Design an Impactful Employee Development Program
Solve the puzzle of employee development by designing a program to build competencies the organization needs today and in the future.
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Contributors
- Alan M. Saks, Professor of Organizational Behavior & HR Management, Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, University of Toronto
- Anonymous, former Senior Training Manager, Large Telecommunications Company
- Anonymous, Senior Manager of Talent & Development, Large Professional Services Firm
- Colleen Philabaum, Director of Learning & Development, Worthington Industries
- Dr. Karie Willyerd, Head of Global Customer Education & Learning, SAP and Co-Author of Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace
- Gerard Camacho, Director of Career Development, Parkland Health & Hospital System
- Julie Winkle Giulioni, Consultant, Speaker, and Co-Author of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go
- Luis Alberola, Talent Strategy & Innovation, Owner, LA Consulting
- Michelle Ockers, Independent Learning & Development Consultant
- Leaders have left employees to drive their own development without providing direction or support, and without aligning development to organizational needs.
- Organizations position development as employee-owned, yet employees still feel like their needs aren’t being met, and many leave as a result.
- Organizations often have a lot of development opportunities, but don’t connect the right opportunity to the right employee.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Development needs to be employee-owned and manager-supported, but also organization-informed to ensure that it meets the organization’s needs.
- Today, operating environments change quickly and organizations need to develop the competencies employees need both today and in the future.
Impact and Result
- Design an employee development program that builds the competencies the organization needs both today and in the future.
- Connect the right development opportunity to the right employee through an effective development planning process.
- Equip managers and build program support to foster continuous learning and development.
1. Assess organizational needs
Analyze organizational needs to determine priority competencies and employee segments to develop.
2. Design the employee development program
Determine the employee assessment method and design a custom development planning process with clear manager and employee accountabilities.
3. Build program support
Integrate employee development with other HR programs, identify manager and employee resources, and create the action and communication plan.
Guided Implementations
This guided implementation is an eleven call advisory process.
Guided Implementation #1 - Assess organizational needs
Call #1 - Review and prioritize competencies required based on internal and external analysis.
Call #2 - Identify employee segments to build custom development programs for (if applicable).
Guided Implementation #2 - Design the employee development program
Call #1 - Review assessment inputs and outputs.
Call #2 - Analyze existing development programs and activities and identify new ones needed.
Call #3 - Review the development planning process.
Call #4 - Review follow-up mechanisms.
Guided Implementation #3 - Build program support
Call #1 - Discuss integration of a dynamic learning mindset into the development program.
Call #2 - Review integration of employee development with other HR programs.
Call #3 - Review customization of job aids for managers and employees.
Call #4 - Review program goals and metrics to measure success.
Call #5 - Review action and communication plan.
Employee Development
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Employee Development
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Course Information
- Title: Employee Development
- Number of Course Modules: 4
- Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours
Learning Outcome
Describe how to design an impactful employee development program, from analyzing the organization’s needs, to designing program building blocks, to building program support.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Make the case for an employee development program in their organization.
- Conduct an analysis of the competencies the organization needs today and in the future.
- Define the requirements for designing an employee development program.
- Define the program support required and discuss high-level actions, communications, and metrics to implement the program.
1 to 1.5 CPD hours per course.
McLean & Company is recognized by SHRM and can award Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®.
The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
Course Modules
Introduction
Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
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Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Assess Organizational Needs
The Purpose
- Design an employee-owned, manager-supported, and organization-informed development program.
- Identify goals, opportunities, and challenges associated with employee development planning.
- Establish the employee competencies and segments.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Use McLean & Company’s framework to build an impactful employee development program.
- Gather stakeholder feedback on development planning.
- Competencies prioritized.
- Employee segments selected.
Activities
Outputs
Review organizational strategy and goals.
- Organizational strategy and goals reviewed
Generate insights from other internal data and focus groups.
- Insights gathered from internal data and feedback
Conduct a PESTLE analysis.
- PESTLE analysis completed
Review required competencies.
- Required competencies reviewed
Prioritize competencies.
- List of priority competencies needed today and in the future
Identify employee segments (if applicable).
- Employee segments (if applicable)
Module 2: Design the Program
The Purpose
- Choose assessment methods.
- Tailor employee development planning.
- Set follow-up accountabilities for managers and employees.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Assessment method determined.
- Development planning is adapted to employee needs.
- Accountability for development efforts throughout the process have assigned accountabilities.
Activities
Outputs
Identify assessment method(s).
- Assessment method
Review development programs and activities.
- List of required development programs and activities
Customize the employee development planning process.
- Employee development process
Establish manager and employee follow-up accountability.
- Follow-up accountabilities
Module 3: Build Program Support
The Purpose
- Cultivate development resources for managers and employees.
- Align the employee development program with other HR programs.
- Action plan and devise program communications.
- Identify relevant success metrics.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Managers and employees have the support resources needed for development planning.
- HR practices support and align with development practices.
- Key actions and messaging planned.
- Metrics to measure success of the program set.
Activities
Outputs
Brainstorm barriers and mitigation to a learning mindset.
- Barriers to mitigation identified
Equip managers and employees with tools and resources to support employee development.
- Employee and manager resources determined
Integrate employee development with other HR programs.
- Employee development and HR programs integrated
Create an action plan.
- Action plan
Identify key messages for communication.
- Communication plan
Set goals and metrics.
- Goals and metrics
