Employee development is an important investment for an organization. It’s not just for your new hires, but also your existing employees so that your organization can help them grow even more. As one of the top non-financial motivators that attract and retain talent, engage employees, and save and earn money, it really is important that your organization’s employee development program is designed effectively.
Hacks In Designing Your Employee Development Program
Have a clear start
A research done by jobs’ site Glassdoor shows that the main reason people leave a job is to go to a company with a better culture, and along with that, better career opportunities. It’s essential to define the reasons why employee development is important for your organization, who is it for, and what is its purpose. Know your purpose and goal in designing your employee development program. That way, you’ll have a clear start in designing it.
Ask your employees what they need
Who knows better than what development your employee needs than your employees? Ask your employees about what kind of development do they need. Proactively talk with your current and prospective workers on what they want to do to progress their careers. Your employees should feel encouraged to identify and talk about these things and how it will be valuable to them in the long run.
There are various methods to do this: do a survey, talk to an employee one on one, talk to the manager or leader of a team, etc.
Consider Adding a Mentoring Program
Heidrick & Struggles conducted a study in 2017 where they found out that mentorship is a beneficial and impactful practice, particularly for women and minority employees. Assigning a mentor for your new employees is a good onboarding idea. But, mentoring is not just for your new hires. You could also consider a “reverse mentoring” program, where older or more experienced employees learn from the younger or newer employees, helping your organization not just be more collaborative, but also manage generational divergence.
Approach from different angles
You have to remember that your organization is diverse. And a diverse organization is made up of people of different ages, with different cultures, from different races, etc. Each one of them has different needs in development. Usually, those who have less experience or skills in the workplace are the ones who need employee development programs. This to make up for their lack in those areas. However, you must not forget that your organization’s experienced employees also need development. They must not stay stagnant and continue to grow, despite their number of years of service or their vast experience. There is always room for growth.
When designing your employee development program, consider various factors, and approach it from multiple angles.
As stressed earlier, employee development is important and is a good investment for your organization. As employees’ grow, the organization grows, too. It’s a good time to think clearly and seriously design an effective employee development program for your company.
