SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP Certification Exam: People - Learning & Development

Functional Area 4—Learning & Development
Here is SHRM’s BoCK definition: “Learning and Development activities enhance the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) and competencies of the workforce in order to meet the organization’s business needs.”

Key Concepts
- Approaches to coaching and mentoring (e.g., formal, informal mentorship programs)
- Career development
- Developmental assessments (e.g., 360s)
- Knowledge-sharing techniques and facilitation
- Learning and development approaches and techniques (e.g., e-learning, leader development)
- Learning and development program design and implementation (e.g., ADDIE model)
- Learning evaluation (e.g., Kirkpatrick four-level model)
- Learning theories (e.g., adult learning theory)
- Needs analysis types (e.g., person, organizational, training, cost-benefit) and techniques (e.g., surveys, observations, interviews)
- Organizational analysis (e.g., performance analysis).
- Techniques for career development (e.g., career pathing, career mapping)

The following are the proficiency indicators that SHRM has identified as key concepts:

The key function of learning and development plays a vital role for an organization. HR professionals lend their expertise and guidance to enhance the capabilities of employees, aligning their contributions with organizational goals. HR professionals will use their understanding of learning techniques and theories to assess, design, and implement training and learning activities that will develop the workforce for the organization’s needs today and in their future.

Learning and Development in Today’s Organizations
While the fundamental underpinnings of the learning organization remain aligned to Senge’s five disciplines,79 approaches to organizational learning are changing.
These changes are being driven by a shrinking supply of leaders, in part because of the aging of the “baby boomers,” an increasing need to constantly develop and train workers to meet the demands of constantly evolving technology, a growing global marketplace, and issues of reducing turnover as employees seek environments better aligned with their personal values, such as the desire for more flexibility.
A 2014 survey by the Brandon Hall Group80 states that more than 50 percent of the companies studied had examined their learning strategy less than twice in 5 years, rendering learning, for the most part, stagnant.
This wakeup call has propelled new interest in organizational learning techniques, the most powerful being the use of mobile learning solutions, including mobile learning apps and mobile performance web-based sites. Mobile learning approaches meet the need for global accessibility for employees and excite greater engagement. Current research reveals that only between 4 and 10 percent of companies have adopted these technologies despite the obvious advantages these would bring to attracting and retaining outstanding talent and addressing the increasing demands of the global marketplace.
Further, many companies have only nominally adopted social media tools as a way to enhance continuous learning for their employees. The most powerful of these tools—video and microblogs—are the least used! Less effective tools such as discussion forums are often thought sufficient.
Younger employees expect the latest technologies that allow for flexibility in communication; this group will ultimately be the new breed of leaders needed for sustained business success. Traditional approaches to learning cannot alone inspire employee engagement and retention.

Factors Affecting Learning and Development
Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Adult learning takes place in the midst of what is taking place in our personal lives, our work lives, and the stresses associated with both of those environments.
The Learning Organization and Organization Learning   Organizational learning is the process of improving actions through greater knowledge and understanding. Learning organizations are those that support the learning and development of organization members.
Talent Management   Talent management is the forecasting of future people required by organizational needs and then developing plans for meeting those needs.
Knowledge Management   Knowledge management involves actions that capture, develop, share, and effectively use organizational knowledge. According to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, organizational knowledge includes on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training, and mentoring programs.
Competency Models   Competency models identify the specific competencies needed in each job within the organization. They emphasize basic competencies, or those that are important to everyone in the field, and areas of expertise, which are the specialized knowledge and actions required by specific roles. Sophisticated organizations develop databases that contain standardized competency lists for each job within the organization. When searching for candidates, these competencies are used to advertise for candidates and screen applicants.
Impact of Globalization   Globalization impacts training and development for the simple reason that there is an impact on the organization’s competitiveness in the marketplace. When call center staffs are better trained in language skills related to their target audience, the company can achieve a better reputation for support efforts. When sales staff is better trained in cultural expectations for personal interactions, the revenue produced can increase. These are issues that must first be identified and then addressed in the training and development plans of the organization.
Cultural Issues   Learning environments must allow for people to practice and make mistakes. Some high-context cultures place extraordinary importance on expressions and body language during interactions. People in those cultures will be hesitant to practice their learning if they are afraid of making a mistake. Convincing them that mistakes are not only accepted but also expected can take some time. It is wise to explore all cultural issues that will impact a training and development program before implementation begins.
Global Talent Management   There are global implications in talent management because there are cultural differences among global work locations. Cultural differences influence learning and development efforts. They can impact the learning process (expectations for promptness) and the achievement of training objectives (management of confrontation issues). How talent is managed is impacted by the training and development programs available for people within an organization (grow talent internally versus shopping for talent in the open job market).

Adult Learning
Adult learning principles have a single-track focus: trainability. Trainability is concerned with the readiness to learn and its associated motivation. Andragogy is the study of how adults learn, and it is based on five assumptions about learning in adults versus children. As people mature, they shift to the following:
- Self-concept Their concept of self moves toward self-directed and self-sufficiency.
- Experience They accumulate more experience that they tuck away and can access in learning situations.
- Readiness to learn They adjust to a readiness state of learning because of developmental requirements for their stage of life and social roles (e.g., parent, homeowner).
- Orientation to learning They shift from subject-focused to problem-focused learning that has immediate applicability.
- Motivation to learn Motivation for learning comes from an internal source within rather than external.
As training programs are being designed and delivered, these needs of adult learning should be incorporated. Real-world examples and emphasis on how the training is going to be immediately applied is helpful.

Understanding the Adult Learner
All adults have a particular learning style that best suits their ability to learn. Understanding these learning styles will assist you in the creation of a learning environment within your organization, allowing you to accommodate each style with the delivery of training.
Additionally, as a presenter or trainer, knowing your own learning style will enhance your ability to adjust your preference of delivery methods so you won’t fall into the comfort of just your style and can shift your delivery to meet the needs of all participants. Also, knowing your own learning style will assist you in your career with problem-solving, conflict management, negotiations, teamwork, and career planning.
There are three learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.
- Auditory learners tend to benefit most from a lecture style. Present information by talking so they can listen. Auditory learners succeed when directions are read aloud or information is presented and requested verbally because they interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed, and other nuances.
- Visual learners rely upon a seeing presentation style: “Show me and I’ll understand.” These learners do best when seeing facial expressions and body language. It helps them understand content of what is being taught because they think in pictures, diagrams, charts, videos, computer training, and written directions. These students will value to-do lists, flip charts, and written notes. They need and want to take detailed notes to absorb the information.
- Kinesthetic learners are also called tactile learners. They learn via a hands-on approach and prefer to explore the physical aspects of learning. Sitting for long periods of time is difficult for these learners because they need activity in order to learn. Kinesthetic learners are most successful when totally engaged with the learning activity such as in role playing, practicing, and with topics that can use the senses of feeling and imagining.

Active Learning and Retention81
The National Training Laboratories in Bethel, Maine, have conducted studies on the subject of learning and retention.

This Table reflects the retention rates measured for each of several different types of learning methods.

Table: Average Learning Retention Rates

It is clear that greater retention comes with greater participation in the learning process, a lesson that should not be lost to any professional trainer.

Obstacles to Learning
According to K. P. Cross, there are three barriers to adult participation in learning.82
- Situational Those that arise from one’s situation or environment at a given point
- Institutional Those practices and procedures that exclude or discourage adults from participating in organized learning activities
- Dispositional Those related to the attitudes and self-perceptions about one self as a learner

Learning Styles
Besides having different learning preference styles, adults also learn at different rates. This is referred to as learning curves (see Figure). A learning curve is a graphical representation of the increase of learning (vertical axis) with the experience (horizontal axis). The following are the factors that determine how quickly an adult will learn:

Figure:     Learning curves

- The person’s motivation for learning
- The person’s prior knowledge or experience
- The specific knowledge or task that is to be learned
- The person’s aptitude and attitude about the knowledge or skill to learn

- Increasing returns This is the pattern that comes into play when a person is learning something new. The start of the curve is slow while the basics are being learned. The learning increases and takes off as knowledge or skills are acquired. This curve assumes that the individual will continue to learn as time progresses. An example would be when an IT programmer needs to learn a new coding language. Learning will be slow at first until they grasp the new coding protocol, and after mastering the basics, the learning becomes easier and/or quicker as they learn more about the particular language.
- Decreasing returns This pattern is when the amount of learning increases rapidly in the beginning and then the rate of learning slows down. The assumption with this learning curve is that once the learning is achieved, the learning then stops. This occurs with routine tasks learning and is the most common type of learning curve. An example is when a data entry clerk learns how to enter a sales order—the learning is complete.
- S-shaped This learning curve is a blend of the increasing and decreasing returns curves. The assumption with this learning curve is that the person is learning something difficult, such as problem solving or critical thinking. Learning may be slow at the beginning until the person learning becomes familiar with the learning material, and at that point, learning takes off. The cycle continues with a slow to faster progression as new material is presented. An example of this is when a production lead is trained on new equipment, yet this equipment has not been utilized in the production of the product before. There might be a trial and error for adjustments until the new production equipment is working as expected and is adjusted to the new product. Then when another product is introduced, the equipment and process need adjusting again until everything works smoothly.

- Plateau curve Just as the name suggests, learning on this curve is quick in the beginning and then flattens or plateaus. The assumption is that the plateau is not permanent and that with additional coaching, training, and support, the person learning can ramp up again. With this curve, it can be frustrating to the learner if they are not getting the support and additional training needed to master the task. An example of the plateau curve is a salesperson who has met quotas in the past, and when a new line of equipment is introduced into the product line, the salesperson is provided a minimal level of training/knowledge about it but not enough training to answer all the questions of the prospective customers. The anticipation of additional sales with the new product is not being achieved because the salesperson requires more training to pitch the new product and convince the customer to purchase.

Training and Development
All large and many medium-sized employers have one group dedicated to employee training and development. When it doesn’t make good economic sense to have a staff dedicated to that function, the programs required for employee training can be purchased “by the seat” from outside consulting organizations, law firms, or industry associations.

Training Design and Development (ADDIE Model)
Originally, this model was developed by Florida State University to explain instructional systems development (ISD) for military applications. It has since been adopted by many in the world of training development. ADDIE, as it is known, stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. In practice, evaluation can happen at each of the four primary stages of activity. And, modifications of revisions to the training program can result from each evaluation undertaken.

Analysis
In this phase, data is received and collected to identify where there may be a lack of productivity or gaps in desired performance. Individually, or within groups, this assessment will point the way to what specific knowledge, skills, and abilities are lacking and need to be addressed for training and development objectives.
Cultural Influences on Analysis   Culture is a two-edged sword. There is the culture of the organization that explains values and norms for behavior. Then there is the culture of each individual employee’s background. People who come from America are going to see things differently from those who come from Brazil, India, or Russia. Cultural experiences may easily influence how employees behave on the job. And, it is the task of the training organization to create the ability to merge the organization’s culture with employee backgrounds to accomplish the organizational objectives.

Design
Training design is the response to gap analysis performed in the first stage of the ADDIE model. The initial information from the assessment phase is decided upon for course content, delivery methods, and tactics for delivery. The result is an outline of what the training design will be and the order of presentation.
Goals and Objectives   Each training effort should begin with a statement of objectives. These objectives should answer the question, “What will participants be able to do when they have completed the training?” Identifying those specific goals will enable the subsequent creation of training content, including experiential exercises.
Cultural Influences on Design   Culture can play an important role in design of training programs when it is known that a large portion of the training participant population will be from a specific cultural background. Customer service representative training may need to explain the reasons why customers in the United States want to have specific appointments made for repair technician visits. In other cultures, specific appointments are not an expectation.

Development
Development of training materials is the phase when pencil meets the paper and actual training materials and coursework are created. Courses and training materials may already be available off the shelf, or a customized or modified creation may occur. For training that is highly specific and customized to the organization, a course may be developed from scratch to fit the specific objectives to reach the desired outcome, such as in a new product launch for a product that has never before existed. An example might be the new Apple Watch.
Learning Activities   Development can produce training that makes use of lectures, small-group exercises, large-group exercises, individual study and feedback, various audiovisual contributions, and other such techniques for getting participants involved with the learning experience.
Training Delivery   There is no one perfect teaching method for every situation. As a matter of fact, the method that should be used will depend upon the training circumstances and the material being covered. There are teacher-centered instructional methods and learner-centered instructional methods. Instructional methods are the manner in which learning materials are presented to students.
Self-Directed Study   Self-directed study, called auto didacticism, involves the learner making decisions about what to study and when to study it. Often, people who are self-studying will seek instruction from experts, teachers, parents, friends, or other community members.
Instructor-Led Training   Sometimes called classroom training, this model requires an instructor at the “head of the class” presenting learning material and leading learning exercises.
On-the-Job Training   Learning how to perform specific job functions or how to use equipment and tools required on the job is done on a day-to-day basis in this form of training. Often, on-the-job training involves a supervisor or co-worker showing and then supervising a new worker as tasks are learned and practiced.
Blended Learning   Blended learning involves use of both classroom instruction and computer-based instruction programs. This has become a more popular form of learning since the dawn of the twenty-first century brought an expanded array of computer-based training programs.
Learning Tools   Devices and systems used during the learning process are referred to as learning tools. They rely on computer technology.
E-learning   E-learning involves the use of electronic systems in the learning process. Computers and computer-based instructional programs are referred to collectively by the term e-learning.
Learning Portals   These are web sites that act as repositories for training materials. They may be reference materials or entire training courses.
Learning Management Systems   As defined by Wikipedia, learning management systems (LMS) are “software applications for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of electronic educational technology education courses or training programs.”
Webinars   These are Internet-based seminars conducted using an instructor presentation, usually accompanied by visual aids such as slide shows using PowerPoint or another similar program.
Mobile Learning   Mobile learning involves the use of tablet computers and smartphones to access training materials or course content along with reference materials important to the learning process. They can be used anywhere there is a phone or Internet connection.
Virtual-World Simulations   As applied to the work environment, this type of learning is done by using replications of real-world conditions. Flight simulators are a good example. They offer what appears to be a real airplane cockpit with all the controls and gauges. Computers can be used to simulate actual flying conditions and interject scenarios that should best be practiced in training rather than when the plane is actually flying.
Social Media   Internet sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter, among others, can be learning tools. These services allow the posting of documents, videos, and photos so students can share information and seek feedback about inquiries.
Cultural Influences on Development   This is the extent to which culture plays a role in vocational training as it is related to values, expectations, and norms. It has been said that adult development (training) is influenced to a large degree by the cultural background of each individual participant. An example is an expectation for promptness. Training participants are expected to be prompt in their American classroom attendance, yet the same is not always true in other cultures.

Implementation
Once training is designed and constructed, the next phase involves putting it to use.
Pilot Testing   This involves a presentation of the training program, with all materials collected to support the program. Someone is designated to observe and take notes about what portions of the program worked well and where there were problems with the materials or presentation. It is difficult for instructors to fill this role, so it is normally filled by the training developer/writer or someone else who is versed in training development and delivery.
Content Revisions   Following the pilot test, there is a review of the problems that occurred in the program. Those instances where changes are needed can be identified and changes made so the problems will not occur in future applications of the training.
Translation and Interpretation   When training will be offered to multilingual audiences, it is necessary to translate the materials into languages to be used. It is also important to review those translations to be sure the interpretations of the wording used will be acceptable and appropriate. Words and terms used in one culture are not always acceptable in a different culture.
Instructor Selection   Instructor selection is identification of the person who will lead the training program. What level of instructor skills are required to present the training successfully? Are facilitation skills more important than skills reading instructions? Candidate recruiting, screening, and selection are all part of this step in the process.
Logistical Considerations   What facilities are required? Will training need to be held in a classroom? Will there be Internet connections required? Will the instructor be needing a computer? What about distribution of course materials? All of these fall into the logistical category for consideration.
Announcing, Implementing, and Supporting   Once the program is prepared and ready for implementation, it must be announced to the target population so people who need the training can be selected for participation. There are issues of participant applications and registration to be handled. And, there are support issues associated with tracking attendance during the program, logging grades, and staffing of any training exercise that is critical to the program.

Evaluation
Evaluation means grading. There may or may not be pass-fail conditions for the training program, but there will almost always be a requirement to track some form of evaluation for participants.
Evaluation Methods—Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels   Donald Kirkpatrick was a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He first published his Four-Level Training Evaluation Model in 1959. The model was updated in 1975 and again in 1994 when he published his “Evaluating Training Programs.” The following are the four levels of evaluation he identified:
- Reaction Measuring how participants react to the training
- Learning Measuring how much a participant’s knowledge has increased as a result of the training
- Behavior Measuring how participant behavior has changed several weeks following the training
- Results Measuring the outcomes, benefits, or final results of the training (e.g., increased retention, increased production, higher morale, reduced waste, increased sales, higher quality ratings)
Computing the Return on Investment of Training   Return on investment (ROI) is determined by the following:
- Determine the total cost of training (e.g., training development cost, resources cost, salaries of instructors, and participants).
- Determine the total value of the benefits achieved by the training (e.g., increased production, lower waste).
- Determine the net benefit by subtracting the cost from the benefits.
- Determine the percentage of benefits over cost by dividing the cost into the net benefits.
- Multiply the result by 100 to restate the result as a percentage.

Total Dollar Benefits – Cost of Training = Net Benefits(Net Benefits / Costs) × 100 = ROI of Training

Career Development
Career development is the lifelong individual process that involves planning, managing, learning, and transitions at all ages and stages in work life. In organizations, it is an organized approach used to match employee goals with the business’s current and future needs. An individual’s work-related preferences and needs continuously evolve throughout life’s phases. At the same time, organizations are also continuously adapting to economic, political, and societal changes.

Managing Career Development
There are two processes in career development: career planning and career management. With career planning, the focus is on the individual. Career management has a focus on the organization.
In career planning, assessing an individual’s skills, talents, experiences, and potential abilities occurs to give direction to a person’s career. HR professionals typically assist with these activities, but many self-assessment instruments are available online for individuals to use.
With career management, this involves implementing and monitoring employee career paths at an organizational level. The individual employee is actively involved; however, the organization is typically providing the development programs and opportunities associated with internal career progression opportunities and succession planning. The intention with career management from the organizational perspective is to assist with aligning existing workforce talent with new business objectives, to create an atmosphere of positive morale, and to retain needed talent.

Roles in Career Development
It is not just the individual employee and HR involved in career development. The direct line of management and the organization’s leaders have a role to play, too.
Individuals bear the primary responsibility for their own career. Today, individuals are required to be proactive in planning their career progression and not rely on an organization to direct their career path. Being keenly aware of current assessed traits and skills, along with needs for increased knowledge, skill, and experience associated with the individual’s career ambitions, is largely the responsibility of an individual employee.

This figure shows the stages of an individual’s career development.

Figure: Individual career development

That said, managers and supervisors perform four roles in assisting employees with their career development.
- Coach Listening, clarifying
- Appraiser Giving feedback, clarifying performance standards
- Advisor Suggesting options, making recommendations
- Referral agent Consulting with employees on action plans and linking them to organizational resources

Cultural Influences on Career Development
“There are some common career-related issues faced by diverse populations. Their career choices may be constrained by socialization, access to guidance and assessment, tracking into certain fields, societal and self-stereotypes, isolation from networks, and early schooling experiences. Barriers to career development may include lack of developmental feedback or mentors, discrimination in promotion/transfer, tokenism, hostility, plateauing, less access to training, perceived isolation, stress, or self-imposed performance pressure.”84

Forms of Career Development
Many large organizations create full-fledged career development programs. Some will be self-paced and require individual employees to opt in, and some are created with particular objectives in mind, such as management development programs, where high-potential employees are invited to participate. A typical model for a career development program will include the following stages:
- Occupational preparation This stage is where occupations are assessed, an occupation is decided upon, and necessary education and skill levels are pursued.
- Organizational entry This is the stage where a person obtains and decides on job offers from organizations they want to work for or internal changes within a current organization.
- Early career establishment In this phase, an employee learns a new job, along with organizational norms and rules for fitting into the job, company, or industry. An employee gains work experience and career skills.
- Midcareer In this phase, an employee evaluates their career objectives, with an understanding of their current life situation, and may choose to shift career direction.
- Late-career In this last phase of career development, employees focus on retirement planning. Their choices in this phase are hugely different than the other career phases. They are more concerned with life considerations such as the hours they want to work and the extra effort they may want to provide, or what work assignments may cause additional mental stress. Climbing a career progression ladder is not normally in their career plans at this phase, yet mentoring employees in early career phases would be.

NOTE    By understanding the focus of each stage, HR professionals are better equipped to prepare and manage the transitions that employees will experience.
 

Employee Self-Assessment Tools   Coupled with the direct supervisory management evaluation, many employees are asked to self-assess their performance. This approach assists with creating a truly two-way dialogue in the evaluation interview and offers an opportunity for the employee to provide their own perception of their performance. Additionally, it engages employees in a proactive means of creating goals and objectives, along with triggering a discussion about career development. Figure 4-14 provides an example of a self-assessment—both a category rating along with open-ended questions to elicit a narrative commentary.
Apprenticeships   These are programs that allow untrained individuals to enter a trade or profession through formal on-the-job training, classroom training, and coaching programs. They are usually followed by journey-level status once conditions for ending the apprenticeship have been met. Journey-level traditionally allows an individual to move from location to location or employer to employer within the trade, acknowledged as a skilled technician or professional. Trade unions often offer apprenticeship programs for electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and the like.
Job Rotation, Enlargement, and Enrichment   Job rotation involves an individual spending a short time in each of several job positions. The objective is to gain experience in each type of work but not to become an expert in any of them. Rotating jobs as an engineering technician, for example, might involve some time working on projects in civil engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering. Job enlargement involves taking on more work of the same type, perhaps additional client or customer assignments, while performing the same type of work for each one. Job enrichment involves taking on added responsibilities, expanding the job assignment’s impact. As an example, a traffic enforcement police officer could take on the responsibility for investigating traffic accidents within a given geography.
Projects, Committees, and Team Participation   Assignments to special projects, committees, and designated teams can provide excellent opportunities for growth in a career. These types of experiences can provide developmental opportunities helping an individual get ready for promotions or other assignments with greater responsibility. These are usually temporary assignments. And, they offer exposure to parts of the organization or responsibilities that the individual will need if they will be able to succeed in the next job assignment.
 

Internal Mobility   There are often opportunities within an employer’s organization that can be used for employee career development. They include the following:
- Promotions Promotions are usually defined in government regulations as a job move that involves an increase in job responsibility and an increase in compensation. Employers sometimes take issue with that definition and create their own.
- Demotions When an employee has difficulty performing well at a given level of responsibility, it is sometimes necessary to reduce that responsibility level by moving them to a lower-level job. Demotions are also frequently involved in the disciplinary process as an option that precedes termination of employment.
- Transfers Transfers are normally lateral movements from one job to another at the same level of responsibility and compensation.
- Relocations and international assignments Relocations are geographical movements from one job to another that can help career development by providing experiences that will be necessary when the incumbent is promoted to a new level of responsibility. Relocations are required because the job assignments are not offered at the current work location. International assignments are also career enhancing because they offer exposure to new cultures and new employment challenges.
- Dual-career ladders Dual-ladder career development programs allow mobility for employees without requiring that they be placed into the managerial enclave. Mostly associated with technical, medical, engineering, and scientific occupations, this type of program is a way to advance employees who are not interested in pursuing a management track. These individuals exhibit one or more of the following characteristics:
- Have substantial technical or professional expertise beyond the basic levels
- Have licensure or required credentials
- Are known for innovation
- May or may not be well-suited for management or leadership roles

An objective within a dual-ladder development program is to increase complexity and value to the organization, enabling the organization to increase employee compensation to improve employee retention and satisfaction. Lateral movement may occur within a dual-ladder program such as team membership, internal consultative roles, mentorships, or larger facility rotation.

This figure shows an example of a dual-ladder career path.

Figure: Dual-ladder career path
 

Individual Coaching/Counseling   When an individual is identified as someone who could advance to the executive level, it is sometimes helpful to provide individual coaching and/or counseling to them. This process can assist people in identifying their developmental needs and providing the skill development and practice necessary for achieving the desired level of performance.
Mentoring   Assignments that involve mentoring other individuals offer involvement with responsibility for the success of other people within the organization. Supporting those who seek to develop their job skills and helping them advance can be a growth experience for the mentor.
Universities, Colleges, Associations, Continuing Education Programs   There are countless programs at universities, colleges, and continuing education curricula that can support employee developmental efforts. It is possible for employers to encourage participation, with the employee underwriting the cost of such programs or the employer sponsoring employees in such programs. There are degree programs that are usually long-term. And, there are certificate programs that generally tend to be shorter-term. Executives will sometimes participate in advanced training for a few weeks or months to gain exposure to cutting-edge theories and methods of management. Networking among executives can be advantageous in itself, offering valuable contacts at other employer organizations that can be accessed later.

Career Development Trends
The single biggest career trend today is that employees are taking responsibility for their own career development. What used to be left to managers and executive committees is now firmly planted in the lap of each individual employee. Employers are looking for problem-solvers. Volunteering to work with a difficult major customer to satisfy their needs can be a significant career development step. Things don’t move in traditional paths anymore. Breaking ground with new jobs, task force membership, and difficult job assignments are all part of career development efforts for individuals who can solve problems for the employer.
Some contemporary trends in career development include the following:
- Multiple jobs and careers Moving from one specialty to another to develop experience
- Greater individual responsibility Moving from one job to another to accept greater responsibility (e.g., managing a small hotel to managing a large hotel)
- Nontraditional employment Work in jobs that have been traditionally done by the opposite sex (e.g., airline pilot, nurse, secretary, truck driver)
- Temporary contract and contingent work Developing experience through brief job assignments in various, untried subject areas or levels of responsibility

Developing Leaders
Leadership skills can be developed within existing employees. People can be taught to be leaders. Here is how that happens.

Leadership Development
Traditional leadership development programs have not been replaced. They have been polished and modified. Key to leadership success is that other people are willing to follow.
 

Organizational Perspective   From the employer perspective, leaders are essential to ensure the success of the organizational mission(s). Someone decides what the objective is for the current period. It might be a financial objective (returning 7 percent to stockholders through dividend distribution) or an organizational growth objective (opening a new branch in Chicago). With the objective in sight, leaders are needed to create the atmosphere for other people to provide support to the collective effort aimed at reaching the objective. The key to leadership is that others willingly volunteer their efforts each day.
Individual Perspective   From the individual perspective, leadership can be developed by identifying someone senior in the organization who can provide good counsel and advice as a mentor. Seek out and establish that mentor relationship. Solicit feedback and suggestions both before and after decisions are made and plans implemented.
Not all executives are successful, however. For a study on what can sometimes happen, refer to Why Smart Executives Fail by Sydney Finkelstein. It includes “Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People.”85
HR’s Role   HR professionals can facilitate leader development by coordinating mentoring programs, establishing and monitoring succession plans, and identifying and fulfilling training needs for employees identified as needing leadership development.
Obstacles to Leadership Development   The single biggest obstacle to leadership development is lack of senior management support for the effort. When senior executives fail to actively support the program, lower-level managers and supervisors will recognize it as having a lower level of importance to the organization. In the end, what the boss wants to have happen will happen. Should leadership development not be on that list of what the boss wants, then leadership development will not happen.
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Development   According to the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), leaders “need to be self-aware of their own emotions and clearly understand their strengths and weaknesses. This understanding helps them stay in control of situations and avoid emotionally charged behaviors and decisions.”86

Assessing Leadership Development Needs
The Center for Creative Leadership has offered some insight into competencies associated with organizational leadership (see Table 4-11).87

Table: Selected Leadership Competencies
 

Assessment Tools   There are a wide range of assessment tools available for determining leadership skills.
Inventories   Inventories are testing devices that measure the quantity of leadership skills an individual displays. Questions pose hypothetical stories and ask the individual to rank responses or identify the most appropriate response in those circumstances. Inventories can be scored and scores compared to successful “norm groups.” Multiple media presentations can be used in conducting inventory analysis. Written materials recordings can present various scenarios for consideration. These tools are usually developed by psychologists who have studied the creation of these measurement devices.
Leadership Work Samples, Simulations, and Assessment Centers   The following are examples:
- Assessment centers Actual work examples can be helpful in identifying leadership skills and skill development needs. They offer the individual easy-to-use references to understand what has yet to be done in terms of development.
Simulations are quite like assessment center exercises. They construct artificial circumstances in which the individual must react to organizational situations. By practicing leadership approaches to these simulated conditions, the individual can gain feedback about successful behaviors and polish those behaviors that have positive outcomes.

The most sophisticated assessment tool is the skill assessment center. Developed by American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc., in the 1960s, it is based on the Management Progress Study that began in the 1950s and continued for more than 30 years. In an assessment center, candidates are placed in situations where they must solve problems individually and within group settings. During group exercises, observing experts can identify leadership behaviors that are exhibited by each candidate and compare those behaviors with those seen in a control group of successful management people at the same level in the organization. On the other end of the spectrum of assessment tools is the questionnaire that attempts to assess skills through question-and-answer format. There are still other tools that fall within that range including professional assessment by psychologist observation. There are advantages and disadvantages for each.
- Situational judgment tests (SJTs) Situational judgment tests are like inventories in that they offer hypothetical scenarios to individuals and ask for choices of various possible reactions to those scenarios. The SHRM exam includes SJTs for its behavioral competencies.
- Assessment centers and simulations Assessment centers and simulations require a staff of professionals who have studied norm group reactions to the exercises candidates will be asked to participate in. After establishing a reference for the norm group behaviors, the staff of observers can identify behaviors used by the candidate group and compare them to the norm.
Emotional Intelligence Tools   There are three basic types of tools for determining emotional intelligence. Self-assessment is a skill list developed by introspection of the individual. This is usually accomplished by following a prepared list of considerations. Other individual assessment is a list of skills and needs developed by someone else who observes the individual interacting in different real-life circumstances. This can be a boss, supervisor, or mentor. A formal assessment center is usually accomplished in a formal setting with other candidates and requires a professional staff member trained in observation and feedback techniques.

Leadership Development Strategies
Successful leadership development strategies are aligned closely with business strategies. When organizations build a leadership development program that supports, trains, and then selects people who drive their business strategy, the organization thrives. There are no mixed messages. Everyone at all levels hears the same thing. Business strategies are paramount, and good leaders understand that and support them.
Leadership Development Methods   There are many methods for developing leadership skills. Here are some of the more common approaches.
More-Challenging Assignments   Stretching individual high-potential employees with extra responsibilities is a good way to expand skill levels. When the assignments require leadership skills, mentorship programs, coaching, and formal training can be just what is needed to smooth the way to success in the tasks.
Risk Management   Today risks can be salient in financial regulation, markets, and products. There are also risks in employee management, industry evolution, and technological advances. Offering opportunities to lead an organizational effort to address one or more of these risks can result in skill enhancement.
Hardship Testing   The famous American management consultant, Peter Drucker, said there are five types of hardship that can lead to enhanced leadership skills if the manager or executive experiencing them is successful in overcoming the hardship. Career setbacks can teach self-awareness, organizational politics, and identification of what one really wants to do. Personal trauma can teach sensitivity to others, coping with events beyond one’s control, perseverance, and recognition of limits. Business mistakes and failures can teach how to handle relationships with humility and how to handle mistakes. Problem employees can teach how to stand firm and improve confrontational skills. Downsizing can teach coping skills, recognition of what’s important, and organizational politics.
Real-Life Problem-Solving in a Controlled Environment   When problem-solving becomes a process that allows people to grow and get better, the organization has strong leadership. When problem-solving involves chaos, there is likely a large leadership deficiency. Exposing individuals to controlled situations and coaching them through the problem-solving process in the leadership role can give the real-world experience that cannot be totally replicated any other way.
Training   Training programs can improve leadership skills, particularly for those people who are just beginning their formal learning experience on the subject. Training exercises, classroom experiences, and personal interactions with other learners are all helpful in the skill development process.
Action Learning Leadership   Action learning involves defining the problem, taking action to solve the problem, and then analyzing the results of that action. It is a particularly good method of leadership development when the problem-solving is being done by a team.

Global Considerations in Leadership Development
If getting work done through the efforts of others is the definition of leadership, then that process is complicated considerably when international efforts cause multiple cultures to participate in that process. Working across cultural boundaries and in synchronization with other people who have different ways of getting things done can cause steep inclines in the effort to accomplish goals.
Global Competence and Leadership Development   For organizations with a presence in multiple countries, cultural impacts are present every time someone from headquarters issues a new directive. Those instructions just may not be accepted well in remote locations where cultures understand the directive differently from the understanding at headquarters. It is critical that leaders consider all of those cultural influences when attempting to solve problems and steer organizational movement. Without competence in global management and leadership skills needed to gain cooperation, and ultimately success with the problem’s solution, it will be difficult or impossible.
Globalization and Leadership Development Programs   Traditionally, international companies held key decision-making at headquarters in the home country. It was home-country executives who ascended the executive ladder. Candidates, if there even were some, from other countries and cultures were not provided an opportunity to participate in the selection process. That worked well when foreign markets were just developing.
These days, there is a move to recognize that in developed markets, it is critical to accept cultural influence in the decision-making process. “Developing global leaders with cultural sensitivities and collaborative skills requires greater focus on emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and empowerment than on traditional management skills.”88
Culturally Related Challenges   According to the Center for Creative Leadership,89 there are six challenges faced by multicultural, international organizations.
- Developing managerial effectiveness
- Inspiring others
- Developing employees
- Leading a team
- Guiding change
- Managing internal stakeholders and politics
There are more similarities in leader challenges from one country to another than there are differences.