want to attract and retain the best people, we need to
invest in employee growth and development.
“Dissatisfaction with some employee-development efforts appears to fuel
many early exits. We asked young managers what their employers do to
help them grow in their jobs and what they’d like their employers to do,
and found some large gaps. Workers reported that companies generally
satisfy their needs for on-the-job development and that they value these
opportunities, which include high-visibility positions and significant
increases in responsibility. But they’re not getting much in the way of
formal development, such as training, mentoring and coaching – things they
also value highly.”1
Companies pay a high price for not investing in their most
valuable resource: the loss of top talent.
Developing employees provides big payoffs for everyone!
Increased productivity, knowledge, loyalty, and contribution.
1
http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/03/18/5-easy-ways-to-motivate-and-demotivate-employees/
How Employee Development Benefits the Organization
What are the benefits of a company-wide employee development plan?
•
Increased job satisfaction among employees
•
Increased employee motivation
•
Increased quality which translates to increased financial gain
•
Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
•
Increased innovation in strategies and products
•
Reduced employee turnover
Employee Development Initiative #1: Peer Advisor Program
Phase I: Peer Advisor Program
A Peer Advisor Program helps new employees make a smooth and
successful transition their new job and a new department.
A successful implementation would run approximately sixmonths allowing for the new employee to learn from an
experienced peer within the new employee’s department,
location or business unit. It helps to lay the foundation for the
Mentoring Program. circles™
Peer Group, Guided: This 12-month group mentoring
program, typically with two mentors, is aimed at
accelerating leadership effectiveness, building
stronger teams and performance, strengthening
organizational relationships and increasing cross-organizational
learning.
initiativs™
Employee Development Initiative #1: Peer Advisor Program
Phase II : Peer Group
Once an employee has acclimated to the organization and completed the preliminary
foundational Peer Advisor Program, the employee would move on to a Guided Peer Group.
The Guided Peer Group would be a 12-month group mentoring program, typically with two
mentors, and is aimed at accelerating leadership effectiveness, building stronger teams and
performance, strengthening organizational relationships and increasing cross-organizational
learning initiatives. It also lays the ground work for the third phase of this development
program which would be our Mentoring Program.
Employee Development Initiative #1: Mentoring
Phase III: A Mentoring Program
Mentoring is a confidential, structured,
developmental partnership with clearly defined
goals, roles, expectations and time frames.
Mentoring should be one part of an employee’s
overall comprehensive development strategy.
Establishing a mentoring culture will provide our
organization with a cost-efficient alternative for
getting employees up to speed and engaged. It
enhances organizational talent, as well as the
effectiveness of any talent management strategy.
What is the Mentor’s Role?
In a mentoring partnership, the Mentor has the
responsibility of:
• providing guidance by sharing knowledge,
experiences, or a fresh perspective
• encouraging the mentee to create a meaningful
Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• helping the mentee examine courses of action
through problem solving and teaching
• articulating Medtronic’s mission, values and business
needs
What is the Mentee’s Role?
In a mentoring partnership, the mentee takes the initiative
to:
• assume responsibility for their growth and
development
• identify personal and professional developmental goals
• create an effective Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• manage, monitor, and evaluate the mentoring
partnership
Employee Development Initiative #1: Mentoring
Ever heard the old saying:
“Can’t see the forest for
the trees?”
Some might say we’ve forgotten the very people we hire to make our company or
organization what it is today. We changed the definition when it didn’t suit our
pocketbook or actions. Many English words have interchangeable definitions and usage;
however, there are times in which we should look back for the original meaning and
pursue those intentions.
Professional development needs to be new again, and used accordingly.
http://managementhelp.org/blogs/training-and-development/2014/10/28/training-day-a-day-of-opportunity-not-professional-development/