Developing Employees

As described in Foundations of Human Resource Management, “employee training is a learning experience that teaches new skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors necessary for successful job completion.”^[1] That is, the objective of training is to develop or enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) relative to an employee’s current position. For example, a person may be trained on departmental processes or how to use task- or department-specific applications or equipment.

In contrast, employee development is learning that benefits the organization broadly. Development involves cultivation of core—generally soft—skills such as critical thinking, communication and leadership. For perspective, compensation research site Payscale’s Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR) survey indicated that the area HR professionals plan to invest in most heavily in 2019 is employee training and development. Specifically, 23% of respondents identified training and development as their largest investment, followed by recruiting and compensation changes—a tie at 15%.

Employee Development Methods

A majority of the training methods mentioned earlier in this module are also applicable to employee development. For example, case studies—used extensively in management and legal training—are a highly effective means of teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills. To quote Texas Women’s University professor Dr. Laura Trukillo-Jenks, “One of the best practices in teaching and learning is the use of a three-part case study, or a scenario-based story, to help students deepen their understanding of a concept. The three parts of a case study are a scenario-based story that focuses on a specific, hypothetical problem, supporting literature that aligns with the main themes of the story, and guiding questions that help the learner gain the most from understanding the concepts and objectives of the case study by applying critical and higher order thinking skills.”^[3] Role-playing, also mentioned previously, is common in crisis management, emergency response and the military.^[4] Both case studies and role play can also be used to explore complex issues such as ethics and unconscious bias since they provide a safe environment to work through scenarios and build confidence and effective decision-making skills.

Additional employee development methods include the following:

• Committee or special project assignments—Committee or special project assignments promote development of analytical and communication skills and organizational/industry knowledge and provide exposure or opportunities to work with senior leaders
• Classes, conferences and seminars/webinars—Participation in (as an attendee, panelist or presenter) structured learning—in person or online—can build knowledge/expertise, communication and critical thinking skills, industry or functional knowledge and relevant professional networks[2]

Handling Performance

Types of Performance Issues

One of the most difficult parts of managing others isn’t when they are doing a great job—it is when they aren’t doing a good job. In this section, we will address some examples of performance issues and how to handle them.

1. Constantly late or leaves early. While we know that flexible schedules can provide a work-life balance, managing this flexible schedule is key. Some employees may take advantage and, instead of working at home, perform nonwork-related tasks instead.
2. Too much time spent doing personal things at work. Most companies have a policy about using a computer or phone for personal use. For most companies, some personal use is fine, but it can become a problem if someone doesn’t know where to draw the line.
3. Inability to handle proprietary information. Many companies handle important client and patient information. The ability to keep this information private for the protection of others is important to the success of the company.
4. Family issues. Child-care issues, divorce, or other family challenges can cause absenteeism, but also poor work quality. Absenteeism is defined as a habitual pattern of not being at work.
5. Drug and alcohol abuse. The US Department of Labor says that 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injury can be tied to alcohol consumption. The US Department of Labor estimates that employees who use substances are 25–30 percent less productive and miss work three times more often than nonabusing employees (US Department of Labor, 2011). Please keep in mind that when we talk about substance abuse, we are talking about not only illegal drugs but prescription drug abuse as well. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says that 15.2 million Americans have taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once (Fisher, 2011). Substance abuse can cause obvious problems, such as tardiness, absenteeism, and nonperformance, but it can also result in accidents or other more serious issues.
6. Nonperforming. Sometimes employees are just not performing at their peak. Some causes may include family or personal issues, but oftentimes it can mean motivational issues or lack of tools and/or ability to do their current job.
7. Conflicts with management or other employees. While it is normal to have the occasional conflict at work, some employees seem to have more than the average owing to personality issues. Of course, this affects an organization’s productivity.
8. Theft. The numbers surrounding employee theft are staggering. The American Marketing Association estimates $10 billion is lost annually owing to employee theft, while the FBI estimates up to $150 billion annually¹. Obviously, this is a serious employee problem that must be addressed.
9. Ethical breaches. The most commonly reported ethical breaches by employees include lying, withholding information, abusive behavior, and misreporting time or hours worked, according to a National Business Ethics study². Sharing certain proprietary information when it is against company policy and violating noncompete agreements are also considered ethical violations. Many companies also have a nonfraternization policy that restricts managers from socializing with nonmanagement employees.
10. Harassment. Engagement of sexual harassment, bullying, or other types of harassment would be considered an issue to be dealt with immediately and, depending on the severity, may result in immediate termination.
11. Employee conduct outside the workplace. Speaking poorly of the organization on blogs or Facebook is an example of conduct occurring outside the workplace that could violate company policy. Violating specific company policies outside work could also result in termination. For example, in 2010, thirteen Virgin Atlantic employees were fired after posting criticisms about customers and joking about the lack of safety on Virgin airplanes in a public Facebook group (Smith, 2010). In another example, an NFL Indianapolis Colts cheerleader was fired after racy Playboy promotional photos surfaced (before she became a cheerleader) that showed her wearing only body paint (Chandler, 2011)

While certainly not exhaustive, this list provides some insight into the types of problems that may be experienced. As you can see, some of these problems are more serious than others. Some issues may only require a warning, while some may require immediate dismissal. As an HR professional, it is your job to develop policies and procedures for dealing with such problems. Let’s discuss these next.

What Influences Performance?

When an employee isn’t performing as expected, it can be very disappointing. When you consider the amount of time it takes to recruit, hire, and train someone, it can be disappointing to find that a person has performance issues. Sometimes performance issues can be related to something personal, such as drug or alcohol abuse, but often it is a combination of factors. Some of these factors can be internal while others may be external. Internal factors may include the following:

1. Career goals are not being met with the job.
2. There is conflict with other employees or the manager.
3. The goals or expectations are not in line with the employee’s abilities.
4. The employee views unfairness in the workplace.
5. The employee manages time poorly.
6. The employee is dissatisfied with the job.

Some of the external factors may include the following:

1. The employee doesn’t have correct equipment or tools to perform the job.
2. The job design is incorrect.
3. External motivation factors are absent.
4. There is a lack of management support.
5. The employee’s skills and job are mismatched.