More often than not, an organisation’s capacity to grow and evolve is defined by the skills, expertise and approach of its team. Investing in employee training and development is therefore essential if your business is going to innovate, expand and fulfil its potential.
As very few team members will join your organisation with all the knowhow they need, most will require some training and development if they’re going to fully contribute to the business and give you the resources you need to succeed. Addressing these training and development needs early on will prevent bad habits forming, maximise productivity and give team members more time to grow into their roles.
Assessing Performance
If you’re going to provide useful, productive and valuable training and development, you first need to identify skills gaps and areas for improvement. Often, the best way to do this is to assess an employee’s performance to see which areas need more work.
Assessment Centres
Assessment centres offer employers the chance to evaluate a team member’s skills through the use of simulated work scenarios, interviews, written exercises and personality profiling. The exact assessments that are carried out will depend on the role the employee is expected to play within your organisation and on your business’s specific requirements.
Assessment centres can be very useful as they give a fuller picture of a team member’s existing skills and expertise. They also offer valuable insight into where an employee’s natural talents lie and where they may excel in the future.
Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisals also play an important role in assessing training and development needs. By looking at a team member’s accomplishments, growth and the contributions they’ve made to the company, you can show your employee that they’re valued while also identifying areas or expertise that may be lacking.
To ensure that the performance appraisal is fair and transparent, it’s important to apply consistent and objective criteria for measuring and rating the performance of each employee. These criteria should be set before your appraisals begin.
Employee Self-Assessments
Self-assessment is an important part of personal and professional growth. Using self-assessments can help your team members to become more self-aware. It will also encourage them to recognise their own development needs and think about how targeted training could help them to achieve their career goals.
360-Degree Feedback
Carrying out 360-degree feedback is a very useful way to reveal hidden development needs. By talking to a team member’s, peers, subordinates and supervisors, you can build a comprehensive picture of their practical abilities and personal skills. This information can then be used to provide tailored training and development.
Analysing Organisational Goals
In order for training to be truly beneficial, it needs to align with your company’s strategic objectives. So, if your business wants to grow customer relationships and boost sales, focusing on training that targets these areas will ensure your business has the resources it needs to succeed.
Using a combination of assessment centres, appraisals, self-assessment and 360-degree feedback will give your organisation the information and insight required to properly plan the training and development opportunities you provide for your team. Offering these opportunities on a regular basis will help to create a culture of continuous development within your business, something that’s great for both your team members and your company as a whole.
Learn more about training and development by getting in touch with a member of our team today.
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