Training and Development Assessment for Ford Motor Company - Essay Example

Training & Development Assessment for Ford Motor Company A successful performance of a company depends upon its management team and staff. Ford MotorCompany is one of the world's largest producers of trucks and cars. There are over 5100 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury dealers nationwide who need technicians who are committed to training, quality and professional excellence. Ford Motor Company is committed to support the development of the automotive service technician profession and maintenance staff. The main goal of the Ford Company is to keep the image of the world's leading consumer company for automotive products and services. The objectives of the Ford automaker are basically to consolidate its brand image, get closer to its customers and ensure customer satisfaction through high quality products and service. Staff training is essential, because the need for effective employees becomes greater, demanding both initial and continuous training. Ford Company has entered a new phase of sustained growth which should last for over 10 years. Historically, the demand for new automotive service technicians has been critical. Those entering the industry with recognized credentials can accelerate their career. This profile will dramatically change in the next few years as higher quality cars produced by foreign venture auto makers begin to take over the main share of the car parc. To support this growth and shift in vehicle make-up, the Ford structure and key players will also change dramatically. This dynamism could offer attractive opportunity to foreign companies in the parts and service businesses. For Ford Company training is necessary to ensure an adequate supply of staff who are technically and socially competent, and capable of career advancement into specialist departments or management positions. There is, therefore, a continual need for the process of staff development, and training fulfils an important part of this process. Training should be viewed, therefore, as an integral pan of the process of total quality management. Organizational level. In a time of rapidly changing technologies and ever-shorter product life cycles, product development often proceeds at a glacial pace. In an age of the customer, order fulfillment has high error rates and customer enquiries go unanswered for weeks. In a period when asset utilization is critical, inventory levels exceed many months of demand (Bateman, Snell, 2004). The usual methods of boosting performance - process rationalization and automation - haven't yielded the dramatic improvements for Ford Company need. In particular, heavy investments in information technology have delivered disappointing results - largely because companies tend to use technology to mechanize old ways of doing business. According to the survey provided by Ford (www.ford.com) the quantity of defective articles and spoilage are rather high because many new employees feel lack of experience to perform a particular type of work. This situation is observed in Fords' subsidiaries located in less developed countries. For instance, the level of spoilage caused by welding and sanding is about 20 % (permissible level is about 5-7%). In this very case, training is therefore a key element of improved organisational performance as it increases the level of individual and organisational competence. It helps to reconcile the gap between what should happen, and desire-targets and standards of performance; and what is happening and levels of work performance. Personal level. In Ford company performance deficiencies result from motivational problem which is closely connected with lack of skills. To improve this situation Ford Company needs to train employees taking into account rapid environmental changes. The purpose of training is to improve knowledge and skills, and to change negative attitude towards training activities. This can lead to many potential benefits for both individuals and the organisation. Training can: increase the confidence, motivation and commitment of staff; provide recognition, enhanced responsibility, and the possibility of increased pay and promotion; give a feeling of personal satisfaction and achievement, and broader opportunities for career progression; and help to improve the availability and quality of staff (Pfeffer, 1996). A significant and disturbing feature of the Ford Company was the negative attitude towards the benefits of training shown by many employees. Too often training is seen as a necessary expense to achieve output targets. It is not seen as providing long-term benefits or improving organisational performance. A common view of training was an activity undertaken by large corporate bodies who can afford it. According to the survey 73 out of 100 have not seen training as an important need to improve their skills (www.ford.com). But training can benefit Ford Company, for example, in helping to reduce skills shortages. The Company's management group examined the relationship between training provision and the extent of skills shortages. In the modern era of rapidly changing technology with increased emphasis on flexible working attitudes, job seekers are searching for employers who will offer them continued opportunities to develop and update their skills and experiences. This trend is found in Ford's factories located in the USA and Europe. Task Level. Optimized Production Technology directs to schedule flows through batch working and demand dependent oriented systems in order to maximize the output. The principal distinguishing feature of the Optimized Production Technology tools the focus on unprofitable operations (Beardwell, Holden, Claydon, 2004). Optimized Production Technology emphasizes the desirability of ensuring a steady flow through the system like balanced flow, rather than seeking to keep all resources busy. This involves: - system modeling which means modeling of the operating system using information on processing and set-up times, the routings of items through the system, bills of materials, inventories and sales forecasts; division of system: the network model is divided into two parts-critical and non-critical. The bottlenecks and all operations that follow these are included in the critical part of the network. The remaining portion of the network includes non-critical operations; - the operations in the critical portion of the network are scheduled. This includes determination of processing and transfer batch sizes, and the timing of operations for each item for the bottleneck operations. One of the most useful techniques for dealing with difficult sequencing problems is an employees training. It is an attempt to formalize the decisions of the experienced personal knowledge (Schuler, 1998). To assess the needs of the Ford Company the statistical data is used. Qualitative information was quantified using appropriate analytical tools. The paper is based on the company's surveys and independent analysis provided by pool centers for Ford Company. It is possible to say that once data has been collected, it has been "cleaned" which involves editing results. All the evidence gathered confirms that the Ford Company recognizes the need to use training strategies to be competitive in the future, and is willing to move in the direction of high profession growth. The human resource management team (www.ford.com) agreed that Ford Company would increasingly experience the need for additional staff training to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Part 2. It was already mentioned that employees' skills, knowledge, and abilities are among the most distinctive and renewable resources on which a company can draw, their strategic management is more important than ever. Increasingly, organizations are recognized that their success depends on what people know, that is, their knowledge and skills. Ford has been following the product extension strategy with total commitment and offering the latest and most sophisticated technology. The new technology like hydrogen cars development needs skillful workers able to cope with new complicated tasks. These days, car manufactures enduring interest in what many consider the ultimate environmental fuel is its latest developmental vehicle, which is based on the automaker's acclaimed RX-8 (www.ford/uk.com). Ford is focusing on fuel cells, convinced they are even more efficient and cleaner than hydrogen internal combustion engines. Instead of burning fuel in an engine, fuel cells are more like batteries, using an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity. The engineering qualities of Ford Company need high qualified staff to be the first-class after-sales service. Each Ford authorised service station is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure to handle the most critical service needs. But, every year new refreshed products appeared in the market, and after sales service staff should be familiar with all the innovations proposed by Ford. Needless to mention, modern equipment requires skilled personnel and the Ford service center needs a team of dedicated and well-trained service professional. Management staff also needs additional training focusing on employee's motivation and work design programs to help worker identify their goal and professional development strategies. Bear in mind the data it is possible to say that employees feel lack of HR support in the process of personal development. Part 3. Training should be viewed as an investment in people. This is important at a time of skill shortages and when the traditional source of young people entering the workforce will diminish noticeably in the next few years (Taylor, 1998). But training for its own sake achieves little. It must be real, operational and rewarding. Training requires the co-operation of line managers, adequate finance and resources, time, skilled staff and a supporting appraisal system. There has to be a genuine commitment - from top management and throughout all levels of the organization. Ford company should designed programs of development in accordance with the culture and specific requirements of the particular factory, production line and department, and the demands of particular managerial jobs. There should be a clear development policy together with regular reviews of individual performance and a program of career progression. Training development also requires a combination of on-the-job-training, through, for example, delegation, project work, coaching and guided self-analysis, trial periods and simulation; and off-the-job-learning. For factory workers located in less developed countries the following plan will be the most appropriate: training sessions and self-assessment programs. For instanced, through welding certification tests and welder qualification inspection, Ford Corporation grants the standard range respect following the quality system certification standards.A welder, hired by Ford, has to confirm his category passing a standard welding test. This requirement is legal, and based on the company's policy to meet high standards of performing work. That is why welding tests are necessary for type of job many workers performs. In case the worker do not meet the requirements training sessions will help them to improve their skills. The second important step will include training after sales service employees in order to familiarize them with innovations and new technologies used by Ford Company. This may include training classes organized on the factory and provided by experienced engineers in a particular field. This form of training does not need additional cost, but very effective. A particular and increasingly popular approach to management development courses is through action learning. Typically, this involves a small self-selecting team undertaking a practical, real-life and organisational-based project. The emphasis is on learning by doing with advice and support from tutors and other course members. External short courses, and further professional study are also important. It can be effectively used on all the level of training. But, the motivation for further education should be provided by Human Resource department which helps employees to identify their career opportunities and goals. This training and learning should be aimed at providing a blend of technical competence, social and human skills, and conceptual ability. This form of training is time and cost consuming. The ability to motivate and inspire employees is now a core competence for the best managers. Managers must embrace coaching as a key weapon in the war to retain top talent, because good people will stay where they feel they are growing and learning. In the Western world there is a loss of connection with the human spirit beginning to materialize, with traditional support structures such as the family and job disintegrating. In this new world people must be excited and passionate about their work in order to be creative. The effect in coaching is to insist upon 360-degree feedback, preferably, through one-to-one interview. In presenting such feedback to the executive it is possible to see clear themes in terms of performance and, equally important, in terms of perception. Training management staff is also important because organizational performance is depends much upon their experience and knowledge. One of the most basic dilemmas faced by designers of courses and by trainers is the balance between theory and practice; between what may be considered as theoretically desirable and what participants perceive as practically possible to implement. It is also important to achieve an appropriate balance between the assimilation of knowledge information and the development of skills in order to do something. In the process of investing in human capital there are certain skills that need to be developed and new competences to be acquired. It should be a team effort between the individual and his or her mentor, coach and colleagues to identify and action such development. Clearly a skilled workforce is one that can adapt readily to technical changes. Skills shortages in the Ford Company may have been responsible for the relatively slow adoption of computerized aids to manufacturing, such as CNC machines. This aspect illustrates the interaction between innovation and the labour force. Any innovation can only be effective if it is matched by a labour force having the requisite skills (Pfeffer, 1998). The development of new processes may prove even more costly if they remain idle waiting the skills of the workforce to catch up. Too often, talented workers rely on the advice and direction of others, when the person who knows them best is themselves. For the innovative Human Resource managers it is important to encourage talented individuals to regain personal control and become their own manager, with attendant support and training. Part 4. If Ford Company is to pursue a positive policy of investing in people this demands that they demonstrate a continuous commitment to training standards. Employees, for their part, should receive positive recognition for good training achievements. Cost is obviously a major consideration in any selection process. However, the costs should not be considered in isolation. They should be weighed against the costs of selection failure, either by the appointment of an unsuitable member of staff or by the rejection of a candidate who would have made a 'successful' member of staff. The financial costs of the selection process are immediately apparent and usually clearly identified, for example selectors' time and administrative expense. The contributions from an efficient and effective selection process and the benefits derived by the organisation are not readily apparent and less easy to identify (Bateman, Snell, 2004). Control is a vital part of a manager's job. Control over the performance of staff is not easy nor is it achieved without cost. The more efficient the selection process, the easier the process of control and the lower the effort and expenditure. Teamwork and co-operation are necessary ingredients of a good staff and are more likely to be achieved the higher the stability of the labour force. Better staff morale leading to improved work performance and increased goodwill will improve the quality of products produced and/or service offered and assist in meeting satisfactorily the objectives of Ford Company. In the long term the costs of improving the selection process must be more than justified in improving the effectiveness of Ford Company. Mistakes in selection are expensive, not only in the possible effects on staff morale. When Ford Company decides make investments at human capital, than it can calculate how much a sum invested today will generate in the future value. So, the question is how much Ford Company should spend on coaching to improve skills of the employees. Undoubtedly, skilled workers must be highly paid relative to less skilled workers. The concept of intrinsic value is based on the belief that what jobs and jobholders are worth is related inherently to what they are and what they do, respectively. The financial costs of the selection process are immediately apparent and usually clearly identified, for example selectors time and administrative expense (Schuler, 1998). The contributions from an efficient and effective selection process and the benefits derived by Ford Company are not readily apparent and less easy to identify. Mistake in selection are expensive, not only in the possible effects on staff moral and performance. The successful selection of the training programs and techniques will resulted in higher productivity level and lower the level of errors and faults. The advantages of investments in human capital are rather controversial. On the one hand nothing guarantees a firm will pay a high skilled employee a salary equal to his productivity. On the other hand, nothing guarantees that an employee will stay with a firm (invested in him) for a long time. In this very case the firm will loose money spending on vocational training of an employee. Use of the Potential return on investment method entails the determination of an appropriate interest rate to their equivalent present value. The cost of investment in human capital should measure the minimum return required by providers of long-term perspectives. Thus to calculate a cost of investment in human capital which incorporates both the cost of training programs and the potential return on investment, it is necessary first to calculate the individual costs of the different sources, and second to combine them into a weighted average cost. Output training is generally the province subsidiaries which, or employing an individual or investing in a new machine, will endeavour to generate output as quickly as possible (Beardwell, Holden, Claydon, 2004). The costs must be seen to reabsorb and the transaction completed in the shortest possible time if only to justify the initial investment risk. Part 5. Job evaluation schemes which purport to measure the size of jobs by attaching point scores to them are, in a sense, using points as a means of indicating intrinsic value. They appear to state that a job is 'worth' so many points. But the points have no real meaning in themselves. They are simply ordinal numbers - i.e. they define the position of a job or a factor in a series: they do not represent any unit of measurement such as output, sales, pay or hours. The problem with intrinsic worth as a concept is that there is no way in which it can be measured in absolute terms for evaluation purposes. It is all about perception - and value, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. The job evaluation is a part of competitive advantage. Its purpose is to provide a rational basis for the design and maintenance of the equitable and defensible pay structure; to help in the management of the relativities existing between jobs within the organization; to establish the extent to which there is comparable worth between jobs so that equal pay can be provided for work of equal value (Schuler, 1998). The job evaluation depends on the quality of the skills and knowledge at various levels and the quality of the employees' motivation. Ford Company relies entirely on market pricing to determine both rates of pay and internal relativities. Hiring highly skilled individuals and making investment in human resources will help to reduce occasional failure. One of the possible methods to evaluate the effectiveness of training is to compare the previous results of productivity with those after the training on all levels will be complete. And, another method is to compare the level of errors made on two production lines: by workers after the training programs and by those who have not been trained, or Ford Company can compare the previous spoilage rate (20%) with the new data. If spoilage rate will be less it means that the training program was effective. The outcomes expected from this project include: understanding the importance of training as a central role of management; the ability to motivate and inspire employees is now a core competence for the best managers. Managers must embrace coaching as a key weapon in the war to retain top talent, because good people will stay where they feel they are growing and learning. The project should raise the professional level of employees (workers and after-sales service staff), and improve the human resource management performance in order to successfully implement the training activities mentioned above. And, of course, the main outcome expected from this project paper is to motivate people to find new opportunities and achieve particular goals with the help of training programs. Two methods can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of this project. The first is to compare the financial results and production outcomes before and after the training. And, the second method is to use a poll in order to assess the employees' opinion. The survey may include the following questions: Do you find the training successful or not Why Did the program (training) help you to improve your professional skills or not Why Did you need this training or not Do you feel more confident after the training Do you need more training Field etc. It is possible to conclude that Human Resource Management, and human capital as an integral part of it, has assumed a vital strategic role in recent years as organizational attempt to compete through people. Today, firms can create a competitive advantage when they possess or develop resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized. References 1. Bateman T.S, Snell S. A. Management: the New Competitive landscape. 6th edn., McGaw Hill Irwin, 2004. 2. Beardwell, I. Holden, L., Claydon, T. Human Resource Management, London Pitman Publishing, 2004. 3. Pfeffer J. Competitive Advantage Through People: Unleashing the Power of the Work Force Harvard Business School Press, 1996. 4. Schuler, R. Managing Human Resources. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Publishing, 1998. 5. Taylor, S. Employee Resourcing. London: Institute of Personnel and Development. 1998. 6. www.ford.com 7. www.ford/uk.com Read More