Effective professional development is an essential component of business success and requires a holistic approach.
Training employees gives them the skills they need to improve job performance, achieve results and develop to meet future demands. To achieve a positive return on training programmes, it is important to understand the relevance of training and development, current trends, barriers to implementation and how to maximise the impact of your initiatives.
Definition of training and development
Although they are often associated, the words "training" and "development" have distinct meanings.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, training is defined as follows:
The process of learning the skills needed to carry out a particular job or activity.
It often includes development opportunities such as classroom teaching, e-learning courses and other capacity-building activities.
In comparison, development is defined as follows:
The process by which someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced.
Employee development can take place with or without formal training. Development can include a job rotation that introduces a new department, a training session that raises awareness of personal values, or any experience that promotes change beyond skills-based training.
Taken as a whole, a training and development programme enables employees to broaden their skills, progress in their roles and develop as professionals.
The value of training programmes
Organisational development programmes can have a significant effect on an organisation's performance, so it's well worth investing in employee training and development.
Trends in training and development
Training and development programmes have changed considerably in recent years, particularly with the rise of hybrid working and the changing expectations of the workforce. Understanding the current context and the changes to come can help any human resources management professional to better support their employees.
Evolving training methods and data-driven practices
When training and development specialists adapt to remote or hybrid working arrangements, they need to change the way they deliver content. Human resources teams recognise that learning styles vary from employee to employee, so it makes sense to adopt personalised approaches. These two factors encourage companies to adopt multiple methodologies to optimise learning retention:
- In-person sessions
- Virtual workshops
- Computer-based training or e-learning
- Self-directed learning
- On-the-job training
- Community learning
- Job rotation and observation
Data can be a powerful ally for training and development specialists. Gathering information can reveal how training sessions are received and how effective they are. The figures can also be used to personalise growth, increase retention and support career development.
The data is used in the following ways:
- Identifying skills gaps
- Linking training to performance
- Offering one-to-one tuition
- Improve course design and organisation
Growing demand for leadership skills
While employee development is important for all populations, companies recognise the role that managers and executives play in engaging and retaining staff. With this in mind, HR management teams are paying particular attention to improving the leadership skills of the workforce.
While many talents are needed to lead people, training and development specialists focus on developing soft skills, as these play an important role in employee engagement. Some of the most in-demand skills include:
- Influence
- Motivation
- Communication
- Empowerment
- Empathy
Improving and upgrading skills
Any development specialist will tell you that the business world is changing rapidly, and that this has an impact on the skills required to drive an organisation forward. The transformation of recent years has not escaped the notice of most employees. They also recognise that they need to acquire new skills to thrive in the future of work.
Employers may seek to take on new staff to meet certain needs, but job vacancies alone are not enough to ensure the success of the business. It is more cost-effective in the long term to improve and retrain the skills of existing staff. To encourage significant skills development, it is essential that employees responsible for human resources management :
- Analyse their long-term and short-term objectives
- Carry out a needs assessment to analyse the company's implications for the skills required.
- Aligning training methods with required capabilities
Delivering just-in-time learning
Talent development professionals are exploring opportunities to improve employee training and learning retention using 'just in time' solutions. These are typically short-term development opportunities that provide staff with targeted information when they need it.
Here are some of the advantages of using this approach in tandem with programmed programmes:
- Enable staff to set their own pace of learning
- Offering choices to involve people in their own development
- Providing training materials that meet an immediate challenge
Supporting the corporate culture
Culture is an essential part of a company's strategy. A strong climate ensures that employees carry out their work in a way that reflects the values and vision of the organisation. Often, culture is integrated into new employee orientation, but it shouldn't stop there.
Talent development specialists recognise that culture must be integrated into ongoing training:
- Reflect on how values are reflected in teaching materials
- Ensure that formal processes reinforce the desired culture
- Modelling of programming and execution standards
Common challenges in talent development
While employees are increasingly expressing an interest in learning, HR management teams still face barriers when it comes to delivering useful training. By understanding the common challenges and knowing how to get around these obstacles, you'll be better equipped to deliver engaging training and development programmes for employees.
1. Time constraints
One of the most common barriers we hear about at Emergenetics is lack of time. In many organisations, employees are stretched to the limit, and this is particularly true in sectors that use shift workers or are experiencing staff shortages.
Reduce this barrier by diversifying your options. As well as classroom courses, offer online resources, on-the-job training and microlearning that takes no more than 30 minutes as part of your development programme. It's also essential to get buy-in from managers so that they are prepared to prioritise learning for their team members.
2. Coherence
A one-off approach to a training programme is unlikely to have a significant impact. It is important that employees are able to access and develop their knowledge on an ongoing basis.
A development specialist can amplify ongoing learning through post-training support. Develop a communication plan to reinforce your efforts, which includes follow-up contact points to provide additional resources and training materials that build on newly acquired knowledge.
3. Budget
Obtaining financial resources for employee training is another success factor.
To encourage employee development, you need to involve senior managers. Organising learning sessions for them can be an excellent way of involving them in your work. In addition, ask them for their opinion on the training strategy and the skills required for the workforce. They will be more likely to promote the efforts of a development specialist if they can make direct links to the benefits.
4. Scale
Training programmes are another element of the business that will need to be intentionally developed, particularly for international companies.
Identify the different training needs of operational regions by analysing skills gaps, career development interests and existing training challenges. A solid assessment will reveal existing offerings that need to be adapted, as well as opportunities to find external partners to support your organisation.
5. Commitment
If employees are not enthusiastic about the training and development options available to them, they are unlikely to participate.
Staff commitment is fundamental to effective training, so take their reactions into account when designing your offerings. Ask employees what their objectives are, what they want to learn and provide a feedback mechanism on the training they receive. Listening to their needs and adapting along the way will strengthen their commitment.
Essential components of employee training and development programmes
Continuous learning is an important part of a healthy workplace. To support continuous growth, training and development specialists should identify how they support or could support the following types of programmes:
Effective training methods
There are many training techniques that HR and talent development specialists can use to support employee development.
Instructor-led programme
One of the most common ways of promoting employee training and development is to organise facilitator-led programmes. This can be formal, with a certified instructor delivering training on a particular topic, or more informal, with in-house experts hosting a lunch-and-learn session.
E-learning
With employee populations spread across multiple sites, training and development specialists are increasingly relying on computer-based courses or programmed learning to support learning. These virtual programmes can reach many members of staff and provide just-in-time learning on a large scale.
Role-playing game
Simulating a situation makes it much easier to practise new skills in a low-risk environment. The introduction of VR technology into instructional design makes role-playing even more realistic, which will ultimately encourage its regular application.
On-the-job and project-based learning
Perhaps the most common type of training is that which takes place on a day-to-day basis as part of the job, or as part of specific initiatives designed to stimulate a person's thinking and skills. For learning to take place, managers and team leaders need to be excellent communicators, able to teach and provide actionable feedback in real time.
Coaching and mentoring
The shadow
Providing staff with coaches and mentors encourages employee development. Training and development specialists should turn to experienced internal and external professionals who can guide employees.
When development specialists create structured programmes that allow workers to accompany a colleague to explore different departments, career paths or functions, they foster relationship building, idea generation and professional development.
Collaborative learning
Many people value the opportunity to interact with and learn from others. Through group activities, discussions or virtual communities, staff acquire new knowledge without having to rely solely on training and development specialists.
External education
Continuing education can easily take place outside the office. Sending people to conferences, presentations or certification programmes is a common way of enhancing learning.
Considerations on training programmes through attributes
To optimise employee training programmes, it is essential to take into account the many ways in which team members prefer to learn and participate in training. To clarify these nuances, training and development specialists can draw on the attributes of Emergenetics.
- The analytical attribute wants to maximise value, so learning sessions need to provide clear pathways to develop expertise in their industry.
- The structural attribute values the practical aspect. They often learn best through practical lessons that allow them to apply their knowledge.
- For social thinkers, make sure you offer them experiences where they can associate with and learn from other people.
- Conceptual thinkers are often engaged when they have the opportunity to experiment and value trial and error as a method of learning.
- From the point of view of expressiveness, members of the first third of the team prefer to have time to compose their responses during a session, while members of the third third of the team are probably happy to play a role on the spot.
- The assertiveness attribute takes style and pace into account, and it is likely that some learners will want to complete the course at speed, while others will need more time.
- To honour the spectrum of flexibility, make sure you offer options in the educational experiences or activities in which individuals can participate, so that they can direct their learning.
Create a positive impact on your staff by taking into account their many preferences and designing educational opportunities and training courses accordingly.
Drawing up your training and development plan
By reflecting and paying close attention to the needs of the organisation, training and development specialists can improve the way they support employees. To organise your thinking and determine the next steps, apply the following five recommendations.
#1 - Assessing needs
Take into account your organisation's objectives and any workforce planning initiatives. Then determine the skills and capabilities employees will need to achieve this future state.
Think about how employee training should contribute to the company's culture, as well as the look, feel and sound of the sessions for participants. This holistic analysis is not just the responsibility of training and development specialists. Involve executives, directors, managers and staff to gain insight into the whole population.
#2 - Analyse the current state and gaps
The needs assessment will enable you to take stock of your training and development initiatives. Take note of the gaps between what you plan to provide and the training effort that is provided to employees today.
Make sure you look at skills gaps, missing programmes for any target audience, as well as experience-related nuances.
#3 - Setting objectives
#5 - Test and optimise
#4 - Prioritise areas of investment
To measure progress, set concrete targets to close identified gaps. Determine how you will balance short, medium and long-term objectives and consider using a SMART objective format to make plans achievable.
Once you have defined your objectives, get back in touch with stakeholders, such as your management team and workplace influencers, as well as your training and development colleagues, to get their buy-in and discuss areas for improvement.
Then it's time to decide how you are going to train your employees internally and which initiatives will require investment in external solutions or partners. It is unrealistic to think that you will have a development specialist to meet every identified need.
This step will help you determine what makes sense to create or optimise internally, while drawing up a list of priorities that will require support beyond your human resources department or your organisation.
When changing your employee training and development programme, do your best to experiment and test before introducing a large-scale transformation. Using pilot programmes or small investments in new offerings will allow you to evaluate the results before spending too much time or effort on a solution.
Along the way, get feedback from your stakeholders to understand their perception of the development offerings and the possibilities for further iteration.
Emergenetics solutions for training and development
We understand that there are many potential partners who can support your staff development programme. That's why we've created a buyer's guide to help you in your search. This guide will help you to better identify your needs and analyse your organisation's key priorities.
If you're looking for a partner to help you deliver interesting and useful training courses to your staff, our team is here to help!
Emergenetics' programmes can be used to meet many core training needs, such as developing effective leaders and managers, improving team performance and productivity, and enhancing the self-awareness and soft skills of individual employees.
If you would like to get in touch and find out how we can enhance your training and development programme, please complete the form below. Our team will be happy to contact you