Creating a Professional Development Upskilling Program for HR Professionals
Written by Kevin George, MBA
HRBP
Hello HR Professionals! One of the most important aspects of our positions is People Development. Let’s say you would like to start a program to help your employees do so. Where do you start? I recently created a, new and improved from previous version, program for my employees. Below are some best practices and steps that will help you in starting your own People Development Program.
Identify Need
This is the tricky part. Not everyone will tell you that they need training on how to develop their professional skills. Why? Because most don’t know. I will bet that everyone you come in contact with today, tomorrow, in previous jobs, and in future jobs can benefit from professional upskilling. Everyone can benefit!
So, how do you identify the need? Observation. As you get further along in it becomes increasingly easy to identify needs. When you interview candidates and build relationships with managers and a client group, uncovering these needs becomes second nature. I suggest you solicit feedback from any internal interviews, review resumes, and ask employees what they are doing to prepare for the next step in their career.
Select Demographic
Very few workshops are “one size fits all.” Professional Development workshops have to be tailored to their audience. For instance, employees who are fresh out of college have different experiences, skillsets, and knowledge than those who have held management or even executive level positions for many years. Make sure when developing a program, the language and content are geared towards the correct demographic to make the largest impact.
Create Program
So, you’ve done all the prework. Congrats! Now is when the fun begins. A bit daunting, huh? Don’t let it be. I suggest starting off with creating a framework of what you want to accomplish.
For my most recent project, I knew I wanted to start from the application process and proceed all the way through to after interviews to develop my people. So, I wrote out my framework then changed it several times. That’s ok! I ended up with: Resume Writing, Additional Presentation Documents, LinkedIn, and Interviewing. Once this is complete, how do you want to convey the information? With a group? One-on-one? Through a learning platform? These decisions are key in moving forward.
The next step is the most important. After the structure and presentation have been completed…GET OTHER HR COLLEAGUES’ AND SUBEJCT MATTER EXPERT’S FEEDBACK! Everyone looks at things differently. You may know what information you want to convey, but it may not be clear to others. To get the greatest understanding from the largest group of attendees, first get feedback from a wide range of people.
Deliver
Now is the fun part. It’s time to deliver what you have. If you are not comfortable with presenting in front of groups (in-person or virtually), practice then practice, and practice some more. It may help to have one or more people watch your presentation before launching to help you build a smoother presentation.
H.R. Trend: One size doesn’t fit all.
H.R. Trend: One size doesn’t fit all.
We all want to feel support and appreciated by the company we work so hard for, but one size no longer fits all when it comes to rewards. One of the latest H.R. trends, identified by SHRM, is offering a more flexible reward program that offers more customizable options. According to Jordan Pearce, CEO of Fringe, customizable rewards "…are meaningful because they meet real-life employee needs, and meaningful rewards make people happy. Employees want to feel supported and seen by their employers, and they'll be evaluating their loyalty based on how they were treated and respected."
A good rewards program will not only lead to increased engagement, but it’ll help with strong retention.
Know how your team enjoys being recognized. Some people prefer public recognition while others enjoy one on one. It’s important as manager that you understand what form of recognition your employees feel comfortable with. According to this article, when recognition is personalized employees find it to be 70 percent more meaningful than generalized perks. This could be as simple as taking someone to lunch during your next one-on-one or offering customized contests for your team that result in a gift-card or a unique experience your team would actually find interesting. When all else fails, don’t assume. Instead ask your employees how they enjoy being recognized.
Reward in real-time. "As employers design incentive programs this year, it is critical to select rewards that feel special, can be deployed quickly and have digital redemption capabilities," said Jeff Haughton, Blackhawk Network's Senior Vice President for Incentives, Corporate Development and Strategy. It’s no surprise that employees prefer to be recognized closer to their accomplishment to make the perk more meaningful. Rewards given closer to the behavior will reinforce that positive behavior.
It's all about digital. Consider an employee recognition program/software to enhance your rewards program and your culture. Platforms that use gamification strategies gives employers the opportunity to offers points when certain milestones are reached, to reward great work, etc. As an employee receives points, they’d be eligible to reach new levels and redeem their reward of choice through that platform when ready.
The biggest takeaway here is that employees are more motivated and engaged when their rewards are personalized. As we all work to move forward from the coronavirus pandemic, retaining top talent is a must. Revamping an outdated rewards program could be a great way to reengage your workforce.
Is your company rethinking their rewards program, or seeing a trend internally that you feel you’ll expand on?
TrueLife: I am an H.R. professional concerned about hiring in 2021.
Where to start, when you don’t know where to start.
You are not alone.
It’s a new year and many organizations are ready to look ahead to rebuild what was lost, or build on what 2020 created. Now more than ever, human resources professionals are concerned with what recruitment will look like. Although unemployment has been extremely high, it’s nerve-wracking to hire while trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
While preparing for my interview with Ivy Podcast, I read an article by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) that analyzed XpertHR’s results from their September survey of 500+ employers. The results of the survey found that "…roughly one-half of responding employers expect to increase their workforce [in 2021]," according to Andrew Hellwege, surveys editor for XpertHR. "After COVID-19 rocked the economy in 2020, employers won't want to miss out on the potential recovery in 2021 … and recruiting and hiring efforts will be key for attracting talent and ramping up operations."
In my profession, I have the privilege to work with many H.R. teams and hiring managers for different organizations; some get it right and some don’t. The fear of hiring the wrong person when a team cannot afford to make a mistake is a common concern I hear often. In this blog post, I want to share some of the things I consult my clients to consider in hopes of giving you a different perspective as you put your workforce plan together.
Do you really know what your organization needs? Employers are making a mistake by starting conversations with talent before understanding what their open role(s) actually calls for. Take the extra time to do a proper intake meeting, and do not assume a thing. Probe and ask questions that will allow you to understand your hiring managers need because the last thing you want to do is start and stop a search several times. Candidates are tired of being ghosted by organizations, and you don’t want to create an employer brand of being all over the place, or taking forever to make a decision. Although unemployment is high, the candidate experience matters more than ever.
Don’t cut corners - you’ll regret it later: Many organizations do not have the budget to fill all of the positions they now find vacant. Trying to cut corners by hiring B or C talent to manage a big project, or a trivial part of your business is a mistake. Just like hiring a former CFO to do the job of a staff accountant at the salary of an accounting coordinator will only create attrition later. If you don’t have the budget to offer a candidate, at the very least, a fair salary consider:
Internal talent. Is there anyone currently on the team that you can promote? Can you restructure your department and divvy up the functions in a way that can play to your current teams strengths?
Hiring temporary talent. Hire that interim CFO at an hourly rate that will allow you to attract the right person to immediately come in and get things under control for you. You may not have them for long, but at least you know the work being done will drive the results you need.
Consider hiring for aptitude: According to Webster, Aptitude is defined as: “1a : inclination, tendency an aptitude for hard work. b : a natural ability : talent an aptitude for gymnastics. 2 : capacity for learning an aptitude for languages. 3 : general suitability : aptness.”
Hiring for a manager that you know is highly knowledgeable and skilled in their role, as well as someone who has a passion for mentorship, would be the right instance to considering hiring a candidate with aptitude if you don’t have the budget to hire your dream candidate. There are so many entry level candidates who recently graduated during 2020, as well as seasoned candidates that are eager to work; they are just being overlooked. You can tailor your interview process and questions to better identify candidates that have the aptitude for your vacancy. Perhaps their experience or education is not ideally what you had hoped for, but you can use this to your advantage by recruiting from a talent pool your competition may not be.
Hopefully this helps navigate your conversations, and serves as a good starting point as you determine your recruiting needs in Q1. What are some of the things your team considers prior to starting the recruitment process?