Relationship between Competitive Advantage and Training and Development in the Workplace - Example

Relationship between competitive advantage and training and development in the workplace Introduction In today’s competitive world knowledge buildinghas become very important. The impact of changes in the skill demands, demographics, people’s roles and relationships, and technologies associated with various communities and institutions forms the key drivers for the workplace learning. Workplace learning has become the major base towards sustainable development. The workplace learning has a direct link between the individual’s skill and knowledge development and that of converting them into a firm’s competitive advantage. It is not only the necessity of the workers towards gaining competencies in order to perform their job well but it is also essential for a continuous enhancement of their skills so that their productivity increases. There have been various writers who have associated knowledge building with fast capitalism, late capitalism, and post capitalism. In the highly competitive global environment there are often challenges related to lower margins and high costs which greatly affects the sustainability of the organizations. In this fierce competition that major factor that helps in retaining sustainability is highly skilled employee base. These employees who possess the best of skills and knowledge can in return provide competitive advantage to the company and even be a vital factor in the growth and survival of the organization. This essentially requires the workforce to be strongly aligned to the business strategy of the organization. If the workforce of the organization has the required capability then it influences the organization to achieve the specific goals in various areas of its business operations. The key to organizational success and sustainability is the planning that the organization should undertake for the capability building. It should be the prime concern of the organization to continually engage and develop the employees so that they provide the required support that is essential for the growth of the business in all directions. The skilled workforce is the main competitive advantage that a firm can possess, and obtaining such skilled workforce requires continuous training and development of the employees. The workforce planning of an organization should assess the vision and goals of the business taken into consideration what factors would be essential in future jobs and future service or products. It even encompasses the required planning towards bridging the skill gaps which would include formal training and various retention strategies. The workforce planning should even encompass a learning environment, which would foster informal learning and knowledge sharing between the workforce and their respective leaders. The organization can take affective measures towards recognizing the roles of their leaders and managers who can impart informal learning amongst the workforce on their job and make it an important aspect in their role. A group research that was conducted in 2012 reflected that their various factors that drive success for a firm, they are participatory decision making, leadership, quality improvements, work systems that would be team based, utilizing and developing the skills of the workforce, and most importantly learning practices into the system which involves learning from others, formal training and development sessions to enhance the skills of the workers, and knowledge sharing. Relationship between the competitive advantage and training & development in a workplace The National Centre for vocational educational research found that there are over 34.8% employers who have an employee base below the proficiency level. The performance of the employers was affected due to the employees. The major effects were increased operating costs, increased workload for other staff, and rising difficulties in meeting the service quality level to the customers. The major default towards establishing the proficiency level in the staff was a lack of proper training sessions for the staff. There were even a lack of recruitment of new employees, and internal reorganization (Appadurai, 1996). There are different authors who have been conducting research on the particular topic which states that the increased uncertainty and complexity in today’s time have made it very essential for continuous learning that the employees should undergo so that they possess the required skills that is essential in increasing the productivity level of the employees. The Growth Innovation Framework (GIF) focuses on fostering an environment for innovation. It states that organization should always develop strategies in order to shift their highly skilled employees towards continuous learning system. The framework even acknowledges that the employee relations practices and workplace relations are the most important contributor towards economic development. It forms the most essential part towards the growth of the firms. Often in today’s scenario most of the organizations aims at developing a high performance workplace. This model encompasses employees to work n semiautonomous and autonomous teams, use their soft skills, where there is a two way communication between the employees and management, and the employees should not only have the skills to outperform in their jobs but also should be motivated to do so (Billett, 2001). There are two factors that are as critical as technical skill and knowledge for the productivity of the firm they are values and attitudes the employees possess towards their work. There are different approaches that the workforce learning encompasses such as off job training, informal or pervasive learning, and structured learning in the workplace. The off job training where various learning assignments are given to the employees based on task centered activities and problem solving that has direct links with the business strategies of the organization. The pervasive or informal learning lays the foundation for informing the employees about their routines, work practices, and behaviors so that the personal identities are changed and new communities are formed. Structure learning in the workplace is a systematic learning that most of the organization opt for in which the firm enters into a partnership with an education provider who would send working professionals to the organization to impart the necessary skills and knowledge in competence with the changing global competitive scenario to the employees as well as the managers and the leaders. There even exist some principles that help the firm to develop the required competencies in their employees through support, monitoring and structuring the whole learning process (Bryans and Smith, 2000). The structuring of workplace learning encompasses job rotation, increased complexity and variety of work tasks, and even providing the opportunities to the learners for awareness of performance and skills. The structured learning in the system encompasses of participative modes of reflection and action. This includes working as a team or group where each of the individuals of the group brings in work related issues to the team. It may even involve new ways of thinking, reflecting, and feedback, talking, and making a different sense of experience gathering. This may even involve knowledge sharing between the individual of the organization. This kind of shared learning approach in the team helps in making the necessary changes in the organization. These changes that are brought forth by the team learning help in giving the organization the strength of achieving sustainability in the highly competitive marketplace. The third principle of the workplace learning is based on the mutual construction of knowledge, awareness of the roles of the workers and social learning. People frame and reframe their various experiences, experiment in different way, and seek perspectives of doing tasks. Learning is often regarded as the change in capacity permanently in the workforce. When it comes to workplace learning or training and development there are two directions to it. There can be focus on providing credentials for all learning forms and drawing more of cognitive theories which tends to be more of atomistic or rather individualistic (Dymock and Gerber, 2002). The second direction could be focusing on the workplace as a learning environment where the learning process is embedded into the production and organizational structures so that it forms an ongoing process in the organizations. A more ideal approach would be combination of the above two directions with the help of an extension theories related to learning organizations and action learning, and an ongoing refinement. There can be a major shift in terms that focus can be more on learning at group, individual, and organizational level rather than focus on individual and personal development of the workers so as to achieve the goal of competitiveness of the enterprise. The shift towards learning as an inclusive approach in the entire system is embedded into the culture, business strategy, and organizational structure rather than considering learning only as a responsibility of the human resource developers and trainers. The organizations in today’s scenario consider learning as a medium for continuous improvement. The shift can even be in the terms of considering learning more of practical knowledge rather than declarative knowledge which cannot be achieved only through communication with others. The learning outcomes are intangible which focuses on the skill development and competencies of the workforce. These competencies that are developed in the employees help the organization to outperform themselves in relation to its competitors (Fuller, Unwin, Felstead, Jewson, and Kakavelakis, K, 2007). Knowledge is not only bounded to individual workers but is spread across the networks, which requires good communication skills so that learning helps in achieving significant benefits for the company. The capability of the workforce should be such that it helps the organization to achieve the goals and vision. The employee capabilities and skills are to be aligned with the business strategy. Such capabilities help in developing the required competencies amongst the employees to perform well and in turn give the required competitive advantage to the organization. A more brief illustration of how these capabilities obtain through continuous training helps the organization to achieve goals and develop the required competitive advantage can be explained through the diagram- (Miller, 2003) People as stated in the above figure forms the most vital element in the business strategy. A business can perform well only when their employee base is strong enough in terms of efficiency and productivity. The efficiency level can only be increased if the organization has both formal and informal training programs embedded in the system. The formal training session would involve training professionals from different background who would give the necessary training to the employees in respect to the changing business environment and help in developing the required skills in the employees which would be essential in terms of achieving success in the area of their respective operations and even to achieve sustainability amongst the tough competition. Informal training would comprise of the leaders or managers of the organization sharing their knowledge and skills with their subordinates so that they build the required expertise to perform well in the system. The workforce development plan of a modern organization focuses on more of training the employee base so as to keep their knowledge up to date. This not only for the retaining the employees for a long term but also to be on a safer side as the training and development programs would impart the skills in the workforce and the highly skilled workforce would give the organization a competitive advantage in terms of increased productivity and innovative ideas for the long term success of the organization. An organization that has the goal to prosper and survive in the present day of regressed and diverse economy has found it beneficial to invest in the ongoing training and development process so as to acquire greater returns on the investment towards human capital and to improve on the productivity proficiency. According to Knoke and Kalleberg (1994) though training forms the major part of the organizational success it has not achieved considerable rank in most of the organizations. Often firms organize for training and development sessions for those individual who are newly recruited into the system, but there is not a significant mechanism for continuous training and development to the existing staff of the firm. If the employees are not reviewed on their performance and not trained efficiently than it would in turn affect the growth of the firm, as the firm would consist of incompetent employee base (Knoke and Kalleberg, 1994).  Several authors have even suggested that training programs are much more extensive in establishments where the operations take place in a more complex business environment. However according to some other studies there have been very limited research on human resource development. The study of these authors make people believe that there is little contribution that small sized companies do towards employee development. The authors in the recent years have been involved in carrying out extensive research in the fields of training and development and their effect on the employees. The training session have significant impact on the job performance of the employees which have shown by many authors who have carried research on this particular topic. The top management of most of the organizations lays emphasis on the employee performance. Employees in today’s competitive scenario are very much concerned about their productivity level and are aware of the increased rate of knowledge and skills becoming obsolete due to intense competition. As suggested by the literature the effective training and development programs for the employees so as to get more aligned towards career growth, and the potential towards career development facilitates the motivation level of the employees. The recent study conducted by Cheng & Ho states that training and development are the most important tool towards successful conflict management in the organizational system. If the company fails to provide the required training and development to its employees it would eventually result into conflict between the employer and the employee. Such conflicts can lead to various complicated scenario even to the extent of the employees making formal complaints in form of law suits against the firm. This kind of conflicts would results into increased cost for the organization in terms of energy, money and time (Gordon, 1977). When an organization restricts itself from performing from blending the training and development process in the system it even abandons them for identification of any organization conflict. Each of the business system should possess a conflict management system this would help in avoiding the disruptive process that occurs due to conflict and results into turmoil within the organization. It is extremely important that employer provides an ongoing training to its employees such that they could benefit the maximum from it and in turn through their job performance help the organization to achieve a competitive position in the marketplace. One of the interventions in the human capital development is training. Job performance can only be enhance if proper training skills are transformed into the workplace and attains stability over time with more of innovative mechanisms in the training system and continuous evaluation of how effective the training is towards the work efficiency of the employees. Training should be a generalized approach across the system which in turn would result into more of competent employee base with enhanced productivity. The training procedure differs from organization to organization and imparting specific job training in a system is a very complex method which eventually demands for professional trainers and not any kind of informal training that is imparted by leaders or the top management associated with the organization. The nature of job training is to strike a balance or to attain a positive relationship of the effectiveness of the learning that is applied on the employees and the satisfaction level that is generated through such an effective learning program. Although authors have suggested that training program is very essential for an organization but in most of the cases this is the first program that is eliminated from the business system (McGehee & Thayer, 1961). Most of the organizations focuses on enhancing the operations of the system, and design various strategies so as to overcome the competition but puts very less emphasis on training their employees who are the actual contributor behind the success and growth of the organization. In order that the firm performs well in the competitive scenario it is very important that the organization should focus on the development of the human resource along with various business operations. During the economic downturn it is often observed that the organization’s cut down on the training programs but such a strategy is only for short term. It could be effective only if the training programs did not resolve much of the conflict in the organization and even did not affect the job proficiency level. The employees relate the training programs to their job proficiency level and such a perception should be taken into consideration by the organizations who are interested towards business growth in the market place. The technical proficiency training and offerings of soft skills such as effective communication, leadership and coaching form the major competitive advantages for the organizations. Several authors have even highlighted on the importance of staff development. The informal and formal training opportunities both form the basis of talent development. The competitive advantage of the performance is only attained when there is proper nurturing of talent. The relative strength of an individual’s involvement and identification into the organization or the organizational commitment majorly depends on the effective development and training programs in the organization. According to some of the authors the organization focusing towards long term growth and sustainability makes provisions on developing effective training modules so as to satisfy the needs of their current workforce towards training. The adequate training programs enable marked improvements in the performance proficiency level, enhanced employee communication and more of retention time for the employees. If the employees are retained into the system it ensures that company has no additional cost towards training and recruitment of new workers. The existing employees of the organization have the required knowledge that is essential for the effective functioning of the business system. The knowledge base of the employees can be enhanced by providing them some of the extra training that is essential to survive in the highly competitive business environment. The competency level of the employees can only be increased if the organization takes the initiative of imparting the necessary skills into the employees that are at par with the skills that are possessed by its competitors. A firm can attain competitive advantage only when they possess some features that cannot be duplicated by their rivals (Sahinidis & Bouris, 2008). This kind of advantage helps the organization to diversify in various areas which would not be so easy for its competitors. As stated earlier the human resource is a major source of this competitive advantage. If the employees of the firm do not possess the required competencies that it would directly impact their job performance. A poor job performance would eventually result into decrease in the productivity level of the organization. Hence, competitive advantage can only be achieved if the organization imparts training and development sessions into the organization as an ongoing process. When the organizations target towards implementing programs based on increasing the effectiveness of communication with the co workers it results into forming positive working environment and increased profit margins for the organization. It is well observed that those employees who possess good communication skills can acquire more information related to job performance in terms of technology and procedures that in turn results into more of accountability and responsibility which enhances the proficiency levels of the workers in the organization. Training and education have been causing a significant positive impact on the job involvement, job satisfaction, and even on the organizational commitment. Some studies have been tried to establish relation between training and attitude. The stakeholders of the organizational process can only be those employees who possess a positive attitude, and this attitude even benefits the employees in terms of job accomplishment. On the other hand organizations can achieve success only when it has been able to establish a partnership between the management and the employees. Such relationships help in removing all of the conflicts in the system and aims at increasing the productivity level of the overall system. This kind of partnership encompasses continuous learning and more of teamwork activities. The employee engagement is the vital factor towards the growth of the organization (Holton & Baldwin, 2000). When the employees engage themselves in the problem solving and decision making then it results into development of organizational trust. Businesses and corporations needs to achieve continuous innovation and growth as well sustained in the highly competitive environment by quickly adapting to the changing scenario of the external competitive environment. In order to achieve such sustainability in the highly competitive scenario organizations need to continuously expand and strengthen the skills, abilities and the knowledge base of the employees. This eventually requires incorporating a systematic and formal training program into the system so that the goals of the organization are aligned to the goals of the employees. According to the present study, training has been considered as an intervention tool that helps in enhancing the job performance of all of the individuals in the organization. Training is regarded as a measure of improving the skills of the employees so that the probability towards achieving the goals and objectives of the organization is increased. Positive training to the employees helps in reducing the level of frustration in them which they would have been otherwise encountered during their employment career. The continuous learning process and the employees being committed to this process have been observed to have higher levels of job satisfaction. This job satisfaction always has a positive impact on the performance of the employees. The employees feel more determined to work for an organization that takes effective measures towards the skill and knowledge development of the employees. The job satisfaction is defined by some authors as a positive mental state that occurs when the employees are having desirable work experience or a positive appraisal in the work environment. The training and development sessions according to the literature is required for successful completion of job and enhanced job performance and results into high commitment of the employees towards the organization. This high commitment of the employees is the major source of the competitive advantage as it leads to achieving the goals of the individual which are aligned to the vision of the organization. The success and growth of an organization depends on the competency level of the human resources of the system which can be maintained and acquired through well formulated and designed training and development programs. If the gap between the actual skills for job performance and the required skills for performance of the task is large it would eventually result into more of employee turnover in the organization due to lack of job satisfaction. The employees may not always have the required skills for successful completion of a task in such scenario it is the duty of the organizational leaders to identify the areas where the employees are lacking in their performance and improve them through specific job training. If the employees do not possess the necessary skills for performing their job properly than it would greatly affect the business by putting it at a position below the competitive advantage which would make it difficult for the organization to survive itself in the highly competitive business environment. Training and development is not only necessary for imparting the required skills to the employees but also retaining the employees. As already stated training helps in increasing job satisfaction of the employees, and is the employees have a considerable satisfaction then they would not be keen towards leaving the organization. This would in turn help to decrease the employee turnover rate (Claxton, 2006). If due to lack of training employees leave the organization for future career development than it would affect the organization very badly as then even more training would be required to be given to the new employees and it would eventually affects the bottom line of any business operations. Hence the job training that may be formal or informal is very much essential n order to avoid any conflict in the system or to enhance job satisfaction. There is no such literature that have been able to link job satisfaction with training but it has been often argued that well trained employees are more capable in satisfying the needs of their customers or other employees compared to those who have not been given appropriate training in the organization. The effective training has certain benefits such as productivity, reducing risk, quality, alignment, empowerment, professional development and teamwork. An effective training helps in enhancing the methods that the employees utilize in performing their jobs which ultimately increases the productivity of the employees. This in turn helps in reducing the overall labor costs and hence make the organization more profitable. Training provided to the employees in relation to quality would result in fewer returns and improved quality. This result into operation cost reduction and increased profit margins. Training that is associated with focusing on different methods that the employees can utilize in performing their jobs makes the employees perform well and reduces the need for any kind of supervision (Eraut, Alderton, Cole & Senker, 1998). Training should be such that it is able to provide a significant alignment between the objectives of the organization and that of the individual. If the employees do not have a clear understanding regarding the actual needs of the organization and how to provide it employees would not be able to perform work efficiently. Effective training should be provided to the employees so that they are able to recognize the risk factors that are associated with the organization so that they are able to apply tactics to deal with the risk properly. Proper learning should be given to the employees on how to work as a team. Continuous learning helps in professional development of the employees. The training would impart in the employee the up to date practices so that they are able to take effective actions in various unique conditions (Hager, 1998). There are certain intangible elements that contribute towards creating value for the organization apart from the work processes and the patent that the company holds. Such intangible elements cannot be duplicated by the competitors and hence adds the real value to the organization. Training has got a very strong relationship with the employee retention. Often organizations consider training as one form of investment. Whenever there is an increased skill and knowledge in the system it helps in managing various jobs effectively. If the jobs become manageable then it would help in decreased stress level, which in turn would help in reducing the overall employee turnover in the organization. The training and development programs are based on certain objectives. Firstly it is the identification of the goals and objectives by the organization and then assesses the performance level that would be required by the organization in achieving those goals. Secondly, is the determination of the existing gap within the organization in terms of the actual performance level and the required performance to achieve higher profit margins and sustained growth? Thirdly is to develop the required strategies so as to meet the current needs of the organization as well as the future needs of the system (Illeris, 2003). The real flavor of empowerment in the organization comes from releasing the experience, knowledge, and the motivational power that are already prevailing in people but are not utilized properly. Conclusion Rapid innovation is one of the most important tools that are required for sustainability of any organization in the intense competitive environment. In today’s scenario there are different breed of workers for creativity. These works have the demand for their needs to be satisfied and an enthusiastic environment that attract them. The traditional work environments that the organization had in the past half century do not suit the work patterns of today’s scenario and the demands of the workers. The effective workplace environment of today’s scenario is entirely based on knowledge sharing. This kind of knowledge sharing helps in enhancing the productivity level, accelerates the rate of innovation, and improves the quality level in the business operations. The effective functioning of business operations requires considerable support from the employees. The support can only be productive when the employees possess the skills in order to deliver. The employees who have been recruited may possess the required knowledge in relation to the task he/she have to perform but the up to date modern practices can only be delivered by the organization through training and development programs. Human resource is the most vital element that forms the pillar on which the success and sustainable growth of the organization lies. Employees can only deliver the best of their ability when they have been trained towards the job they are performing. The human resources of an organization are their intellectual property which helps in achieving competitive advantage. The training strategy should be such that it not only imparts the necessary skills amongst the employees but also develops a platform for effective knowledge sharing. This kind of knowledge sharing helps in creating more of transparency in the organization and reduces the conflict level within the organization which is otherwise very much prevails in the system. The training and development helps in reducing the overall cost in terms of operation, turnover etc and contributes towards increasing the efficiency of the organization. This research study is based on the available data relating to the competitive advantage and workplace training. The literature review clearly states that there is a strong relationship between the job performance and job training or between the employee attitudes and training. The competitive advantage of a firm can only be achieved when the workforce of the firm possess highly competent skills and knowledge. These skills and knowledge can only be attained when the organization takes the initiative of designing training programs. Thus it can be stated that training and development in a workplace has direct links with the competitive advantage of the firm. The highly skilled workforce would perform their work much more efficiently and would help the organization to reduce the overall cost and achieve higher profits margins. To sustain in a highly competitive environment it is not only important to have the best of business processes but even to have the best of human resources. This can only be achieved by the learning process a continuous process in the system which not only encompasses imparting the knowledge to the employees but also evaluating it so as to analyze how affective is the training and development programs, and whether it is being able to achieve the goal of bridging the gap between the actual performance of the employees to the required performance level for any tasks. 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