Creating a high performance workforce: Staff development
IN the third of our week of features in association with Sheffield Hallam University, TheBusinessDesk.com looks at how businesses can cost-effectively invest in their staff.
COMPANIES want their staff to be flexible to changing market conditions, produce quality and quantity and have the creativity and ambition to drive the company towards a successful future.
But with often limited resources they also need any training to involve minimum time out of the workplace and to have a swift impact.
Developing staff can increase their motivation and engagement with their work leading to greater productivity. Keeping up to date with the latest industry insight also benefits the company more broadly as knowledge gained is filtered through the company.
Experts from Sheffield Hallam University stress that to maximise the impact, it’s important for business owners and managers to consider what training is best for the whole organisation, not just an individual employee. Staff development should be linked to the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Rona O’Brien, head of the University’s Centre for Individual and Organisational Development, says: “Here at Sheffield Hallam University, we offer a wide variety of training and development, covering a range of different methods. Of course, we have the traditional courses you would expect from a modern university – like the MBA, or our many professional development programmes in specific industries such as engineering or health care.
“But we can also run bespoke courses for your organisation, developed with you to ensure you and your staff get the most value out of it. Your employees can also take particular modules through distance learning – so they can study from wherever they are and fit it around their work.
“And it’s not just courses. We hold workshops, guest lectures and networking events that are open to professionals, so you can share experiences and ideas with others in your profession and learn from industry leaders.”
Hazel Hedicker, facilities services manager at an NHS Trust, graduated with an MBA in facilities management. The course is geared towards supporting part-time students who are combining study and a demanding full-time job.
Hazel explained, “I studied the undergraduate Certificate in Facilities Management in 2005 with funding from my employer.
“I immediately progressed onto the MBA in Facilities Management. Studying for this degree has been hugely beneficial in my daily work. It’s given me a different outlook – a new perspective. It offered me an opportunity to really start challenging my own way of thinking and rationale, and I’ve remodelled the way in which I view the organisation that I work for.
“It has opened my mind and offered me greater recognition and the opportunity to evaluate how the services my facilities management colleagues and I provide contribute to the core business. I have gained far greater confidence and business acumen, as well as recognised proof of my abilities – reflected in the academic qualifications that I have achieved.”
