Are You Getting the Development and Feedback You Want

Are You Getting the Development and Feedback You Want Humans are funny creatures. We ask for freedom, yet we crave stability. Think about when you were a teenager. Your parents gave you the keys to the car and what did you do? You took it out and came back with the gas tank near empty or worse, you drove at excessive speeds, got a ticket and asked your parents to pay your fine. There are consequences to freedom. I think these are some of the same feelings employees have in todays workplace. Employees want freedom, but still expect the employer to take care of them. Dan Schawbel sent me The Global Workforce Leadership Survey and I was curious to see the findings. I dug through the data trying to make sense of the gaps between  what employees said they wanted (or got) and what companies said they provided. Im not sure I can reach clear conclusions, but the gaps raise important issues for us all to think and talk about. The Global Workforce Leadership Survey identified  gaps  between priorities and expectations of global HR leaders and their employees. It  was conducted this year and includes 1000 human resource professionals and 1000 employees from  eight countries. The survey was  sponsored  by  Saba, a global leader in cloud-based intelligent talent management solutions,  along with  WorkplaceTrends.com,  a research and advisory membership service for forward-thinking HR professionals. Some Key Findings TRAINING DEVELOPMENT 74% of US employees said they  felt it  was necessary for the  company to invest in their  personal career development. 70% of US employees said their companys  training and development program is effective. 39% of US employees said they would rather train themselves versus 61% that want company-provided training 61% of US Human Resources professionals ranked on the job experience as the number one method of learning new skills. SKILLS ASSESSED NEEDED The top skills needed, according to Human Resources and employees are: communication, leadership and problem solving. The hardest skills to find, according to Human Resources are: leadership, people management and communication. Employees reported  their strongest skills  are: problem solving, creative thinking, communication, leadership. FREQUENCY OF FEEDBACK 47% of US employees want quarterly or weekly feedback from their manager. 56% of US employees have annual performance reviews and 21% have bi-annual performance reviews What Types of Training  Development Do  Companies  Provide (Globally) There is a full portfolio of options available to employees according to HR professionals around the world who said these were the types of professional development available through their companies. Is this lip service or are employees really getting a full menu of options? (See below) Mentoring programs Training seminars and classes Guest speakers Coaching Leadership development programs Conferences Committees Paid graduate school Rotational programs What Development Have You Taken Part In (US) Employees reported these were development opportunities they participated in. How Do Companies Deliver Training Development (Globally) A broad spectrum of options are available for delivering training today. But are employees aware of all the options? Are they comfortable using the newer tools? LMS Internet Hiring outside experts Working with an outside college Training manuals/books Mobile Social media MOOCs How Would You Like To Receive Training (US) Are employees mis-understanding the question or do they lack an understanding of how they can learn new skills? Why, in 2015, would so many employees say they would like to receive training in the form of manuals or books? Where is on the job experience? (See below) If we learn new skills by on the job experience, then why isnt that considered a form of training? Top Ways Employees Acquire  New Skills (US) 61% chose On the job experience as the most important way to develop new skills.   Could this mean that coaching, shadowing, mentoring and other real-time experiences arent seen as valuable because there isnt a clear take-away, like a certificate or book? Or is it that employees dont consider on the job experience to be training? Which skills do you believe your company needs most in employees  (US) It looks like HR and employees agree upon the skills the company needs most. HR says communication (  63%), leadership (54%), and problem solving (53%) Employees say communication (57%), problem solving (56%),  leadership (41%) What skills do you believe are your strongest? (US) The puzzling thing here is that employees said these are their strongest skills. Why would HR say these are the hardest skills to find? (see below) Hardest Skills to Find (US) According to HR professionals in the US, these are the hardest skills to find. Communication and leadership were ranked by employees as their strongest skills. Also interesting to note the appearance of people management skills here as it hasnt been referenced as an important skill to develop or a top skill of US employees. Leadership (31%) People management (27%) Communication (26%) Performance Reviews vs. Feedback Is there really a difference? Some will say yes and others will say no. What the study tells us is that employees want more frequent feedback. Is Everyone Getting the Development and Feedback Wanted? It seems that not everyone is happy with what they are getting, despite what companies say they provide. The graph below represents US employees agree or strongly agree responses. Averaging around 50% indicates companies and managers have room for improvement. The Bottom Line It can be difficult to meet everyones expectations. However, as we move forward, employees and HR should work more closely to align professional development to meet needs and produce a stronger workforce- one which is ready, willing and able to advance into new roles.