Afghan Wireless has long recognized the importance of employee development. Companies that are committed to the well-being of their employees and offer plenty of opportunities for personal and professional development are better able to attract and retain talent, build productive and successful teams, and ensure their own long-term stability and growth.
Employee development is critical to company success, and successful small and mid-sized companies are vital to Afghanistan’s economic progress. Recognizing this, Afghan Wireless founder Ehsan Bayat has made educational and professional development programs an important part of Afghan Wireless’ operations.
For other companies seeking to invest in effective development opportunities for their employees, here are six helpful tips on launching new company employee development programs or improving existing initiatives.
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Establish a goal prior to designing a program.
Development programs are most effective when they are designed around one or more clear goals. When programs are implemented purely as a PR exercise or because companies feel like development is something they should be doing (without really knowing why), the exercise tends to be a waste of time and effort. In such cases, these programs are more likely to be resented by employees than it is to benefit them.
Instead, companies should look closely at what they want employee development programs to accomplish, and then build programs around those specific goals. It’s important to note here that while these goals can be highly business-oriented, such as increasing sales numbers or reducing employee turnover, they can also have a more personal focus. For example, the intent might be to allow employees’ personal development to boost their performance at work.
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Take your cue from your employees.
Sometimes, the best place to start when creating an employee development program is with employees themselves. Employees often have a very good grasp of their own particular skill deficits or about the kind of support that would help them do their jobs better.
Incorporating employee feedback and ideas into the design of development programs can help ensure that those programs are as relevant as possible. In addition, if employees have a hand in helping create their own development opportunities, they will likely feel more strongly invested in participating.
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Help employees take advantage of programs.
If companies want employees to take full advantage of the development programs and other opportunities available to them, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. Development workshops or training exercises are unlikely to prove effective if employees view them as one more item on their already overfull to-do list.
Companies should set aside specific time for development and lighten employee workloads in order to facilitate participation. This helps to demonstrate that employee development is a true priority for the organization. Companies should also make sure to keep development opportunities flexible, and to use a variety of training tools and methods in order to accommodate different learning styles and preferences.
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Keep it small.
For companies launching employee development initiatives for the first time, it’s a good idea to start small. Testing out one or two pilot programs can help companies and employees alike get a good sense of what does or doesn’t work for particular organizations or teams before more significant development investments are made.
Even after programs have proven successful or have been in operation for some time, it’s often still effective to keep things on the small side. With technology and other aspects of the workplace changing so quickly, new knowledge and skills can become obsolete within a very short time span. Adopting a philosophy of continuous learning with smaller, flexible development models can be more useful than focusing on bigger, but infrequent, efforts.
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Look inside your organization.
Working with high-quality external experts to deliver development programs to employees can be a great investment. However, it’s important that companies do not overlook the development and leadership potential that may exist within their own organizations.
Non-managers often have a wealth of learned experience to share with their colleagues. Additionally, lessons from within a company can be very useful as they are typically highly relevant and context-specific.
Furthermore, peer-based learning has been widely recognized as a very effective development technique. It allows employees to both learn from and teach people they feel are their equals.
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Measure results.
As with any goal-oriented program, it’s important for companies to clearly define metrics for the success of employee development initiatives. They must then measure those metrics afterwards in order to determine whether a program was successful and to identify what improvements could be made to increase its effectiveness.
Finding ways to quantify progress that are clear and understandable to management and employees alike helps paint a clear picture of what development programs are attempting to do. It also increases the likelihood that everyone involved will want to continue with the training.