Employee development refers to the techniques and resources at a supervisor's disposal that make his or her workers more fit to accomplish their tasks. In some instances, these are specific measures such as advanced training on a piece of machinery. In other cases, employee development points to general skills such as multi-tasking, decision making, and mediation skills.

One of the best-kept secrets about employee development is that it benefits all parties equally. A well-trained employee is likely to find greater job satisfaction because he or she understands the job better and the finer points of what it demands. An employer sees greater efficiency and consequent profitability from employees who are more than just adequately trained.

Resources for Employee Development

The single greatest resource a boss has when it comes to employee development is information. It's worth bearing in mind, however, that information on its own serves little good if a) workers don't know how to find it, and b) they have no one to approach in order to ask questions and clarify their confusion. That means one of the biggest favors an employer can do for his or her employees is to invest in an easy-to-use information and training system that makes knowledge searchable and relevant by organizing it in logical and intuitive ways.

Many companies have learned that resources such as these constitute a value-added service and have therefore pumped millions of dollars into the field of employee development. They know that companies will gladly part with a few thousand dollars if that money brings in tens of thousands through greater efficiency. For that reason, employee development products have sprung up all across the software marketplace to rival those of seminar- and classroom-based workshops.