HR professionals are far from being the only ones responsible for employee development in companies. Another key role is played by managers who need HR support to develop their people. The problem arises when managers feel that employee development is not within their competence because of a lack of necessary knowledge and training materials. Another problem is time. Managers are struggling day to day with time and feel that they don't have enough time left from their daily jobs for employee development.
How then, can we provide managers with adequate support to become teachers for their subordinates? Clomedia.com advises:
Decide how to organize training in your company
First, your company should determine whether its training functions will be centralized, decentralized or use the federated approach. The so-called federated approach is when headquarters manages strategic educational initiatives for everybody. In this approach not only managers but line managers direct the training. The advantage is line managers can bring specific knowledge of individual lines of business.
Start from the top
To start the whole process, you need to involve top managers in all business units. Stick to the "train the trainer" concept where trainers in higher positions train their subordinates to become trainers themselves.
Analyze your managers' interest
Perform an analysis of your managers to determine their commitment to participating in developing their people. You will find that there are three basic groups: 1) those who are interested and who will naturally engage in the learning activities you design, 2) those who will participate, but will need more direction from your CLO and training managers, and 3) those who are not interested. Focus mainly on the second group which is the largest.
Provide a comprehensive training solution
Identify performance gaps which employee training can remove. Consider the broader context of your business, do not provide isolated trainings. Effective employee development should include specific skills training in conjunction with leadership and change management.
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