What type of employers should consider work force development?
Every employer, regardless of the size of its employee complement, should consider investing in the continued education of its work force. For example, an $89 investment in a course in Microsoft Word might increase a person’s efficiency by 10 to 15 percent.
If this individual makes $35,000 per year, then that $89 investment yields a tremendous return. As this example indicates, companies don’t have to be large to reap almost immediate rewards.
Yes, these are skills that employers expect employees to have anyway, and they probably do. But consider this: The other day I received a resume from an individual who was interested in teaching a class. The person had a great background and could certainly teach the topical area without a problem. The individual also noted on the resume that they were an expert in Microsoft Word.
However, if you saw how the document was formatted, you would know that there was no way this was the case. In other words, there are skills, and there are efficient skills. Which would you rather your employees have?
What types of development programs are available?
Employee development programs range from in-house programs that upgrade the skills of the work force, to predefined courses that have general outcomes, to programs that are custom designed specifically to meet the needs of the company.
First, the company needs to ask itself several questions designed to determine which needs it wants a development program to address. Where does your company want to be in three to five years? Who is taking the company there? Where is the succession plan, and how is it going to be implemented?
What matters here is that the investment in your work force helps you maintain your competitive edge. It doesn’t matter if the training is in-house, or through a college or university; what matters is that the skill set of your employees keeps pace with the changing work environment.
What kind of return on investment should employers expect from work force development?
As the earlier example indicated, employers who invest in the education of their employees can expect great returns in terms of a more intelligent, more aware, more efficient and more loyal employee complement. To ensure this, many employers place a requirement on their employees to remain at the company and apply their new knowledge base for a period of time after completion of their program.
I believe this to be a good practice, as it permits the entity that made the investment to reap the rewards from the individual. The employee obtains highly marketable skills that will enhance the bottom line of the employer.
Robert McNeill is director of adult and continuing education for Delaware Valley College. Reach him at (215) 489-4888 or [email protected].
