Employee Development Strategies to Keep Your Talent Engaged
Keeping your team engaged and fostering their growth is crucial for credit union success and advancement. One effective way to achieve this is through targeted learning and development strategies. There are three major types of employee development that can help retain and engage talent: Training, Developing, and Upskilling.
Training: This foundational level focuses on providing the necessary skills and knowledge for employees to perform their jobs effectively. It emphasizes individual accountability and tactical expertise, which can also serve as indicators of leadership potential. Properly trained employees feel empowered to make decisions and operate autonomously. Cultural training is also vital, ensuring employees understand and embody the organization's mission and values. This can be achieved through internal events, re-onboarding, or team volunteer opportunities. An employee's readiness to progress from training to development can be gauged by their ability to set and achieve effective goals aligned with the organization's strategic objectives. They should execute these goals efficiently and take accountability for the results.
Developing: This stage involves building the skill sets required to manage a functional discipline and/or a team. Development places a significant emphasis on soft skills while also challenging employees to operate over longer time frames and consider a broader perspective for feedback and planning. Developing employees learn to coach their teams, may pursue additional certifications or degrees, and may require management coaching. 360 reviews can help them refine their leadership style and understand how others perceive them. This phase necessitates self-awareness and reflection. Participation in cross-functional teams or focus groups can broaden their horizons and provide functional expertise. Employees should also learn to business plan for their function, including building and managing budgets, aligning resources, and providing direction within their area.
Upskilling: This advanced level prepares employees to lead the organization by deepening their knowledge of other departments and functions and providing context within the broader sector. Upskilling employees often benefit from a mentor outside of their direct reporting line and may also mentor others, fostering knowledge sharing and succession planning. They should focus on building external relationships with key partners, board members, or government agencies to understand the external landscape and develop a strong network. Exploring the T-shaped career model, where employees gain deep expertise in one area while also developing broad knowledge across other functions, is beneficial. Participation in strategic planning processes allows them to test their ability to operate at scale.
Employees may spend varying amounts of time in each phase and may even move back and forth between them, especially after promotions or new roles. Each type of development offers promotional opportunities, aids in talent retention, and strengthens the organization's bench strength. Notably, Gen Z prioritizes learning and development opportunities more than any other generation, so targeting strategies to maximize impact for this demographic is essential. By strategically implementing training, development, and upskilling initiatives, organizations can foster a dynamic, engaged, and highly capable workforce.