Development does not have to be mean only leadership development – it’s not just about making new managers
Employee Development
Development does not have to be mean only leadership development – it’s not just about making new managers. This is what a lot of organizations think of when they plan employee development, but it could also be about increasing an employee’s number of tasks, responsibilities and skills.
Not everyone wants to be a manager, and still others may not be cut out for management. It remains important to help employees find opportunities to increase their skillsets, add new levels of responsibility for projects and deliverables, and broaden their horizons to include new tasks that will make them more useful to the organization.
These can be achieved through any combination of:
1. Personal Development
2. Formal Education/Certification
3. Job Rotation
4. Job Enrichment
5. Special Assignments
Some of these such as pursuing another degree or certificate require the employee to initiate most of the legwork, whether with or without support from the organization. Others, such as allowing for job rotation or additional job responsibilities will need significant coordination from the employee’s team, supervisor, department and/or company HR.
Succession Planning
Of course, succession planning means attention to leadership development as well. This might mean placing an employee in an informal mentorship, something moderately formal such as a manager-in-training program, or highly formalized like sending an employee to a corporate university.
Evaluating Needs
Just as with training, needs analysis should be conducted, particularly on a Person and Task Analysis level. What strengths does the employee already have, and what opportunities for improvement must be addressed before he or she can move to the next level of the organization?
Evaluating Development
And just as with training, learning objectives should be clear, measurable, and observable, and evaluation should be used to determine whether development programs are effective in producing qualified leaders.
******SUMMARY OVERVIEW CHAPTER OF TEXTBOOK: Blanchard, P. N., Thacker, J. W., & Cosby, D. (2023). Effective Training (7th ed). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://reader2.yuzu.com/books/9781071927823
Employee development is an important process for retaining employees and keeping them motivated. In addition, it creates more flexibility in terms of the company’s ability to utilize employees in different ways. Benefits to the employee, beyond more interesting work and the sense of accomplishment in developing new competencies, include the increased value of the employee within the company and the employee’s increased marketability outside the company.
Several approaches to employee development were discussed, including development in the current job, job rotation, and special assignments. Each of these uses the training process model, and examples were given of how this is applied to each alternative.
Responsibility for an employee’s development is shared by the employee, the supervisor, the HR unit, and the organization. The organization needs to reflect a culture of fostering employee development. HR is responsible for developing and maintaining the systems and practices that allow that culture to flourish. Supervisors are responsible for implementing the employee development systems and practices. The employee is responsible for honestly evaluating her developmental needs and sharing those with the supervisor. The employee is also responsible for completing the developmental activities and accomplishing the goals that were mutually set with her supervisor.
All managers take on certain general roles, but the importance of these roles varies depending on the level of the manager and the type of strategy followed by the organization. Therefore, the development of managers needs to take these situations into account when determining what types of training to provide. The three main roles identified by Mintzberg are interpersonal, informational, and decisional. Within each of these roles are more specific roles: (1) figurehead, leader, and liaison are part of the interpersonal role; (2) monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson are part of the informational role; and (3) entrepreneurial, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator are part of the decisional role. For each of these specific roles, certain skills (conceptual, technical, and interpersonal) and traits are required. The key to effective management development is to determine the roles required for the position, and the relevant KSAs (operational analysis) to perform the roles effectively. Then, as in a traditional needs analysis, it is possible to assess the current KSAs of the managers (person analysis). The 360-DF, when used properly, is an effective tool for determining the managers’ current KSA levels.
Several sources are used to obtain the relevant training for managers, from externally based programs to CUs. Conceptual, technical, interpersonal, and even personal traits can be developed through these programs.
Development of executives is critical to organizational functioning, but again it is often ignored. Special attention needs to be focused here, because executives are already at the top and likely feel competent or at least do not like to ask for help. It is difficult for someone who is a peer or lower to be credible enough to offer advice. Executives are also busy, often working long hours, making it difficult to find the time to receive any training. Executive coaching is one way to deal with these issues, and its use has grown at a tremendous rate over the last few years. Other methods are also available, and the key to smooth development is succession planning. An effective succession plan will allow all executives and high-level managers to be appraised constantly and provided with opportunities to develop using many of the methods mentioned, such as coaching, action learning, executive MBAs, and so forth.
KEY TERMS
achievement style
assessment centers
conceptual knowledge and skills
corporate universities
cross training
directive style
drive
employee-oriented style
interpersonal knowledge and skills
job rotation
leadership motivation
managerial context
managerial style
need for achievement
need for autonomy
need for power
participative style
personal traits
special assignments
succession planning
supportive style
talent management
task-oriented style
technical knowledge and skills
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