LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS -- ROLES AND

MANAGEMENT

Management of Learning and Development Programs and Activities

Learning and development activities must be carefully led and managed -- many people would
argue that they're not unlike other functions in organizations, such as planning, marketing and
financial management. The following roles might be utilized, especially in well-established
organizations with extensive resources.
Learning Management Systems
Role of Chief Learning Officers
Role of Management in Learning and Development
Role of Learners in Training and Development
How to Know When to Facilitate, Train or Coach

Practitioners in Learning and Development

The following links are to numerous types of positions that often have official responsibility for
various forms of learning and development.
Chief Learning Officers 
Coaches
Facilitators
Human Performance Technologists
Human Resource Specialists
Organization Development Practitioners
Popular Education for Learning and Development and Social Change
Performance Consultants
Trainers (Corporate Trainers) (includes guidelines about training)
Do You Need An Instructional Design Degree?
Forms of Development (Leaders, Managers, Supervisors, Teams, etc.)

It might help to broaden your understanding of how learning and development is applied
in life and organizations by considering various forms of development. Development is
often referred to as the activities to raise the performance of a person, team, process or
organization to another level. Development include a wide variety of forms of learning
and development. The following links are to a wide variety of forms of development in
people and organizations.
Organization Development 
Board Development
Leadership Development
Management Development
Supervisoral Development
Team Development
Personal Development
Sales Training
Training Solutions for the “Dumbest Management Concepts of All Time”
 RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND TRAINERS

Tips and Tools for Trainers and Teachers

Before reading about more specific tips and tools for trainers and teachers, it's important
to have a basic understanding of training and development, in general. So be sure to at
least scan the list of topics listed at the top of this page in order to understand the broader
aspects of training and development. Then see
Tips and Tools for Trainers and Teachers

Starting a Training Business

This topic assumes that you already have some expertise in training and are thinking
about starting a business to be a professional trainer. The guidelines in this topic are
focused on helping you to start a new organization, expand a current organization, or start
a new service. If you do not yet have expertise in training, you should review much of the
contents of the topic Training and Development, and then certainly practice training in a
variety of venues, including with evaluation from other trainers and participants in your
trainings.
How to Start a Training Business

General Resources

Online Resources for Training and Development

Online Educational Directories
Free Training Programs

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

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.

Other Resources
 The Employee Development & Training Unit in Human Resources

 Employee Development & Training course listings

 Management Skills Assessment Program