Chapter

9
Employee
Development

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Development refers to formal education,

job experiences, relationships, and
assessments of personality and abilities
that help employees perform effectively in
their current or future job and company.

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Comparison Between Training and Development

Training

Development

Focus

Current

Future

Use of work
experiences

Low

High

Goal

Preparation for current job

Preparation for changes

Participation

Required

Voluntary

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Why is employee development important?

Employee development is a necessary component
of a companys efforts to:
improve quality
retain key employees
meet the challenges of global competition and social
change
incorporate technological advances and changes in
work design

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Approaches to Employee Development

Assessment

Formal
Education

Job
Experiences

Interpersonal
Relationships
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Formal Education
Formal education programs include:
off-site and on-site programs designed specifically for
the companys employees
short courses offered by consultants or universities
executive MBA programs
university programs in which participants actually live
at the university while taking classes

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Examples of development programs at GE

Program

Description

Target Audience

Courses

Executive
Development
Sequence

Emphasis on strategic
thinking, leadership,
cross-functional
integration, competing
globally, customer
satisfaction

Senior professionals and

executives identified as
high-potential

Manager Development
Global Business
Management
Executive Development

Core Leadership
Program

Development of functional
expertise, business
excellence, management
of change

Managers

Corporate Entry Leadership

Professional Development
New Manager Development
Experienced Manager

Professional
Development
Program

Emphasis on preparation
for specific career path

New Employees

Audit Staff
Financial Management
Human Resources
Technical Leadership

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Important trends in executive education:

Increasing use of distance learning by many
companies and universities
Companies and the education provider create
short, custom courses, with content designed
specifically to needs of the audience
Supplementing formal courses from consultants
or university faculty with other types of training
and development activities

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Assessment involves collecting

information and providing feedback
to employees about their behavior,
communication style, or skills

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Assessment (continued)
Used most frequently to:
identify employees with managerial potential
measure current managers strengths and weaknesses
identify managers with potential to move into higherlevel executive positions
work with teams to identify members strengths and
weaknesses, and factors that inhibit productivity

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Popular Assessment Tools

Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator
(MBTI)

Assessment Center

Benchmarks

Performance
Appraisals and
360-Degree Feedback
Systems

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Assessment Tools: Myers-Briggs (MBTI)

Most popular psychological test for employee
development
Used for understanding such things as:
communication
motivation
teamwork
work styles
leadership

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Examples of MBTI Use:

Can be used by salespeople who want to become
more effective at interpersonal communication by
learning things about their own personality styles
and the way they are perceived by others
Can help develop teams by matching team
members with assignments that allow them to
capitalize on their preferences
Can help employees understand how the different
preferences can lead to useful problem solving
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Assessment Tools: Assessment Center

The assessment center is a process in which
multiple raters or evaluators evaluate employees
performance on a number of exercises
usually held at an off-site location
used to identify if employees have the abilities,
personality, and behaviors for management jobs
used to identify if employees have the necessary skills
to work in teams

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Examples of Skills Measured by Assessment

Center Exercises
EXERCISES
SKILLS

In-basket

Leadership

Problem
solving

Scheduling
Exercise

Interpersonal
Administrative
Personal

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Leaderless
Group
Discussion

Personality
Test

Role Play

X
X

X
X

X
X

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Assessment Tools: Benchmarks

Benchmarks is an instrument designed to
measure important factors in being a successful
manager
Items measured are based on research that
examines the lessons executives learn at critical
events in their careers
This includes items that measure managers skills
in dealing with subordinates, acquiring resources,
and creating a productive work climate
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Skills Related to Managerial Success

Resourcefulness
Doing whatever it takes
Being a quick study
Building and mending
relationships
Leading subordinates
Compassion and sensitivity
Straightforwardness and
composure
Setting a developmental
climate

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Confronting problem
subordinates
Team orientation
Balance between personal life
and work
Decisiveness
Self-awareness
Hiring talented staff
Putting people at ease
Acting with flexibility

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Assessment Tools:
Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisal - the process of
measuring employees performance
Approaches for measuring performance:
ranking employees
rating work behaviors
rating the extent to which employees have desirable
traits believed to be necessary for job success (e.g.,
leadership)
directly measuring the results of work performance
(e.g., productivity)
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Conditions under which performance

measurement is useful for development:
The appraisal system must give employees specific
information about their performance problems and
ways they can improve their performance
Managers must be trained in providing
performance feedback
Managers must frequently give employees
performance feedback
Managers also need to monitor employees
progress in carrying out the action plan
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Assessment Tools: 360-Degree

Feedback System
Peers

Rating
Form

Rating
Form

Manager

Self

Customers

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Rating
Form

Rating
Form

Subordinates

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Activities involved in development planning using

the 360-degree feedback process: (1 of 2)
1. Understand strengths and weaknesses
Review ratings for strengths and weaknesses
Identify skills or behaviors where self and others
ratings agree and disagree
2. Identify a development goal
Choose a skill or behavior to develop
Set a clear, specific goal with a specified outcome

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Activities involved in development planning using

the 360-degree feedback process: (2 of 2)
3. Identify a process for recognizing goal

accomplishment

4. Identify strategies for reaching the development

goal

Establish strategies such as reading, job experiences,

courses, and relationships

Establish strategies for receiving feedback on
progress
Establish strategies for receiving reinforcement for
new skills or behavior
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Factors necessary for a 360-degree

feedback system to be effective:
The system must provide consistent (reliable)
ratings
Feedback must be job-related (valid)
The system must be easy to use, understandable,
and relevant
The system must lead to managerial development

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360-Degree Feedback:
Important Issues to Consider
Who will the raters be?
How will you maintain the confidentiality of the
raters?
What behaviors and skills are job-related?
How will you ensure full participation and
complete responses from every employee who is
asked to be a rater?
What will the feedback report include?
How will you ensure that managers receive and
act on the feedback?
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Job Experiences
Job experiences refer to relationships, problems,
demands, tasks, or other features that employees
face in their jobs
Most employee development occurs through job
experiences
A major assumption is that development is most
likely to occur when there is a mismatch between
the employees skills and past experiences and the
skills required for the job
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To be successful in their jobs,

employees must stretch their
skills.
They must be forced to learn
new skills, apply their skills
and knowledge in a new way,
and master new experiences.

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Job Demands and Lessons Learned from Them

Making transitions

Unfamiliar responsibilities
Proving yourself

Creating change

Developing new directions

Inherited problems
Reduction decisions
Problems with employees

Having high level of responsibility

High stakes
Managing business diversity
Job overload
Handling external pressure

Being involved in non-authority relationships

Influencing without authority

Facing obstacles

Adverse business conditions

Lack of top management support
Lack of personal support
Difficult boss

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How Job Experiences are Used for Employee

Development:
Promotion

Enlargement of
Current
Transfer

Job Rotation

(Lateral Move)

(Lateral Move)

Job
Experiences

Downward
Move
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Temporary
Assignment
with Another
Organization

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Characteristics of Effective Job Rotation

Systems (1 of 2)
1. Job rotation is used to develop skills as well as

give employees experience needed for

managerial positions
2. Employees understand specific skills that will
be developed by rotation
3. Job rotation is used for all levels and types of
employees
4. All employees have equal opportunities for job
rotation assignments
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Characteristics of Effective Job Rotation

Systems (2 of 2)
5. Job rotation is linked with the career

management process so employees know the

development needs addressed by each job
assignment
6. Benefits of rotation are maximized and costs are
minimized through managing time of rotations
to reduce workload costs and help employees
understand job rotations role in their
development plans

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Interpersonal Relationships
Employees can also develop skills and increase
their knowledge about the company and its
customers by interacting with a more experienced
organizational member
Two types of interpersonal relationships used to
develop employees:
Mentoring
Coaching

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Characteristics of Successful Formal

Mentoring Programs: (1 of 2)
Mentor and protg participation is voluntary
relationship can be ended at any time without fear of
punishment

Mentor-protg matching process does not limit the

ability of informal relationships to develop
Mentors are chosen on the basis of:
their past record in developing employees
willingness to serve as a mentor
evidence of positive coaching, communication, and
listening skills
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Characteristics of Successful Formal

Mentoring Programs: (2 of 2)
The purpose of the program is clearly understood
The length of the program is specified
A minimum level of contact between the mentor and
protg is specified
Protgs are encouraged to contact one another to
discuss problems and share successes
The mentor program is evaluated
Employee development is rewarded

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Coaching Relationships
Coach a peer or manager who works with
employees to:
motivate them
help them develop skills
provide reinforcement and feedback

Coaches need to be able to suggest effective

improvement actions

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The Development Planning Process

The development planning process involves:
identifying development needs
choosing a development goal
identifying the actions that need to be taken by the
employee and the company to achieve the goal
determining how progress toward goal attainment will
be measured
investing time and energy to achieve the goal
establishing a timetable for development
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Development Planning (continued)

An emerging trend in development is that the
employee must initiate the development planning
process
The development approach used is dependent on
the needs and development goal

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Responsibilities in the Development

Planning Process: (1 of 2)
Development
Planning Process

Employee Responsibility

Company Responsibility

Opportunity

How do I need to improve?

Assessment information to identify

strengths, weaknesses, interests, and
values

Motivation

Am I willing to invest the

time and energy to develop?

Company assists in identifying

personal and company reasons for
change.
Manager discusses steps for dealing
with barriers and challenges to
development.

Goal Identification

How do I want to develop?

Company provides development

planning guide.
Manager has developmental
discussion with employee.

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Responsibilities in the Development

Planning Process: (2 of 2)
Development
Planning Process

Employee Responsibility

Company Responsibility

Criteria

How will I know I am making

progress?

Manager provides feedback on criteria

Actions

What will I do to reach my

development goal?

Company provides assessment,

courses, job experiences, and
relationships

Accountability

What is my timetable?
How can I ask others for
feedback on progress
toward my goal?

Managers follows up on progress

toward developmental goal and helps
employees set a realistic timetable for
goal achievement

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Company Strategies for Providing

Development:
Individualization

Learner Control

Ongoing Support

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