There is no moment so pivotal for a business owner or a company hiring manager than the moment you know when an employee that has been hired has what it takes to do the job they have been hired to do. When this turns out well, you know it. Things just click and that employee becomes the superstar everyone hoped she would be.

When that pivotal moment goes the other way, you also know when that moment of recognition occurs. You will deny it for as long as you can, but the fact of the matter is, everyone can see that this person has the right skill, just not the right skills for this job. Sadly, you have to let this new hire go and it is a shame, because you liked him in the interview a lot, even if it was entirely on a personal level.

The person wouldn’t be a bad guy; you would have spotted that straight away. You just did not see how his particular set of skills was not a match for the position you were hiring for. Now, you have wasted money on training and salary and are right back where you started with a vacant position to fill.

The way the American workplace is today, only one-third of employees feel like they are engaged with their job. They feel as if they are doing something worthwhile and of importance to the world. That means that the other two-thirds of the workforce to do see their job as a place that gives them much more than money and, possibly, friends.

One of the reasons this is the case is that employees are very often not placed in positions where they have the personality to succeed in that particular job. For example, someone who is really great with numbers or computers might not be the right fit to present new software or programs at a conference in front of a really large crowd of people.

Nearly 16% of employers who were surveyed felt that it was the soft skills rather than the hard skills that determined how a person would fit into a certain job or position. This is why having an employment development plan can increase your rate of having a person you hire turn into someone you really want to keep on board.

An employee development plan can have several parts to it. The parts of your plan will be unique to what your company does, but focuses on a lot of the same types of traits throughout the program. Soft skills training, strategic planning sessions, and leadership development all work in concert in your particular employee development plan.

The execution of this employee development plan is going to largely be up to your managers. The success you want and desire is going to begin at the top, so having managers in the right positions is paramount. Companies fail a great deal at this and they see right away how dangerous it can be to not hire the right managers. Companies hire the right managers only 18% of the time.

Having the right employee in the right position is crucial for companies, whether they have been in existence for 100 years or are just now opening their doors. Having an employee development plan in place is helping businesses everywhere make the best use of their employees while making them feel engaged and purposeful. That makes for a very fine workplace.