For South Africa’s brightest youth, deciding which university to attend or where to live after completing their studies can be challenging. In the same way, choosing whether to work for a large corporate or an SME can be a difficult decision to make. With large companies, individuals may have many opportunities for career progression – and job security is a big part of the decision. Being noticed, however, might not be easy. On the other hand, there may be a greater sense of “family” when working for an SME, but an employee could remain “stuck” in the same position for several years.
In today’s increasingly competitive employment landscape, it is not only crucial to attract and hire great employees, but to retain them by helping them grow and develop over time. You can give your SME the edge over larger companies in your industry by creating an effective employee growth and development plan that aligns with your employees’ individual career goals and your long-term business objectives.
What is an employee growth and development plan?
Essentially this is an action plan or roadmap that you would need to develop collaboratively with your employees. The aim is to upskill employees over time so that they can gradually take on new responsibilities and work towards future promotions and salary increases. An employee growth and development plan sets the course for guaranteed career progression and provides your team with a sense of security. It also helps to mitigate the risk of talented individuals looking elsewhere for ‘greener pastures’ – Gen Y and Gen Z employees are notorious for job hopping.
Having a plan in place not only helps your employees to achieve their self-development goals, but also to align their personal goals with your business’s growth objectives, of which succession planning is a vital part.
Why is it important for SMEs to have employee growth plans?
The global coronavirus pandemic had dramatically affected the world of work and ushered in a ‘new normal’ in terms of how companies operate. This, in turn, disrupted many employees’ lives and led to the phenomenon that has been coined the “Great Resignation” or “Great Recalibration”. According to a Microsoft report, 40% of employees globally considered leaving their jobs in 2021 and over 70% of employees requested flexible remote working options. .
SMEs face tough competition in the job market and need to be proactive when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent by putting employee growth plans in place.
Investing in employee development plans will provide your business with a competitive advantage, as afford the following benefits: plans include
- Attracting quality candidates
- Reducing staff turnover
- Building skills within your business
- Boosting morale and productivity levels
- Creating a culture of lifelong learning
- Increasing the bottom line
- Supporting succession planning
- Reducing costs associated with onboarding and recruiting new people
Choosing the right employee development plan for your needs
As an SME, it’s a good idea to consider incorporating one or more of the following employee development methods:
Job shadowing
Job shadowing is an excellent training and development method, particularly for younger employees who have not had much workplace experience. By observing and learning from more experienced colleagues and managers, new joiners can get greater insight into how your business runs and how to deal with any challenges that may arise.
Job shadowing provides a great way for new joiners to network and build cross-functional relationships, thus allowing you to potentially create contingency plans for those occasions when employees are on sick leave or unexpectedly absent for another reason.
On-the-job training (OJT)
OJT can be used to help employees learn new skills in real-time and provide them with practical knowledge that they can use across different areas of the business as they grow in their careers.
Coaching and mentoring
Leaders have an important role to play in guiding junior employees and helping them to reach their full potential. Coaching and mentoring should be conducted with the aim of developing both technical and soft skills, for example conflict resolution, resilience, critical thinking, decision-making and communication.
Conclusion
Ultimately, considering the future staffing needs of your business is good for business! It’s easy to get caught up in daily tasks and admin when you’re running a small or medium-sized business. However, to ensure the future sustainability of your company you will need to develop a solid growth strategy. This is why it is a good idea to create a business growth plan, with a timeline and targets for the next couple of years on how you can increase your turnover.
In developing your plan, you will need to assess your employees and consider what your future staffing requirements will be to meet your growth objectives. How much growth can be achieved with your current team? Are there any projects coming up in the next 24 months that may need ‘extra hands-on deck’? It’s important to know when to start hiring more people and what skill sets to look for in those new hires. Once you have your growth plan in place, it’s crucial to review and revise it at least once a year.
Your growth plan can also serve as a valuable retention tool. Sharing it with your team will enable your employees to see the ‘big picture’ of your business, which may include greater responsibility and better compensation for them in the years to come – something to strive towards and a good reason to stay.
Once you have implemented the growth and development plan, stay on top of the process to ensure its success. Explore ways to recognise and celebrate the achievements of your employees, whether through recognition and reward or simple acknowledgment of a job well done.