Cost-effective methods for employee training and development

Employee training and development needs to suit your organization's context, job descriptions, employment contracts and collective agreements. When selecting employee training and development methods, it is important to remember the learning process. There are many ways to provide employees with learning opportunities, including:

•  Committees: Set aside part of the committee's work time to discuss issues or trends that may impact on the organization in the future.
• Conferences and forums: Employees can attend conferences that focus on topics of relevance to their position and the organization.
• Critical incident notes: Day-to-day activities are always a source of learning opportunities. Select the best of these opportunities and write up critical incident notes for staff to learn from. Maybe a client complaint was handled effectively. Write a brief summary of the incident and identify the employee's actions that led to a successful resolution.
• Field trips: This helps your employees gain a better understanding of the full range of programs and clients that your organization serves. Follow up the field trip by having staff explain what they have learned and how they can apply that learning to your organization.
• Job aids: Job aids are very useful for new employees, employees taking on new responsibilities and for activities that happen infrequently.
• Job expanding: Once an employee has mastered the requirements of his or her job and is performing satisfactorily, s/he may want greater challenges. Consider assigning new additional duties to the employee.
• Job rotation: On a temporary basis, employees can be given the opportunity to work in a different area of the organization.
• Job shadowing: If an employee wants to learn what someone else in your organization does, your employee can follow that person and observe him or her at work.
• Special projects: Give an employee an opportunity to work on a project that is normally outside his or her job duties. For example, someone who has expressed an interest in events planning could be given the opportunity to work as part of a special events team
• Networking: Some professional specialties have informal networks designed to meet the professional development need of the members. Members meet to discuss current issues and to share information and resources
• Performance appraisal: Performance appraisals are partly evaluation and partly developmental. In traditional performance appraisals the manager and employee evaluate the employee's strengths and weaknesses. In a 360-degree performance appraisal, feedback is gathered from supervisors, peers, staff, other colleagues and sometimes clients. The results of an appraisal can be used to identify areas for further development of the employee.

Aerizo Group – HR Consultancy