Guide to develop an effective skill development program

Why do we need to focus on employees’ skill development?

It has become common for the organizations to provide e-learning resources at every juncture for their employees for professional growth and development. Almost 38% of employees want relevant training that will help them increase their work productivity and job performance while 32% want training that is current and updated as per industry standards.

To address their learning needs, L&D professionals strive to develop picture-perfect training programs by incorporating various approaches such as instructional design principles, adult learning, interactivities etc, to build a personalized skill based program for the workforce.

Yet, organizations miss the mark to make an impact among the learners. They are unable to deliver relevant and personalized learning opportunities which can benefit the employees in skyrocketing their careers into soaring heights and accomplish both personal and professional goals.

To ensure such mistakes do not happen again in the future, organizations need to know what elements must be included in the skill development program so that employees work on their skills and improve their job performance and productivity.

Here, we have compiled a checklist which an organization can use as a guideline to ensure that they have incorporated main elements that enhances the effectiveness of skill development plan which are as follows:

Conduct learning needs analysis

First, organizations need to assess the workforce and identify their specific learning needs using training needs analysis which includes individual analysis, company analysis and operational tasks analysis. Doing this research helps L&D professionals to narrow down the skills required to accomplish the tasks and assist in designing effective training that will bridge the skill gaps to improve employees’ work productivity and performance ROI. Organizations can conduct assessments, interviews, surveys or other research methodologies to understand an organization’s requirements and employees’ learning needs.

Identify and align skill development goals with business objectives

Now that organizations have identified the overall scope of learning needs, they can now design a personalized learning program that will address the business problem in addition to aligning the training objectives with business goals accordingly. In doing so, the employees will get a clear picture of why the particular training program matters and how it is relevant to achieving the business objectives. Moreover, it will help organizations foster a supportive and inclusive work environment and improve work productivity, employee engagement and performance efficiency in the long term.

Identify learning solutions and tech tools to meet L&D goals

Noww, organization has a clear idea of what they want to achieve, it’s time to choose what type of learning solutions will be appropriate to address the employees’ learning needs and accomplish their training goals. Moreover, the organization needs to determine whether their current learning resources can be used or they need to acquire the latest learning tools and technologies.

Gain stakeholder validation

Organization needs to gain validation from stakeholders such as top management leaders and managers who can support the learning initiatives as well as emphasizing on how a skill development program can benefit both employees and organizations in the long term in terms of revenue generation or employee engagement and retention. Having leaders supporting the programs will bring a sense of accountability and transparency in the process.

Collaborate with employees to develop personalized learning experiences

All the learning and development initiatives are developed only for employee benefits. There is no point in running these programs if these training sessions are not helping employees accomplish their personal and professional goals. If this scenario happens, then organisations will face a skill shortage and employee attrition within the workforce. For best results, try EasySIM, a competency mapped simulated and assessment platform.

Track employees progress through assessment metrics

Organizations now may have set the learning goals, but how can they know when the specific goal has been accomplished? To achieve the goals, the L&D needs to assign and keep monitoring the learning metrics, based on which the organization will measure the employees’ learning progress, and training effectiveness. It will also help the organization in identifying any emerging skill gaps which may indicate time for reevaluation of learning goals and strategy. Explore EasySIM, one of the best assessment platforms that helps organizations in tracking and monitoring their employees’ learning progress seamlessly.

Foster Lifelong learning in the workplace

Learning does not happen once, it’s an ongoing and continuous cycle that helps evolve employees’ professional growth. For a successful learning transition, organizations need to foster a supporting learning environment which will encourage lifelong learning at all stages. Having a learning system will help employees to feel valued, motivated and empowered in the organization.

Conclusion

Organizations don’t have to be worried about not being able to integrate all these elements in training initiatives. Through EasySIM, organization can successfully design, create and deploy skill development programs integrated with above listed elements.