Importance of Employee Development Methods

Question

Task: This employee development assignment requires you to write a fully referenced, 3000-word individual report on your experiences of designing, delivering and evaluating an on-line learning/development event.

Answer

Executive Summary
Employeedevelopment is a very crucial aspect in today’s scenario. Employees should have development opportunities in every organization. It should be noted that not every small business has an efficiency development program for its employees, but it may prove to be very profitable for that business in the future if employee development programs are being implemented. Utilizing technology for providing online development programs is cost-effective and efficient way of training the employees. However, it is very important to design an active employee development program. If the employee development program can be properly implemented, the employees of the organization can take advantage of the opportunities.

Introduction
Employee development is the first step to create talented employees and implementation of employee development programs is important (Jehanzeb and Mohanty, 2018). Employee development events help in the evaluation of the employees to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the employees based on which development of the employees for better competency can be achieved (Dachneret al., 2021). I have been working as a manager in a multinational company for the past few years and I have been given the responsibility to arrange an employee development event to enhance the skills of the employees. Suchasit helps the company to achieve the desired objectives and increase the productivity of the employees. For organizations, employees are the true assets, and proper employee development programs allow employees to evolve and grow (Diahet al., 2020).

Purpose
The main purpose of the study is to focus on the various employee development methods that are effective in enhancing the skills of the employees.

Scope
The study focuses on the need for the employee development program and it also focuses on various methods that can be applied to increase the efficiency of the employees. While designing the employee development method I have gained a lot of experience which has helped me to recognize the importance of retention of employees especially talented employees and with proper training how it has helped the company to achieve its overall goals and objectives.

Purpose of learning need for employee development
As a manager it was my responsibility to analyse the employees and based on that I have to understand the present skills possessed by the employees based on which the development programs are being organised. The web-based e-learning program increases the productivity of employees with the help of proper learning and development programs such as offline or online training programs (McCarthy and Ford, 2020). Implementation of web-based learning has helped in better employee engagement in the organization. Implementation of the training programs is very effective in managing human resources. With the advancement of technology, it is possible to train employees situated in different geographical locations with the help of online development methods (Halawi and Haydar, 2018). So, both online and offline employee development procedures can be implemented effectively to develop skills within an employee.

Factors contributing to the acceptance of online development methods
The business world is changing with the advancement of technology and the competitiveness of the market has increased a lot in which any company lacking innovativeness and creativity will not be able to stay in the competitive market. So, the company in order to implement innovation and creativity, it is important for the organization to organize proper employee development methods (Faridi and Baloch, 2019). I have the option to implement offline as well as online learning methods and each has its own advantage and disadvantage. The main advantage of the offline method is that trainees can communicate face to face with the trainers to clarify the doubts and the skills that are needed to develop to be successful. But the major offline mode of employee development programs limits the number of employees to be trained. The employees situated in different geographical locations need to be trained with multiple trainers or the trainer has to travel to different locations to train the employees which is a costly procedure and also it is time consuming leading to loss of working hours and loss of valuable resources (Adhikari, 2020). So, I focused on applying for the online employee development programs due to various factors. The factors that I considered while implementing online-based learning are as follows.

• A significant advantage of technology-based learning is that it encourages trainees to work at their own speed through the content and eliminates the need for an individual trainer.
• Elimination of individual trainers helps in eliminating extra expenditure in employee development.
• This type of training also resembles conventional teaching in the classroom by presenting a voiceover with material supporting visuals. Also, materials such as videos and extra readings support the teaching phase for the curriculum.
• The employee that is being selected for training can be 5 or 500 who can be trained via online mode with the help of a single trainer.
• Employees taking online training courses can learn at their own speed all at the same time.
• At the same time employees situated in different locations can be trained at the same moment.

Computer-Based Training or Web e-learning
Purpose of the CBT based development methods
As the company has branches in different countries so providing employee development training to each of the employees in different geographical locations is a costly and time-consuming procedure. The company is not willing to spend much on providing training as it will be costly for organizing training for employees in different geographical locations. I have been asked to create a program which can give training to every employee at the same time without wastage of extra working hours and money. So, based on this demand I decided to arrange web e-learning for employees as it will help in training all the employees at the same time and fewer resources will be needed and higher efficiency will be gained. CBT helps in enhancing the effectiveness of the training program with the use of suitable software and makes the training agenda sustainable for the organization (Sharma and Garg, 2017). The main purpose of this method is to increase the strengths of the organization and reduce the weaknesses but at the same time save cost for the company in training. CBT-based events various processes which can be utilized based on the demand and need of the organization (Stamolamproset al., 2019).

Design and Content of the CBT development methods
While implementing the event it is important to keep in mind the design and content of the CBT event for which I have to focus on maintaining a training framework. The design that I followed is that I arranged multiple video conferencing classes for the employees. All the employees in different locations will attend the training via video conferencing to get the training periodically. So, this will save cost and time both of which are profitable for the company. There are various CBT-based methods that can be applied by the organization which are as follows.

Online training
In online training, the employees that are being trained with the various skills are needed to be upgraded to suit the market requirement (Hazelzetet al., 2020). The employees are being given training on simulation, real-world case studies, different real-life problematic situation, the latest technical knowledge, etc. This online-based employee training program will try to develop the skills of the employees of any organization through some online lectures, videos, podcasts, simulation, individual or group-based assignments, and the assignments will be based on real-life scenarios such that the employees can understand the complex situations and the ways to handle the situations.

Online Coaching and Mentoring
Online coaching can play an effective role in which a supervisor will work one on one with the junior employee to share his or her experience and the way the tasks are needed to be handled. Employees situated in a different location can take the help of the supervisor posted in different geographical locations and work under that supervisor via online conferencing or any other online modes. For this, I have set some of the seniors to coach and mentor the junior employees’ situation in different locations. This means that the skills of the employees of the organization can be polished through online coaching. Through these, less experienced employees of the organization can be educated in various ways (Steel et al., 2021). The online mentoring supervisor that I have selected and acted as a guide for the junior employee in understanding complex situations and guides the employee to successfully overcome the situation. However, more formal mentoring programs are used for senior executive roles and less formal structures can be used for juniors (Yu, 2020). Senior leaders will guide juniors at their convenience and as a result, juniors will enjoy the opportunity to develop their skills in many ways.

Online workshops
In order to increase the productivity of the employees of the organization, I have arranged various online workshops like up gradation of technical skills or learning new coding languages that will give the employees a leading-edge (Tzagkarakiset al., 2021). It is worth mentioning here that this method is an opportunity for any employee associated with the organization to upgrade itself to learn and gather more knowledge in the technical field and will help the organization to achieve the desired goals.They can gain experience working with their colleagues or anyone outside the organization (Stamolamproset al., 2019). As a result, they will have the opportunity to change their traditional way of working and implement innovative ideas.

Online Conferences
I have arranged online conferences as well through which the employees of the organization can communicate with colleagues and team management to work collaboratively to complete any task without any direct communication (Dachneret al., 2021). Even the trainers and mentors can look after the progress report of the employees through online conferencing. It should be mentioned here that the authorities of the organization will take care of this so that the employees of the organization can actively participate in the online conferences. Moreover, certain sessions can play an effective role in employee development.

Plan and delivery of the CBT method
Budget
While arranging the online training event I have to consider the budget in implementing the event as I have to focus on the cost-saving of the company as well as employee development. In the case of web-based training, emphasis is given on technical training, quality training, skills training, soft skills training, professional training, team training, managerial training, safety training, etc.

Understanding the Audience
Before arranging a training program, it is important for me to understand the audience that means the kind of employees present and the kind of knowledge that is present within the employees. If it is possible to know which departments of the organization will participate in the online-based employee development program, then it will be easier for me to adopt appropriate strategies accordingly. If a mixed group participates in this online-based employee development program, then a variety of steps are needed to be used by me during the teaching.

Content
It is important to understand the kind of training the employees will be provided via the CBT method based on the market requirement. For that clear understanding of the existing knowledge within an employee and the knowledge that is lacking is needed to be surveyed then only the new content that will be provided can be determined (Osborne and Hammoud, 2017).

Training Resources
In order to provide training, it is important to check for the resources that are available which I can use to provide the training and the new resources that are needed to be acquired by me to support the program. Like I have to arrange extra training rooms with all the technological tools equipped such that the employees can be trained efficiently with new technology. Even organizations need to focus on reusing certain resources to eliminate the overburden of expenses in providing the development program.

Timeline
For some training programs, it is very important to set a specific time period say for example I have to set the training period like 3 months or 6 months depending on the learning capability of the learner. In general, the amount of time required for the overall growth of the organization's employees is allocated to an online-based development program.

Events overall effectiveness
The CBT method has given me the needed success and has helped the company to achieve the needed goals and objectives:

• Saves money – The online training event has helped me to save the cost of the company and is effective than other modes of training. It has the ability to reach a large audience of employees at the same time thereby reducing the problems faced in arranging travel facilities, allotting training rooms, re-scheduling the works hours, catering costs, and other costs involved in supplying study materials (Saeedet al., 2019). In the case of online training employees simply needs to login to the virtual classrooms via various computational devices.
• Training time reduction – online training has reduced the time associated with multiple things like time for traveling to learning institute, easy starting and end of learning sessions, various breaks throughout the day, and online group training than one-to-one training sessions.
• Most online training results in higher employee memorizing ability– online training is the best way for training employees with video lectures and presentations, games, and other content that require interactions (Martinez et al., 2017). It has proven to increase the employee’s memorizing ability and engagement with the specific subject or key information.
• All-time associability on the content across the world – one of the most significant effect of online training programs for the employees is that the content is available to all the employees of the organization all the day 24 hours, 7 days a week as the employees may be placed across the world (Yang et al., 2017). As per the employee’s availability, they can have their training from the resource online even from remote places with internet connectivity.
• Employees have continuous access to essential resources - when the preparation encompasses a wide range of content that requires later revisions, like new design specs, online training allows the employee to have instant access to the online content (Krizanova et al., 2019). Rather than being restricted to the workplace, online training content will be available to the workers everywhere they go.
• Provides a risk-free environment where employees will not have a fear of failing the test which is a drawback posed by instructor-led training programs which are conducted in classrooms (Karnouskos, 2017). In an online training program that fear doesn’t work and provides a safe learning environment for the employees.
• Collaborating with globally recognized institutes – online training help organizations to collaborate with the institutions that are specialized in conducting the employee's training program. Employees across various agencies and different countries will lead to wider business conversations within the online training module from leading institutes providing online training employee development solutions.
• Highly scalable with the increase in employees - After developing the online employee development training modules, an organization can simply scale the module up to reach the needs of workers with multiple languages by keeping the benefit of employees in mind.

Barriers in implementing CBT or Web e-learning
While implementing the CBT method there are certain barriers that I had to face which are as follows.

• Budget cuts –the organizations invest very little in their employee's training and development programs. They think that skilled workers are always available for hire so why investing in employee’s skill development (Sun and Bunchapattanasakda, 2019). So, I have to carefully spend the budget allocated to train the employees.

• Resistance to change – many employees are not willing to learn or less interested to learn. Employees who have been used to work in a certain way for a long period of time are reluctant to try anything different (Kwon and Kim, 2020). I personally discussed with many employees to understand the reason for their reluctance and the response which I received was that the employees were worried that they may lose their experience with current systems and procedures.

• Job-learning dichotomy – in learning new skills and working on projects are perceived to be two distinct types of work, where working on the ongoing projects often taking precedence.

• A work culture that promotes non-learning – the organization isimpeded by not encouraging the employees to form learning new things, and it is very hard for an employee to learn new things.

Conclusion
Training is a process where the employees of the organization get a chance to develop their skills. In addition, through training, they acquire the necessary knowledge to do any job. In other words, training is related to doing a specific job, and it always seeks to improve the work performance of employees. The things that I learned while arranging this event that is I have to find out what kind of development the organization is willing to do for the betterment of the organization in the future. If I am able to diagnose, then I can easily set the learning objectives needed for the employee development program. First of all, the manner in which the employee development program is needed to be organized is needs to be considered by me. This means that I have to emphasize learning styles and it needs to be mentioned here that in this case online employee development program has been chosen. Secondly, I have to consider the effectiveness of the delivery mode of the employee development program and the most important aspect of an employee development program is its budget and the delivery style of program. Thirdly, I have to focus on the audience means that any employee of the organization will be part of this program and the success of the program depends largely on the learning capability of the employees. A specific timeline of the program is needed to be developed by me such that the effectiveness of the program can be utilized for achieving the set goals and objectives and it largely depends on how communication is made with the employees by me. Proving any kind of training needs proper monitoring and continuous evaluation of the employees such that proper knowledge can be gained whether the employees have enhanced their skills through training or it has decreased the efficiency of the employees.

Recommendation
It is the responsibility of the managers to pass on skills they have acquired to the employees. The knowledge and business insights can be given to the employees through constructive coaching and training exercises which is also a health indication of an organization to remain in a competitive market. With the advancement of technology, it is important for the employees to upgrade their skills and for that it is the responsibility of the company to arrange proper training programs for the employees. Introduction of new technologies and providing adequate training related to the new technology is needed. The employee awareness programs are needed to be set up whenever required. It is important to provide the employees with more adaptable learning choices. If I encourage the employees and engage them in various learning activities then it is beneficial for the organization and for employees as well.

Accomplishment recognition should be practiced as the recognition booster in order to maintain the enthusiasm in the employees. Valued employees should always feel motivated than non-valued employees. Once an employee is valued within the organization, they can be converted loyal to the organization. With recognition employees feel enthusiastic at the possibility of knowledge further. The organization must allow the employees to grow through learning by providing incentives even promotions which on the other hand will encourage the employees. The process of accepting growth within the organization is a continuous process that is acquired through reviews and recognition. Learning develops skills, skills lead to better performance and better performance leads to recognition through promotion. This should be followed within any organization. These opportunities will provide a sense of accomplishment to an employee. Along with encouragement to learn on-premise employees should also be encouraged to learn outside the organizational premises by earning higher degrees, by clearing certification courses, by encouraging the employee to take part in various skill development classes, and help any organization to achieve the set goals and objectives.

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