There is plenty of evidence to suggest that companies who aim to provide ongoing employee training will be rewarded with a stronger and more resourceful workforce, so a win-win situation for everyone.
The key to providing year-round employee development is to have a mission that goes beyond an end-of-year performance review as a way of deciding pay and setting targets for the following 12 months.
Setting goals
Making use of training and learning resources such as simplilearn will help your employees to feel that they are valued and that you are investing time and money in their development.
Of course, making use of excellent performance management training strategies that revolve around things like the power of big data, are just one part of the successful equation and you will need to set up regular goals to monitor and encourage progress.
A fundamental aspect of actively developing employees is to set relevant and eminently achievable goals but rather than discussing and reviewing these particular goals on an annual basis, you will both e derive maximum benefit if you aim to set quarterly goals rather than wait a full twelve months to check progress.
You will find that by setting quarterly goals these will not just be easier to set but the results and progress are easier to monitor and can be more powerful.
Quarterly goals are considered to be the optimum period so that employees are able to see progress being made and allows you to update or change goals based on issues and feedback raised during the quarterly review.
Offering opportunities
The general consensus of opinion is that employees want to receive training and want to make progress with their career development and widen their skills.
Glassdoor commission a number of employment surveys and their 2014 employment Confidence Survey involving about 1,000 U.S employees, showed that over 60% of employees believed that learning new skills or receiving new training was considered important to advancing their career.
If your business actively seeks to encourage your employees to take up regular training programs being offered and aims to provide a mentorship program, you will be created new leaders from within and improving your chances of creating a committed and loyal workforce that feels valued and wants to stay working for you because you are offering them opportunities for advancement and education.
Recognition
Another important aspect of employee development is to have a system of recognition in place.
There are many forms of recognition and employee recognition schemes should be actively pursued and encouraged, as workers like to see that their efforts and achievements are not going unnoticed.
Make use of technology
You may want to consider the advantages of introducing technology into your performance review process.
Automating certain aspects of the performance review process can benefit both employees and employers alike, mainly because it will free up more time to concentrate and discuss other aspects of the review which go beyond the numbers.
Automating your review process will help to streamline the experience and allows you to deliver a more efficient review procedure and it will also make it easier for employees and managers to track and measure performance in real-time rather than collating everything together at a later date, in preparation for the review.
Managing expectations
The benefits of employee development within your business will only be effectively felt and delivered if you are able to set attainable and meaningful expectations.
What this means is being able to discuss the purpose and broad objectives of your training programs and making it clear what measurements are being used to check on progress and how the results are likely to be interpreted.
It is important to be really clear about what you expect to achieve from an ongoing training program and how it will benefit employer and employee alike.
Collaboration
You will derive far greater benefit from the training process if you approach it as a collaborative effort which puts an emphasis on staff input as being integral to the success.
Seeking out employee’s ideas and taking notice of constructive feedback and criticisms will lead to a more finely defined strategy of personal development and more positive attitudes, if everyone feels they have an input in the achievement of organizational goals.
When harnessed in the right way, perfect performance management will offer your business the opportunity to promote a strong sense of commitment and motivation and it will also help to boost staff retention figures as well.
Article by: Lewis H. Parker is a human resources manager. He enjoys sharing his insights in the field. His posts are available on many career and business blogs.
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