The American Society for Training and Development recommends a minimum of 40 hours per year in ongoing training and development for all employees. That's a figure most animal shelters and rescue groups aren't even close to acheiving.
In a recent Maddie's InstituteSM survey of executive directors, employees and volunteers from companion-animal care organizations across the country, 57 percent of executive directors, 57 percent of full-time employees, 63 percent of part-time employees and 32 percent of volunteers at organizations with paid staff reported there was no minimum requirement for training hours for employees and volunteers.
Volunteers and EDs from volunteer based groups reported that their organizations do not require formal development programs for volunteers:
In an industry prone to burn-out among its employees and volunteers, this is a critical gap. That's because the opportunity for career advancement and skill development is a major factor in keeping staff members engaged, productive, committed to the mission and fulfilled in their work.
As one respondent wrote, "I wish we had more opportunities for career development, as I and many others in this organization consider this our life's work."
One step managers can take to fill this gap is to work with your employees and volunteers to create an individual development plan (IDP) for each of them. An IDP is a tool to plot out both short-term and long-term goals and related action steps for each individual as they fit into your organization's needs.
Need help creating an IDP your employees can use? Check out this resource:
Individual development plan template
You can see more training and development tips here, and view or download a PDF of the entire survey report here.