Employee development programs: costs, benefits, and business impact

Employee development is crucial for the success of a company or institution. Employee development provides for a work environment of educated, informed and like-minded individuals, all working to serve the greater purpose of the company for which they are employed. Employee development is a vital aspect in the success of any business, be it big or small, and it is more of an intellectual investment than a monetary one. With the implementation of an employee development program within a company, owners and investors will see that the benefits of employing such a program far outweigh the costs of implementation, providing for a more focused, driven and goal-oriented staff which serves its employer to the best of its ability.

Introduction

The University of Minnesota (2010) defines employee development as a "joint, on-going effort on the part of an employee and the organization for which he or she works to upgrade the employee's knowledge, skills and abilities" (UMN p.1 ). In viewing this definition, it is easy to see that such a skill-set is vital for maintaining a staff of individuals who are focused enough to lead a company to the goals in which it has set out for itself in its business plan. Employee development is crucial for the success of a company, as it provides for a work environment of educated, informed and like-minded individuals, who are all working to serve the greater purpose of the company for which they are employed. Employee development should not be viewed by a business owner as a cost, but as an investment, which not only pays for itself but continues to reap rewards for the business owner in the long run.

Methods

The methods in which employee development programs are run vary significantly from company to company and revolve around the style and tactics that are most comfortable for each company and their employees respectively. Though much of employee development revolves around increased training, the manner in which this training is provided is extremely crucial to how well the training is utilized in the long run. Certain methods and tactics to do so remain both cost efficient and widely used among many companies, and have proven themselves successful under many different circumstances.

One popular method for employee development is the managerial coaching method. Authors Heslin, Latham and Vandwalle (2006) note that employee coaching entails managers "providing one-on-one feedback and insights aimed at guiding and inspiring improvements in an employee's work performance" (p, 872). The authors note that with coaching from a manager or in-house authority figure within a company, there is less turnaround between what an employee may learn from an outside class or training program than what can be learned within the company itself. With managerial coaching, employees are taught to foster a sense of camaraderie within the company, working as a whole group toward a goal rather than individual entities. With this type of coaching tactic, incentives can be provided to employees as they build a sense of teamwork, working with each other as opposed to alongside each other.

Another cost effective method is that of connecting people to their workplace in an effort to attach a level of personal responsibility and care for work that is often absent from employees. Researcher Robin Athey (2008) notes that employee development should focus on a "sense of belonging and pride of mission" as much as it should to learning new strategies for business expansion and success. She notes that people "must enjoy the nature of their work on a day-to-day basis, whether it is writing code or interacting with customers" (p.12). It is in this way that managers must develop some sense of rapport with their employees to make sure that these employees feel appreciated and necessary to the success of the business without being micromanaged.

Conclusion

A company cannot become or remain successful unless it is staffed by individuals who are at the top of their game in terms of training, customer service and motivation. With the utilization of employee development within a company, mangers and business owners can assure that their staffs are working to the highest level of performance possible, along with maintaining a sense of pride for the company they work for and the part that they themselves play in it. As seen, the benefits of employee development far outweigh the costs and will prove beneficial to any manager who chooses to employ such a program within their own company.