Human Resource Development at LightCo - Report Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RegistrationNumber: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Title: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ©2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Transmittal Letter…………………………………………………….………..3 Introduction……………………………………………………………….…….4 Induction of new staff…………………………..…………….……..….………5 Creation of Good working Environment………………………………….…..6 Development of leadership skills……………………………….…….…….….7 Motivation in the organization………………………………………..………..9 Development of team and Interpersonal skills…………………………….....11 Evaluating the Interventions…………………………………………………..12 Conclusions & Recommendations…………………………………...…..…….13 Bibliography………………………………………………………….…………14 Letter of Transmittal Student’s name & full address, Registration number, Course, University. The lecture’s name & contacts, Department, University. Dear Sir/ Madam RE: SUBMISSION OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PAPER Kindly find attached by piece of work as per your request. It entails the analysis of the theories and related human resource development strategies that are essential in identification of the training needs of employees as an initial step in the promotion of the better management strategies. The work clearly identifies the major training needs and their modes of intervention and analysis; a fact that has been neglected in various human resource managers’ manuals. The purpose of submission of this document is to enable you to mark it as part of the requirements for this course on Human Resource Development. Yours Sincerely Student’s name & Signature Introduction Human resource development and management is considered one of the most advancing and growing departments of any given organization whether it is profit making or not( Ehrenberg, & Smith,2001). Business proposal experts argue that the success of any organization is entirely dependent on the techniques and methods put in place for the management of employees in part particular organization. This is the responsibility of human resource managers to ensure that there is a correct structure for human resource development for training of the workers (Swanson, 2001).This report seeks to address light company issues as one of the major companies which entrusted with the role of distribution of electricity. The analysis is with respect to human resource development ranging from the time new employees are recruited into the organization, the nature of the quality of services that they are given, ways through which the company helps the employees develop their own interpersonal skills as well as their own development of leadership skills. The other section of the report seeks to address in a detailed format how the previously mentioned subjects of the report are properly addressed in relation to the various interventions that may be put in place as well as their effectiveness. The overall purpose of this paper therefore is to demonstrate the key issues in the understanding of the concepts of human resource development and management (Bassi, 1996). The various training needs may be focusing on the individual level, the organization and the assigned task. The training needs analysis types includes, the proactive approach where all the major emphasis is focusing on the organizational future goals, the principle of democratic preference that provides great opportunity for socialization between the managers and other workers, performance deficiency that clearly identifies a gap between what the organization is actually achieving from that it is supposed to achieve and the diagnostic audit approach that focuses on the future challenges of the organization rather than the existing problems facing that particular organization (Cronbach,1999). Induction of new staff “Normative Decision Making Theory” Entails decision making processes by the managers through a logical sequence with the overall objective or goal of reward maximization and reduction in total production and maintance costs. Some of these include: “collecting and sorting information about potential solutions; comparing each solution alternative against predetermined criteria; ranking possible solutions; and finally, selecting the optimal alternative”. At LightCo the socialization process is in line with the organizational culture and history of the company. The company has the audacity to show concern to organization’s socialization process which eventually creates an enabling working environment for the new employees of the company in building confidence while discharging duties of which is always reflected by positive results realized by the organization. At LightCo new recruits are first given an overall orientation of the usual daily activities of the company and then organized into their specific units and working groups. These working groups provide an interactive environment to both the coworker s (unofficial) and their superiors officials (Kramer, 2010). Exposure to the different company activities and working in different units and groups is one of the company norm that would enable an employee continue working successfully at LightCo .It is through units and groups that an employee comes to understand the values that are embraced at the company enabling them to achieve a forward progress with fellow coworkers as w ell as their superiors. LightCo Company embraces a cordial relationship among its employees. Therefore every employee is required to maintain this good relationship in order to succeed in its or her endeavourer to accomplish its or her assigned work. This will enable an employee to stay for long at LightCo Company (Kramer, 2010). Creation of Good working Environment “Behavioral - Decision Theory” Encompasses the emotional environment and status that may concern the organization’s ability and the consequences that such decisions may have on the work performance of other employees and the overall goal of the organization. The environment in the workplace determines the success of good working relationships. The idea of the fear of attending to the workplace is not appreciable among the majority of the workers. The reduction of the work load among the workers and their employers will help solve this situation because the stress that is associated with work is significantly minimized that may result to the unpleasant environment of work (Seligman, 1999). The human resource development is dependent on the extent of the friendliness of the environment of work. The creation of the environment that is friendly depends on the styles of leadership in addition to the efforts of improving the motivation of the employees. Initiative in addition to creativity are required if this has to be accomplished (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The management strives to hire the employees who are upbeat and positive so as to derive enthusiasm in the work. Although it is impossible for the employees to be cheerful throughout their working life, it is good to promote a sense of self confidence among the employees and make them realize their abilities in an attempt of creating of the positive attitude as they work. The employees are treated in a manner that they are coworkers and also adults. They are therefore trusted and held accountable for the time as well as the decisions that they make. Although some parameters of work should be set, the responsibility of the employees should be trusted by the management (Brinkerhoff, 2000). The temptation of the participation in the conversations that may result to a toxic workplace is avoided. The rumors related to the changes in the workplace are dismissed that may bring about some fears because most of the people fear changes which in most of the cases results to a decrease in the morale of the workers. The thorniest issues are addressed in a direct manner. In the case that the performance of the employees is appreciable, it is usually good to show a sign of appreciation. This is a gesture that is good and it has some important implications in the process of initiating innovations in the organization (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Development of leadership skills “Rational-Economic Evaluation Model” Assumes the fact that all aspects of decision making including definition of salary scales involves the consultative approach but based on the organizational structure of the organization. The success in the human resource development and management in an organization depends to a great extent on the extent of the management of team work through the adoption of the most appropriate styles of leadership. The understanding of the appropriate styles is important towards the development of distinct styles that leads to more efficient leadership performance that will bring about innovations in the organization (Dickinson, 1999). Leaders need therefore to understand the various leadership theories and decide on the ones to adopt and which ones to abscond (Douglas, 1998). For example, in the case of a type of leadership that is characterized by autocratic leadership, there is a tendency by the leaders to exercise absolute powers on the subordinates as well as the teams leaving a minimum room for their suggestions irrespective of the benefits that is anticipated from the suggestion so the workers. This is consequently detrimental to innovations (Holton, 2004). Majority of the workers would not perform well under a treatment of this nature. Autocratic leadership is therefore likely to increase the rate of work place absenteeism in addition to a high rate of the turnover of the employees. In the case of the routine as well as the routine chores in the organization, there may be a high level of ineffectiveness as a result of the advantages that are attributed to the control tending to outweigh the potential advantages (Cascio, 2000). “Naturalistic- Decision Theory” Another possible approach of leadership is the bureaucratic style of leadership. It involves the application of the naturalistic theory that governs the application of decision making tools and policies that are in line with the organization. They use the rules of the organization in a manner that is rigorous in an attempt of ascertaining that all the procedures that are required in the workplace are adhered to precisely. This style can only result to innovations in the situation that there are safety risks that are involved in the work. This includes working with the use of machines, the use of toxic substances, involving huge amount of money and positions of work that are dangerous. This type of leadership style is partially implemented at the New York City fire fighting department. Success among the followers in the organization highly depends on the output of the charismatic leaders and therefore they are supposed to show a high degree of responsibility in addition to a commitment on a long term basis (Doppelt, & Bennett, 2000). Good working relationship in the organization is achieved through the adoption of the laissez-faire style of leadership in which case the workers are given the freedom to do what they have been taught are the requirements of the organization. The role of the leaders in this style is monitoring the achievements of the workers followed by a regular communication of the effectiveness of their performance. This works best in the situation that the workers have a high degree of experience as well as skills (Reiss, 2004). Good working relationship within the organization is also be achieved through the adoption of the task oriented style of leadership. This is more similar to the autocratic style in that the people are made to get the work moving through an active definition of the work in addition to the roles that are required of the people. The structure of the work is also reflected and a more active role is taken in planning, organizing as well as monitoring. One defect of this style is that lack of the consideration of the welfare of the workers that may result to a high extent of flaws that are evident in the autocratic style of leadership as a result of the difficulty that is associated with the motivation as well as the retention of the staff (Seligman, 1999). Motivation in the organization Motivation by definition is perceived as the activation or the process of instilling energy among individuals who are originally oriented to the goals they are meant to per take within a given organization. Motivation was initially used in the management of humans but the knowledge has now been extended to animals as well. Motivation falls under the category of extrinsic or even intrinsic. The role and the responsibility of a manager are to find the best way possible through which things can be done (Reiss, 2000). The achievement of the objectives requires that the manager motivate the employees. It is imperative to consider that no formula exist in as far as motivation is concerned. As stated by Maslow in his theory of the hierarchy of needs the manager is fully entrusted with the responsibility of knowing the levels in which each of his employees fit so that he can find the best way possible.”This is easier than done”. Having said all these, it is important to note that the subject of motivation is not yet clearly understood by humans. In order to understand motivation, one needs to understand the human subject in relation to his needs (Ehrbar, 1998). Human nature can be very complex on one side and very simple on the other side depending with the amount of effort and the interest the manager has put in place to understand his employees. The workers at the New York fire department are motivated through appreciations and presents as a way of showing recognition for their good services. Yet another motivation method that is working and is practiced at the New York fire department that directly translates to good performance among the employees is giving rewords to the successful employees. A significant extent of opposition has been evidenty as most managers find it extremely had to define success with work performance. Some argue that success should not be relative to the other person’s productivity but rather to the productivity of what that particular individual would have achieved. According to the arguments of some people even the poor performers have to be rewarded for their minimal contribution. It still rests with the manager to determine what motivates his employees best at different categories of individual (Swanson, 2001). Motivation can only be achieved if there is a correct balance between effective communication channels, as well as provision of incentives. The following are some of the tactics that may be applied within that organization. It is still imperative to note that the same technique may not suit or motivate every individual since each person is motivated differently by different forces (Reiss, 2004). The first one is to desist from using threats on employees as this may instill fear, depression and job insecurity on the individual. Provision of rewards for pleasure is yet another method of motivating employees in the organization. This is also to say avoid rigidity by giving the employees an opportunity to earn more for whatever they do by earning more for you. This can be done by giving opportunity for overtime and its associated rewards (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Development of team and Interpersonal skills (Bounded - Rationality Evaluation Model) The theory or the model attempts top engage the employees in decision making through the creation of several departments. Instilling a culture of team spirit to the employees so that they may be able to identify with one another and at the same time enjoy the job by developing love for the kind of work they do. Lean to recognize all sorts of achievements that the employees have made and made them aware of that as well as developing the culture of trust and laying confidence in them. Give the employees another opportunity of facing the challenges of the organization by making them part of the challenges as well. This will enable them appreciate the constraints and the challenges that are faced in the business world. One of the best ways of dealing with the employees is by keeping all the major channels of communication open so that in case of any problems in the organization they are involved in all aspects of decision making process (Reiss, 2000). Evaluating the Interventions (Log Frame or logical framework method) After the identification of the human resource development needs in terms of training in the most effective leadership skills, motivation approaches, creation and maintenance of interpersonal skills in the organization, it is therefore essential that a curriculum or structure is developed by human resource development managers on the steps through which implementation would take place. During the implementation phases of the program, various monitoring and evaluation tools are used to evaluate whether the project is achieving its objectives. One of the commonest tools used in that of the logical framework that provides for the inputs, outputs, indicators of objective achievement and any possible means of verification that whatever training need being sought is properly achieved. Conclusion & Recommendations The work clearly identifies the major training needs and their modes of intervention and analysis; a fact that has been neglected in various human resource managers’ manuals. It is therefore critical for various organizations to carry out various researches in human resource development and need assessment to ascertain how best the employees can perform to enable them achieve their objective and that of the organization. Bibliography Bassi, L.1996. The ASTD training, Alexandria,: ASTD Press. Brinkerhoff G, 2000. New directions in program evaluation: evaluation of teaching programs in the business plus industry. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Cascio, W. 2000. Costing human resources: The financial impact of behavior in organizations. Cincinnati: South-Western Cronbach, L.1999. Psychological tests and personnel decisions. 2nd edition Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Dickinson, K.1999. An analysis of the sensitivity of quasi expenmental impact estimates of CETA programs. Evaluation Review, 11 452-472 Doppelt, J, & Bennett, G. (2000). Reducing the cost of training satisfactory workers by using tests. Personnel Psychology, 6, 1-8. Douglas, H.1998. The theory of wages. New York: Crowell-Collier & Macmillan .Deci, L. & Ryan, M., 2000.Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior, N Y: Plenum. Ehrbar, 1998: The real key to creating wealth. New York- Wiley Ehrenberg, R., & Smith, R. 2001. Modern labor economics: theory and public policy. 5th edition Knghts, P., & Willmott, R., 2007, organizational behavior and management, N Y, Plenum. Holton, F. 1997. The flawed four-level evaluation model. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 7 5-21. Holton, F. 2004. Implementing evidenced-based practices: Human Resource Development Review, 3(3), 187-188. Reiss, S., 2000, Basic desires that motivate actions and define personalities, N Y, Tarcher/Putnam. Reiss, S., 2004, "Multifaceted nature in intrinsic motivation", Review of General Psychology 8 (3): 179–193. Swanson, R. 2001. Assessing the financial benefits of human resource development.Cambridge, MA Seligman, M., 1999. Learned Optimism. New York, Alfred A. Knopf. Read More