Human Resource Development - Understanding Learning Theories and Learning Styles - Assignment Example

Institute: Human resource development Task One LO Understanding learning theories and learning styles The style of learning of an individual can be considered as a method by which they are considered to learn and gain knowledge. It is considered as very important to gain an understanding of different learning styles such as to learn new ways of learning and acquiring information. Team learning is considered as another discipline of aligning and developing the capacity of the team to create the results that the members truly desire for. Alignment is needed for individual and group empowerment and it occurs when the group performs as a whole. Team learning is considered as the balance between discussion and dialogue. Discussions are often considered as debate when there are different views presented and also at the same time defended. Dialogue is a process of reflection or inquiry. The purpose of a dialogue is to go beyond the understanding of an individual that cannot be achieved by only one person. There are numerous theories and models that help to better understand the dynamics and processes of learning. The key learning theories and learning styles are as follows: I) Adult Learning Theory, II) VAK Learning Style Model, and III) Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory. Adult Learning Theory The theory is considered to be of the opinion that adult persons have specific requirements as learners and they tend to learn in an environment that is considered as collaborative and problem based. It is considered that there are 6 characteristics of adult learners as follows: I) Self directed II) Autonomous III) Sharing of knowledge IV) Sharing of life experiences V) Goal oriented VI) Relevancy oriented Adult learners are considered to be actively involved in the process of own learning and in directing their goals with regard to own learning. They are also considered to bring to the table learning, opinions, knowledge, and previous work experiences. They are considered to possess clearly identified learning goals such as to structure their learning activities with regard to their goals (Merriam and Bierema 152). VAK Learning Style Model This model is of the opinion that people tend to possess a preferred or dominant learning style. In this regard, it is important to take note of the fact that numerous people are also considered to have an evenly balanced blend of three styles such as visual learners, auditory learners, and kinaesthetic learners. Visual learners are considered to learn by seeing and create clear mental images such as to retain important information. They have good visual skills and are also considered to interpret visual images in an effective manner. Auditory learners tend to learn through listening and are considered to have good auditory skills. They are considered to be good at presenting and speaking. They tend to learn best through discussions, verbal lectures, and by listening to views of other people. Kinaesthetic learners are considered to express themselves through their movement and are considered to possess a good sense of eye hand coordination and balance. They are considered to have demonstrated skills in hands on experimentation, athletic ability, and in physical coordination (Evans 79). Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory This theory is based on four distinct learning styles which can be called as four stage learning cycle. The four stages of the learning cycle are considered to be concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Concrete experience refers to involvement with people in situations of everyday life. This stage focuses more on feelings of people than on a systematic approach to situations and problems. Reflective observation refers to people understanding situations and ideas from different perspectives. This stage focuses on people’s feelings and thoughts in the formation of their opinions. Abstract conceptualisation focuses on ideas, logic, and theories rather than on feelings in an attempt to understand situations and problems. In this stage, people are considered to rely on systematic planning such as to develop ideas and theories to solve problems. Active experimentation refers to actively experimenting with the changing situations in life. In this stage, people are considered to adopt a practical approach and are considered to be mainly concerned with what really works in practical life. They are not considered to simply watch a situation (David 32). A learning organization is that organization that has developed the continuous capacity to adapt and change. Just as individuals learn, so too do organizations. It is considered as the fundamental prerequisite for sustained survival of associations that they learn whether consciously or not. However, some organizations just do it better than others. Most organizations connect in what is regarded as the single-loop learning. When errors are detected, the rectification process relies on precedent routines and present policies (Maddux 55-58). In contrast, learning organizations use double-loop learning. When an error is detected, it is corrected in ways that involve the modification of the organization’s objectives, policies, and standard routines. Double-loop learning defies deeply rooted suppositions and standards within an association. In this way, it provides chances for radically dissimilar explanations to problems and theatrical jumps in development. Proponents of the learning organization envision it as a remedy for three fundamental problems inherent in traditional organizations such as fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness. Team learning is considered as a discipline in which a group of individuals impart their experience, abilities and learning among one another as a means to improve things. Systems’ thinking is seen as a structure which looks between relationships that represent complex communications and circumstances as opposed to short-sightedness. A plan for team development is considered critical for the success of any change management process. The main goal of team management is to take a step back and then create such a condition in which the group will succeed. Learning curve of an organization is considered to be an analytical tool by which estimation of the cumulative experiences of employees can be done. Cumulative experience is a tool by which employees are considered to work faster and also with fewer costs incurred by an organization. It can be considered as an equation which contains the rate of improvement in performing a given work as a function of cumulative repetitions of the work (Anat 42). Task Two LO 2 Planning and designing training and development Team development is mainly about team facilitation, to know about the importance of effective meetings, identifying and preparing the steps needed for conducting an effective meeting. Facilitation, if not planned properly, may lead to numerous wrong things. It mainly highlights the fact that active participation among all team members and commitment are considered as very necessary for the success of any project. It includes meetings with all the key stakeholders in an attempt to conduct effective meetings with such parties. The structures of effective team based working are considered to be very important for the functioning of an organization. Effective work teams allows an organization to deal with such tasks that are considered to be complex and has also proved to be more efficient in knowledge production than that of individuals (Glenn 33-36). This has resulted in the human resource development of an organization focusing more on the improvement of team outcomes. The outcome of any team performance is largely dependent on interaction between members of a team and the affective and cognitive states that result from the interaction. The purpose of any team work is to work toward a valued and common goal of an organization. The most important aspect of effective work teams is communication between members of a team in an efficient manner. It involves the ability of each member to understand what the other member is thinking and to determine his/her intentions in an effective manner. There are numerous team development theories and this concept is not new in the modern world. These theories create an effective framework by which the contribution of each member of a team to the team’s performance and development can be evaluated and analyzed. Belbin Theory of team development Belbin’s theory in this regard can be considered as an important theory in the development of work teams. Belbin suggests that there is existence of nine team attitudes that are considered as important to success. The nine team attitudes are divided into three major categories by Belbin such as thought oriented roles, people oriented roles, and action oriented roles. Action oriented roles comprise shaper, implementer, and finisher. The shaper refers to an individual who is considered to be a highly motivated leader and possesses sound capabilities in handling pressure. He is considered to have high competence with regard to handling obstacles and challenges. His dynamism plays a huge role in encouraging others to accomplish their tasks. The Shaper is considered to display a high level of aggression which may at times hurt the feelings of others. It is necessary that work teams have a shaper for achieving the desired results but the existence of more than one shaper may be detrimental to the interest of the team as it can lead to face offs between the two shapers. Implementer refers to those individuals who are reliable, disciplined, and works very hard to fulfil the obligations of the team. They are considered to have a tough mind and a practical attitude. Implementers may be conservative and inflexible and also slow to adapt to new situations. But the existence of implementer in a team is highly desirable to turn ideas into practical action. Finisher refers to those persons who bring conscientiousness in the team. They have a constant focus on doing a job in a manner which is considered as time bound (Jey 43-46). They pay a great deal of attention to detail and on fulfilling tasks. People oriented roles comprise coordinator, team worker, and resource investigator. Coordinator refers to those confident chairpersons who facilitates decision making and tend to clarify goals. They play an important role in delegation of work to team members to achieve organizational objectives. Team workers are considered to be perceptive, mild, and cooperative and tend to be diplomatic persons. They play an important role in building cooperation among members of a team and also to avoid the possibility of a potential friction between team members. Resource investigator refers to those extrovert individuals who explore various opportunities and tend to develop contacts for the organization. They tend to possess enthusiasm, social skills, and negotiation skills. Thought oriented roles comprise plant, monitor, and specialist. The plant tends to solve complex problems through an unorthodox approach. Monitor refers to those people who are intelligent and tend to have a low achievement orientation. Their role in decision making is considered invaluable for an organization. The role of specialist is to provide the team with those skills that are considered to be rare. Tuckman Theory of team development The theory of Tuckman regarding teamwork is also considered as an important theory in this field. There are four phases in the development of the theory of Tuckman such as forming, storming, norming, and performing. Forming is considered as the initial stage in the team development process where the group members have not yet gelled well with regard to each other. Storming is considered to be that stage where the members of the group start to feel as belonging to a team. This stage comprises confrontation and conflict between team members as issues with regard to differences start to surface. This may result in losing of focus on the task that is to be performed. Norming is considered to be that stage where the group members start to grow a sense of togetherness. They collectively start to develop processes and establish ground rules to achieve the organizational objectives. Performing is considered as the final stage where an increasing focus on team relationships and task start to provide synergy (Tara 51-55). Training is considered as a process of imparting aptitude, skills, and knowledge to perform a given job in a better manner. It is said to have numerous advantages as follows: I) It has the potential to significantly improve the level of performance of an organization. II) It can result in higher productivity for an organization. III) An effective training program is considered to reduce both time and cost with regard to learning for an organization. IV) It is also considered to have significant potential to reduce supervision of employees in an organization. Training programs of an organization are also considered to have numerous disadvantages as follows: I) After being fully trained, there is a reasonable probability that employees of an organization may leave for better paid jobs. II) The financial costs of training for organizations are considered to be very high. III) Organizations tend to lose a significant amount of work time in the effort of training employees. IV) The quality of training in an organization is of immense importance in order to have any positive impact on the performance of the organization. Training is considered to be a systematic development of attitudes, skills, and knowledge of an individual to be able to discharge his duties in an effective manner (Daniel 61-64). The systematic approach to training is considered as a very important model for organizations to plan their training activities. It consists of the following steps: I) Aim of the organization: The needs and aims of organizations for conducting training sessions are to be understood first. It has to be found out what employees need to learn through the analysis of behaviours/attitudes, skills, and knowledge that are the requirements for a specific job. II) Setting of learning objectives and aims: It deals with those factors that an employee should be able to achieve after successfully undergoing the training sessions of an organization. III) Designing of training strategy: An organization should decide on a strategy such as to meet the training needs of its employees. It should decide on the key learning points that employees must learn, design courses, and send certain learning materials to trainees. IV) Implementation of the training strategy: Organizations must make a serious effort to put the training into practice such that performance of the organization is significantly increased. Task Three Lo 3 Evaluation of a training event The training and developmental activities of an organization must be appropriate for its employees and also for the situation in which the organization is currently in. Modern personal evaluation and development are considered to extend beyond the obvious knowledge and skills that are considered to be required for the job or the organization. Suitable techniques for evaluation Feedback is considered as an important technique for evaluation of employees of an organization. It is considered as very necessary with regard to progress of employees in an organization. An organization should also measure the abilities of its employees before and after the training sessions of an organization. Organizations in this regard should specifically look into improvements of skills of employees and also on the effectiveness of the training programs. Kirkpatrick has suggested a four level evaluation model which is considered to measure the following aspects: I) Reaction of employees: It is concerned about the feelings of employees with regard to the training program of an organization. II) Learning: It is concerned with the efficiency of the training program of an organization. It seeks to look into whether there is any increase in capability or knowledge of employees of an organization. III) Behaviour: It is concerned with the application of learned knowledge in practical situations by employees of an organization. IV) Results: It is concerned with the performance of employees of an organization and its resultant impacts on the business environment of the organization. Evaluation of a training event Organizations can evaluate the effectiveness of their training programs through competency learning of employees. Organizations are considered to understand the reactions of employees in a better manner at the individual level. Reactions are considered to be very important to understand what employees think of the training programs. Increased understanding with regard to improved or new knowledge, abilities, and skills is considered to be the major aim of an organization’s training programs. Data concerning the effectiveness of training programs of an organization may be considered as valuable to training department of an organization which may help them in a significant manner in serving other stakeholders of the organization (Bruce 61-64). Review of Evaluation Method The review of knowledge of employees is considered as an objective means of determining whether employees have learned the content of training in an efficient manner. Organizations should develop training questions such as to address the learning objectives of the training program. Successful training programs of an organization should focus on knowledge review of its employees in order to gain understanding of what employees have learnt after undergoing the training program of an organization. Task Four LO 4 Understand Government-led skills development initiates After a long period of deep recession and economic growth, government of UK needs to develop a system to match requirement of high skill and people driven economy in the future. Productivity and employment are crucial for ensuring future prosperity of UK. Hence the government of UK has stressed on the importance of skill policies in UK to raise skill level to achieve higher levels of productivity, employment and prosperity. The skill policy of UK is devolved and there are variations with respect to priorities, focus and delivery mechanisms across UK. There is a need to build internationally competitive skills base to compete with the rest of the world. Thrust of Government policy on skills development and training The main focus in UK was improving the supply of skilled manpower along with raising the profile of demand for skills by the employers and ensuring that skills are used for maximization of productive workforce so that the issues of demand, supply and usage of skills are taken care of. This issue of raising employer’s demand for skills is central to the Coalition Government’s Skills Strategy. Skills for Sustainable Growth, the Coalition Government’s 2010 Skills Strategy focused on moving beyond the machinery of central control and achieving the ambition for developing world class skills. The approach followed by the UK government is market based and voluntaristic with more emphasis on learner’s qualifications and training which are valued by employers and are delivered by wide range of autonomous training. There are a number of key features of Skills for Sustainable Growth (Anne E. and Martinez-Solano 23). These include: More Flexible and wider vocational qualifications, taking into account the national occupational standards, to meet the current needs of the economy. Improvements and expansions in the number of Apprenticeships with focus on higher skills levels. Credit and Qualification Framework developed with business to meet the needs of the employers, thus allowing employers and individuals to access units of training as per their specific needs. Provisioning of at least 100 million GBP government investments per year in order to support training delivered to SMEs. Establishing Innovation and new Growth fund to invest into pilot new initiatives to increase the contribution skills made for achieving growth (Nigel 10). Supporting SMEs Government of UK have made several changes in the deliver process for business and skills development. Before 1990s, emphasis was put on centralised initiatives namely Enterprises and Small Firms Service Initiative. In 1991, more emphasis was put on localised systems. After having undergone restructuring, SMEs used Business Link as the main source of publicly funded information, support and advice to SMEs in England on training, skills and business development issues. It operated through advisors working at local level and online portal. It provided a range of advices like financial advice, export advice, sale and marketing advice, innovation and technology advice, etc. But presently UK Government intends to close down Business Link. The government intends to support management skills in the SMEs since helping them grow can make full use of their workforce. The Government plans to co-fund Level 2 qualifications delivered in SMEs. It is intended to be made available for training programmes in rapidly expanding parts of the UK economy (Department for Business, Innovation & Skills 1). Training programme for jobseekers The government of UK in 2013 has come up with a new strategy aimed at improving the skills set of UK’s workforce and giving pre-employment training to young job seekers. The strategy will draw together the government’s approach to pre-job training, apprenticeships and further education. There will a new traineeship programme which will be introduced for young people aged 16 to 24 persons who have little or no experience in work. The programme will include a period of work preparation training like interpersonal skills and CV writing along with quality work experience placement, maths and English training for those who have attained GCSE grade C and above. The government will create a more joined up approach between Whitehall departments, job centres and colleges and called on employers to take their input into the development of the programme. Government emphasizes on more business involvement in apprenticeship qualifications and standards including rigorous assessments after the end of training and English attainment standardised maths. Government looked at investing £ 214 million for further education colleges to improve the quality of vocational qualifications. UK needs to have a skills system which is properly equipped with the workforce to support long term growth and compete globally. The main challenge which they face is to successfully hand over the control to the employers so that they can refocus on training industry needs and making people eligible for getting jobs and good careers (Michelle 1). Works Cited Anne E. Green, Anne E. and Laura E., Martinez-Solano. Leveraging Training Skills Development in SMEs, 8 May. 2011. Web. 28 March. 2014 < http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/49180418.pdf. > Avolio, Bruce. Full Range Leadership Development. London: Sage, 2010. Print. Cherney, Jey. Appreciative Team Building. New York: iUniverse, 2004. Print. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Millions in government funding made available to target industrial strategy skills training, 9 September. 2013. Web. 28 March. 2014 < https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-in-government-funding-made-available-to-target-industrial-strategy-skills-training. > Evans, Carol. Learning styles in education and training. London: Emerald Group Publishing, 2006. Print. Guillot, Tara. Team Building in a Virtual Environment. Virginia: American Society for Training and Development, 2002. Print. Kolb, David. Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development, London: Prentice Hall. 2003. Print. Meager, Nigel.  The Role of Training and Skills Development in Active Labour Market Policies, 12 April. 2008. Web. 28 March. 2014 Merriam, Sharan. and Laura, Bierema. Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Print. Ninio, Anat. Language and the learning curve: a new theory of syntactic development. London: Oxford University Press. 2006. Print. Parker, Glenn. Successful Team Building: 20 Tips, Tools, and Exercises. London: Human Resource Development, 2011. Print. Robert, Maddux. Team Building: An Exercise in Leadership. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 1994. Print. Stevens, Michelle. Government outlines new skills strategy, 4 April. 2013. Web. 28 March. 2014. < http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/04/04/government-outlines-new-skills-strategy.aspx. > Wentland, Daniel. Strategic Training: Putting Employees First. London: Human Resource Development, 2007. Print. Read More