Improving employee performance using Innovative L&D Interventions

Abstract

This study aims to present innovative practices in Learning and development which can help to improve employee performance in organizations leading to enhanced employee commitment and retention. As we all know, retention of valuable employees is a global challenge today. Organizations are constantly dueling with the task of retaining employees, and substantial evidence suggest that retention of skilled employees has become a serious concern to managers as they face ever increasing high rate of employee turnover (Arthur, 1994; Budhwar & Mellahi, 2007). Scholars have clearly established the direct linkage between job satisfaction and organizational commitment on employee retention. (Budhwar & Mellahi, 2007, Dole & Schroeder, 2001). Various studies have proved that among other factors training and development opportunities can significantly enhance the organizational commitment and satisfaction of employees (Meyer & Smith, 2000). It has been clearly found that if employees are given training and development opportunities, they will be more likely to remain in the environment. (Huselid, 1995). Lisa Holden Rovers, CHRP in her study published in the e-Source for the Human Resources Institute of Alberta in May 2007 states that in-house learning strategies have a positive effect on engagement and retention. In house initiatives which are based on cost effective innovative ideas are identified to be valuable for businesses as they are seeking to embrace training and development opportunities in cost conscious manners. The author states that by engaging employees to share their knowledge, organizations can expect to increase the knowledge base of employees, control costs and retain talent. Susan M Heathfield in her article in http://humanresources.about.com in 2007 cites opportunities for growth as a key factor in employee motivation and retention. This author states that apart from traditional classroom or blended learning approaches the following in house initiatives will enhance development. • Involve employees in establishing goals, standards, priorities, and measurements. • Assign employees to lead projects and teams. • Assign employees to train other employees • Provide learning materials on the Intranet, an internal company website. Karen Shelton in her study titled THE EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ON JOB SATISFACTION AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in May 2001 asserts that Employee development programs clearly leads to employee satisfaction, which in turn leads to employee retention. People, who receive relevant and useful training, are generally happier in their jobs. When training is carried to the next level and becomes overall development, employees tend to feel even more valued by their employers. Organizations that provide employee development programs enjoy increased employee satisfaction and lower turnovers than those that do not. Since it is imperative that employees are developed and grown, Organizations have to ensure that their Learning and Development initiatives are aligned with their Performance management methods. L&Dinterventions must lead to performance improvements that can be measured and tracked by the Performance improvement systems. Otherwise there will be a disconnect between what is provided and what is expected. This will defeat the whole purpose and will lead to L&D interventions having no effect on performance improvements, rewards and recognitions, growth and thereby commitment, satisfaction and retention. As an L&D specialist, the researcherhas seen such disconnects in many organizations that he has studied. Performance management systems have Competencies as their core. Many of the competency modelsadopted are very generic and doesn't reflect the specific requirements of the job to be performed. Moreover the interventions offered by L&D doesn't relate directly to these competencies. Hence theinterventions don't lead to improvements in areas that can be measured by performance management systems. This study aims to provide solutions to this crucial problem. Based on the study of various organizations it proposes 6 innovative interventions that can bridge this gap between L&D offerings and Performance improvements as measured by Performance Management systems. The adoption of these interventions can lead to making L&D offerings more effective. They can provide a better linkagebetween interventions, development, growth, commitment and thereby retention.