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What happens when the targeted designation in any organization lacks the right and proper skillset? Or what if the Finance department of the organization appoints human resources who are proficient in Marketing? There will be an imbalance in organizational productivity. When human resources are appointed in any organization, the organization also must make sure that the appointed human resources may upgrade their skill set and enhance their career too. So, to make such talent elevate their performance, the organization must address the concept and execution of Talent development.
Investment in human resources is one of the biggest investments that will generate greater returns in the long term. Employees are the greatest assets of any organization and the HR department representing the whole organization should invest in their talent development through various capacity development programs that may increase their capabilities, upgrade their skills, increase their retentiveness and improve the bottom line.
Talent development refers to the subset of talent management which includes upskilling, reskilling the potential employees to excel in their current skill set, and learning more to upgrade their personal and professional factors. The pursuit of initiating talent development programs attracts potential employees and helps to retain them for a longer time. Talent development helps to fulfill the key objective of the organization such as:
Supports the succession planning
Increases employee engagement
Enhances employee productivity
Serves as a recruitment tool
Attracts and retains the potential employees
Targeting learning of the employees is interlinked with targeted training. Employees need to get training specifically targeting training according to their skill and behavioral requirements. The creation and implementation of targeted learning for employees can be considered one of the key business strategies for the organization. The HR department can utilize baseline data to examine the skills that the employees are lacking or the trends and patterns that employees need to learn and design the learning pattern as a part of the training need analysis.
Everyone is known by the terms ‘The Great Resignation’ and ‘Gig Economy’. The hybrid and remote work culture has evolved dramatically along with technological change. The organization must stay ahead of such challenges and hence need to invest in the employees as well which requires the strategies of targeted learning in talent development for the employees.
Many organizations face obstacles in skill development and equipping employees with the right skills for the right job at the right time. Targeted learning is a compilation of formal and informal learning that acts as a bridge for the specific skill gap of the employees. Organizations must assure that both existing and new human resources are fully prepared to acquire the knowledge obtained through the training process.
To implement effective targeted training for the training development of the employees, the organization must undergo certain steps so that the deviation gap of skills and professional patterns may be eliminated in the upcoming days.
1. Identification of skill gap among employees
In order to implement the targeted learning process in the organization, first of all, the organization must know which employees lack which skills and what training must be attended by the employees for their benefit. The use of skill inventory can be of great help to organizations. They can collect the data through employee self-assessment tests and one-on-one interviews with the employees about their needs. These processes can help the business stakeholders on making key investment decisions along with recruitment decisions.
2. Designing of the training patterns and trends
The vision, mission, and objectives of the organization must come in front before setting up any programs. Targeted learning procedures are implemented while keeping in mind the business goals. Firstly, the organizational goals must be addressed to have a clear idea of designing the targeted training.
3. Examining the individual learning needs
There is a diverse workforce with different skills, experiences, and preferable ways of learning. The organization must address the basic terms of workplace diversity such as cultural diversity, geographical location, language barriers, learning styles, access to technology, etc. The organization needs to examine each need type of each staff so that the targeted learning process becomes successful.
4. The flow of information to the employees about the importance of training
The employees must understand the importance of training on why they need to receive the targeted training. They need to understand how this training can amplify their professional factors like skill set, productivity, and engagement. It’s the responsibility of the organization to communicate effectively the value of the training, its need, and the aftermath of training.
5. Setting up the training schedule
After the designing of the training program, the schedule of training must be scheduled whether it be six days, months, or a year too. The organization must also consider the workloads of employees and schedule according to them. The training may be of multi sessions and the employees must be made aware of this.
6. Compiling both formal and informal learning opportunities
Intensive training periods are assigned to the employees and they may feel monotonous regarding this. Hence, interactive sessions with the employees, coaching sessions including fun games, etc should be included in this. The compilation of such formal and information training methods may boost the employee's confidence in learning more and more.
7. Gathering feedback and recommendations
After the success of training, it’s important to receive feedback and recommendations from the trainees on whether the targeted learning process became successful. To organize such programs shortly, feedback collection is a must. Genuine feedback must be collected from the employees along with their recommendations for planning purposes.
8. Measuring training effectiveness
It’s the responsibility of the organization to examine and measure if the training implementation has become fruitful or not. Whether the skill set of the employees has improved, or whether there is a change in skill proficiency, everything has to be examined. If the learning procedures have been completed successfully with positive changes upon employees, the accomplishment of such targeted learning processes must be implemented frequently per need.
Such quality training programs result in employee productivity along with the effectiveness of organizational performance. The nature of the work is changing and shifting and the organization must address the need for targeted learning for the employees due to its intertwined benefits with the attainment of organizational goals.