Staff development
should be integral, not an add-on.
Arguably, the greatest resource of any organization is its staff. However, staff development can often be sidelined or overlooked altogether as an organization faces challenges that appear more pressing. A rigorous staff development program takes into account the ambitions of personnel, while focusing the organization's methods and practices and looking to the future with a renewed sense of purpose.
Address Staff Aspirations
Good staff development should take account of the aspirations of staff, according to Christine M. Nimmo, senior editor at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Inc. Indeed, these aspirations often help define the starting point of the staff development process. Staff may desire to have more job responsibilities, may seek ways in which their remuneration can be enhanced, or may wish to propose changes to established working practices. A goal of any staff development process should be at least to consider such aspirations.
Formalize Roles
People working together, especially in small, tight knit teams, sometimes experience role slippage or responsibility blurring. This can lead to people not being sure who should be doing what. While there are some advantages to having a modus operandi encompassing a degree of task flexibility amongst colleagues, California State University's Montgomery Van Wart sounds a note of caution. He refers to role theory, which emphasizes the importance of accountability and the consistency of expectations. Staff development processes can have as one of their objectives, the formalizing of roles.
Address Training Needs
Staff development should be ongoing. While there are limitations to what can be achieved within the working day because of time pressures, ideally there will be an ongoing commitment to training. This is especially important where jobs are changing in response to new technology, reformed working practices and global economic shifts. Making training opportunities available for staff should be an objective of staff development. According to American Management Association's John H. McConnell, fulfilling the individual's training needs also hugely benefits the organization, sometimes in ways not predicted.
Identify Management Potential
Organizations need to be led in order to make progress. Staff development processes should aim to identify individuals with leadership skills who have the potential to become managers. In contrast to the way it is often portrayed in television dramas, as ruthless self promotion, in reality leadership is about improving the performance of others, in tandem with improving personal performance. Would-be leaders will already be showing an awareness of the needs of colleagues. Effective staff development processes will harness this raw talent.
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