Organizational Wellness

Human Resource Development: A Strategic Guide for HR Leaders

Last Updated Dec 9, 2024

Time to read: 7 minutes

Did you know that 94% of employees are more likely to stay at a company that invests in their careers? That kind of loyalty doesn’t just boost retention—it drives productivity and slashes turnover costs, making it a win-win for everyone.

That’s why more businesses are doubling down on human resource training and development strategies, also known as human resource development. When employees see that you’re committed to their growth, they respond by bringing even more value to the table.

HR leaders are at the forefront of this movement, shaping the future of their workforce. Ready to take your HRD strategy to the next level? Dive into these key strategies, KPIs, and emerging trends to start making an impact!

What Is Human Resource Development (HRD)?

Human resource development is a company's plan for internal training. Policies can vary in scope and practice but often include:

Individual training and development: Helping employees improve their skills and wellbeing so they're more effective in their current roles.
Career development: Preparing employees to assume more prominent roles in the future.
Organizational development: Teaching employees how to work within new structures, policies, or groups as dictated by the company's needs.

You can emphasize these and other forms of skill development as needed within your organization. These can evolve over time. For example, although you might prioritize career development this year, organizational development could be more critical in the future. HR professionals can watch KPIs and consider company-wide objectives when deciding how to structure their HRD strategies.

Benefits of HRD

An impressive 93% of CEOs say they need to change their strategy for attracting and retaining talent, according to PWC. The same survey also found that 63% of CEOs say the availability of skills is a serious concern.

This is where HRD strategies come into play. By developing skills and knowledge internally, your organization can build the expertise it needs—eliminating the struggle of finding top talent in a tough hiring market. Plus, when employees grow their skills, productivity naturally rises as they become better at their roles.

But the benefits don’t stop there. Investing in your employees’ career development strengthens their commitment to your company. Happy, skilled employeesstick around longer, reducing turnover costs and boosting morale across the board.

HRD Strategies for HR Leaders

HRD can lead to a more productive and loyal workforce. To maximize these benefits, consider following these effective strategies!

Needs Assessment

The first step is to pinpoint where your organization and team need the most support. From there, you can craft HRD strategies that directly target key growth opportunities for both your employees and the company.

A strong needs assessment is thorough and systematic, incorporating steps like:

Conducting performance reviews
Getting feedback from managers
Using surveys and questionnaires to measure employee perspectives on skills, training needs, and career aspirations

Do what you can to focus on where employee aspirations, manager feedback, and company-wide goals intersect. These areas of alignment are great starting points for an HRD strategy that earns buy-in across the board.

Training and Development Programs

Once you’ve identified your organization’s key opportunities, it’s time to build training and development programs that directly address those areas. These programs can take various forms depending on your business needs and goals.

You might opt for on-the-job training, classroom-based sessions, or even online learning. You can choose live, interactive sessions or offer training on-demand for more flexibility. On-demand training is perfect when you want to avoid pulling employees away from their day-to-day work, while in-person sessions may be better for teaching critical new skills that require hands-on practice.

The approach you choose should be the one that fits your company’s specific needs and drives the best results for your team.

Performance Management

Training alone doesn’t guarantee increased productivity. Some employees may struggle with the material, while others might grasp the concepts but fail to apply them in their daily work.

That’s where performance management comes in as a key piece of your HRD strategy. By pairing training with ongoing evaluations, you can personalize the approach and drive real improvement.

For instance, after conducting a CRM software training for your sales team, you could review performance metrics a month later to see who’s putting those new skills to use. Supervisors can then meet with employees who haven’t shown progress to identify barriers and provide targeted support.

This personalized, continuous approach fosters a culture of ongoing improvement and helps you maximize the impact of your HRD efforts.

Career Development

Career growth is a top priority for your employees, so it’s powerful to integrate career development into your HRD strategy. When employees see how training directly impacts their career progression, they’re more engaged and motivated.

Where possible, be transparent about what it takes to reach the next level. For instance, a sales team member might need to hit a specific score on performance reviews to qualify for a promotion to sales supervisor. You can support that growth by offering training that teaches the skills they need to succeed.

Even if you can’t always be this specific, you can still map out career paths and provide development opportunities that help employees pursue their next goals.

By offering clear internal growth opportunities, you create a powerful advantage for both attracting and retaining top talent.

Succession Planning

The last element of an effective HRD strategy is succession planning, which focuses on identifying and developing future company leaders. Creating succession plans prepares the company for the unexpected. It also shows your most talented employees that they can achieve their long-term career goals within your organization!

A strong succession plan typically leverages this framework:

Identify a critical and vulnerable position within the organization
Develop eligibility requirements
Build a talent pipeline, potentially through the HRD training you offer
Nominate successors by identifying standout candidates within the talent pipeline
Create an action plan to prepare your chosen successor
Evaluate the succession plan over time to ensure you stay on track

Measuring the Impact of HRD

You can measure the impact of your HRD strategy by tracking a variety of key metrics. The most commonly monitored include employee engagement, training completion rates, turnover, and performance improvements.

When choosing which metrics to track, consider your high-level goals. For example, if reducing turnover is a priority, focus on turnover rates. If productivity is your main concern, watch the KPIs that measure performance within the relevant department.

To get accurate insights, you’ll need a reliable stream of data. This can come from employee training platforms, surveys, and the tools your team uses daily. Compare your KPIs before and after training sessions—improvements should follow if the training is relevant, engaging, and actionable. If not, adjustments to your strategy may be necessary.

This ongoing evaluation process helps ensure your HRD strategy stays on track and continues driving meaningful results for your organization.

Emerging Trends in HRD

Before closing this guide, it's worth looking at some of the emerging trends in HRD. The following three could influence your strategies.

Technology

Technology has transformed HRD in countless ways, from the growth of online learning to the introduction of virtual reality tools. Now, artificial intelligence is set to take things even further.

AI can already analyze data and deliver insights without human intervention. As this technology evolves, we may soon see a future where every employee has access to their own personal AI coach. This could offer tailored guidance on a task-by-task basis, accelerating development and making growth more personalized than ever before

Globalization

Globalization isn't going anywhere, but it is changing. Companies will likely face new challenges in cultural awareness and diversity training as it evolves. Keep these factors in mind as you develop your training programs to ensure every employee feels supported by them.

Employee Wellbeing

Finally, employee wellbeing is an underrated aspect of HRD that's slowly becoming more recognized. Happy employees are about 13% more productive than the average worker, according to the University of Oxford. That means you may be able to achieve your productivity goals simply by curating a more satisfied, balanced workforce.

One way to do this is by investing in an employee wellness program, which gives workers access to the services and support networks they need to feel their best.

Elevate Your HRD Strategy with Employee Wellbeing

HRD is the key to unlocking your team's potential — but to truly maximize its benefits, consider integrating employee wellbeing into your strategy.

Employee wellbeing programs give workers the resources to feel and perform their best. Investing in one can help you curate a happier, healthier workforce prepared to take advantage of the HRD programs you create!

Speak with a Wellhub Wellbeing Specialist today to build a thriving, high-performing workforce.

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[*] Based on proprietary research comparing healthcare costs of active Wellhub users to non-users.