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• Employment Resources
• Hiring Process
• Orienting New Staff
• Employee Relations Issues
• Partnering for Performance
  • Development
  • Performance Reviews
  • Salary and Rewards
  • Discipline Guidelines
  • LifeWorks Management Line
• HR Managers

Development

Training and development can help employees learn new tasks, broaden their skills and abilities, and address performance problems. It can also boost their satisfaction levels and performance, while helping them along their career paths.

It is a manager’s responsibility to encourage and support training. Training also benefits you as a manager, since you are judged by the effectiveness of your employees in reaching departmental goals. Additionally, the better trained your employees are, the more smoothly your group will perform in the end. The Leadership Development Model is an excellent tool to help you formulate a development plan with your employees.

Training or Development	For whom	Purpose of training
New Tasks or Software	New employees, employees with new duties	To learn specific new tasks, software, university procedures, new procedures for departmental goals or plans
Management Skills	Employees who are being considered for a promotion or for management	To broaden an employee’s base skill set and prepare them to take on more responsibilities To teach them to manage people, prepare written plans, give presentations or communicate better
Education	Employees who are motivated but lack certain skills or competencies	To teach interpersonal relations or training in specific skills To focus on professional development, which increases job satisfaction and personal competencies, and prevents stagnation To encourage employees to stay in jobs in which they can grow, learn new things and take on increasingly responsible duties
Workshops	Employees are often sponsored by management or provided with a membership	To provide learning opportunities To give employees a chance to network with others in their field

Although training can also be a very useful remedial tool, don’t rush to the conclusion that training is needed for every performance problem. Problems can be caused by a number of different issues, which require different approaches, such as better communication. For example, employees who don’t know what is expected of them may require that you clearly articulate expectations and standards.

Educational Opportunities

There are many ways that employees can engage in educational opportunities. The university provides many low- or no-cost options offered through Learning and Development or through other university departments. These include free seminars offered through Human Resources or tuition benefits to benefits-eligible employees.

Often, situations on the job provide the most challenging and immediate opportunities to grow and develop. Developmental job assignments include special assignments, cross-functional problem solving teams, or assuming a temporary role in someone’s absence.

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For more information:

• Learning and Development - for a list of training and educational opportunities offered through Human Resources
• Typical Management Competencies (.pdf) - for a list of competencies that you may expect to see from managers
• Management Information Resources (.pdf) - for a list of resources for managers looking to train employees and hone their own skills

© Carnegie Mellon Human Resources 2004