What Is The Role Of HR In Employee Learning?
HR plays an important role in taking care of a company's learning requirements; how can HR help employees learn? Today, it's important for companies to focus on employee learning. This is because employees like to stay in such companies for a longer time. A recent LinkedIn survey found that 94% of employees prefer to stay with companies that invest in their learning. This is beneficial for employees because they can add new skills to their resumes and benefit the company.
In the longer run, with such skills, employees become eligible for promotion. It's the job of HR to find such employees who are eligible for learning. It's because not everybody is interested in a promotion.
How Can HR Find Eligible Employees?
Needs Analysis
HR can also find out what the needs of the company are. They have to check the current skills of the employees and what is needed in the future. The gap between both can be covered through Learning and Development.
Reasons For Needs Analysis
1. Current Scenario
Our world has changed considerably. It's true that with the advent of new technologies, now and then, employees must learn new skills to survive. An employee can only stay desirable in the market if they continue to learn. When a company has a culture of continuous learning, it benefits from motivated employees. A high attrition rate means an unstable future for a company because it has to put its projects on hold.
2. The Advent Of New Technologies
Today, the skills required for the jobs are changing swiftly. It's because earlier employees needed to learn MS Office. Today, they are dependent on Artificial Intelligence to get their work done. For example, writing is done through Artificial Intelligence now. For both companies and employees, upskilling is the only way to be a formidable threat to their competitors. HR can also get feedback from employees regarding the training needs that need to be met according to them.
Although HR can't create any eLearning courses, they can help senior management conduct the most important process of needs analysis. Through this analysis, a company can determine what the goals of training should be. HR can also check an employee's potential through various means; one of them is job rotation. This allows HR to detect whether, when moved to a certain job, an employee can fit in or not. Also, it provides an employee experience to cope with a new job. They gain new skills in job rotation. They can also make up their mind whether they want to be a part of such a job in the future.
3. Succession Planning
It's HR's job to do succession planning for a company. That way, the companies won't be without any options when a senior employee retires or quits the job. HR should also develop a strategy for a development program to move employees into replacement roles. They can also suggest skills to be transferred in the company by starting programs such as mentorship, and knowledge exchange between colleagues.
Technology is very helpful for HR in detecting the learning needs of employees. For this purpose, they can use an LMS. HR can not only get eLearning modules prepared through an external vendor, but they can also check the employees' involvement with them. This gives HR an idea of who's doing well, and who needs aid. Therefore, when LMS analytics are assessed, HR can determine the changes to be made in the eLearning modules. They can ask the eLearning vendor to implement such changes.
How Can HR Conduct Needs Analysis?
Skills Assessment
HR can also conduct skill assessments for employees to see what skills are lacking in them. These skill assessments find the individual gaps in each employee. The skills assessments help HR in planning for the challenges that might arise like changes in market demand. Hence, HR can train employees to be able to face such challenges.
Employees also feel challenged when they get regular skill assessment tests. When L&D sessions are complete for employees, they can be given assessments to check whether they have learned anything. If they pass such assessments, they can be given certificates so they are recognized and can be promoted in the future.
Kinds Of Skill Assessments
There can be technical skills assessments for employees, which help HR judge whether a certain software developer has the technical skills required for coding. There can also be tests for accountants on whether they can run a new financial software. All these tests help HR in deciding whether they need to hire someone from the outside or have internal talent to hire for a position.
There are also language proficiency tests when an employee has to be relocated to a new country to handle the work at a new branch. If an employee has a moderate level of skills, L&D can be arranged for them, otherwise, someone has to be recruited from the outside, which requires time and effort. This task should be about the job responsibilities of a different job.
Work Samples
A work sample is a task that has to be done by an employee before coming to the interview. It could be preparing a project report for the company. This work sample plays a crucial role in the selection of an employee. HR could also ask the existing employees to see whether they are suited for a job.
Case Studies
Apart from work samples, employees can also be given case studies that they can solve at work to decide their potency for a job. This is how HR can choose how to do succession planning and implement the required learning in the company.
Skills Matrix
How can HR compare the existing skills of employees with the skills required for a job? It can be done through skills matrices which showcase the competencies required for a job and then evaluate whether employees have these skills. A skill matrix has two columns and one row for each employee. Employees are given the scores for their caliber in each of the skills.
A company can also conduct interviews of employees for skills that are the most relevant for a job, and then give them appropriate scores in a skill matrix. Manager interviews can also be conducted to rate their employees on such specific skills. The skill matrices also help employees know their weaknesses and strengths in a job and what is required for them to grow.
