4 Approaches to Employee Development
The importance of employee development is frequently underestimated. But a strong employee development program is good for both your employees and your organization. You can increase retention, improve performance and help employees achieve their career ambitions. Here are a few proven strategies to effectively develop your employees.
Mentoring or Coaching. One of the greatest resources for employee training is your current team. Pair more experienced veterans with newer, high-potential workers and let them share their experience. They have the kind of hands-on experience that doesn’t show up in training manuals and most don’t mind sharing it with others who are eager to learn.
Job Shadowing. Spending a day or more with another employee, whether it’s a supervisor or someone in another department, will allow them to get a real feel for what it’s like to work in that role. If you ask an employee to provide a list of what he does each day he is bound to miss something, but when you shadow someone, you see what the job truly entails.
Cross training. By training your team members on each other’s duties, you’ll never have to fear the loss of knowledge that can come when an experienced employee leaves for greener pastures. Consider also job rotations of a week or more that will allow the employee to gain on real-life experience in the jobs they have been trained on.
Personalized training. Not everyone learns the same way. It’s important that your training program not be one-size-fits-all. Meet with candidates one-on-one to discuss how they learn best and offer choices that include online or classroom training, and books or other materials.
In the energy sector in particular, it’s critical that your team build on their current skills to ensure they remain relevant and that you are able to maintain a safe and productive workplace.
No matter what approach you decide on, the training must have measurable results and align with your business objectives. Consider the purpose of your training. Do you want to promote from within, increase employee engagement, keep up with industry developments? Your goals will help you to determine the best way to proceed.
At FootBridge Energy Services, our experienced recruiters specialize in helping employees to recruit and retain top talent in the energy industry. If you need help building a better hiring strategy, contact us today to get started.
