The document discusses the benefits of employee development programs for companies. It argues that such programs improve organizational performance by increasing employees' skills and knowledge, helping retain valuable staff by showing the company invests in their growth, and allow the workforce to adapt to new technologies. Specific initiatives are recommended, like promoting from within, reimbursing tuition costs, and establishing mentoring relationships to foster learning across experience levels. The overall goal is to leverage training into higher individual and company performance over time through a joint effort between employees and their employer to continuously upgrade abilities.

1. A Definitive Case for a Company-wide Development Plan Developing Tomorrow’s Answers Today

2. What is Employee Development? “Employee development is a joint, on-going effort on the part of an employee and the organization for which he or she works to upgrade the employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Successful employee development requires a balance between an individual’s career needs and goals and the organization’s need to get work done” (University of Minnesota, 2009).

3. Why should Employee skills and abilities be developed? “Employee development programs make positive contributions to organizational performance. A more highly skilled workforce accomplishes more as the individual gains in experience and knowledge. Retaining an employee saves the company a great deal of money” (University of Minnesota, 2009).

4. Why should Employee skills and abilities be developed? “In research conducted to assess what retained employees, development was one of the top three retention items” (University of Minnesota, 2009).

5. How does Janus benefit? 1. Employee development gives staff members the opportunity to work to their highest level of potential. “When you recognize the potential of a person and you help them develop their skills they can and will be willing to work at their highest levels of ability. Why not get everything you can get out of an employee?” (Six Sigma Training Assistant, 2010). Investing the money for employee development will help “leverage them to get more and more” of the money that was invested in them. “Keep investing in their training and development and over time and they will have a greater impact in the company” (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). 2. Development activities reduce turnover rates. If JANUS were to invest in development activities, the turnover rate could be reduced by: Showing employees that the company is investing in the employee skill development. Developing managers create a positive work environment that makes employees want to come to work and contribute to the JANUS’ goals” (Noe, pg. 348).

6. How does Janus benefit? 3. Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods. Investing in training a development will help JANUS employees stay abreast to the evolving technologies that are impacting our business. Simulation software is the heart of JANUS business and keeping employees abreast of latest changes benefits the company. 4. Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees. Even the best training and development programs can not assure that all employees will get involved. “Many organizations spend time and money on training efforts to teach new skills to employees who are using a small fraction of the skills developed in past training. Efforts at developing employees and allowing those who want to become more involved, which are most of them, usually will have much higher returns. An additional benefit is they are then more valued employees whose change in attitude is reflected in their work” (Adams Associates, n.d.). 5. Contributes to company growth. Employees that are able to take on broader levels of responsibility can only help our company run more efficiently, which saves time and money. They can engage in job enlargement activities, such as “special project assignments, switching roles within a work team, or researching news ways to serve our clients and customers” (Noe, pg. 366).

7. Why invest in Employee benefits? U.S. military leaders who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan realize that that the amount of killings taking place are not “sufficient enough to win the war.” Positive leadership and employee development are beginning to develop ways to in which to turn the “war-torn countries into places that are abundant, as opposed to deficit-focused.” To accomplish this, efforts are being focused on “unlocking the ‘heliotrope effect’ –the inherent human tendency toward that which is good and virtuous” (Pace, 2010, pg. 43).

8. Employee Development Initiatives Hire and Promote from Within Employees appreciate job security, but in order to grow professionally, people want and need new responsibilities (Noe, pg. 368). JANUS needs to make it a practice of giving their employees the opportunity to grow from within the company. Let them know that JANUS values their past contributions and have faith in their abilities to take on greater challenges. The HR department needs to circulate when new positions are available in the company before opening up those jobs to outside applicants. First consideration should always be given to in-house candidates first (Levine, n.d.). Reimburse Tuition Costs JANUS should encourage continuing education by offering tuition cost reimbursement. Helping employees finance their education is a tangible way to demonstrate the company's commitment to fostering a workforce full of skilled and talented people (Noe, pg. 354) Better educated employees will increase JANUS’ chances of success in our competitive marketplace. This will help to attract top talent (Levine, n.d.).

9. Employee Development Initiatives Implement a Mentoring Program In an effort for JANUS to develop newer, less experienced employees, mentoring is a great way for people to learn from one another (Noe, pg. 371). “Mentors can serve as a sounding board for younger employees, and can provide job coaching, advice on career development, and introductions to other professionals in the industry. Mentors often help their charges to see the "bigger picture" when it comes to their working life. And, at the same time, mentors themselves can gain valuable insight from their protégés and become better managers” (Levin, n.d.).

10. References Adams Associates. (n.d.). Employee motivation and employee empowerment are part of employee development. Retrieved on June 19, 2011, at http://www.adamssixsigma.com/Newsletters/employee_motivation.htm. Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Employee Development [Multimedia]. Training and Development. Retrieved from Week seven resources. Levine, L. (n.d.). Strengthen Your Business by Developing Your Employees. Retrieved on June 19, 2011, at http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development/1240-1.html. Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. University of Minnesota (Office of Human Resources). (2009). Employee Development. Retrieved on June 19, 2011, at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/toolkit/development/index.html. Six Sigma Training Assistant. (2010). The Benefits of Employee Development. Retrieved on June 19, 2011, at http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/the-benefits-of-employee-development.html.