Employee Development

Methods used by organizations in developing talented employees








Introduction

Organizations from time to time recruit new employees to work in their
organizations. To do this organizations make advertisements on various
media to attract qualified people to present their applications. This is
in a bid to bring in new skills, ideas and energy into organizations. This
is the first step in the processes of developing employees to become
resourceful to the organization (Foot & Hook, 2011). This essay sets out to
discuss the various ways that organizations employ in finding and
developing individuals until they possess the knowledge and skills required
for the posts they hold. This processes and methods are mostly applied
during the induction processes of the recruited employees.


Methods of finding and developing employees

Organizations that aspire to grow and survive, and to significantly enhance
their added value in the increasing competition and also compete
effectively in the market, need to attract, retain, cultivate and most of
all develop quality and talented employees. For organizations to achieve
its goals, management has to understand that it is not finances, efficient
and modern technologies and techniques, but efficient and talented
employees who are the main source of competitive edge (Horvathova &
Mikusova, 2007). The following are the possible methods used by
organizations in developing their employees.


Generic training

This method which is used by almost all organizations entails training
employees on the general aspects of their respective jobs as well as the
role and purpose of their department and the whole organizations. Such
training is mostly conducted internally and employees from all departments
are brought together. The benefit with this generic training is that it
provides the employees with a general view of the overall organizational
goals and therefore learns the importance of all units/departments working
together towards a common goal. This training is in mostly the first step
of developing employees in many organizational (Foot & Hook, 2011).

Formal training/learning

This is a very crucial development stage where individual employees are
exposed to the actual and practical aspects of their respective jobs.
Through this training, employees get an opportunity to acquire experiential
practice and skills that are essential to execute their duties effectively
(Esen & Collison 2005). Formal training can be conducted in various ways;
One-on-one training- this involves an employee being assigned to another
experienced employee in the same department where he/she is taken through
the practical aspects of the job. In the course of this training, an
employee is given some tasks to undertake in order to assess his/her
competence.
Seminars/workshops- these are learning sessions organized by an organized
for specific departments or for certain employees. Professionals in that
line of career are invited to train the participants in key aspects of the
job.

Assessment centers

These refer to a process of collecting important information, under certain
conditions, regarding an individual's capabilities to execute a managerial
function. The process involves engaging an employee in a ray of individual
and group exercises intended to replicate the aspects of a particular job
that evaluates whether they have the abilities and skills required to
perform that particular job. These activities are observed by qualified
assessors and help bring out the employee's behavior related to the role.
The main advantage of this development method is that it; first, it helps
the employee to learn from other employees and become an all rounded person
who can handle different aspects of the job effectively and with ease.
Secondly, it gives the assessors/managers a chance to judge an employee's
behavior and see him/her from a common perspective of references in
different assessment activities. In addition, the procedures involved help
in ensuring that the verdict passed by assessors are reliable, fairly free
of any kind of rater bias, and provide a meaningful basis for predicting a
candidates potential (Horvathova & Mikusova, 2007).

Leadership forums

Leadership forums though not very common, are meant to provide an
opportunity for new employees to meet the organizations senior executives.
Many organizations when recruiting new employees, they look for various
personal qualities such as leadership quality. Towards this end, senior
managers take these leadership forums in identifying potential leaders who
can later be natured and take over leadership position in the organization.
The senior executives act as mentors to the employees and train them as
well as give them the secrets of becoming effective leaders not only in the
organization but also in the society. The forums also act as a motivator
for employees to work hard in trying to become like those executives (Esen
& Collison, 2005).


Internships/Apprenticeships

Some organizations use internships/apprenticeships as a way of developing
their careers. Internships are regarded as an important component of career
exploration where an individual receives training, gains experience and a
better understanding and preparation for succeeding in a certain profession
in the near future. Organizations usually target college students in their
third or final year and offer them with internship opportunities with an
intention of offering them a permanent opportunity in the organization upon
finishing school. This gives the candidates an opportunity to put into
practice the theoretical aspects of their studies.

Cross-functional training

Cross-functional training has been regarded as one of the most method that
managers and supervisors can use to enhance employee and organization's
performance. This method involves enhancing employees' proficiency rates in
responsibilities outside their present jobs. For instance, employees
working in a production department can conduct a cross-training where each
employee of the team is taken through the production process such that they
are able to perform the process from commencement to the end. This method
helps the current workforce to acquire broad and new skills thus saves the
organization the cost of recruiting new candidates from outside. In
addition, it increases employee motivation and creativity and in the
absence of any employees, the production levels are not affected (Martin,
Whiting, & Jackson, 2010).


Conclusion

Organizations need to recruit qualified and talented employees for them to
be competitive in the market. Employees are the major assets in
organizations and hence organizations should aim to sharpen their skills to
increase their efficiency. To achieve this organizations use various
methods to develop talent among employees, such as internships, formal
training, cross-functional training, leadership and generic training. The
choice of the method chosen depends on the organizations culture and job
requirements.


Personal statement

Through this module on employee development, I have come to learn the
essential qualities that organizations look for in potential employees.
However, these qualities and attributes differ depending on the nature of
the work and job position, for instance, entry level, middle level
management, or top level management. The nature of the job mostly
influences the skills and knowledge sought by employers. In my career life
I look forward to work in the financial industry as a banker, insurer or a
financial analyst and even later start my business/company in this
industry. In this industry some of the most sought skills and qualities
include, ability to lead, organizational and analytical skills,
interpersonal skills, computer literacy, and good and written English.
After performing a personal assessment, I feel I possess most of the
qualities and skills sought by employers making me a suitable candidate for
entry position in any of these organizations.


My strengths

Leadership skills: from my past experience in high school I was a student
leader (head captain) for one year. In my college days I have also been a
student leader where I represented my colleagues in second year in the
college student board/union. These positions have exposed me to various
aspects of how to deal and manager people in different circumstances.
Quick learner: I am able to learn and grasp new ideas, processes, and
aspects in my field of study very fast. This makes me a suitable employee
for training since I will understand the concepts very fast.
Communication and interpersonal skills: my previous leadership roles gave
me a chance to test my skills in communicating and interacting with other
people. As a leader I had to constantly engage the students and
administration on issues affecting the students.
Organizational and analytical skills: the past leadership positions I have
held have also helped me acquire organizational skills where I was and
still am in a position to organize my work and time. In addition, during my
study I have realized I am skilled in analyzing various scenarios and
coming up major aspects of the scenario/situation.
These major skills (strengths) that I possess are very vital since they
give me the first qualification to be considered for an entry position in
any financial organization. Secondly, the skills put me in a better
position to become a senior executive in an organization and successfully
lead other people. Finally, the skills make me confident and also make
rational decision concerning my future.

Weaknesses

One of my major weaknesses is my attention to details. I usually give
excess attention even to trivial matters which can make me lose picture of
the main item. However, this can be strength in another way. In addition, I
am somehow impatient with people especially those who are slow in
understanding things.
In addressing these weaknesses, I need to learn that people are different
in terms of skills and abilities. This will help me appreciate the persons
I work with.


































References

Esen, E., & Collison, J. (2005). Employee development. Survey Report: A
Study by the Society for Human Resource Management and Catalyst.

Foot, M., & Hook, C. (2011). Introducing Human Resource Management. 6th ed.
Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.

Horvathova, P., & Mikusova, M. (2007). Talent Management and its use by
organizations in the Moravian-Silesian region. Journal of Human
Resource Management, Vol. 1, No. 3 , pp. 44-56.

Martin, M., Whiting, F., & Jackson, T. (2010). Human Resource Practice, 5th
ed. London: CIPD.