The Importance of Learning and Development to Your Organization - Case Study Example

?Learning And Development Is A Luxury That Organisations Can Afford Only In Financially Prosperous Times. Discuss. Learning is the activity, the procedure and the practice of attaining knowledge as well as abilities, through several applications in the context of an organisation. On the other hand, development is the process of refining the abilities. It is intended for providing benefits to both individual applicants as well as the organisation. Both learning and development have utmost importance in organisations and they lead to utilisation of extensive variety of tools so that organisations can instruct knowledge, teach their workers, and ultimately develop the capabilities. Employers and employees both gain benefit from learning and development. From the viewpoint of employer, learning and development are significant to preserve or develop the knowledge, the abilities and the performances so that they can fulfil the business objectives. From the viewpoint of employees, learning and development help to accomplish performance goals in a successful way. They also deliver an outline to recognise new abilities and knowledge and apply them in the practical work environment. As a result, learning and development can also motivate the employees (ACCA, 2010). One of the most significant assets for every organisation is its employee force. In the modern business environment, knowledge, originality, and passion are crucial differentiators for any organisation or industry. Besides, when it comes to achievement and winning competition, advanced talents and proficiencies in the areas of mechanical, managerial or operational domain become necessary for organisations. Though abilities and knowledge are replaceable in the long-run, the cost of switching employees and providing required training to develop them is huge and it can impact on organisational performance (Mitchell, 2008). Investment in learning and development on a regular basis is significant to retain or ensure lesser employee turnover and inspire them to be involved more in the work and achieve the goals for the organisation. Organisations always require skilled employees who can perform efficiently their allocated tasks. In this rapidly changing business environment, it is extremely necessary to provide effective performance continuously. But the key conflict or constraint with respect to learning and development is the budget. Organisations that are smaller have less money to invest on learning and development. Yet, in present day’s even small organisations have more learning and developmental requirements. Contemporary business environment is different and it comprises of many innovative technologies which were considered to be science fiction (sci-fi) few years ago. The globalisation is impacting the businesses structures and organisational cultures. New regulations are impacting the working practices, and employees have greater prospects from their companies and working lives. In the workplace, it is necessary for employees to adjust and to react with the fluctuations rapidly and without loss of efficiency. In other words, employees need to understand quickly new tasks, adjust with the new procedures, take additional responsibilities, grasp new technologies and obey the new legal necessities viz. health and security guidelines and data security among others (Clifford & Thorpe, 2007). Learning should be constant with the aim to maintain pace with the business fluctuations. Learning and development cannot be conveyed except when there is growth requirement. Growth requirements arise when employees’ actual performances differ from the desired performances. The central idea of learning is that every person possesses the ability to learn if they are provided with adequate time and support (Clifford & Thorpe, 2007). Learning and development activities can be influenced by several aspects. Certain significant issues that impact on the learning and development are inadequate resources, traditional culture, embedded approach towards training, stress of business and poor administrative skills. The major reason for lack of learning and development activities is increased responsibilities of the line managers. The line managers in majority of organisations involve in the learning and development activities. The major tasks with respect to learning and development are piloting performance appraisal, approving distinct development strategies and determining the training requirements of employees. However, the increasing pressure of competition and stress of increased responsibility lead to less contribution in the learning and development undertakings. Besides, the reaction of employees’ also impact on the learning and development activity. Employers are often anxious that the employees will be stolen by other competitor organisations after receiving the training (CIPD, 2007). Employees view the learning practices as additional work and not as a part of their daily tasks. Thus, at times they consider learning and development activity as redundant or even insignificant. The other key issues that have an impact on the learning and development activities are short termism approach of organisations (Sambrook, 2002). The British industries generally suffer from this short term thinking and they are unenthusiastic to make investment on long- term aspects such as learning and development (Moore, n.d.). Presently, the economy of the UK is going through difficult times. But it can be observed that the most successful establishments have actually amplified the expenses on learning and development activities by 6% in last few months. The results from such activities comprise improved performance and decent relation with employees (McWilliam, 2011). In this challenging business environment, it is vital for every organisation to stay in a secured position in the market. Within organisations, employees who are affected by financial reformation should concentrate on arranging and accomplishing tasks to their best of abilities. Each employee and manager is concentrated on clear significances of organisational objectives. In present days, effective performance management has become significantly important than before and lack of training can have an effect on an employee’s ability to meet the set targets. Now-a-days, several organisations have restructured their instructions and strategies in order to cope up with the competition, which requires learning and development of employees to comply with them. Without proper learning and development, organisations can lose the employees. It can happen due to several reasons such as incapability to accomplish tasks and jobs appropriately or failure to obey the instructions and the strategies of organisation. Employing and providing training to new employees can cost more as compared to developing the existing employees. If learning and development is not conducted often and effectively, it can result in poor communication within organisations. The traditional learning techniques have become obsolete in present days and employees need to be provided learning concerning how to perform identical tasks and jobs. Insignificant learning can cause conflicts within place of work and as a consequence it can generate a chaotic working environment with full of misperceptions and mistakes (Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011). Lack of learning and development can result in low productivity and the quality of work can also be hampered. Innovation and creativity are significant factors in this competitive environment as they can lead to achieve competitive advantage and monopoly in the market. Effective learning and development can foster innovation and creativity among employees from which organisations can develop a unique image in the industry and also can successfully differentiate themselves to gain maximum advantage (Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011). In any organisation at times it becomes vital to lay off employees in order to survive from bad financial condition. At that time, the remaining employees in the organisation require to perform at their highest level to undertake the tasks of those employees who have been laid off. Therefore, at that time organisations need to invest on the learning and development activities so that their abilities are heightened and they execute tasks at the optimum level. Developing the existing employees has a positive impact on the morale and productivity and also can make them focus towards the future. Without learning and development organisations will be unable to cover the absence of employees and as a result it can lead to higher customer dissatisfaction (Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011). Due to the continuous emergence of sophisticated technology the world is moving quicker than previous times. Therefore, it has become significant to provide learning to the employees so that the knowledge is improved. But this is quite difficult in times of economic recession as several organisations attempt to reduce the expenditures to stay competitive. It is important to provide support to the top employees in the times of economic recessions, as well-developed and experienced employees are helpful for supporting organisations throughout recession or recovery and progression (Reyes, 2011). According to study piloted by “Boston Consulting Group” & “European Association of People Management”, it has been observed that reducing expenses on learning and development in the period of financial downturn can have severe influence on a company from long-term perception. In the time of economic recession, the learning and development might be regarded as a luxury investment, but if organisations want to become successful they should understand that besides learning and development, there are several aspects in the external business environment from which organisations need to endure. A critical element of success is managerial learning and a culture where employees perform mutually and are completely dedicated to accomplish organisational objectives (Reyes, 2011). In today’s competitive business environment, learning and development is essential for organisational achievement. Organisations such as Apple, Nokia and Google among others are appropriate models for implementation of successful managerial learning and development. Learning and development is a modern idea and has required longer time for organisations to comprehend its significance. Traditionally, employees were not observed as human beings; instead they were measured as machines. In the 21st century, this concept has proved wrong, because in earlier times the creativeness and the invention were repressed. In the ever-growing globalised world and basically due to the growth of new technologies, the opinions and the behaviours of people as well as organisations have changed significantly towards learning and development. Today, businesses necessitate rethinking in order to cope up with the speediness of change and gradually volatile nature of economy (Reyes, 2011). It is the learning organisations that possess the essential abilities to successfully familiarise with the changing environment. In broader sense, learning organisations are those companies which consider the long-term profits rather than concentrating on short-term benefits. They attempt to work out the fundamental causes of any phenomenon or occurrence in order to resolve difficulties from its root efficiently and study from mistakes. Organisations that focus on learning and development know that employees are the greatest strength and they can guarantee sustainable growth and innovation (Reyes, 2011). In present times, it is a common feature for several organisations to reduce expenses in those fields where costs are high and functional influences are low. It can be disastrous that at times organisations persist in the misconception of making learning and development as an unnecessary activity. In the hard times, when financial condition is weak, organisations make hard choices to decease the cost load from learning and development activities by considering that they are mere expenditures. But in reality, spending money on learning and development is investment which can help organisations to counter the difficulties in future. However, many companies apparently continue to see developmental activities as luxury rather than business necessity. Organisations require suitable guidance and care for learning and development. Investment is substantial in case of learning and development, but apart from it respecting and supporting employees are also vital (Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011). In this challenging economic condition, the best employees and managers can be poached by the competing organisations. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in the development of skilled employees because when the financial condition of an organisation recovers it will certainly require talented people. Modern approaches for delivering learning provide a substitute method to reduce expenses such as e-Learning or live meeting (Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011). Several organisations believe that employees are dispensable and if someone does not perform well another one will take the position. This thought is insignificant in present days as it can cost more to train new employees, thus if organisations want effective workforce, there is need to undertake continuous learning and development activities. However, organisations need to identify the right people to whom they are going be invest more for learning and development; otherwise it can provide no returns if a completely trained employee, on whom organisation has devoted much time and effort, leave the job. In order to avoid such circumstances, employees need to be treated well in a sensible manner (Parezo, 2011). Lack of learning and development can repeatedly result in misinterpretation between employees and organisation by producing impulsive problems. Employees need to be well-informed regarding organisation’s objectives and aims. Though several small organisations cannot afford the luxury of learning and development, it is an insistent concern for them as lack of training is obviously going to be replicated in the performance of employees. Thus, investing in learning and development can be considered as investment in developing productivity of employees as well as organisation. There is no reason for believing that investment in learning and development is luxury because if employees are unable to perform better it will impact the profitability of the organisation (Parezo, 2011). In small organisations, higher turnover is one of the major problems with respect to employees. Small organisations are much anxious about economic crisis and their decisions are inspired by it. Smaller organisations concentrate on the area of utmost risk and do not have international viewpoint. Lack of learning and development is unfair for employees who ultimately meet up with improper performance and therefore organisations require replacing them which can cost more compared to providing training. On the other hand, higher learning and development can increase the output of employees. It can reduce the wastage of resources and also reduce the cost of replacement. Low rate of turnover can only occur if the employees are motivated. As a result, it can lead to higher customer satisfaction. A well-developed employee can automatically be able to take responsibility for his/her own performance. Organisations can go for two kinds of training methods namely, on–the-job and off–the-job. On-the-job training includes job rotation, coaching, in–tray exercises and e-learning among other which are inexpensive and can be provided instantaneously. Conversely, off–the-job training can be short or long courses, workshops and seminars among others, which can provide wider skills to employees but are more expensive for small organisations or organisations that are confronting financially hard times (Parezo, 2011). In the period of credit crunch, it may be believed that learning and development is unnecessary and can only increase the operational expenses. But in order to remain competitive, organisations need to focus on performance at a superior level and it can only be achieved by well-developed workforce. Therefore, it is necessary for organisations to support their employees and develop them according to the affordability as it can be reflected in the productivity. In future, as and when new technologies emerge, there will be demand for highly skilled employees; therefore organisations will require investing optimum effort, time and money on learning and development activities despite bad financial condition. So, it would not be wrong to suggest that learning and development has become necessary rather than luxury in today’s organisations to sustain in the market and industry. References ACCA, 2010. Learning and Development. Factsheet. [Online] Available at: http://www2.accaglobal.com/documents/employers_learning_dev.pdf [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Clifford, J. & Thorpe, S., 2007. Workplace Learning & Development: Delivering Competitive Advantage For Your Organization. Kogan Page Publishers. CIPD, 2007. Learning and Development. Annual Survey Report 2007. [Online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EB18FA28-BD40-4D47-81B9-660034D280C1/0/learndevsr.pdf [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Global Knowledge Network Training Ltd, 2011. Investing in People. Why Organisations Should Keep Investing in Their People in Challenging Economic Times. [Online] Available at: http://www.globalknowledge.ie/whats%20new/news/investing%20in%20people.aspx [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Moore, R., No Date. Short-Termism In British Industry: The State Of The Debate. European-American University. [Online] Available at: http://www.thedegree.org/econn088.pdf [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Mitchell, R., 2008. The Importance Of Learning And Development To Your Organization. AEC Magazine. http://aecmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=258&Itemid=36 [Accessed December 16, 2011]. McWilliam, R., 2011. Keep Spending. Guardian News and Media Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world-of-learning/spending [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Parezo, S., 2011. Lack of Employee Training Can Hurt Small Businesses. Human Performance and Achievement Resources. [Online] Available at: http://superperformance.com/lackofemployeetraining.html [Accessed December 16, 2011]. Reyes, M., 2011. Organisational Learning and Development During a Recession: How EBay, Apple and Google Foster Organisational Learning and Development. GRIN Verlag. Sambrook, S., 2002. Factors Influencing Learning In Work: A Comparison Of Two Research Projects (European- And United Kingdom-Based). European Educational Research Journal, 1(3), pp. 522 – 537. Bibliography Ellinger, A. D. & Et. Al., 2002. The Relationship Between The Learning Organization Concept And Firms' Financial Performance: An Empirical Assessment. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13(1), pp. 5 – 22. Fee, K., 2011. 101 Learning and Development Tools: Essential Techniques for Creating, Delivering and Managing Effective Training. Kogan Page Publishers. Read More