Talent Planning in Operation of Business - Coursework Example

Induction Induction means different things to different people. This paper looks at organizational induction. The Concise Oxford Dictionary states that to induct, means to formally admit a person to a post or organization. Providence, a life insurance company, is employing a new Human Resource Manager. The Vice President, Insurance Operations, has invited one staff member from each department in the company, to form an Induction Planning Committee. The group will review three purposes of induction, and their benefits to both the new staff member and the organization. It will also devise an induction plan covering important areas of management, timelines, and the roles of persons involved, as well as an induction programme for the new Manager’s first three months. Queensland University of Technology has produced a document on Developing Workplace Induction, from which the Committee has borrowed some purposes and benefits of induction. These are to provide information, resources, and motivation for new employees. Information on the company’s policies, goals, and values, are vital during an employee’s first three months. These can aid the development of self-confidence and loyalty towards the company. Resources, such as a comfortable working environment, materials, tools, and personnel to assist the new employee, would be prepared beforehand. Without those resources, the employee could not reasonably function effectively or efficiently. Persons with whom he can liaise and consult for any clarification, greatly assist the employee to develop a sense of belonging. This will motivate him to seek training and contribute to the growth of the company. As the employee becomes confident that he has joined the right company, a good rapport is likely to develop among himself, his supervisor, and his colleagues. They can learn from him, he can adopt the company’s culture, and so the entire organization benefits in the end. The main purpose of developing an induction plan, and involving each department, is that the document can be a guide for the new employee. Feedback from department members is therefore very important. The Plan should allow the new member to practise new skills and use the new information gained. It should therefore have timelines for working, training, and assessment. Long before the employee arrives, the personnel who will greet, welcome, introduce him to colleagues, provide the training manual, and explain basic job functions on his first day, should all be in place. During his first month, a supervisor should maintain contact, explaining rules, expanding training, assessing performance, and providing feedback on strengths and weaknesses. After three months, an evaluation of the employee should be done by employee, supervisor, and colleagues. The new employee has undergone the foregoing. As the new Human Resource Manager, he will have to reciprocate the training, with a few additions, to future employees. These, according to Claire Blinman (2008), include providing telephone, email, and face-to-face contact, training and assessment materials for employees, training for self, and getting feedback on the induction period for future use. Employee information-gathering forms will also need to be developed. The induction program time is ideally three months. Talent Planning in Operation In any organization, the most important resources are humans. As good women are to successful men, so are talented employees to successful companies. Managers therefore need to attract the best talents to move their businesses forward, and so have to plan for them. But a talent, according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, is a natural aptitude or skill (not something that can be planned), while to plan means to “make preparations for an anticipated event.” Talent planning therefore seems to suggest making preparations for capturing natural skills. Most companies, however, appear to have a reactive approach to attracting talent. That is, they wait until needs arise before they act. In the current economic recession climate, factors affected by this approach include the need to cut costs and terminate staff, which causes good workers to become frustrated and resign, and then find that some senior managers are retiring. Those factors could send companies into turmoil, causing them to make panic decisions and exercise poor judgement in hiring replacements. Companies need to be more proactive. Joe McKendrick, in his article, “Split Decisions: How can Companies Attract Talent While They’re Still Cutting?”, posits that companies should develop human resource programs which cater to their high-potential employees, in an effort to keep them when the climate improves. He further states that Jason Jeffay, who is the principal in Mercer’s human capital consulting business, suggests that companies should become more innovative and creative in attracting talent, by detailing career paths, developing communication campaigns, and improving performance management programs (Oct, 2009). Haniel Management Solutions, in its article, “The Importance of Recruiting a Diverse Workforce”, feels that companies benefit in many ways from attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. These include: a greater pool of candidates from which to hire the best person; maximizing productivity, creativity, and loyalty of employees; greater connection between employees and customers; competitive advantage in the marketplace; and reduced turnover and training expense. Since a company is only as good as its employees, Haniel feels that branching out and expanding the recruitment ‘net’ provides an excellent opportunity for attracting and hiring the best persons. When colour, class, religion, or disability is not a hindrance, employees connect better with colleagues and external customers, and so become committed and motivated which, in turn, maximizes productivity, and creativity, and develops loyalty among employees. In that scenario, workers will not want to leave the company, resulting in less funds being spent on training new staff (2010). Two Web articles state that the factors affecting organizations’ approach to recruitment can be internal or external. Internal factors can be controlled by companies. These include recruitment policy, size of the firm, cost of recruitment, and growth and expansion. External factors, however, are beyond company control. These include the labour market, supply and demand, company’s image, unemployment rate, and competitors. The recruitment process involves identifying and attracting both internal and external potential candidates. After being identified, they are selected through a process of collecting, measuring, and evaluating information regarding qualifications and suitability for specific positions (2010). Because companies have a measure of control over their recruitment policies and the cost of recruitment, they can decide whether to hire only from within the organization. This will reduce the amount of funds spent on training, since only minimal updating might be required. They could, however, be at a disadvantage in the marketplace since, as discussed before, diversification of the workforce is much more beneficial to a company than it is costly. Further, one external factor, the labour market, could work for or against a company. With the prevalence of the Internet, the whole world has become one global village – one big labour market. This means that workers in all parts of the world have access to jobs in all parts of the world. A company which embraces a diverse workforce policy, has a better chance of recruiting, selecting, and retaining the best candidates, worldwide, for specific posts. Let’s examine some methods. Recruitment Authorisation Request To: MD From: HR Manager Date: 10 December 2010 Re: Recruitment and Selection Methods I have investigated a number of recruitment and selection methods, with a view to comparing and contrasting their benefits to our company. Consequently, I am proposing examining the following selected ones, for the reasons given: Recruitment Methods Job Centres: recruit prospects for specific sectors of an industry; make a shortlist of applicants registered with them; and supply temporary or interim employees. Head Hunting: provides a specialized approach to recruitment, as head hunters target key employees or those working in senior management. Advertisements: are found in newspapers; job postings are also done on job sites and on websites. These three recruitment methods are all capable of providing candidates for positions we need to fill. However, each is unique in that we can head hunt into other companies, or even acquaintances for key or senior management personnel. Job centres can be approached when we need temporary employees, and advertisements, because of their global nature, can provide the diversified workforce which can give us an advantage in the marketplace. Selection Methods CV and Application Form: are used to match applicants’ experience and qualifications with the jobs applied for. They are usually checked, by employers, for accuracy and veracity. Interviews: provide opportunities for prospective employers to question applicants on the experience and competencies being offered to fulfill job requirements. They also provide opportunities for applicants to give relevant examples of careers performed and studies undertaken. Employers are enabled to know about the prospects’ private lives. Ability Tests: show applicants’ abilities to do job functions, as well as their potential to perform specified tasks. With these three selection methods the company is able to match applicants’ experience, qualifications and aptitude for completing required tasks. Specifically, CVs enable the company to match experience and qualifications, ability tests show what prospects have to offer, and interviews allow the company to know candidates on a more personal level. Talent planning should be employed in companies because of the competitive advantage it affords them. Please produce a report of up to 1,000 words on the topic Talent Planning in Operation. Please ensure that you address the following issues:  • Identify and assess at least 4 factors that affect an organisation’s approach to attracting talent  • Identify and explain at least 3 organisation benefits of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce  • Describe at least 3 factors that affect an organisation’s approach to recruitment and selection  • Prepare a Recruitment Authorisation Request to the MD comparing and contrasting the benefits of at least three different recruitment methods and three different selection methods  You report must contain evidence of wider reading and of having obtained information from a variety of sources. You should include at least 3 references from relevant books, texts, websites, etc.   Works Cited Blinman, Claire. “How to Create an Effective Induction Training Program”. Ezine Articles. n.d. n. pag. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. “Developing a Workplace Induction”. n.p. n.d. n. pag. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. Doan, Tommy. “Recruitment Methods”. HR Management and Career Development. n.d. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. “Factors Affecting Recruitment”. Recruitment.Naukrihub. n.d. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. “Factors Affecting Staffing in Public Organizations: A Focus on Recruitment and Selection.” Online Distance Learning. 16 Sept. 2010. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. McKendrick, Joe. “Split Decisions: How can Companies Attract Talent While They’re Still Cutting?” Oct. 2009. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. “Selection & Assessment Methods”. SHL People Performance. n.d. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. The Concise Oxford Dictionary. 10th ed. 1999. Print. “The Importance of Recruiting a Diverse Workforce”. Haniel Management Solutions. n.d. n. pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Claire_BlinmanHow To Create An Effective Induction Training Program Web. 9 Dec. 2010. Split decisions: How can companies attract talent while they’re still cutting? By Joe McKendrick | Oct 16, 2009 | 0 Comments Web 10 Dec. 2010 Smith, Rebekah, Sophie L. Pearce, and Timothy S. Miles. “Experimental Muscle Pain does not Affect Fine Motor Control of the Human Hand.” Experimental Brain Research. 174 (3). Springer. 2006: 397-402. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. The Concise Oxford Dictionary. 10th ed. 1999. Print. The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation are: FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT http://recruitment.naukrihub.com/factors-affecting-recruitment.html Web. 10 Dec 2010 Recruitment Methods Recruitment can conduct by 9 methods as follows: 1. Recruitment by Campus method Campus is the location of a university, college, or school’s main buildings. This method is based on recruitment at university, colleges… 2. Recruitment by Job centers Job centers often specialize in recruitment for specific sectors. They usually provide a shortlist of candidates based on the people registered with the agency. They also supply temporary or interim employees. 3. Head hunting. Head hunting are recruitment agents who provide a more specialized approach to the recruitment of key employees and/or senior management. 4. Recruitment by Advertisements They can be found in many places such as: • Newspaper • Job posting on job sites • Ads on websites related to positions recruited. 5. Database search on job sites. Company can buy data from job websites for a week or a month to search candidates. 6. Employee referral This method often refer to as ‘word of mouth’ and can be a recommendation from a colleague at work. 7. Contract staffing. Company can buy staffing contract from HR outsourcing. 8. Word-of-mouth recruitment 9. Free online ads Selection and assessment methods The way staff are selected varies greatly from one employer to another.  The selection process may involve several stages. Every stage of the process should be designed to clearly assess your ability and aptitude for the job which you are applying for. The following are all methods of assessment you could come across: CV and Application Form Employers will look for a match between your experience and qualifications and the requirements of the job. Remember that interviewers are likely to ask you questions based upon the information which you have included in your CV so it is essential to be relevant, honest and succinct wherever possible. Remember that potential employers usually have at least several CVs to read through and that they will often check the accuracy of the information you have provided. Interviews Questions are likely to be based around your experience as well as the job competencies and requirements that should have been detailed in the advertisement. The key is to remember to be honest and to use relevant examples from your career, studies or private life that provide evidence to the interviewers of any skills being discussed. Back to top Ability Tests Ability tests look at the extent to which you are able to carry out various aspects of a job; for example, your verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning abilities. Often employers are interested in your potential to do a task. In this case, they may use assessment methods that aim to simulate aspects of that task (see Simulation Exercises below) Back to top Personality Questionnaires Personality Questionnaires Personality Questionnaires look at behavioural preferences, that is, how you like to work. They are not concerned with your abilities, but how you see yourself in terms of your personality; for example, the way you relate to others, and how you deal with feelings and emotions. There are no rights or wrongs in behavioural style, although some behaviours may be more or less appropriate to certain situations. Back to top Simulation Exercises These exercises are designed to simulate a particular task/scenario needed for the target job and it should be clear what kinds of skills are being assessed. Examples include: - Group Exercises - Presentations - Role Plays Where many selection and assessment methods are used together, this can be referred to as an ‘Assessment Centre.’ Back to top For information on how to prepare for an assessment process, see  Hints and Tipsto help you Understanding the selection process Hints & Tips to help you Read More