This article will explore whether companies should verify or measure the skills development of their workforce, emphasizing the importance of tracking progress for both employee growth and organizational success.
Begin by discussing the value of continuous training and how it can impact productivity and innovation. Highlight methods for measuring skills development, such as assessments, performance reviews, and certifications.
Address the benefits of verification, including accountability and aligning employee development with company goals. Conclude with best practices for HR professionals to implement measurable skills development strategies.
Should Companies Verify or Measure the Skills Development of Their Workforce?
Employee growth and skills development play a critical role in the success of any organization. A learning and development strategy is essential to making sure your employees develop skills that contribute both to their success, and the long-term goals of the organization.
However, unless you measure the skills development of your workforce, you could be wasting valuable training resources and falling short when it comes to maximizing the potential of your employees.
In this article, careers experts from jobseeker.com take a look at methods for verifying skills development, and why it can be a valuable endeavor for your company.
The value of continuous learning for organizational success
Continuous learning has never been more important for organizational success. With technology evolving ever more rapidly and shifting expectations about the nature of work and careers, it’s the companies that commit to continuous learning strategies that will thrive.
A fully developed and realized learning and development strategy can transform an organization and its employees. Here are just some of the ways a commitment to continuous learning can contribute to organizational success:
- Better employee retention: committing to continuous learning can lead to happier, more fulfilled employees. This can contribute to stronger levels of retention, helping to strengthen teams. Reducing staff attrition rates can also keep hiring costs down.
- Adapting to new technologies: responding to the development of new technologies and trends helps to future-proof organizations and their employees, and keeps them relevant and competitive in the market.
- Increased efficiency: A well-trained workforce is usually more efficient. Training and development is one of the most effective ways to increase the productivity of your organization.
- Embracing opportunities for growth: learning and development strategies can drive growth by upskilling current competencies and spotting opportunities to grow into new areas of expertise, as the market develops.
Methods for measuring skills development
The most effective methods for measuring skills development involve careful planning and diligent evaluation and analysis of training. It’s impossible to measure the skills development and progression of your workforce without a well-conceived plan and the means to evaluate whether the plan has been successful.
Take a look at these methods and strategies for assessing the impact of your learning and development on employees, and the wider organization:
- Assessments: skills assessments can be carried out before training to identify the needs of your workforce, or after, to evaluate the impact of your training program. In an ideal world, organizations would deploy both methods to identify training needs and then assess whether these have been met.
- Performance reviews: employee appraisals form a key part of measuring skills development and identifying areas for improvement. They provide an opportunity for feedback from colleagues and managers, as well as a chance for employees themselves to reflect on their learning journey.
- Certifications: incorporating recognized certifications into your training plan can ensure your employees reach a standardized level of competency in any new skill. They also provide opportunities to improve skills with higher certification levels and more advanced qualifications.
- Training evaluations: there are various models for evaluating the impact of training outcomes. Choose a model that allows you to reflect on your learning and development strategy and how successful your training program has been in achieving the desired outcomes.
Benefits of verifying employee development
The benefits of verifying employee development are extensive, for both the employee and the wider organization. Some of the most valuable benefits include:
- Accountability: the process of verifying your workforce’s skills development introduces accountability for the learning and development team setting the training strategy. Measuring the impact of your training program will also set a level of expectation for employee development and growth, that can drive employees to make the most of their learning, and put it to good use in their work.
- Aligning employees with company goals: your training plan should work hand-in-hand with the wider organizational strategy. This gives you the chance to align employees with the company’s goals and ensure the workforce is equipped to deliver the desired strategic outcomes.
- Adjusting training strategies: evaluating the skills development of your employees not only helps to measure the success of current training programs but informs the future direction for the organization’s learning and development. The process of verifying and measuring the outcomes of your training can identify gaps that still exist in the workforce’s portfolio of skills, as well as new opportunities that may arise out of previous training.
- Informing recruitment strategy: verifying employee development and the outcomes of your training program can also be useful for informing the organization’s hiring plans. Where skills gaps exist in your workforce, a strong understanding of the outcomes of your training can contribute to decisions about the type of talent you seek to recruit.
Best practices for implementing measurable skills development strategies
Follow these best practices for implementing measurable skills development strategies that make a difference to your organization:
- Create an L&D strategy model: the first step towards being able to evaluate the skills development of your workforce is to create a strategy that identifies what you want to achieve as an organization, and sets a direction of travel to get there.
- Define your KPIs: as part of developing your strategy, it’s essential to define key performance indicators that are achievable and measurable.
- Measure employee engagement: employee buy-in and engagement is critical to the success of any skills development program. Gather feedback from employees on their satisfaction and perceived outcomes of the training they’ve undertaken.
- Analyze productivity levels: the ultimate aim of any learning and development plan is to contribute to increased productivity and profitability. Measuring wider organizational metrics should be a key part of evaluating the success of your training plan.
- Evaluate your training metrics: Utilizing an evaluation model, such as Kirkpatrick’s Four-level Training Evaluation Model, is one of the best ways to ensure you’re maximizing the effectiveness of your skills development program. The model evaluates the organization’s training across four key levels: reaction, learning, behavior, and impact. These ultimately help organizations to assess whether their training programs have had the desired impact.
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