Feature insight - staff development
creative thinking are all just as important. Developing staff in these areas should consist of a well-structured learning programme, as well as support from a mentor or coach.” Paul Russell, managing director of training company Luxury Academy, places an even higher value on soft skills, saying: “Most payroll professionals will come to their role with their functional skills in place, the skills that allow them to do their job, and often it is their soft skills that require further development.” Meanwhile, Donna Walsh, head of customer and workplace proposition management at Standard Life, emphasises the importance of employee financial education. She says: “Embedding it into an organisation’s wider business strategy as a priority, rather than simply viewing it as an added bonus, will go a long way to increasing the effectiveness and the continued evolvement of employee benefits and reward programmes, helping ensure that employees get the best out of them and value them more too.” CPD (continuing professional development) is also an important consideration, with Milner pointing out that it plays a crucial role in staff development and workplace education: “helping to ensure individuals keep up to date with best practice, standards and trends in the industry, while at the same time keeping them engaged and interested. “CPD also helps employees develop confidence in their own ability. All this is especially key in the fast-moving worlds of HR [human resources] and payroll, where change is continuous and it is vital that employees keep pace with it.” Dr Smith concurs, commenting: “Keeping knowledge up to date and relevant is critical. It’s one thing to achieve competence, but application and keeping
it current are also vital to success. The application of knowledge and skills should be a key driver for development and education.” It’s important for the organisation to be attuned to this need to keep pace, says Russell: “For organisations to prosper, innovate and adapt to the changing market, workplace education and development of staff must remain a priority. Customer needs and those of the market can alter rapidly, and the organisation that succeeds is one that can anticipate these changing needs.” ...application of knowledge and skills should be a key driver for development and education On ‘change’, there are innovations and developments within workplace learning itself. Dr Smith observes: “Learning through electronic resources is a convenient and accessible way for many students to learn. With the explosion of development in this area, students have a great choice of platforms so that learning can be done from their own home and at qualifications remain but many of these are now presented and delivered in more modern ways, using better technology, by practising professionals who have current experience in the application of their teachings.” Danny Brooks, CEO and founder of VHR Global Technical Recruitment, says that while digital education is a time and pace that suits them. “The traditional routes of formal
becoming adopted into many L&D (learning and development) strategies across industries, the real innovation lies in “placing employees at the heart of your workplace education strategy”. He concludes: “Workers who feel listened to, cared about and valued will be far more invested in their professional development and therefore will get the most out of workplace education. Employee engagement is the most important factor in recruitment, retention and company growth, and professional development is no different.” n Staffdevelopment –maximising effectiveness Top tips from Colin Adams, director of Henley Training colleague’s role. This could be someone from another department or someone at a higher level of management. Even ten to fifteen minutes of sitting with another colleague can be a way of sharing skills and understanding how each role works with one and other. ● Allocate time for personal development – If, for example, a typical working month for an employee is 140 hours, then consider allocating 20 of those hours to allow them to factor in personal development. This could be through listening to a podcast or attending an industry conference – in a Gallup poll, 87% of millennials said that professional or career growth and development opportunities were important to them in a job, and 69% of non-millennials also agreed ● Consider external training – For example, if you are a SME (small- to medium-size enterprise) and don’t have a dedicated in-house learning and development team, then you may want to get someone to deliver training at your workplace instead. These can be one-day or half-day workshops on anything from communication, time management and project management, which can help keep your business moving as optimally as possible. It can also boost morale and increase worker happiness. Motorola, the telecommunications giant, found that for every dollar it spent on employee training, productivity increased by 30% within three years. ● Job shadowing – A simple way to facilitate upskilling is by allowing your employees to shadow another
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 55 | November 2019
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