This is a white paper that is focused on the comprehensive and systemic view of how I see employee development and how it differs from simply employee training. Emphasis is made on the importance of understanding employees are invested in a holistic approach to career development and desire opportunities for education, learning, development, and training to leverage the full strength of their knowledge, skills, and competencies to advantageous performance based outcomes for organizations.

1. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Anitra N. Reaves;
Diamond Insight:
Insights, Wisdom and Recommendations on Issues in Organizational Development & Change

2. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Employee Development comprises a vivid composite of; education, experience, learning and self-reflection.
Cross functional work opportunities and exposure allow for employees to add their value in service on
committees, special projects, corporate social responsibility initiatives, seminars, network & interact with
executives, leaders, decision makers and innovators. Exposure and diverse
experiences create a space for the employee to be engaged in and across a variety of
learning contexts in a way that inspires interest in gaining knowledge of the different
aspects of the organizations functions and operations. These diverse learning
perspectives can inspire organizational members to shift from seeing themselves and
their roles as merely occupational (job) functions, to building a professional career
path with the organization.
There are many significant benefits an employee can gain as developmental growth
and apply as transferable value to the organization. The principles of a comprehensive
employee development strategy that can be implemented and put into practice can
serve as a model for deep employee engagement and is favorable to the employee and
the organization in the areas of:
Experience to diverse learning environments
Socialization & acclimation pro-social ambassadorship
Motivation, satisfaction & retention
Self-actualization & fulfillment
Career development
Continuous development of healthy organizational cultures
The above mentioned are shared benefits that manifest as meaningful outcomes that have a tremendous impact on
performance, effectiveness, culture, learning, development, adaptability and positive change that can be leveraged
towards a sustainable reinvestment of organizational capital and resources; on both an individual and
organizational level. This understanding travels a great distance internally by shaping individual identity as well
as organizational identity. It also brings value and provides external validation through organizational reputation
management as being known and valued as viable social and economic exchange partners in attracting talent,
being responsible community stewards, actualizing responsible ethical practices, delivering products, goods and
services for which they are in business to deliver, and valuing the complexity that embodies employee
development and the achievement of an organizations strategic goals.
Learning and development leaders will find insightful value in shifting from a one dimensional mindset of just
spending money to train employees to gain skills. This only allows them to facilitate a specific task as the sole
method of developing them and is an ideology that is severely lacking. The focus must be on engaging their
employees in a way that is comprehensive, development focused; employee centered and organizationally
supported. This will be a top factor in retaining those organizational members who are multi-skilled,
knowledgeable beyond their situated roles and interested in charting a path that will allow them to advance their
career ambitions. Among reasons that employees become dissatisfied with organizations are; closed
communication networks, poor communication relationships between managers and employees; reinforcing a
culture of ‘go along to get along’, micro-management, poor performance reviews and ‘cosmetic’ dialog with the
employee that does nothing to gain understanding or create a shared context around what her/his career
development needs and personal vision are. These factors continue to be sited as some of the top reasons why
companies lose the war for retaining high-performing talent. If organizations want to remain competitive, this
cannot continue. Let us look at some other aspects as to why employee development is important and how it can
be understood.
Employee Development
facilitates awareness and
development of multiple
intelligences: These are
soft skills that will allow
specific training
initiatives to be salient
and meaningful to the
employee and
transferrable to the
organization in terms of
knowledge, behaviors,
skills and processes.

3. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Creating a Multiplex Learning Context:
Employee development transfers a ‘value proposition’ to employees and provides ‘value creation’ for the
organization. This fosters a shared context in which the employee and employer are in a relationship as social,
cultural and economic exchange partners and allows each one of them to leverage
their own interests, yet also maximize a mutually beneficial exchange that will
motivate both to naturally work to preserve the relationship. Research shows that
the average time an employee spends employed with one organization has decreased
substantially by about ten years: From a previous 15 years to four (The Conference
Board, 2009). Career oriented professionals are quickly weighing the potential for
advancement opportunities, swiftly gaining the experience they need, skills they
must develop and the competencies desired for practical application at a much more
accelerated pace often outside formal directives and supervisory awareness. These
are self-driven objectives and will likely be a result of informal-incidental learning; which is unconscious learning
that is acquired by default or as value added knowledge that the employee gains by having been exposed to
various learning domains within the organization. Organizations that can retain and transfer this knowledge and
experiential capital back into their organizational system will be able to minimize the degree to which employees
feel dissatisfied and take their tacit knowledge, real experience and unique talents elsewhere.
Development as Socialization:
Employee development is comprehensive, successive & people focused and must be embodied within the cultural
values of the organization. A supportive climate and culture that facilitates proper employee socialization must
intersect fluidly in order that individuals are able to effectively engage the organizational system freely to take
advantage of any learning and development opportunities that align with the employee’s career development
interests and self-directed learning activities. Organizational members that are able to exercise their own agency
to actualize their personal growth aspirations are more likely to feel empowered, fulfilled, satisfied and inspired.
This can have substantial impact in the degree to which the employee feels motivated, committed and loyal
towards their job. Employees may assume the role of ‘organizational ambassador’ by which they in engage pro-
social behaviors.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors:
While employee training serves the needs
of the job task and the needs of the
organization, employee development
serves the needs of the individual as a
self-motivating factor of action, which is
directly related to job satisfaction,
commitment, and affinity. Pro-social
behaviors ultimately benefit the
organization on multiple levels, in
multiple contexts within the environment
and external to the environment such as
identity protection for the company,
advocacy for internal organizational
Informal learning has always been valuable for maintaining and/or increasing employees’ performance… it
has become clear that most learning does not occur in formal learning situations, but mainly informally, both
in and outside the workplace…by the acquisition of tacit knowledge, which is embedded in the work, and that
can only be mastered by active participation in the workplace itself (Marsick, 2006). (Lave and Wenger 1991). Source:
Employability enhancement through formal and informal learning: Van Der Heijden, et,al, 2009 – International Journal of Training
Employee Positively
Promotoes as External
Ambassoador
Engages in Organizational
Identity & Reputation
Protection
Employee Enjoys High
Levels of Satisfaction &
Affinity
Figure1.1

4. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
changes, positive promotion of organizational values outside of everyday work capacities, and reputation
management for the organization in times of crisis or in competitive contrasting with other similarly purposed
organizations. This extra-role behavior is not required of the employee as defined by their job role, task or
management directive, yet rather; it is organic in its manifestation.
Self-Organization & Self-Motivation
Employee development facilitates awareness and nurturing of multiple intelligences: These are soft skills that will
allow specific training initiatives to be salient and meaningful to the employee and transferrable to the
organization in terms of knowledge, behaviors, skills and processes. As such, it is easy to understand why
employees crave this approach to development in their work culture. As we understand Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs we know that as people develop from the basics of having their physiological, and safety needs met they
naturally desire to increase their actualization to higher level needs such as love, belonging and esteem. However
employee development distinguishes itself in this domain, as a unique and specific type of need that is ever
desired, insatiable. According to Edward Lawler, University of Southern California Professor and founder of the
University Center for Effective Organizations; “employee development as ‘self-motivation’ and self-organization
is unlike other needs. Typically once a need becomes satisfied it tends to weaken, i.e.; if you are thirsty or hungry
you drink water until your thirst is quenched and hunger satisfied. However employee development needs in this
S.O & S.M context are continual as illustrated below
Development needs are all-encompassing and moves the individual toward a transformation that is dynamic,
multidimensional, and multi-applicable in a continuous cycle of forwardness and elevation. Training may teach
the employee a skill; yet because of the rapid rate of change, that skill may become obsolete, irrelevant, or
situational and which may not be dynamic enough to meet the business needs in a rapidly changing environment.
In this perspective employee development must be considered in alignment with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, in
that individuals must feel safe at work and protected. Once that is met and with continued socialization they will
be better able to assimilate into organizational cultural norms and begin to build pathways and relationships
fostered by quality social exchanges and uncertainty reduction that facilitate friendship, mentoring opportunities,
acceptance, affirmation, predictability and stability. This stimulates ego needs of competence in executing their
job tasks, roles and functions as well as increases their confidence to engage in extra-role and pro-social
behaviors.
Employee
Self-
Actualization
Training &
Skill
Acquisition
Experience,
Knowlegde
Acquistion
Exposure,
Mentoring &
Feedback
Opportunities to
Engage Diverse
Learning
Contexts
Figure 2.1

5. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Career Development as Organizational Development:
While employee development is of the most value to the employee, it has a substantial impact on creating value
for the organization by developing a healthy talent community within the organization for which future leaders,
innovators and subject matter experts can be tapped. Motivated and loyal employees strive to be active
participants in the performance management and succession development process.
Career development enables employees to catalog, organize and utilize a broad based composite of knowledge
and skill competencies they have gained and apply them towards a specific career direction; which creates worth
along multi-dimensional contexts. The value can be utilized as strategic applications of transferrable intelligences
that are unique, tacit and diverse such that the employee can capitalize on experiential leaning, maximize their
potential, leverage their knowledge and gain experience in varied career situations; both within the organization,
or as a vehicle for driving a ‘boundaryless’ career! Employee
development activities build capability, confidence, and esteem which
are vital towards self-actualization of career development objectives
and identifying multiple intelligences.
In sum, employee development provides members with a strategic yet
comprehensive talent development platform. Positive reward incentives
and non-specific compensation options will engage and motivate
employees to have active participation and shared leadership in
identifying, defining and planning their desired career outcomes.
Training, performance and talent management practices also support
employees to efficiently gain the skills they need, the feedback that is
critical to providing understanding role clarity, reducing status conflicts
and will help to assure a positive environment of communication
between mentors, managers and various influential members with
whom the employee may recognize as having some level of informal
power; i.e. associative, referent or expertise.
“Training effectiveness is relative, but only to the extent that
there is no specific measure of training success such as
productivity or job satisfaction. Training effectiveness involves
more than evaluation, it requires identifying what affects
learning before, during and after training. no more than 15%
of training transfers to the job. This is an area of management
expenditures that does not do an analysis of “return on
investment; Cromwell & Kolb, 2004.” (Source: Human Resource
Development Journal: Training failure as a consequence of
organizational culture)
“Employee development is a much more comprehensive and
holistic concept that includes: on-going coaching, learning,
cross-functional exposure to learn different things, so that they
will be ready to capitalize on and enact when needed. In sum,
development is all inclusive and continual. Development is
People focused. Employee development improves and
increases: Job mastery skills = skills that are necessary to
perform one’s job and career development = knowledge and
skills that prepare one to go beyond the scope on one’s job
description.” (Source: Human Relations; Human resource
development practices and their association with employee attitudes:
Between traditional and new careers)
Diamond: Boundarlyess Career
Employee development
understood from this viewpoint
prepares employees for a
“Boundaryless” Career, that
adds value to the current
organization or that can be
transplanted and applied to
another organizational context.
This extends beyond the
boundaries of the organization
and prepares employees for
lifelong employability across a
variety of organizations vs.
lifetime employment at one
organization. The mediator and
or moderators for employment
development for loyalty to the
organization would be
commitment & satisfaction
(Source) Diamond Seshat Consulting

6. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
These components of value creation are where development; as on the job learning
are likely to become more punctuated; giving the employee access to cross
functional opportunities, exposure, and growth that cannot happen in a “training”
specific domain exclusively.
There will also be a positive effect on the organizational development of a healthy
succession planning and performance management platform for incubating future
leaders, competent decision makers and culturally intelligent professionals that will
see many directions and options on their personal career development goals and
plans. It is insightful for managers and leaders who also assist the employer, their
mentor and manager in defining professional objectives and mapping a strategy for
employee growth towards actualizing their career development plans.
The forementioned assist the employee in identifying their competencies, and any
gaps in knowledge, skills and abilities. The employee can exercise ownership and
agency in working with management to determine the areas of development that are needed relevant to;
experience, education, training and skill refinement to bridge those gaps. Training and development that is
implemented just to acquaint employees with a specific skill set or to do a specific task, can be reactive, reflect a
‘just in time’ decision making pattern, and lack the deep consideration of how to best align the organizations
needs with its members and making those shared needs connect as a shared vision; where both the employee and
the company are gaining what they both need can reasonable benefit from it. Training tends to be outcome
focused only, and only focused on the results the organization expects or would like to get out of the training.
Organizational Culture Reflects Value Employee Development
Organizational culture & climate provides a socio-cultural context where leaders and employees create the degree
to which a development oriented culture can be born into the broader organizational framework within its;
identity, management, performance and effectiveness. It is an ideal that is valued, supported and constant in the
organization. It must be woven into the values, vision, purpose and ethics of the organization in action, thus it will
be easier to see it reflected at every level of the company and will be an effective, efficient confluence of people,
processes, participation and technological development. Culture must be an embodiment of resources, tools and
healthy principles that allow for progression in all of its strategic processes and functionality: Talent, career,
learning, training, workforce, and multicultural development, as well as the communication networks. By creating
a learning culture, organizations will connect better with their employees; create shared interest along with mutual
appreciation and respect. There is a tremendous sense of empowerment
that employees gain, from an organization that is development focused.
An employee that is nurtured properly is the direct seed of growth to the
development of the organization.
Organizational talent is the intellectual capital that is not always
included in the financial analysis and tangible value of the organization;
as such companies are unable to find ways to use the knowledge of their
employees and their natural talents to the best competitive advantage of
the organization. Human capital is the value that a company receives for
the product that the employee is hired to deliver via their skill set.
Employee Development
facilitates awareness and
development of multiple
intelligences: These are
soft skills that will allow
specific training &
development initiatives to
be salient and meaningful
to the employee and
transferrable to the
organization in terms of
knowledge, behaviors,
skills and processes.”
–Diamond Seshat

7. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Intellectual capital the, is different in that, it is the sum total of the employees assets that are possessed beyond the
scope of their job role, and that every employee brings to his or her job function. These are the knowledge, talents
and skills that employers are often unaware of, yet is a composite of competencies that employees use every day
to be more efficient and effective in their jobs.
A ‘development oriented culture’ can also take advantage of the opportunities that are created in economic
downturns when formal training and development budgets may be severely reduced. Exposure to other aspects of
organizational operations and work processes can provide the employee with substantial experiential activities
that can deliver ‘training’ type of skills and education, at minimal cost or none at all.
Culture is a product of
normative functions
and ideological frames.
Edgar Shein in his
studies of
organizational culture
was wise to point out
that; culture is the
coming together of
values, fundamental
assumptions and
patterns of behavior
that often become taken
for granted. These are
THE major influence
for how fluidly or not
people interact with one
another and interact
with how processes
operate on a daily basis.
Employee development failure is often resigned to lack of motivation on behalf of the employee and some
‘anomaly’ of culture; meaning, something is not the norm and therefore is not worth the time, nor effort to look
more deeply into the organizations HRD (Human resources development) activities and the decision making
culture; from a communication, psychological and scientific foundation of analysis.
Values
• Frame employee
development as:
• Investment or Expense
• Intentions succumb to
contradictions when
new ideas conflict with
organizational 'values'
Fundamental
Assumptions
• Difficult to identify
• Taken for granted
• Espoused beliefs
contradict everyday
actoions
• Individuals cannot
abstract thier own
behavior from the
whole
Patterns of Behavior
• Can undermine
employee development
• Lack of support for
career development
• Ornamental &
symbolic training
• Closed
communicatuion
culture
“Employee development is a much more comprehensive and holistic concept that includes: on-going
coaching, learning, cross-functional exposure to learn different things, so that they will be ready to
capitalize on and enact when needed. In sum, development is all inclusive and continual. Development is
people focused” (Source: Jacobs, R. L., & Washington, C; Employee development and organizational performance: A review of
literature and directions for future research. Human Resource Development International)
When Employee development efforts fail, more often than not, it is a reflection of a cultural mis-alignment; that is
not in agreement with the stated organizations vision, mission, purpose; and objectives; either directly or as a
consequence of everyday values, fundamental assumptions and patterns of behavior interactions and thinking that
go unnoticed, un-challenged and un-refined

8. © Anitra Nicole Reaves, 2013-2017
Employee development failure as a consequence of organizational culture is not looked into sufficiently, so
process improvement is hindered. Identifying the extent to which formal training can be applied towards
employee development by understanding the role of culture and climate is vitally important.
This determines how the employee cultivation process is undertaken, transferred, reproduced and sustained. If
training at the individual level, group or organizational level is engaged when the culture is not ripe, receptive,
accepting or appreciative of it, skill development may increase, but behavioral regressions may also increase,
therefore making training ineffective and the employees’ growth potential can be stifled.
Diamond Self Development: Strategy for Success
Jewel: The most inner-part of your circumference as seen in the diagram is where foundation of the treasure
resides. Those natural gifts, talents and self-knowledge are the Diamonds in you. These gems are what determine
the degree of strength that you can successfully add on to and build up from. They are your tacit, knowledge,
wisdom and understanding that are unique to you, both in awareness, ownership and application, and is the
composite and carat of your natural diamond. Employees must be proactive, engaged, have a sense of boldness,
and be empowered with confidence, creativity and a plan for actualization. Employers must provide the necessary
structural support and developmental resources.
“The way people treat each other in companies and other organizations is affected by the common vision that
employees share. One of the deepest desires underlying shared vision is the desire to be connected, to a larger
purpose and to one another.
– Peter Senge, 1990