Review of the Article Development Opportunity - Essay Example

?Article Summary The article reviewed en d “Development Opportunity” (Scott, is a summary of a round-table discussion of how companies dealwith their learning and development in the face of global transformation and financial constraints. It discussed how learning and development would yield adequate return on investment for the business since in most organizations, measurement of such is not faithfully implemented. For it to be relevant to the business, training approaches should be appropriate for individual organizational needs and what management targets as what is most useful in directly impacting and enhancing employee performance and development. Most of the time, it is the delivery of significant business performance improvement whether it is manifested in increased sales and customers, improved performance or better soft and hard skills of employees. In some cases, it is for training a new breed of leaders or preparing people for change. It is essential to define what needs to be achieved in the training before learning is embarked upon so that learning is customized and not delivered generically. The article gives some guidelines in toning down what is necessary in learning and development (L & D) programs. An approach called RAM is suggested. R stands for relevance, which asks, “What is it for? Why are we doing it? Has the work changed? Has the business changed?”. A stands for alignment, which asks consults the stakeholders who will benefit from it. Lastly, M stands for measurement, which looks into the impact and value of the L & D (Scott, 2010). Since options to save up on L & D expenses have been cut short, online training services have been made available by a few groups where employees can log on to the company’s learning management server and choose a program they believe will help them in an area they need training for. Such service conducts an impact and learning study to monitor how they improved from the training. When people want to learn more to improve themselves, the article said they should not be controlled but instead given freedom and opportunity to do so. Social learning is one option. People can work across the company to network, “share knowledge and experience, collaborate and learn for their benefit and that of the company (Butler as mentioned in Scott, 2010, p. 25). Learning from colleagues could be an effective way of improving skills and experience while keeping company costs down. Leaders may also avail of outside training first and then cascade their new knowledge and skills from the training down to their employees. It is one way of imparting the culture of the organization to its people. In any case, the training expert should keep in mind the goals of the training – to improve the business and not only the people, so it yields a return on investment. L & D should focus more on practical strategies and not just theories. Review of Related Literature The global financial crisis has turned some companies to scrimp on their budgets just keep them afloat in these difficult times. Many people have lost their jobs as a result of the budget cuts. For employees left to work to help their companies rise above the economic crunch, training and development are ensured in the expectation that it will contribute towards the betterment of not only the individual employee but of the whole organization as well. Employee development has been identified as key to improving overall organizational effectiveness. Jones and Washington (2003) have defined it as: “Employee development refers to an integrated set of planned programs, provided over a period of time, to help assure that all individuals have the competence necessary to perform to their fullest potential in support of the organization’s goals” ( 344). Like what the article indicated, nowadays, people have more access to learning. More and more training courses are developed and offered in schools and online for people who want to go further in what they know to gain skills and knowledge in their own areas of interest. The term learning may be defined in a myriad of ways. “Learning is the act or process by which behavioral change, knowledge, skills and attitudes are acquired” (Boyd, Apps, et al., 1980:100-101). Learning is not limited to schooling, especially for adult learners who seek knowledge from many sources other than schools. Knowles et al. (2007) theorizes that adult learning is organized around the notion that adults learn best in informal, comfortable, flexible and nonthreatening settings. In the humanistic view, adult learners are assumed to be motivated to learn as they are more conscious of its benefits. They experience needs and interests that learning satisfies. Their orientation to learning is practical and centered on their own lives. Adults value experience as the richest resource of learning, that is why they have no hesitations learning something while they are engaged in a new experience. “Nearly all adult education is voluntary. Educational activities must meet the needs of as adult learners in order to survive”( Ellias & Merriam, 1980: 135). Adult learners have a deep need to direct their own learning, possessing a pride and learning style that suits their own personalities. As people mature, individual differences increase with age. Accepting these assumptions of how adults learn, Carl Rogers (1969) claims that the learner is personally involved in a holistic way. His or her feelings and cognitive aspects are deep into the learning experience. Even when the learning stimulus comes from an external source, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending comes from within. Rogers also emphasizes that learning makes a difference in the behavior, attitudes, even the personality of the learner. Brown & Hunning (2010) have attempted to relate a worker’s goal orientation with job satisfaction. They claim that an individual’s job satisfaction depends on the kind of goal orientation they uphold. Goal orientation describes the individual’s disposition and current state, and this is influenced by outside factors. Three kinds of goal orientation include: a learning goal orientation wherein the individual focuses on improving his or her abilities; a performance prove orientation wherein he or she proves possessed skills and abilities in order to gain a reward; and lastly, a performance avoid orientation wherein the person seeks to avoid punishment by doing his tasks successfully. In relation to job satisfaction, when the individual has a learning goal orientation, he is likely to have job satisfaction even if he is not intrinsically motivated. This is because of his intrinsic desire for the job due to the learning it brings him. On the other hand, when the individual has a performance avoid goal orientation, he constantly worries about not making mistakes that it significantly reduces the job satisfaction he should feel even if he has a strong intrinsic motivation for the job. In this case, his goal orientation becomes a hindrance in achieving job satisfaction. Brown and Hunning (2010) recommend that organizations should encourage their employees to assume learning goal orientation strategies, however, they must do their part in creating the psychological climate necessary for learning balanced with the psychological climate for avoiding failure. In any case, learning and development of people redounds to much benefit to them and eventually, would translate to better organizational behaviors. This is what will boost the effectiveness of companies in the long run. Successful organizations embrace lifelong learning because it is one aspect that would keep it dynamic and up-to date with their competitors. References Boyd, R., & Apps, J. (1980) Redefining the disciplining of adult education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Brown, S. & Huning, T (2010) Intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction: the intervening role of goal orientation, Proceedings of the Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 15(1) New Orleans Ellias, J.L. & Merriam, S.B. (1980) Philosophical Foundations Of Adult Education. Krieger Pub Co. Jones, R.L. & Washington, C. (2003) Employee development and organizational performance: a review of literature and directions for future research, Human Resource Development International, Vol. 6 Issue 3 Knowles, M., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. A. (2007) The Adult Learner, Sixth Edition. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann Rogers, C.R. (1969). Freedom To Learn: A View Of What Education Might Become. Columbus, Oh, Charles E. Merrill Scott, A., Development Opportunities (2010) People Management, September 16, 2010, pp. 24-27 Read More