CHAPTER 9

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

This chapter breaks employee development into four broad areas for discussion: 1.) Formal
education; 2.) Assessment; 3.) Job experiences; and 4.) Interpersonal relationships. In the realm
of formal education, examples of courses and activities are highlighted. In terms of assessment,
the chapter describes two major instruments, i.e., the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and
Benchmarks. It also explains the assessment center and the types of exercises employed, and
performance appraisal for developmental purposes, including upward feedback and the currently
popular 360-degree feedback. Vehicles for development in the realm of job experiences that the
chapter addresses include job enlargement, job rotation, transfers, promotions, and downward
moves. The section on interpersonal relationships focuses largely on mentoring and also on
coaching. Finally, the process of development planning is described in terms of steps and the
responsibilities of the employee and the company (or manager) at each step. The theme
throughout the chapter is that the company should provide the employee with opportunities for
development, but that the employee must take responsibility for and initiate the planning process.
This is important material for the training and development student. The chapter closes with Key
Terms, Discussion Questions, and Application Assignments.

Objectives

After reading and discussing this chapter, students should be able to

1. Discuss current trends in using formal education for development purposes.

2. Relate how assessment of personality type, work behaviors, and job performance can be used
for employee development.
3. Describe the benefits that protégés and mentors receive from a mentoring relationship.
4. Explain the characteristics of successful mentoring programs.
5. Tell how job experiences can be used for skill development.
6. Explain how to train managers to coach employees.
7. Explain the key features of an effective development strategy and how e-learning incorporates
them.
8. Describe the steps in the development planning process.
9. Discuss the employee’s and company’s responsibilities in the development planning process.

I. Introduction

A. Development refers to activities and experiences, such as formal education, job

experiences, relationships, and assessments that help employees to grow and prepare for
the future. It involves voluntary learning that is not tied directly to the employee’s current
job. Training, on the other hand, is related to current job performance and is often
required of the employee.

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 B. Employee development is necessary in today’s company’s efforts to continuously improve
quality, stay competitive in the global market, and to incorporate new technologies and
new work systems. Employees must also be able to perform roles traditionally reserved
for managers.
C. The comparison between training and development is shown in Table 9-1 on p. 315.

II. Approaches to Employee Development (often used in combination): Four approaches are used
to develop employees: formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal
relationships.

A. Formal education programs are on-site or off-site programs tailored specifically for a
company’s employees, short courses offered by consultants or academic institutions,
executive MBA programs, and on-campus university programs. Many learning methods
are likely involved, mostly active learning (see examples in Figure 9-1, p. 319):
1. Corporate entry leadership conferences.
2. New manager development course.
3. Senior functional program.
4. Executive programs.
5. Officer workshops.
B. Many companies also provide tuition reimbursement as a benefit for all employees to
encourage them to develop. Tuition reimbursement refers to the practice of reimbursing
employees’ costs for college and university courses and degree programs. However,
despite the large investment in tuition reimbursement, many companies have not attempted
to identify the value of such programs.
C. Assessment involves the collection of information, followed by the provision of feedback
to employees about themselves, including information about their behaviors, learning or
communication styles, aptitudes or skills. Data may be collected from the individual,
peers, the manager, and customers.
1. Assessment is often used to identify employees with managerial potential, to measure
the strengths and weaknesses of current managers, to identify managers with executive
potential, and/or to measure the strengths and weaknesses of team members and team
functions.
2. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (See Table 9-3, p. 324-325) is a highly
popular psychological test used for employee assessment and development.
a. The MBTI identifies individuals’ preferences for:
1.) Energy: introversion versus extroversion
2.) Information gathering: sensing versus intuition
3.) Decision making: thinking versus feeling
4.) Life-style: judging versus perceiving
b. Sixteen personality types result from the various combinations of the above
dichotomies (see Table 9-3, p. 324-325).
c. The MBTI is used to understand communication, team dynamics, work styles, and
leadership styles.
d. Research on the reliability and validity of the MBTI is inconclusive.

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3. The assessment center refers to a process involving multiple raters or assessors on
multiple exercises or activities. The entire process is usually conducted off-site.
a. Outcomes include identifying managerial potential in terms of personality
characteristics, administrative skills, and interpersonal skills; and identifying
employees with team skills (see Table 9-4, p. 327).
b. Exercises include:
1.) Leaderless group discussion, involving a team of employees who must solve
an assigned problem in a given amount of time.
2.) An in-basket, which is a simulation of managers’ administrative tasks which
must be addressed.
3.) Role plays, typically involving the participant playing the part of a manager in
a predetermined situation which must be resolved.
4.) Personality, interest and ability tests may also be involved.
4. Benchmarks is an instrument designed to measure key factors in being an effective
manager.
a. Items measure managers’ skills in dealing with subordinates, acquiring resources,
and creating an effective work climate, based on research on critical learning
events in managers’ careers.
b. Self-ratings and ratings of others are incorporated into a summary report or
profile.
c. Skills related to managerial success are illustrated in Table 9-5 (p.328) and include:
resourcefulness, doing whatever it takes, being a quick study, building and
mending relationships, leading subordinates, compassion and sensitivity,
straightforwardness and composure, setting a developmental climate, confronting
problem subordinates, team orientation, balance between personal life and work,
decisiveness, self-awareness, hiring talented staff, putting people at ease, and
acting with flexibility.
5. Performance appraisal refers to the process of measuring employees’ performance.
a. Different approaches include:
1.) Ranking employees
2.) Rating employees’ work behaviors
3.) Rating employees’ traits, e.g., leadership
4.) Measuring results of work performance, e.g., productivity
b. The appraisal system needs to give employees specific information regarding
improvement that is needed, clear expectations, and specific suggestions for ways
to improve.
c. Upward feedback is the process of appraising performance by collecting
subordinates’ evaluations of their managers’ behaviors and skills.
d. 360-degree feedback is the process of appraising performance by collecting
evaluations from all the way around the employee, i.e., from subordinates, peers,
customers, the manager, and his/herself. These different perspectives can be
compared and create a summary of perspectives on the employee’s performance
(see Figure 9-2, p. 329).

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 1.) Steps involved in development planning using 360-degree feedback include
(see Table 9-7, p. 329):
a.) Understanding strengths and weaknesses.
b.) Identifying a development goal.
c.) Identifying a process for recognizing goal accomplishment.
d.) Identifying strategies for reaching the goal.
2.) Benefits of 360-degree feedback include:
a.) Gathering multiple perspectives of performance, allowing the employee to
compare his/her self-evaluation with the evaluation of others.
b.) Formalizing communications between the employee and both internal and
external customers.
3.) Potential limitations include:
a.) The time demands placed on multiple raters.
b.) Negative ramifications for raters.
c.) The need for a facilitator to interpret the results.
d.) Companies’ failure to provide opportunities for employees to act on the
information they receive.
4.) Issues to consider include:
a.) Who will be chosen to evaluate performance?
b.) How will confidentiality of the raters be maintained?
c.) What behaviors and skills will be targeted, e.g., are job-related?
d.) How will full participation and complete responses be ensured?
e.) What will the feedback report include?
f.) How will you ensure that the employee will receive and act on the
feedback?
D. Job experiences are the problems, demands, responsibilities, tasks, relationships, and
other features the employees deal with in their jobs.
1. It is assumed that job experiences are most likely to be developmental when there is a
mismatch between the employee’s skills and experience and those required for the job.
Stretching in the job forces the employee to learn new skills.
2. The Center for Creative Leadership conducted a series of studies of key events that
made a difference in managers’ styles and lessons learned from experiences. Job
demands and the lessons learned from them appear in Table 9-8, p. 333. Recent
research suggests that all job demands, with the exception of obstacles, are related to
learning.
3. Figure 9-3 (p. 334) illustrates how job experiences can be used for employee
development.
4. Job enlargement involves adding challenges or new responsibilities to an employee’s
current job in order for the employee to learn and grow.
5. Job rotation involves moving employees through various job assignments in various
functional areas, within one functional area of the company or within a work team.
One’s title and level of compensation is maintained throughout the rotation

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 a. Benefits of job rotation include:
1.) It helps the employee understand the overall mission and goals of the company
and how the various jobs and functions contribute to achieving those goals.
2.) It allows for networking.
3.) It enhances problem solving and decision making skills.
b. Potential problems with job rotation include:
1.) It may create a short-term perspective on problems and solutions.
2.) Employees may not be given enough time in a position to receive a challenging
assignment. Satisfaction and motivation may be negatively affected.
3.) Productivity losses and work load increases may occur to both departments
involved.
c. Characteristics of effective job rotation systems (see Table 9-9, p. 336) include:
1.) It is used to develop skills and to give employees experience needed for
managerial positions.
2.) Employees understand what skills will be developed by rotation.
3.) It is used for all levels and types of employees.
4.) It is linked with the career management process so that each job assignment is
linked to specific developmental needs.
5.) The timing of rotations is managed to minimize work load costs and to help
employees understand the role of the job assignment in their development plan.
6.) All employees are given equal opportunity for job rotation assignments without
regard for their demographic status.
6. Transfers, promotions, and downward moves.
a. A transfer refers to reassigning an employee to a different job in a different area of
the company, most likely a lateral move. Job responsibilities and compensation are
not necessarily increased.
1.) Transfers may involve relocating, which can be very stressful to the employee
and his/her family, and are not always well received.
2.) The employees most willing to transfer are those with high career ambitions, a
belief that his/her future with the company is promising, and a belief that
accepting the transfer is necessary to advance and succeed in the company.
b. A promotion involves advancing an employee into a position of greater challenge,
responsibility and authority. This usually involves an increase in compensation.
1.) Obviously, employees are more willing to accept promotions than they are to
accept lateral moves or downward moves.
2.) Promotions are most available when the company is profitable and growing.
c. A downward move involves giving an employee a position with less responsibility
and authority. The primary types include:
1.) A lateral demotion, which is a move to a position at the same level but with
less authority and responsibility.
2.) A temporary cross-functional move for developmental purposes.
3.) A demotion to a lower level position because of poor performance.

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 d. To ensure that employees approach transfers, promotions, and downward moves
as opportunities for development, particularly when relocation is required,
companies can:
1.) Provide information about the content, challenges and potential benefits of the
new job and, perhaps, location.
2.) Involve the employee in the decision by sending him/her to preview the new
location or job, giving them information about the location, etc.
3.) Assign a host at the new location to help with the adjustment.
4.) Inform the employee how the new job will affect their income, taxes, and
expenses.
5.) Reimburse and assist the employee in selling a home and renting or purchasing
another.
6.) Provide an orientation program.
7.) Show the employee how the new job experiences fit with the employee’s career
plans.
8.) Assist family members in the relocation, e.g., identifying schools, as well as
child and elder care.
9.) Help for spouses in identifying and marketing their skills and finding
employment.
7. Externships allow employees to take temporary full-time positions at another
company.
8. Temporary assignment with other organizations may emerge from two companies
agreeing to exchange employees in order for the companies to better understand each
other.
E. Interpersonal relationships can also be a vehicle for developing employees’ skills and
increasing their knowledge about the company and its customers.
1. Mentoring involves an experienced, productive senior employee (the mentor) helping
to develop a less experienced employee (the protégé). Most mentoring relationships
develop informally due to shared interests, values or work assignments, but mentoring
can also be formalized into a mentoring program company initiative.
2. Developing Successful Mentoring Programs.
a. Advantages of formalized mentoring include:
1.) Ensuring access to all employees, without regard to race or gender.
2.) Participants can be informed of what is expected of them.
b. Limitations of formalized mentoring include that the relationship may not “stick” if
it has been “artificially” created.
c. Characteristics of a successful formal mentoring program (see Table 9-10, p. 340)
include:
1.) Having participation to be voluntary for both mentors and protégés, allowing
for the relationship to end whenever the two parties agree.
2.) Ensuring that the mentor-protégé matching process does not hinder the
formation of informal relationships, e.g., provide a pool of mentors from which
the protégé can choose.

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 3.) Choosing mentors who have a good record in developing employees, have the
willingness to serve, and demonstrate positive coaching, communicating and
listening.
4.) Stating the purpose of the program clearly as well as the roles and expectations
of both the mentor and the protégé.
5.) Providing a formal time period for the program, but encouraging participants
to continue relationships beyond the designated period.
6.) Specifying a minimum expected amount of contact between mentor and
protégé.
7.) Encouraging protégés to interact.
8.) Evaluating the program, e.g., interviewing or surveying mentors and protégés
for feedback.
9.) Rewarding employee development, which signals managers that mentoring and
other development activities are worth their time and effort.
3. Benefits of mentoring relationships can emerge for both mentors and protégés.
a. Benefits to protégés include:
1.) Career support, which involves coaching, protecting, sponsorship, and the
provision of challenging assignments, and exposure and visibility.
2.) Psychosocial support, which includes friendship, a role model, acceptance,
and an outlet to talk about anxieties and fears.
3.) Higher rates of promotion.
4.) Larger salaries.
5.) Greater organizational influence.
b. Benefits to mentors include:
1.) Developing interpersonal skills.
2.) Increased self-esteem and sense of worth to the company.
3.) Access to new knowledge in their field.
4. Purposes of mentoring programs:
a. Socializing new employees.
b. Maximizing transfer of learning from training to the work setting.
c. Helping women and minorities gain experience and exposure needed for
managerial positions.
d. Sharing information.
5. In a group mentoring program, one mentor is paired with four to six protégés,
allowing protégés to learn from each other as well as from the mentor and requiring
fewer mentors than traditional one-on-one arrangements.
6. Coaching relationships:
a. A coach is a peer or manager who works directly with an employee to help
him/her develop skills, generate his/her motivation, and provide reinforcement and
feedback. The coach can play three roles:
1.) One-on-one directing the employee and giving him/her feedback.
2.) Helping the employee learn for him/herself, e.g., pointing him/her to
appropriate resources.
3.) Providing resources, e.g., mentors, courses, or experiences, to which the
employee might not otherwise have access.

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 b. To develop coaching skills, four issues need to be addressed:
1.) Managers may be reluctant to discuss performance issues to avoid
confrontation.
2.) Managers may be better able to identify performance issues in employees than
to solve them.
3.) Managers may fear that employees will perceive coaching as criticism.
4.) Managers may feel they don’t have time to coach effectively.

III. The Development Planning Process involves identifying employees’ development needs;
choosing goals; identifying the necessary actions for the employer and the employee to
achieve those goals; determining how it will be established that the goals were or were not
met; and setting a timetable meeting the goals.

A. Steps and responsibilities in the development planning process (see Table 9-11, p. 344)
include:
1. Opportunity: Employee’s responsibility is to determine how he/she needs to improve;
company’s responsibility is to provide assessment information to help the employee
identify strengths, needs, and interests.
2. Motivation: Employees must be willing to invest the time and energy to develop.
3. Goal identification: Employee’s responsibility is to determine what he/she wants to
develop; company’s responsibility is to provide development planning guidance.
4. Criteria: Employee’s responsibility is to determine how he/she will know progress is
being made; company’s responsibility is to provide feedback (e.g., via the manager).
5. Actions: Employee’s responsibility is to determine what he/she will do to reach his/her
goals; company’s responsibility is to provide courses, assessment opportunities, job
experiences and access to developmental relationships.
6. Accountability: Employee’s responsibility is to determine what his /her timetable is;
company’s responsibility is to have the manager help the employee set a realistic
timetable and follow his/her progress.
B. Emerging trends include the expectation that the employee should initiate the development
planning process.
C. The approach to development is dependent on needs and goals; a need can emerge from a
gap between current capabilities and those required or interests the employee wants to
pursue in future work.
D. The most effective development strategies involve individualization, learner control, and
ongoing support. Employees also need people in whom they can confide to discuss their
weaknesses, problems, and insecurities. This can take the form of mentoring, coaching, or
face-to-face electronic support groups.

IV. Company Strategies for Providing Development

A. One strategy provides development only for top-level executives, senior managers, and
employees identified as having high potential. Lower-level managers who play a critical
role in motivating and retaining employees are neglected. Another strategy is to require all
employees to devote a specific number of hours or spend a certain amount of money on
development.

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 B. The most effective development strategies involve individualization, learner control, and
ongoing support. Individualization makes sure that development efforts are directed at the
employee’s weaknesses. Personality and interest inventories as well as 360-degree
feedback provide information about an employee’s interests, values, strengths, and
weaknesses.
C. With the development of e-learning, many companies are moving development activities
online. For example, IBM’s Basic Blue for Managers program replaces a widely
successful New Manager School. The learning model includes four levels:
1. Management Quick Views provide practical information on more than 40 common
management topics related to business, leadership/management competencies,
productivity, and HR issues.
2. Interactive Learning Modules and Simulations emphasize people and task
management.
3. Through Collaborative Learning, the learner can connect via the company intranet
with tutors, team members, customers, or other learners to discuss problems, issues,
and approaches and to share learnings.
4. Learning Labs are five-day in-class workshops that build on the learnings acquired
during the previous phases of e-learning.

CHAPTER 9 SUMMARY

The framework of Chapter 9 provided the student with an interesting discussion of employee
development. Four major approaches to development were addressed. First, formal education
programs were highlighted. Second, assessment for developmental purposes was discussed,
including much information on the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and on
Benchmarks, an instrument for measuring key factors in being a manager. Other assessment
activities the chapter described were the assessment center and performance appraisals. The
currently popular appraisal method called 360-degree feedback was detailed. Third, job
experiences for development were discussed, with focus on job rotation and transfers. Fourth,
interpersonal relationships were addressed, with the focus being on mentoring. Benefits and
limitations of the various development vehicles were discussed. Finally, the chapter concluded by
describing the steps of the development planning process highlighting the responsibilities of both
the employee and the company at each step. This chapter provides the student a very current look
at the activities and events through which employees can intentionally develop. The key is for
both the employee and the company to plan for development and to very intentionally engage in
activities that are developmental.

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Discussion Questions

1. What role does assessment have in employee development? Can assessment alone be effective
for development? Why or why not?

Answer:
Assessment of employees can be used to identify deficiencies in necessary job skills, which
could be remedied by training, as well as identify employees with management potential. This
would be useful in ensuring the work force is well trained, and put in positions where their
skills are best utilized. (p. 322)

The assessment method may not be sufficient by itself, and the information must be shared
with the employee for development to occur. Along with the assessment information, the
employee needs suggestions for correcting skill weaknesses and using skills already learned.
(p. 332)

2. How can competencies be used in employee development?

Answer:
By identifying important competencies, and measuring strengths and weaknesses in those
areas, companies can set up training programs which strengthen employees’ abilities. (p. 346)

3. List and explain the characteristics of effective 360-degree feedback systems.

Answer:
The system must provide reliable or consistent ratings, feedback must be job-related, the
system must be easy to use, understand, and relevant, and the system must lead to managerial
development. (p. 331)

4. Why do companies develop formal mentoring programs? What are the potential benefits for
the mentor and for the protégé? What is the best way to match mentors and protégés?

Answer:
Mentoring programs can develop employee skills and increase employee knowledge of the
company. By developing formal mentoring programs, companies can ensure that all
employees have access to this kind of support, regardless of gender or race. In these
relationships the mentor can develop their interpersonal skill and increase their feelings of self-
esteem and worth to the company. The protégé can gain career support, including coaching,
protection, sponsorship, exposure, and visibility, and psychosocial support. The best way to
match mentor-protégé should be based on how the mentor’s skills can help meet the protégé’s
needs. (p. 339-341)

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5. Your boss is interested in hiring a consultant to help identify potential managers from current
employees of a fast-food restaurant. The manager’s job is to help wait on customers and
prepare food during busy times, oversee all aspects of restaurant operations (including
scheduling, maintenance, on-the-job training, and food purchase), and motivate employees to
provide high-quality service. The manager is also responsible for resolving disputes between
employees. The position involves working under stress and coordinating several activities at
one time. Your boss asks you to outline the type of assessment program you would believe
would best identify employees who could be successful managers. What will you tell your
boss?

Answer:
The ideal management assessment program for this type of position would rely heavily on
role-plays, in which the potential manager’s ability to motivate and resolve conflicts between
employees, as well as their technique in handling customer complaints. The assessment should
also have an in-basket to gauge their ability to make a work schedule, and order food. (p.
326)

6. Many employees are unwilling to relocate geographically because they like their current
community and because spouses and children prefer not to move. As a result, it is difficult to
develop employees through job experiences that require location (e.g., transfer to a new
location). How could an employee’s current job be changed to develop that employee’s
leadership skills?

Answer:
The employee would need an enlargement of their job experiences, so it would be useful to
increase their responsibility, giving them a leadership position over a task force or committee.
(p. 334)

7. What is coaching? Is there only one type of coaching? Explain.

Answer:
Coaching is working with employees to motivate them. There are many ways to coach,
involving a combination of providing one-on-one feedback, putting the employee in touch
with experts, and teaching how to get feedback from others, and putting the employee in
touch with resources that they may otherwise not have access to. (p. 342-344)

8. Discuss reasons why many managers are reluctant to coach their employees.

Answer:
First, managers may be reluctant to discuss performance issues because they want to avoid
confrontation. Second, managers may be better able to identify problems than to solve them.
Third, managers may feel that the employee might interpret coaching as criticism. Finally, as
companies downsize and operate with fewer employees, managers may feel that there is not
enough time for coaching. (p. 343-344)

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9. Discuss the characteristics of the most effective company development strategies. Which
characteristic do you believe is most important? Why?

Answer:
Answers will vary. The most effective strategies involve individualization, which is important
for focusing development on the employee’s weaknesses, learner control, and ongoing
support. (p. 345)

10. How do volunteer assignments and job experiences contribute to employee development?

Answer:
Volunteer assignments may offer employees opportunities to manage change, to teach, to take
on a higher level of responsibility, or to be exposed to other job demands. (p. 338)

11. What can companies do to ensure that tuition reimbursement programs are worth the
investment?
Answer:
Companies can ensure the courses include face-to-face classroom instruction, online learning,
and blended learning; employees can be allowed three hours each week to study or attend
class, and offer employees who earn a degree company stocks. (p.322)

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