The development of human capital is a primary role for training. Development can come in many forms, which we will review. However, we will take a different view on development by determining how we can best leverage HR in this all-important facet of day-to-day business.
First, let’s examine formal training programs, such as classroom, online, and social-media based learning. Depending on your organization and its scope, you may have formal training in place for just about every position. Or, you may have a formal training program that serves as a “funnel” for the rest of the organization. Your formal training program may be a blended approach, where participants attend class and then go to online learning interventions, but it may also use one approach or the other. However your formal training is structured, you can rely on HR to help you evaluate and improve each component. You are probably already evaluating training from the participant and supervisor perspective, but have you ever considered going in tandem with HR to evaluate training?
The HR department is usually privy to descriptive numbers, such as position turnover, promotions, voluntary termination, and involuntary termination. In cases of involuntary turnover, HR will usually know the reason. If this is the case at your organization, you can obtain a profile of what’s happening after training. For example, if you find that involuntary terminations occur often because of certain procedural issues, perhaps training needs to be improved in those areas. On the other hand, if terminations are involuntary because of issues with managers or supervisors, the problem could lie with management or leadership training. Obviously the data HR can give you will not spell out the problem letter for letter, but it will more than likely help you narrow down some improvements to the overall training program.
There are other ways to get involved with HR in employee development. For example, does your organization have an on-the-job training program? If not, on-the-job (OTJ) programs are an effective joint venture for HR and training. Because OTJ combines a learning intervention with job progression, both HR and training can take what they learn from OTJ results and improve programs. If the people that are hired can’t seem to make it past certain points in the OTJ program, HR may need to look back at the overall profile of the best candidates. Alternatively, training may need to improve the components of the OTJ program.
The key with formal development programs is to have HR on board with what you are trying to do. When you begin looking at designing and implementing a new program, get HR personnel involved. For example, if new hire training is under development or redevelopment, involve the recruiters in the process. Just as your area can give them feedback on the potential candidate profile, they can give you feedback on what skills managers are really looking for. If you are looking to implement training at other levels, such as employee selection, which we’ve already discussed, involve HR from the very beginning. This way, you are creating a team environment where HR is closely aligned with training – and vice versa.
With this in mind, let’s move on to the “other side” of employee development, which involves career paths, coaching, mentoring, and other informal training interventions.
Copyright 2010-2017 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.
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Bryant Nielson – Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.– offers 25+ years of training and talent management helping executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson |
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