Staff training and development, when well managed, can be a worthwhile investment, which will pay for itself in terms of improved staff skills and effectiveness leading to increased revenues. The purpose of this article is to draw a clear distinction between the two concepts of ‘training’ and ‘development’ in order to show how training forms a part of development and how it can fit into the practice’s overall development policy. The key components of a staff development policy will then be outlined along with ways in which a practice can build a ‘development culture’. Finally, the identification and prioritizing of training needs, meeting training needs and evaluating the results will be addressed.
Why develop staff?
At a fundamental level, the provision of staff training and development has two objectives: staff need to be able to deliver the results managers want; and they must be willing to do so. Appropriate training and development ensure that the skills are there to achieve the first objective, while staff motivation contributes to the achievement of the second (Forsyth, 2001).
Research carried out by Purcell et al (2003) into the link between human resource management practices and organizational performance resulted in the identification of 11 key factors, which were found to encourage staff to exert greater discretionary effort in their jobs leading to higher productivity. Training and development was one of the factors identified, which was also found to increase motivation and lead to better work performance.
Leatherbarrow et al (2010) report that a range of different organizations have discovered for themselves that investing in staff brings considerable benefits:
- Improved staff morale and productivity
- Reduction in staff turnover
- Increased revenues
- Improved chances of business success
- Business growth and development.
Thus, there is evidence that staff training and development does have a positive impact on staff performance and business profitability.
The distinction between training and development
Before proceeding, it is important to clarify the distinction between the terms ‘training’ and ‘development’. Cole (2004) defines training as preparation for a specific occupation or job role. Thus, training is job oriented rather than person oriented. Development, on the other hand, is about the person and is more career oriented. While training largely concerns itself with satisfying immediate needs, development takes a broader view of the employee and his/her potential for the future. Forsyth (2001) makes a similar distinction, viewing training principally as a method of ensuring that immediate skills gaps are filled and development as contributing to the longer-term effectiveness of both the organization and the individual. Thus, training can contribute to an individual’s development, but development is much more than just training.
Staff development
Based on this distinction, it follows that the starting point for any practice manager must be to clarify what they understand by ‘staff development’ and to decide on the approach they are going to take towards this process. The formulation of a staff-development policy for the practice should then follow. If this policy is to contribute to the achievement of practice goals, managers need to ensure that it is in line with the practice’s vision and overall business strategy. Any training needs identified would then be prioritized in accordance with the practice’s staff development policy (Figure 1).
Forsyth (2001) reports that organizations can and do take varying approaches to staff development. At one end of the spectrum there is the ‘learning organization’, which actively strives to foster a ‘development culture’ utilizing a range of communication methods, which emphasize training and development activities, planning and initiating new learning activities, reporting on the outcomes of these and even including details in their annual reports. Organizations adopting this approach will have a clear structure for promotion and progression supported by annual promotion and progression reviews.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is the small business, which is often only able to provide the minimum of support, perhaps in the form of occasional external courses, reading material or access to online resources. Many veterinary practices are positioned towards this end of the spectrum with a significant number unable to offer development opportunities beyond training. Nevertheless, it is possible for practice managers to foster a ‘development culture’ within their own practices, albeit on a much smaller scale, because the approach is really about adopting the right attitudes and behaviours.
As development concerns the longer-term progression of the individual, it makes sense for ownership of the process to be shared equally between the practice and its employees. Getting staff to understand their own responsibilities in this regard forms the starting point for building a ‘development culture’. For such a culture to subsequently grow, however, it is essential that practice owners and managers share a fundamental belief in the value of their staff, viewing staff as an asset that deserves investment. Practice owners and managers must:
- Share a genuine belief that staff are an asset and not an expense
- Lead by example and be lifelong learners themselves
- Foster good communication and information sharing throughout the practice
- Encourage and enable staff to take responsibility for their own development
- Put in place an effective performance appraisal system, which everyone believes in
- Produce a written staff development policy, a copy of which is included in the Staff Handbook
- Monitor and evaluate staff training and development regularly.
Having agreed an overall approach to staff development, managers will be in a better position to produce a written staff development policy document for dissemination to all staff. It is important that this policy is reviewed annually and especially if practice business strategies and priorities change.
A written staff development policy document would include the following:
- A statement explaining the practice’s approach to staff development and outlining the practice’s staff development strategy
- A statement affirming the practice’s commitment to staff development
- An explanation of how this commitment will be met — the staff training plan would form a part of this
- How staff development will be monitored and evaluated — training effectiveness monitoring would form a part of this
- Opportunities for career progression and promotion that are available within the practice
- How often the policy will be reviewed and by whom.
Staff training
A clear policy for staff development should then enable managers to manage specific training needs in a way that supports the achievement of the overall business strategy.
Training needs can arise in a variety of different ways, for example:
- The practice may acquire some new equipment, which staff may need to learn how to use
- Following qualification, a veterinarian may wish to offer a new service to clients, which will require new protocols and procedures to be put in place
- Newly promoted staff may need additional training to enable them to fulfil the requirements of their new post
- New legislation may require procedures to be put in place and additional monitoring to ensure compliance
- Poor performance in the job will require the provision of additional training to enable the employee to improve
- Strategic plans made by management could result in training gaps arising, which need to be filled if these plans are to be achieved.
Some training can be provided on an ad hoc basis, such as a simple demonstration on how to use a new piece of equipment or how to apply new cleaning protocols, and the practice manager can usefully delegate the organization of this to supervisors or line managers. However, training which is likely to affect practice staffing levels or clinical rotas, or which is likely to involve a financial outlay, requires a different approach. Training needs reviews should be carried out regularly — at least once every 6 months, if the practice is relatively stable, but more often in times of change. When carrying out a training needs review, practice managers should remain aware of the need for fairness and objectivity. Part-time staff have the same rights as full-time employees and should be given the same training and development opportunities, as far as practically possible.
A training needs review would include the following stages: identify the training required; assess the costs versus the benefits; produce a prioritized list and present this to staff together with clear justification.
Identify the training required
Gleaned from:
- Any changes or new initiatives being planned
- Results of staff appraisal meetings
- Individual requests received direct.
Assess the costs versus the benefits
- Decide how each training need might best be met and establish the associated cost (assume at this point that all training needs will be met). Even if there is in-house provision, there will still be costs associated with this in terms of staff time or loss of practice income while staff are training:
- Assess the benefits — these will be both tangible (e.g. increased product sales, new revenue stream etc) and intangible (e.g. improved staff motivation, increased efficiency etc)
- Decide what the practice can afford to fund, what it should fund (i.e. what is urgent and essential to fulfil the practice business objectives) and what it cannot fund at this time. In the UK, the Royal College of veterinary surgeons requires that veterinarians undertake 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each year and registered veterinary nurses are required to undertake 45 hours of CPD over a 3 year period, averaging 15 hours a year (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 2011). Any staff training plan must ensure, therefore, that these obligations can be met.
Produce a prioritized list and present this to staff together with clear justification.
Give staff the opportunity to discuss the decisions made and the reasons behind these. Honesty and openness are essential and will reduce feelings of disappointment or resentment considerably, especially if it is made clear that decisions are not based on favoritism or status, but on sound business principles. Training is ongoing and while it may not have been possible to give the go-ahead for a particular course on this occasion, it may be possible next time. Clearly, not all staff will be happy with the decisions made and some may still feel that their needs are being ignored. From time to time, conflict may well arise between practice and individual objectives and it may not be possible to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution. In such cases, the individual always has the option to leave and should be supported in finding suitable alternative employment, which serves their needs better.
Meeting training needs
Training needs can be met in a variety of different ways and the method selected will be dependent on the training budget and the potential impact on the practice. The practice manager will be concerned primarily with achieving cost effectiveness while at the same time causing minimal disruption to the functioning of the practice and service provision.
Private or ‘home’ study is by far the cheapest option for employers (Davies, 2000). Veterinarians are permitted up to 10 hours maximum private study time as part of their 35 hours annual CPD quota. Veterinary nurses are permitted 5 hours per year of self-directed private study (RCVS, 2012.) Practice owners and managers wishing to foster a development culture should ensure that there is a quiet space within the practice dedicated to private study, which the staff are actively encouraged to use. Ideally, this space would contain up-to-date and archive copies of all the main veterinary and veterinary nursing journals and newspapers, a library of key veterinary manuals and reference books, an internet-ready PC for research purposes and suitable furnishings. It is frequently possible for the staff meeting room to double up as a study room if there is sufficient space. Most staff should be able to find an hour here and there in their busy schedules for private study, but in the interests of fairness and to ensure that all staff are treated equally, it should be possible to build private study time into the practice rotas. This would be necessary, in any case, for trainee veterinary nurses.
E-learning or computer-aided learning is another cost-effective way to study, but one which is best suited to topics which do not require ‘hands on’ experience or demonstration of specific manual skills. For this to be successful, though, staff should be allocated the time to work through the DVDs or online material and should be required to demonstrate that they have completed their training, possibly through taking and passing a multiple choice question (MCQ) test or giving presentations on selected topics. The Veterinary Nurse includes one article every month, specifically for CPD purposes and provides MCQs online for those who subscribe to this option.
External courses should be carefully screened for prices, duration, quality of content, the reputation of the organization delivering the training and the relevance of the course material. Also, an assessment should be made of how the training obtained will be subsequently used.
Congresses are valuable to all professionals in that they provide networking opportunities, exposure to the latest developments, clinical techniques, new equipment and products, ideas and activities, but they are expensive in terms of time away from the practice, travel and accommodation costs, not to mention actual congress fees. It may be possible to save on these costs through negotiating with individuals to attend part of the congress rather than the entire event, to alternate attendance year on year and to ask individuals to contribute personally to the social events, which are optional.
Evaluating training
Whenever any training has been completed, the results should be evaluated. There are a number of ways of doing this:
- By asking the staff members to make presentations to the rest of the practice team
- Holding informal meetings with staff to ask how the training went and how useful they felt it was
- If new skills were learned, observing staff using these new skills
- Testing through MCQs or practical tests
- Asking staff to complete a feedback form
- Discussing training at the staff appraisal meeting
- Collecting feedback from colleagues and clients (Shilcock and Stutchfield, 2003).
It is important to explain to staff that such monitoring is necessary to assess the effectiveness of training so that better decisions and choices can be made in the future to benefit everyone. Results of such monitoring should be communicated to all staff so that those who may be reluctant to undergo training or who may not see the need can understand its importance and the benefits it can bring. The results of the monitoring process, alongside other training records, will help to inform budget setting for training at the start of each new financial year.
Conclusions
In conclusion, investment in staff training and development will benefit both employees and the practice and is an essential part of effective human resources management. A sound policy for staff development will form part of the practice’s overall business strategy and will be clearly explained to staff. Training needs reviews should be carried out regularly and training should be prioritized in order to ensure that employees’ needs are addressed within the overall staff development plan. Training methods should be selected both for their cost effectiveness and potential impact on practice operations. When conflict between practice and individual needs arises, it is important for both parties to work together to reach a mutually agreeable compromise. If this is not possible, individuals should be supported in obtaining suitable alternative employment.
Key Points
- Regular investment in staff training and development benefits both employees and the practice and is an integral part of effective human resources management.
- Training needs reviews carried out in a structured manner enable training provision to be prioritized to support the practice’s overall business objectives.
- Practice owners and managers must share a genuine belief that staff are an asset that deserves investment.
- Practices wishing to retain good people should work to provide staff development opportunities.
- Fostering a ‘development culture’ will encourage all staff to share responsibility for their own training and development.