Employee Development and Training: Introduction

The challenges associated with the changing nature of work and the workplace environment are as real for the Berkeley 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 Berkeley 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 learning and development activities that match their career development objectives and job needs
  • Use Career Development as a tool to tell employees about learning 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 learning and development objectives

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

  • Management Development
  • Career Development
  • Basic Skills
  • Professional Skills
  • Technical Training
  • Supervisory Skills
  • Tuition Reduction

Your support of learning 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