Human Resource - Roles in Team - Essay Example

Reflective Essay of the of the Number Reflective Essay My role in the team The objective of the HR simulation was to enhance current growth and performance level of a medium sized organization with around 600 employees. The firm has been experiencing significant expansion in the last few years. So, there is an increasing gap between the company pace and the department of human resource. As a result, the human resource team is given the task of improving pace of organization by setting ambitious, realistic and quantifiable goals. I was given the role of training within the HR team. The role of a trainer is one of the most difficult in the human resource department (Brotherton and Evan 25-30). According to the most traditional definition, a trainer’s main role is to conduct development and training programs for employees, staff and other members. The sign of a good trainer is that he or she is able to undertake a variety of training classes. At present, a trainer’s role is to not only provide training, but also to act as a facilitator. The focus should be on both teaching and learning (Kramer et al. 35-55). Good trainers argue that management is better learned than taught. Training influences overall revenue, competitiveness as well as performance of an organisation. However, it has been seen that whenever there is a downfall in the economy, most organisations and sometimes even the large ones compensate by cutting down training budgets. Though this step might save some expenditure, it is largely detrimental for long-term development and growth of the organisation (Dermol and Tomaž 330-340). Analysis and reflection In order to utilize the given budget in the best manner, we studied our organization case properly. It was found that due to rapid expansion process of the business, employees and workers were under great stress. There was a change in workplace environment and consequently, employees were unable to cope with the situation. This had led to high employee attrition. Also, business expansion meant that employees were given new job responsibilities and job roles. In absence of a proper and formal training program, there was a huge gap between job recruitments and skills and competencies of employees (Denby 147-150). The only type of training available was on-the-job, which was of little help as employees were already in a stressful situation because of organizational restructuring (Billett 115-130). Thus, a unanimous decision was made by our team to spend our budget in training programs. During start of the simulation program, all competitor companies were given similar rating and were allocated with similar budgets and resources. All were facing similar situations of high attrition and low employee morale. In order to differentiate our strategy from others, I allocated budgets strategically in four instalments. According to the management case study, there are various types of training programs. My objective was to choose those programs that are most effective, given the situation of employees within my firm. Budget was also a factor that influenced the choice of training programs. I selected four main training programs to be conducted during the first year. The training programs were classified according to type of trainees as well as subject. The first group consisted of newly hired candidates and employees expecting promotion. The second group was of supervisors and trainers. In the third group, accident prevention and safety programs were organized and fourth group involved establishment and maintenance of quality program (Ubeda-García, Marco-Lajara, Sabater-Sempere and García-Lillo 385-395) During the first quarter, a total of 64, 200 dollars were invested; out of which 39,200 dollars were allocated for promotions and new hires, 12,000 dollars for accident prevention and safety programs and 13,000 dollars for quality programs. The objective behind allocation was to provide proper and effective training for new employees. In addition, the level of training was majorly basic, so supervisors and trainers were not given any training program during the first quarter. Our performance during the first quarter was good. Overall, we stood second among five firms who were given similar situations. The best outcome during the first quarter was the impact on employee morale, which was highest. The training program for new employees increased their morale and confidence in the company (Reed and Vakola 395-400). Furthermore, training programs for employees expecting promotions also encouraged them to work harder, reducing number of absentees from 498 to 385. Nevertheless, this number was not the best, which meant that people still faced problems and stressful situations. Our company has the second least accident rate, which also meant fewer grievances. On the whole, objective for the first quarter was to kick start the training process and understand areas that worked effectively and those that needed further improvement (Bolton 23-45) During the second quarter, my objective was to increase skill set of the new as well as other employees. My other objective was to increase leadership and training capabilities of the supervisors and managers. Hence, I allocated 33, 400 dollars for promotional and new employee training and 21000 dollars for supervisors and manager training. I increased the budget for quality programs to 25000 dollars as I felt that with new promotions, employees will require technical quality programs. Our performance in the second quarter was mediocre. We stood third in the rankings. We were able to maintain same level of employee morale and our overall performance was steady. There was a slight fall in the unit costs of labour. However, major achievement were in areas such as, overall productivity levels, which increased from 200 to 203; accident rate, which declined from 426 to 358, thereby lowering grievances from 32 to 26. The overall turnover rate also had fallen from 9.8 to 7.9 percent. Even so, the weighted average score lowered and so did our rank. One big differentiation between our group and other teams was that we did not put pressure on new candidates and other employees by giving them extensive training right from that start. The agenda of my training program was first to analyse weakest areas among the employees and functions in which they felt least confident. For a program to be successful, it is important that training is rendered desirable for the trainees as well as beneficial for the organisation. As a result, proper amount of training and regular feedback is essential in order to ensure valuable results. After observing a steady fall in grievances, absenteeism and accident rate, it was decided that the budget on safety program will be reduced. During the third quarter, 29,800 dollars were allocated for new employees and other staff expecting promotion. This fall was prompted by less hires and less promotions in this quarter. The budget for supervisors and training was 20,000 dollars and accident prevention and safety program budget was cut down to 12,000 dollars. However, considering the need to increase productivity and performance, training budget for quality management was increased to 40,000 dollars. The training on quality was effective and there was a significant increase in quality index from 56 to 62. Also, overall employee morale increased from 60 to 68 percent, which was highest among other firms. There was a significant decline in the accident rate as well as grievances, thereby increasing overall productivity. It can be seen that my decisions in training programs were steady as my objective was to avoid risks. Any overutilization or underutilisation of the allocated budget might result in fall in performance. Unlike other teams, I decided to gradually enhance the budget for quality and promotions training. The objective was to avoid gap in expectations and outburst from employees. I also included diversity training in order to enhance the relationship between employees and reduce conflicts (McGuire and Bagher 495-500). As the management case guide clearly stated that surplus amount would not be forwarded in the next quarter, I allocated the remaining budget in this quarter. Majority of budget was allocated for accident and safety prevention program, which was 60000 dollars. Equally important was establishment and maintenance of quality program, for which budget allocated was 50000 dollars. 30, 342 dollars were assigned for training of supervisors and managers and 40000 dollars for promotions and new hires. The quality programs included total quality management as well as technological knowledge regarding equipments and software. The given budget allowed me to use creative methodologies for training employees as well as managers. For training managers and supervisors, we divided the batch into smaller groups and conducted one-to-one development sessions. In these sessions, supervisors and managers were allowed to present their individual feedback on ways to improve performance of the employees. A leadership training exercise was also conducted for supervisors and managers. Taking cue from the above training program, the training for employees was also strategically enhanced. The overall performance for the fourth quarter was best and had increased overall employee productivity significantly. Surprisingly, our performance in the fourth quarter had outflanked all others and in turn helped in substantially increasing our weighted average score. There was a significant reduction in accident rate, grievance rate as well as absenteeism. This shows that employees were more skilled and equipped with right knowledge to handle equipments and other machines. In addition, there was a notable decline in unit labour cost as well as turnover, both of which were lowest among other competing firms. The morale was highest for our firm, suggesting that employees were more confident about their job duties and were willing to perform better for their own growth as well as performance of the company. Challenges We encountered various challenges while taking up the role as well as achieving the objectives. The first challenge was designing an effective training program within the allocated budget. For this, extensive study was conducted on the present employee productivity levels as well as expectations from employees, managers and supervisors. Initial research also revealed that new employees were required to take up various management and ground level posts. As such, it was also important to provide necessary training to these new employees. Since these employees had never experienced a formal training system, resistance was high and many started to take leaves. The first half of the year also experienced high turnover, which hampered overall productivity of the ongoing training program. Final Performance Review Our performance and ranking gradually improved from the first to the fourth quarter, which was graded as top in the last quarter. When overall performance was evaluated, our team scored the highest. The major reason for a successful performance was that we paid attention to the training section, especially in the last quarter, where majority of budget was spent. The weighted average score increased from 74 to 84, which was the highest for any group. In addition, overall employee morale rate increased from 50 to 71. There was a dramatic reduction in accident rate from 494 to 195; this can be credited to the exhaustive security and accident prevention training provided. Rate of absenteeism was also lowest among other competitive firms showing a rise in interest among employees. On the whole, employee satisfaction was highest in our firm at the end of the year (Pineda 675-685). There was a significant qualitative improvement among employees at the end of first year. The instructions and demonstrations given during safety and accident prevention training ensured a safer work environment for the employees. This in turn increased operational productivity of the firm. Furthermore, less number of grievances and low absenteeism infused confidence among employees, thereby further enhancing productivity. Training in quality and design helped in enhancing overall quality. Also, overall relationship among employees bettered as they were provided a better working atmosphere. The training program also helped in fulfilling personal needs of the employees. On completion of the training program, employees were more skilled and equipped with greater technical knowledge. This training program also ensured that organisation is now able to manage any sudden alterations in human resource, without making any dramatic changes in its internal manpower. Therefore, in case of any emergency such as, employee resignation, organisation is able to fill the vacancy through internal transfers. Works Cited Billett, Stephen. “Situated learning - A workplace experience.” Australian Journal of Adult and Community Education, Vol. 34.2(1994): 112-130. Print. Bolton, Gilli. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2001. Print. Brotherton, Jonathon and Carl Evans. “The importance of the trainer: factors affecting the retention of clients in the training services sector.” Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 42.1(2010): 23 – 31. Print. Denby, Steve. “The importance of training needs analysis.” Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 42.3(2010): 147 – 150. Print. Dermol, Valerij and Tomaž Cater. “The influence of training and training transfer factors on organisational learning and performance.” Personnel Review, Vol. 42.3(2013): 324 – 348. Print. Kramer, Robin, Timothy Bartram, Helen De Cieri, Raymond A. Noe, John R. Hollenbeck, Berry Gerheart and Patrick M. Wright. Human Resource Management: Strategy, People, Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. McGuire, David and Mammed Bagher. “Diversity training in organisations: an introduction.” Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 34.6(2010): 493 – 505. Print. Pineda, Pilar. “Evaluation of training in organisations: a proposal for an integrated model.” Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 34.7(2010): 673 – 693. Print. Reed, Jacqueline and Maria Vakola. “What roles can a training needs analysis play in organisational change.” Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 19.3(2006): 393 – 407. Print. Ubeda-García, Mercedes, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara, Vicente Sabater-Sempere and Francisco García-Lillo. “Does training influence organisational performance: Analysis of the Spanish hotel sector?” European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 37.4(2013): 380 – 413.Print. Read More