Employee Development and Cognitive Skills
Employee development can revolve around education, training and leadership preparation to help an employee advance within an organization. Cognitive skills determine how a person thinks, learns and understands things. An employee’s success may be determined by the strength of her cognitive skills.
Employee Development
Organizations profit from well-trained and fully engaged employees. Whether it’s an organization’s formal training program or one-on-one guidance from the boss, employee development helps employees takes steps toward their career goals aligned with the organization’s objectives. As organizations face more sophisticated competitors, adapt to industry progress, and meet the ambitions of a younger workforce, ongoing employee development becomes increasingly necessary in order to retain top talent and to stay nimble.
Cognitive Development
Employees with strong cognitive skills can learn quickly, handle multiple complex tasks simultaneously and be highly productive without needing much supervision. Cognitive skills start developing in childhood. They include abilities such as remembering, imagining, reasoning, perceiving and problem-solving. As adults, we tend to be more set in our learning habits, though we’re still able to adapt to increased pressures and challenges that require us to change. Cognitive skills can decline in adults from a variety of age-related causes, including hormonal imbalances, developmental disorders, diabetes, anxiety, obesity and depression, according to research published by the Life Extension Foundation. Many employers prescreen new employees with tests that measure cognitive skills. Results of such tests can help managers assess employees’ potential.
Career Advancement
Many employees with strong cognitive skills actively seek career advancement either with the companies they work for or within the job market overall. Employee development efforts can show employees how to advance within an organization and provide the training they’ll need for those positions. Developing employees helps organizations retain talent, improve productivity and keep employees engaged. As an employee, when you are able to learn fast, and can adapt to change and complexity, you become a better candidate to employers with more diverse workplaces and more technologically savvy environments.
Potential Conflicts
Employees who learn fast tend to move fast. Organizations that have high performing employees and do not properly channel their employees' talents in the most productive directions risk losing their star performers altogether. Conversely, some employees in every organization will be slower than average learners. A fair approach to employee development must recognize the varying cognitive skill levels in their employees. Development programs can become ineffective if handled with a one-size-fits-all approach.