Human Resource

Training and Developing Employees
Two Cost Effective Ways of Training and Developing Employees
I have mentioned on my previous post that more often training and development programs are shunned and treated as additional operational overhead, if not a real financial burden to the company. I cannot blame them. Because in the first place, training programs are expensive. However, this should not deter HRM managers and small business owners to think of creative and effective ways of developing employees. In fact, employees can also develop skills and increase their competencies by simply interacting with highly skilled and experienced employees. This can easily be initiated through mentoring and coaching. To date, these are still the two most cost effective ways of training and developing employees.

What is Mentoring?

A good and concise definition is as follows:
“Simply stated, mentoring is a process in which a more experienced person supports and aids a less experienced person in his/her professional or personal development. Mentoring has been traced back to its roots in Greek literature, beginning with The Odyssey, when Odysseus’ friend and advisor, Mentor, served as the king’s son’s teacher and guardian while the king was away. Just as Mentor served as a teacher, advisor, and role model in Homer’s masterpiece, mentors today serve in much the same way.”

In the corporate or business setting, a mentor is an experienced (more often, expert in a specific area of business operations), senior employee who helps develop a less experienced employee (the protégé). Usually, mentoring initiatives develop informally as a result of interest or values shared by the mentor and protégé. Research suggests that employees with certain personality characteristics (like emotional stability, the ability to adapt their behavior based on the situation, and high needs for power and achievement) are more likely to seek a mentor and get guidance therefrom. However, it is better... [continues]

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