Noe (2010) distinguishes the differences between employee training and employee development:“Development is future oriented, it involves learning that is not necessarily related to the employee’s current job” and “training is focused on helping improve employees jobs” (p. 347). Development is the function that helps individuals grow and prepare for job advancement/growth or even those jobs that currently do not exist within the organization.
Development refers to formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessments of personalities and abilities that help employees perform effectively in their current or future job and company (Noe; 2010, p. 346). I now have some formal education to be an instructional designer; it is future development that will help me be an effective instructional designer.
For this week's assignment I am to develop my own development plan. I think this is good timing as I am coming to the end of my pursuit of my Master’s Degree in Instructional Design and Technology and my desire to apply that knowledge.
I believe development is a lifelong, ongoing process. Below is my development plan to help me begin to achieve my goals as an instructional designer.
| Type of Development | Action Plan | Rationale |
Formal Education – Noe (2010) describes formal education programs to “include off-site and on-site programs designed specifically for the company’s employees, short courses offered by consultants or universities, executive MBA programs, and university programs…” (p. 350). |
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Benchmarks – Method of measuring management performance/effectiveness |
| Benchmarks support growth. I actually view benchmarks as personal development plans. Through benchmarking I am identifying goals and objectives to be met that will improve not only my overall performance, but also my department. The success of these goals/objectives are determined and reviewed by others and aligned with the organization’s overall goals. |
Job Enlargement – Increasing responsibility or level of difficulty to one’s job. Job enlargement is beneficial to both the employee and employer. Through job enlargement employees are able to take on tasks that are beneficial to the organization. This gives the employee the ability to show their level of ability and apply skills/knowledge not normally demonstrated. |
| Time management is something many employees within the organization struggle with. A recent employee survey identified a desire for a Time Management Program. Developing a new system-wide program from the beginning would be a new initiative for me and help me to achieve my goal of expanding my department’s role in staff education. This is also a critical issue for the organization as we struggle to become more “Lean” and do more with less. |
Temporary Assignments, Projects and Volunteer Work – “Employee exchange is one example of temporary assignments in which two companies agree to exchange employees” (p. 370). |
| My participation with the school of nursing is not necessarily an exchange between two companies; it is an exchange between two different industries. Both of these initiatives will allow me exposure to the academic setting. My organization has a direct link with an educational institutional and working within the academic setting helps me to better prepare future training within the organizational setting. |
References:
http://www.great-quotes-on-life.com/personal-development.html
Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee Training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Hi Lisa
ReplyDeleteYou stated in your presentation that formal education can reduce off-site costs. I understand that online learning in nursing is increasing, just as in other fields. Lower off-site costs are indeed a benefit of online learning (after recouping higher initial outlays). One difficulty with online learning in nursing is designing activities that promote critical thinking. Anderson & Tredway (2009) believe that problem-based learning activities will help to promote nursing students immersion into complex situations. Students must: (1) be presented with a problem that is central to the learning experience; (2) have control and responsibility for their learning; (3) examine multiple perspectives; (4) interact in small groups to promote critical thinking; and (5)reflect on what they have learning and apply the new knowledge to the problem (p. 111-112). By designing critical thinking online courses, formal education can help nurses "gain real-world skills and study problems in real-world environments without having to disrupt their work with travel to a campus" (Noe, 2010, p. 353).
Sue
Anderson, G. L., & Tredway, C. A. (2009). Transforming the nursing curriculum to promote critical thinking online. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(2), 111-115.
Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI was really intrigued that you included benchmarks as part of your personal development plan. Although as a software developer I am very familiar with using benchmarks for development, I had never thought to apply them to personal development. Noe (2010) focuses heavily on the use of benchmarks for managers: “Item measured by Benchmarks are based on research that examines the lessons executives learn at critical events in their careers” (p. 360).
After reading your post, you’ve introduced the fact that you can replace the word “executives” with just about any professional designation – ‘software developer’, ‘nurse’, ‘trainer’ – and the statement would work just as well. I am really wondering now what sort of “lessons” I should be learning at critical events in my career? What are the critical events in my career? These are really great questions.
Thanks!
- Patrick
Reference:
Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteRegarding your personal development plan, I'm a strong believer of workshops and professional conferences for self-improvement. I like your suggestion for attending Studor workshops and professional conferences to enhance your knowledge and expertise. Developing benchmarks is a good way of setting criteria for self-assessment. How would you relate this to improving your performance and skills? Who would review your progress in achieving the benchmarks? Would they be able to provide you with coaching or mentoring to help you be successful?
You suggested developing a time management system as a job enlargement strategy for professional development. Has time management been identified as an organizational need? Is management willing to provide the time, manpower and resources to design the program?
Your personal development program is designed around the goal of improving your skills as an Instructional Designer and trainer. How will you determine how successful you are progressing in achieving that goal? What time table have you established for this personal development plan?
Regarding your Employee development plan, I liked your opening quote. As a manager I would be overwhelmed by all of the different strategies that you presented at the start. What are the specific employee development needs that have been identified for your company? Are the benefits that you identified directly related to the training and development needs within the organization? Is there a specific development goal(s) for your development proposal? Which development strategy will best address the identified needs and goals? For example under initiatives you listed "temporary assignment, projects and volunteer work" and then listed several needs that these strategies could address. If developing leadership and strategic thinking skills is a need for the company, than projects could be an effective way to develop these skills in key individuals.
What type of time table you you establish for this employee development plan? How would you measure progress and success of the plan?
Mike