Create a Learning Plan for Employees

Create a Learning Plan for Employees by Pat Brill

Today's business environment is based on 'knowledge' and creating a learning culture is critical for the continued growth of a business. What does that mean in managing employees - you have to promote learning for yourself and your employees.

Companies that support continuous learning are usually successful because training affects the bottom line of a business.

Since there is a shortage of talent with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet business demands, why not take your internal talent and grow them. Compensation is important but if you follow employee surveys, you will find that 'learning' is critical to an employee's satisfaction and to the overall retention within a company.

Manager's first reaction to providing training is that the employee will then move on to another company. We know that long-term loyalty is not offered by employee or employer, so the goal is to maintain higher retention levels for the effectiveness of the business. Training is one tool that works.

Employees respond favorably to employers who provide advance training. Just make sure that the training can be applied to your specific business. Guide your employees in their training efforts by informing them of the business goals so they can make suitable educational choices.

The 'x' and 'y' generations expect to be challenged and look for opportunities to develop their careers through new projects, promotions and access to formal learning benefits. Employees want the certificates and advanced degrees and are willing to do the work and consider training a required benefit to working at a company. They recognize that advance education is critical to their future employment.

==>What needs to be done?

**Create for each employee a 'learning' plan based on his or her current roles as well as their career growth within the organization.

**If you don't have the budget to provide a tuition-reimbursement program to your employees, spend time brainstorming on how to create your company's 'learning' culture.

Here are some ideas that you can start your brainstorming with:

==>Internal Learning

**Business knowledge - create a training that presents the business basics so each employee can understand how their responsibilities support the business.

**Career paths - yearly review of the employee's career growth within the company.

**In-House Training - subject matter experts can share their expertise to build and enhance the depth of industry knowledge within the company.

**Library - build the company library by creating a book allowance. You can allocate a certain amount for each employee to spend each year for business-related reading materials. They would have to put in a 'book request' with justification. You reimburse the employee for the book and then add it to the company library. This way you encourage your employees to build their industry knowledge as well as add to the library so others can increase their knowledge.

**Mentoring - this is a classic program that is part of succession as well as management training programs where you partner strong performers with more senior management to learn the 'ropes' of the business.

**Stretch projects - provide employees with 'stretch' opportunities with project or leadership work.

**Subscriptions - bring in appropriate business related magazines or journals for the continuous growth of employees.

**Training Manuals - create appropriate learning manuals for specific procedures within the organization.

**New Employee Training Programs - this is critical in the success of an employee. Even if you are a small company, have a program in place that successfully integrates the new employee into the work environment.

==>External Learning

**Formal educational resources - colleges and universities

**Professional organizations offer specific classes on industry information

**Business organizations - For example, American Management Association

**E-learning training on specific topics

**Online degree programs are providing advanced degrees to meet the demands of time and information intensive environments.

==>Note:

If there is a performance-related issue, sending someone out to a training session may or may not be the answer. What is critical in creating a 'learning' plan is that the training matches the individual. Performance-based issues can be attributed to a lack of knowledge, interest or an inability to perform the essential functions of the job. So use your training efforts and dollars wisely.

==>Final Thought

Make learning and development part of your conversations with your staff. Even if your employees are non-exempt, encourage them to take on more challenges, to increase the quality of their work and to learn something new.

Continuous learning keeps the employee fresh and interested in their performance. Otherwise, they become stale in their work and performance becomes 'average' or 'mediocre.' Every employee influences the bottom line.


Copyright (c) 2009 Pat Brill



Pat Brill is the author of the blog "Managing Employees" http://www.ManagingEmployees.net . You can reach her at pat@managingemployees.net.


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Cardiac Care Nursing: What to Expect When Choosing this Field

Cardiac Care Nursing: What to Expect When Choosing this Field by Stephanie Larkin

Nurses who work in cardiac care are currently in very high demand. Due to the fact that heart disease is one of the main causes of death in the United States, there is a great need for nurses who specialize in cardiac care. Also, breakthroughs in both pharmaceuticals and technology have contributed to the advancement of cardiology, necessitating more nurses to specialize in cardiac care.

Cardiac care nurses work in various settings. Many cardiac care nurses choose the operating room in which to work while others prefer the recovery room. The cardiac rehabilitation unit in hospitals is also chosen by many nurses, as is a business office setting, where a nurse can offer support to those individuals who administer care to patients. Also, many nurses who have reached the advanced practice nurse level complete certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in cardiology.

Cardiac Care Nurses: Treating Heart Disease

Heart disease is treated in a variety of ways, including bypass surgery, angioplasty and with pacemakers. A surgical cardiac care nurse will assist the doctor in all of these procedures. Other cardiac care nurses will work in the post operative setting, as a critical care nurse. They will regularly check the patient's vital signs, administer medication, and follow their progress until he or she is released from the hospital.

Once the cardiac patient is released from the hospital, they will still have a long road to recovery. There are cardiac nurses that visit patients at home to check on their health and monitor their progress. Most doctors will prescribe an exercise program for the cardiac patient to help strengthen the heart. The doctor will normally request that this exercise be conducted in a cardiac rehabilitation unit, so that a trained cardiac nurse will be available if the patient experiences any health problems while exercising.

Cardiac Care Nursing: Work Environment

In general, there are a variety of fields in nursing that are available to be pursued, even within cardiac nursing. For a nurse that has received specialized training in cardiac care, the career path is wide open. With the number of people in the United States suffering from heart disease, combined with the increasing nursing shortage, the numbers of nurses that are needed for cardiac rehabilitation will only increase.

If you are interested in becoming a cardiac care nurse, you can attend specialized training that would count toward your continuing education in cardiac specialties. Once you become a cardiac care specialist you will have the choice of working in the operating room, recovery, home health environment or in a fitness related setting.

Cardiac Care Nursing: Finding a Job

While there are many jobs available in cardiac care nursing, these opportunities are not available at every hospital. Because of the extensive nature of cardiac care, all hospitals do not offer cardiac services, except for emergency treatment. Cardiac care centers are often found in larger, regional health care centers. For those located close to one of these, finding a job in cardiac care should be more attainable for the well trained applicant.

One benefit of working in a large regional center is that you can specialize in the type of cardiac care that most interests you. For instance, if your main interest is the operating room, you can make arrangements to spend your shifts working there.

Cardiac care at smaller centers requires a more experienced nurse. Often, the operating room nurses handle all surgeries, and the patient will be released onto the critical care floor. If you do have training in cardiac care nursing, you can use your skills in a variety of ways, but it is unlikely that you will receive the level of on-the-job-training that you would in a large regional center.

Ultimately, the decision whether to work in a large cardiac care center or a smaller hospital is a matter of personal choice. Some individuals prefer the variety of working in a smaller hospital where you are required to have many skills, but with the knowledge that the more interesting cases will be transported out of your hospitals and the advancements in cardiac care will not reach your hospital for years.

Others prefer the atmosphere of a larger hospital, where you are expected to know one thing and know it well. If you are not sure which you prefer, talk to nurses that have worked in each and get a feel for the type of work environment each hospital provides.



About Author:

Stephanie Larkin is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to nurses and the nursing profession such as Nursing Scrubs

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Finding The Best Sales Manager Jobs

Finding The Best Sales Manager Jobs by Shaun Parker

The range and variety of jobs available for sales managers is vast. Sales jobs can be incorporated into any business regardless of the type of product they sell or the service they offer. For a business to become successful they need to sell themselves well and every organisation benefits from having a skilled sales manager as part of their team. Such is the importance of sales jobs that they are necessary in every industry and the choice of role can be made to supplement your specific interests and skills.

Roles and responsibilities

A sales manager plays a very important role in the business. It is up to the sales manager to organise and motivate a team of sales people to make sales and optimise the number of new clients for the company. The sales manager often has a very important role in the organisation. The sales manager will also often have a lot of influence over the entire marketing strategy. It is often a very influential job that requires a positive outlook and high levels of motivation. Sales managers also have responsibility over encouraging and ensuring that their sales team achieve the targets that they have set. The job encourages involvement beyond that of a normal job and is great for people that can constantly challenge themselves and able to respond with innovation. The sales manager is also often involved in arranging the incentive scheme for their sales team.

In some cases the sales manager can be involved in a broad range of aspects of the business. They can be asked to contribute to product development ideas, identification of new business opportunities and the development and implementation of new marketing strategies. The usual roles that a sales manager will deal with are aspects of the business such as recruitment and training of new sales staff. They will, as mentioned supervise and monitor the performance of sales staff. They will also have to lease with other managers and line managers as well as setting budgets and targets. They will also often be client facing and will lease with clients and keep abreast of what their competitors are doing.

Types of industry

The great benefit of a sales job is that you can often find a job in an industry that suits your skills and your interests. So if you are interested in IT, finance, consumer goods, recruitment, real estate or any type of industry there is likely to be a job for you somewhere.
Pros

These types of jobs are great for motivated people that want responsibility and the ability to make changes and be instrumental in the success of a business. The results that you achieve are measurable in that you can judge your performance based on the amount of money you bring in for the company.

Cons

The job can be associated with stress because of the level of responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of the sales manager. This can be both a blessing and a curse. If things are going well then the manager receives the accolade but if things are not going well the manager will be under pressure.



Shaun Parker has been involved in the Jobs industry for many years and is fully aware of the pitfalls you may face when you conduct a job search for sales manager jobs.

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