The Principle

The modern economy has become highly competitive, and only the best and most adaptable companies will survive.

This competition is present in the workplace and employees are increasingly under pressure to evolve professionally in order to acquire and retain jobs and propel their companies forward.

To be successful employees need to constantly increase their knowledge and upgrade their expertise, for their individual and company benefit.

The company is fully committed to f supporting their employees’ personal development and success while boosting efficiency and productivity company-wide.

This Employee Development Policy will focus on employee learning and development while under the company’s employment.

Application

This policy affects all permanent staff of the company, full-time or part-time. For temporary staff, on short-term contracts, training can be considered at their manager’s discretion.

Excluded from this policy are supplementary employees like contractors and consultants for the company.

The Policy Highlights

The company puts emphasis on creating a culture of continuous professional development c. This is done by encouraging and supporting all employees to seek opportunities to sharpen their professional skills. Employees, management, and the HR office should collaborate in fulfillment of this objective.

Management is mandated to constantly identify the development needs of their staff, which HR should facilitate, within the set company guidelines and processes discussed in this policy.

Scope of Training and Development

The company generally supports the following employee training:

• Hands-on formal training for individuals and corporate.
• Employee coaching and mentoring.
• Conference participation by employees.
• Training on the job.
• Job shadowing.
• Job rotation.

To support the employee’s training and development, the company can also subscribe to educational materials such as journals or newsletters, as long as they are professional and beneficial.

Conditions for such subscription are:

• The materials must be job-related.
• Applicable costs involved must be within set limits.

Software licenses, or other tools that are essential for job performance, are excluded from this provision.

Individual Training

Every year, the company sets minimum provisions for individual training programs. These programs are accessible to all employees who have served the company for four months. They may take the training as individuals or as teams.

The company also sets a budget for each employee every year which is renewed annually. Employees are entitled to 10 days of leave for training every year.

Employees are free to attend as much training as they may wish, within their annual budget and 10 days of leave for training. If an employee exceeds their annual training budget or days of leave for training Outside, the employee may be required to use their paid time off (PTO) and meet the cost deficit. Employees may be required to support training attendance with documentation.

In-house employee training is excluded from the training budget and time limits.

A case may arise where the employee has skills gaps, or there are changes in the job description, that warrant refresher training.

All training must be guided by the needs of the employee. Hence, managers should work with employees to come up with the best training programs and methods. These can include workshops, online programs, lectures, tutorials, etc.

Corporate Training

The company will sometimes engage external educators in areas of interest to the company. In such cases, the company will cover the cost of the entire training.

Examples of such training include:

• Training on equal opportunity employment practice.
• Training on diversity in the workplace.
• Leadership training for management.
• Training on conflict resolution in the workplace.
• Training on family health and lifestyle topics that are considered relevant to the health of employees and the company.

There may also be training offered by internal experts and management. Examples include:

• Inducting new employees.
• Training employees or teams on company-specific issues, such as new systems or policy changes.
• Preparing employees for changes like promotions and transfers.

This type of training does not affect the annual training budget or require employees to use their training leave days. However, attendance should be monitored and enforced as normal business activity.

Other Training

Continuous learning is the responsibility of employees and management. Employees must demonstrate the drive and ambition to improve their skills and should consult management for opportunities and advice.

Management should encourage and mentor their staff as well as work with their supervisors to explore opportunities for their own training.

The company does not have a strict Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policy. Employees and managers should seek the best approach to CPD and are free to try different arrangements such as job rotation, job shadowing, or such modules that will have minimal disruptions to daily operations.

Employees are free to learn at their own pace while requesting educational materials and similar resources that are within the budget allocation.

Useful guidelines:

• This policy covers all staff without any discrimination.
• Management should keep records of all training for reference and devise a means of measuring or quantifying the impact. It is important to look at how to improve the training.
• All training efforts must meet cost and time limitations while fitting the needs of the employees and the company.
• Employees are encouraged to take advantage of the training opportunities provided and to apply the acquired knowledge and skills to advance their careers and the interest of the company.
• It is important that employees use up their training allocations for time and budget every year.

Applying for Training

When employees want to attend external training programs or conferences they should follow this procedure:

1. Employees and management identify the need for training.
2. Employees and management discuss proposed training programs.
3. Employees and management present their cases to HR and if possible fill out a prescribed form.
4. HR reviews the proposal against company policy, budget and training content.
5. HR prepares a response, preferably in writing. If it is negative, reasons should be given to the affected employees.
6. If HR approves, logistical preparations are created in consultation with the employees and management.
7. Where the company does not pay directly for the training, employees will be asked to pay upfront and claim the cost from the company using receipts or invoices. Such a refund will be subject to HR’s approval and will be based on this documentation.
8. The cancellation of training should be communicated to HR immediately and employees will meet any fees as a result.
9. Where training has an examination component, the employees are required to sit the exam and present the results to the company. Should they fail to pass, they may retake the exams at their own cost.

Ideally, the company will always meet the cost of training including registration and a one-time examination. In some cases, this may also include transport and accommodation and limited personal expenses. This is at the discretion of HR.

Should the employees pay for the covered services, the company will reimburse them against relevant documents such as receipts and invoices.

For required subscriptions, employees should contact HR or management who will arrange for the subscription or allow the employees to do it themselves.

If employees make the subscriptions, they should inform HR in writing and provide associated details and costs. Invoices for such should be submitted to HR as soon as they are available and must be endorsed by management.

HR has the following responsibilities:

• Assessing training needs and researching industry trends.
• Maintaining budgets and training schedules.
• Researching relevant corporate training programs, institutions, or consultants.
• Supporting training programs and employee growth opportunities.
• Tracking learning and development of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and deciding on improvements.