An ideal action plan for training and development of employees is cardinal for the existence of every organization as it provides a course of thought and action for both employees and management. This involves a well-knitted goal-setting process for employees which results in their professional growth.
The action plan for training and development involves the thought process of paving the career and competency development path of our employees. Identifying the needs for employee development, pointing out the weak areas, and laying out a strategic plan for improvement are the stages of designing an action plan for training and development.
Every process in the organization should certainly support the organizational strategies. Strategies are action plans to achieve goals. Successful organizations have strong strategic support from all their resources including human resources or human capital. Thus, the development needs of employees are also addressed under the same shade; aligning their personal goals with the organizational goals.
If you are a shampoo company, your goal is to make shampoos according to customer needs, maximize your sales and become a market leader in the shampoo industry. Your manufacturing department will support this company goal by developing strong skills of employees in the manufacturing area. Your sales department will polish the selling skills of its employees. So, every department works to achieve the goal of the organization to be the market leader. But in order to be there, you need an individual development plan for employees so that everyone focuses on his individual growth which eventually leads to the growth of the organization. In this ideal case, everyone is aware of his role in goal achievement. Every employee is supporting the organizational strategies. Therefore, the action plan for employee development must be strategic i.e. design this process to support the organizational goals and success.
Action plan for employee development follows different approaches. As a routine approach, companies formulate one general plan for all employees. This involves training and developing all employees in the same areas, regardless of their needs. This is an obsolete approach as it does not take into account the individual needs of employees.
There are three types of approaches to employee development.
Performance-based
On the basis of the performance of employees, management develops and promotes the employees.
Succession Planning
One way of creating an action plan for employee development is through employee succession planning which involves the identification of the potential employees who can replace the existing employees. The vacancies in these cases are created as a result of resignations or retirements. These vacant posts are filled by promoting the internal human capital of the company. So, management develops the skills of potential candidates keeping these expectations in mind.
Results based- The best action plan for employee development
Management by objectives is so far the best approach to setting goals for employees and helping them develop. This involves following a strategic action plan for employee development. Due to this, it has a 95% success rate, both for employees and organizations.
We define Management by Objectives as:
“The strategic goal setting for employees which involves both managers and employees, tailoring the plan for the needs of each employee, measuring the performance against benchmarks and ensuring a continuous feedback by the managers to align employee goals with organizational goals”.
MBO was first introduced by Peter Drucker in 1954 as a results-oriented approach to employee performance and development. It involves the assessment of employee performance or results in comparison to the preset standards. The best part of this approach is the involvement and willingness of the employee himself in the whole process so he is more focused and excited to deliver the best for the organization. As he sees his company supporting his career development so he is willing to stay with it for the long term.
This MBO goal-setting process has the following distinct features:
Ideal goals are considered smart goals where smart goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound goals.
S – Goals should be specific, not general
M – Measurable i.e. results could be measured against some pre-set benchmarks
A – Attainable or achievable, not something that cannot be achieved
R – Realistic, not hypothetical
T – Time-bound; covering some fixed amount of time, usually short-term goals
You work in a shampoo manufacturing company with a goal already explained above i.e. “make shampoos according to the customer demands, maximize your sales and become a market leader in the shampoo industry”. The vision here is to become a market leader in the industry. Hence, it is a very broad goal that includes no information about the time period in which you have to achieve this goal. Also, it does not specify any strategies to become the market leader. Therefore, nothing is clear from this very broad scope goal.
The time and percentage of increase in sales clearly communicate to employees how they have to develop and show the required performance. It also guides the managers in which direction they have to develop employees and against which standards they have to measure employee performance.
Employee development areas can be identified in two ways:
After identifying employee development areas, the manager and the employee mutually decide upon the ways to develop the employee. This depends upon the type of skills required and the potential of employees.
The methods employed can be:
Mentoring is an ongoing activity in which one more knowledgeable person (mentor) delivers his knowledge to the person with less knowledge (mentee). This mentor could be anyone, not necessarily the immediate manager. Usually mentoring focuses on the long-term development of employees where their mentor shares tips and techniques to improve their performance at work. My other rich article on the detailed mentoring program will provide you with valuable insights.
Coaching is a more focused and targeted activity. It is short-term and just focused on developing specific skills in employees. So, once those skills are sown and grown, the coach is no longer needed. For example, if your employees need better marketing and selling skills for increasing shampoo sales, you need a coach for them to improve these skills.
On-the-job training (OJT) is helpful when it is not possible to teach the specific components of a job outside the job. For example, computer-based jobs require practicing the use of computers on the job. This is a good way to develop employees by teaching them to cope with job-related factors in real.
This method usually goes side by side with other methods. This is a very good way to develop employees as teaching them specific skills with other employees creates a positive, competitive environment for growth. It is a dynamic way to develop employees in a short time by using a combination of theory, practical tasks, and media.
This is a relatively developing but highly effective method that good companies are employing for employee development. After identifying employee development areas, companies enroll them in some great electronic or non-electronic courses. These courses teach the latest industrial practices to employees thus, helping in their career development on a large scale.
It is essential to communicate the goals to employees at all levels. As a result, employees can align their goals in the best manner with the vision of the organization. If the goal-setting process involves the employees, then the goal-setting phase already covers the communication phase of goals. Employees already know what the company expects from them.
This also involves clear communication of all the available resources to the employees. Consequently, they know how much input they need to feed at each level.
Above all, a good action plan for employee training and development has flexibility. It has room for redesigning at any stage according to the needs and available resources. Employees have the liberty to modify their goals and development plan with their managers. A smart action plan for employee development requires the full commitment and willingness of employees as defined in the MBO approach. The most noteworthy requirement that has to be kept in mind is that we are developing these goals to help the employees grow in their careers.
To clarify, an action plan for employee development does not involve implementation. It involves laying out the plan so well that implementation becomes an easy job. It points out the possible actions to take for effective employee development. So, make sure you re-check periodically the progress of employees and the status of the plan execution as they might be demanding some changes in the action plan for employee development.
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