Performance Appraisal Tutorial | Employee Development Plans

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Employee Development Plans

Employee Development refers to steps taken by an organization to enhance the skills of an employee and motivate him/her to acquire new knowledge and leanings. Employee development activities upgrade an individual’s existing knowledge. It sharpens his/her skills and also prepares him/her to take up new opportunities in the future. As a result of trainings and employee development activities, employees face adverse conditions, unforeseen situations and challenges with a smile.

Four steps to an employee development plan are as follows.

First Step – Prepare an Employee

Unless and until an employee realizes the value no amount of trainings would help. An individual must understand as to why trainings are being organized Remember, no organization would like to spend its money on non productive activities or something which would neither help the employees nor the employer. The success of employee development plan to a large extent depends on the employee itself. Each employee should be aware of his/her roles and responsibilities and how can he/she contribute more effectively towards the organization. It is always better if employees come up with their own development plans. Human resource professionals can prepare various questionnaires which can be circulated among employees to know their opinion. Let your employees suggest you activities which will help them develop further.

The questionnaire can have basic questions like

Key responsibility areas of an individual
Skills needed to perform his/her duties
Major achievements
Where does one see himself/herself five years down the line?
New initiatives one would like to handle
New skills one would like to learn
Such questions help the management know the current position of an employee and what all areas he needs to be groomed and trained?

Second Step – Plan Development Activities

A common development plan would not work out for all employees’. Every employee is different. Organize various internal as well as external trainings keeping in mind the employee’s requirements and how the training program would benefit him/her. The training programs in line are organized with the organization’s needs and demands. Encourage employees to sit with an open mind and interact with the trainer as much as they can. Mere one way communication makes the training boring and nothing productive can be derived out of it. Encourage employees to work in teams. Individuals do train their counterparts on jobs. Ask individuals to train their fellow workers. This would make the trainer proficient. Motivate employees to learn from each other. Allow employees to discuss their work on an open forum once in a week. Such activities help in information and knowledge sharing.

Employers must sit with their employees to understand how certain jobs can be redesigned for an increased output. Let employees come out with innovative ideas. Acknowledge and appreciate their new concepts and suggestions. Give additional responsibilities to employees. Ask them to represent their teams, prepare reports, and track their team’s performances and so on. Let employees assist their managers in day to day work. Team leaders can take their team members for business meetings or crucial deals once in a while. Taking them out for meetings and providing them the chance of interacting with clients will give them the necessary exposure.

Third Step – Performance Monitoring

You need to keep a track of what your employees are up to. Proper feedbacks are essential. Sit with your employees after each quarter and review their performances. Give them necessary suggestions as to how they can improve their performance. If they have not performed well once, do not shout on them or demotivate them.

Fourth Step – Create Confidence

Employees are to be trusted. Make them feel that you are there part. Don’t always count their mistakes; rather appreciate them whenever they do something extraordinary. Support your employees to expect loyalty in return.