Employee Development & Training

Flextime Scheduling: Guidelines and Procedures A Supportive Work Environment Initiative

The challenges associated with the changing nature of work and the workplace environment are as real for the campus as elsewhere. Rapid change requires a skilled, knowledgeable workforce with employees who are adaptive, flexible, and focused on the future.

As a manager, one of your key responsibilities is to develop your staff. The Philosophy of Human Resources Management (Appendix B) states that you can:

"Encourage growth and career development of employees by coaching, and by helping employees achieve their personal goals at UCSF and beyond...[you can develop] human resources by providing adequate training... encouragement of staff development, and opportunities for growth."

The campus recognizes that employee development requires a shared responsibility among the institution, you, and the employee. In this partnership:

The institution

Ensures that policies and programs facilitate the continuing development of staff

You

Work with staff to: assess and provide feedback on their skills and interests; select training and development activities that match their career development objectives and job needs; use the Development & Training catalog as a tool to tell employees about training and development opportunities on campus and to create an annual development plan; stay informed of current policies and practices that support employee development; follow up with employees after a learning activity to integrate new skills and knowledge into their responsibilities

The employee

Takes initiative to assess skills and interests and seek development activities that match needs; works with you to identify training and development objectives

Most employee development and training programs fall under the following categories:

Management Development; Career Development; Basic Skills; Professional Skills; Technical Training; Supervisory Skills

Your support of training and development creates a "Win" for the employee and for your workplace. You will have:

Employees with upgraded skills, working to their full potential and equipped to deal with the changing demands of the workplace; employees with higher morale, career satisfaction, creativity, and motivation; increased productivity and responsiveness in meeting departmental objectives

• Career Development
• Management Development
• Other Resources

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Career Development

Career development is the ongoing acquisition or refinement of skills and knowledge, including job mastery and professional development, coupled with career planning activities. Job mastery skills are those that are necessary to successfully perform one's job. Professional development skills are the skills and knowledge that go beyond the scope of the employee's job description, although they may indirectly improve job performance.

Since career development is an ongoing, dynamic process, employees may need encouragement and support in reviewing and re-assessing their goals and activities. You are in a key position to provide valuable feedback and learning activities or resources. Formal training and classes away from the job are effective in providing new information, but adult learners also need to practice new skills. Therefore, you can contribute significantly to your staff member's career development by supporting career development activities within your department.

Guiding Principles

Your support for career development is important because:

• Current information about the organization and future trends helps employees create more realistic career development goals
• Focus on skill development contributes to learning opportunities
• Opportunities for promotion and/or lateral moves contribute to the employee's career satisfaction
• A greater sense of responsibility for managing one's own career contributes to self-confidence
• Career planning and development clarifies the match between organizational and individual employee goals
• It's cost-effective to use your own staff talent to provide career development opportunities within your department
• Career development increases employee motivation and productivity
• Attention to career development helps you attract top staff and retain valued employees
• Supporting career development and growth of employees is mandated by the Philosophy of Human Resources Management

How to Support Career Development

• Refer to the Employee Development & Training catalog for the career development course listings.
• Annually, conduct an individual development plan and career discussion with employees and require other supervisors in your department to do the same.
• Hold supervisors in your department accountable for supporting employee development efforts.
• Create programs and activities to provide skill development, such as job rotation, cross-training, mentoring, internships, coaching, and career strategy groups.
• Recognize that your role includes providing support and/or release time for staff members' development beyond their current jobs.  Refer to the Education and Development Leave policy and the Flextime Scheduling: Guidelines and Procedures policy.
• Support requests for alternate work schedules from staff members.
• Serve as a role model by participating in career and professional development opportunities yourself.
• See staff members' applications for other positions as a healthy sign of a dynamic workplace.
• Support lateral moves within your organization.
• Refer employees to the Staff Internship Program to explore opportunities to apply for career development internships or self-initiate an internship in an area of special interest.
• Create job vacancy listings that allow for the most diverse applicant pool while honoring transferable skills.

Roles You Can Play

COACH: Helps employees identify strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values by maintaining open, effective communication and ongoing encouragement. You can improve your coaching by:

• Encouraging two-way dialogue
• Showing employees how to identify their skills, interests, and values
• Scheduling uninterrupted career development discussions

ADVISOR: Provides organizational information, realities, and resources to employees. You can improve your advising by:

• Helping employees develop realistic career goals based on your department's needs and their individual development plans
• Helping employees understand the current opportunities and limitations on the campus
• Advising employees on the feasibility of various career options

APPRAISER: Evaluates employees' performance in an open, candid way and relates this to potential opportunities. You can improve your appraisal skills by:

• Providing frequent feedback in a way that fosters development
• Conducting performance appraisals that define strengths, weaknesses, and career development needs
• Relating current performance to future potential in realistic ways
• Using an individual development plan as a tool for continual feedback and development

REFERRAL AGENT: Helps employees meet their goals through contacts with people and resources. You can improve your referral agent skills by:

• Helping employees formulate development plans and consulting on strategies
• Providing opportunities for experience, exposure, and visibility, such as committees and task forces)
• Using personal resources who you know and what you know to create opportunities
• Assisting in seeking employees' placement lateral or vertical

Management Development

The management and leadership development process is flexible and continuous, linking an individual's development to the goals of the job and the organization. Management development programs on campus give you the opportunity to develop a broad base of skills and knowledge that can be applied to many jobs on campus. D&T's management development curriculum is changing. The overarching goal is a comprehensive curriculum for managers and supervisors to develop the necessary core competencies to become excellent leaders. The Employee Relations Unit also provides training for managers and supervisors, along with performance management tools. Expanding management core competencies will enable campus managers to keep pace with the demands of a changing organization. Enroll in the Supervisory Certificate Program courses to learn more about supervisory core competencies and roles at the D&T Course Enrollment Catalog.

Guiding Principles

Management development activities can:

• Encourage growth and career development of employees as stated in the Philosophy of Human Resources Management
• Improve skills and knowledge that can be immediately applied at work
• Increase motivation and job satisfaction
• Create a network of colleagues for problem-solving and support
• Promote communication and planning throughout campus and department networks

How to Support Management Development

• Model the behavior you are encouraging; don't neglect your own development.
• Discuss and create a development plan during the performance planning cycle.
• Endorse employees attending classes and activities that support development plans and goals.
• Discuss what the employee learned in classes and support integrating new ideas/methods.
• Provide timely behavioral feedback on performance and discuss ways to improve and develop further.
• Provide opportunities for your employees to develop through mentoring, cross-training, internships, campus staff organizations, professional associations, committee and task force assignments, skill assessment programs, and university degree and extension programs.