Technology in Developing your Staff

When it comes to any business it is important to try and firstly hire the right people and then retain them. This is a big focus for any UK business as according to a recent report by ADP, we Brits are the least likely to stick in our careers, with almost 50% of us looking to change our career in the next three years. Under 20% of us want to stick with the same company for the rest of our career. This means that companies now need to look for interesting ways to develop their staff in order to retain them.

Hiring New Staff

Technology is becoming increasingly important in the recruitment of staff. This is especially true for large corporations who have an influx of applications and need appropriate technology to sort through various applications. Online application processes are becoming more and more commonplace, especially in graduate recruitment. Graduate recruitment is lengthy in the process that is used; they typically begin with an application form, which is then measured against the criteria; successful candidates will then often be invited for a video interview, this is typically replacing telephone interviews as the questions are asked by a computer and the candidates answers are then compiled and a selection is made. Any successful candidates are then invited to a recruitment day. This process has saved a lot of man hours and wasted time, as only appropriate candidates are invited forward.

Once staff have been hired they need to become efficient and self-driven quickly in order to be productive. If current staff are tied up in training new staff for weeks then they too will be unproductive. This is where technology can increase your production levels whist training new staff – by creating online manuals and interactive guides that new employees can refer to.

Maintaining Current Staff

If some people aren’t constantly learning or being developed they begin to feel complacent and bored. They seek new challenges and opportunities and will therefore be more likely to leave, wasting all the training up the this point you have provided.  If your staff are constantly growing and advancing then it can greatly benefit you as productivity levels will rise. If staff are talented then you should make a real effort to retain them. Many businesses are not large enough to spend huge amounts in developing staff, this is where technology has helped things. Staff can now learn from just about anywhere; their desk, home or abroad. This has saved on travel costs in sending staff to training centres. There are so many resources online now as well which can save you huge amounts in developing your staff.

Identify Skill Gaps

Using technology to assess your employees skills and attributes can prove invaluable when new jobs are created or when job roles are changing. These tests can assess where employees may perform better and from this information you can analyse their current performance and decide whether it is a suitable role for them. It may also identify where further training may be required.