Training and development - Essay Example

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Question 1 Your textbook is organized around a "Training and HRD Process Model." This model is described as having four phases to it. In this question, you are asked to describe this model and its phases in sufficient detail to demonstrate your understanding of the essentials of each phase (this does not have to be exhaustive, but must be more than minimal coverage of each phase). Answer: The Human Resource Development process has become an essential component of organizational ascent in the present diverse as well as global scenario. New skills and learning ability need to be inculcated by the senior HRD managers in their staff in order to achieve success. They need to ensure a continuous and ongoing learning process in the staff to avoid stagnation and rigid ideas. The process itself needs to be applied in a phased manner. The HRD managers should be able to establish a working relationship with the staff and they should possess skills and capabilities to train, coordinate and identify problems faced by the employees in terms of changed scenarios like diversity, global competition and necessary new skills. They should be able to identify both external and internal factors influencing employee behavior. They should be able to influence employees by leadership qualities and non coercive methods of persuasion. They should use both personal outcomes and organizational outcomes as a motivating factor for the employees. The trainee characteristics and their trainability needs to be evaluated and decisions made accordingly. Question 2 Suppose that you are the HRD manager for a large state university. Your latest report shows that faculty and staff participation in your training and development programs is down over 30% from last year. Staff levels have actually increased slightly since last year, and your budget and course offerings have remained the same. Select one of the motivation theories covered in Chapter Two. Describe the key points of this theory, and then use this theory to come up with three possible explanations (hypotheses) for why participation rates are down. Answer: The lack of participation in the training and development programs can be both due to extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The external factors which might have contributed could be the job environment and prospects prevalent in the country in the immediate future, financial strength of the students or fear of enormity/comprehension of the courses offered. The internal factors contributing to this lack of participation could be the attitudinal orientation of the students or their non confidence in succeeding in this particular field. They may not even be aware about the importance and relevance of this field in the present global scenario. These factors are however subjective and can be altered towards a positive direction by motivational means. Question 3 Select a familiar problem that you have encountered in the workplace. Use the model of employee behavior presented in Chapter two to seek to explain why this problem exists. Be specific. Answer: I work for a modern diagnostic laboratory. I encountered a problem when a relatively new diagnostic technique called ELISA was introduced in the laboratory. The laboratory technicians although well versed in routine procedures and capable were apprehensive and did not attempt to learn the new technique initially. The problem existed because a totally new concept hitherto unknown was introduced suddenly although the staff did not lack in education and efficacy. However after proper motivation, familiarization with the tools and inculcation of self belief, they were able to master the technique. Question 4 Describe at least five major differences between a pedagogical and an andragogical approach to instruction. Assume that a group of your choosing was preparing for a diversity training session. Which of these principles (from either approach) would you recommend be incorporated in the training, and why? Answer 1. The pedagogical approach of instruction refers to the traditional method of education wherein a definite predetermined course curriculum is followed and success is graded according to prescribed ability to perform in tests after the instruction phase is over, while in the andragogical approach the student is already equipped with an analytical mind to access the utility of the course content or the knowledge he or she is striving to acquire. 2. The former approach is the traditional teaching method and applies to the general methods of educating a human being from childhood to adulthood. The latter is more relevant to educate adults as they have predetermined conceptualizations about the utility and concepts of the knowledge or subject content that they are undertaking. 3. In the pedagogical method there is no initiative on the part of students and they wait for the instructor to pass on more and more knowledge and concepts about the subject under study while in the andragogical method the learner investigates in advance the reason for study of a particular subject and weighs its pros and cons before fully committing himself/herself. 4. In the pedagogical approach the success is based on achieving a particular mathematical success criterion such as grades or marks which the sole objective of the learner is while in the andragogical method success is evaluated critically by the student whether it is beneficial or not. 5. The pedagogical approach is better when teaching a subject which is totally foreign to the pupil while the andragogical model is appropriate for a well developed and intelligent psyche with pre qualifications in terms of relevant knowledge and life experiences. For a diversity training session I would recommend a blend of the two methods as I would be dealing with students who have attained a certain level of preconceived ideas and basic education. However new ideas and concepts about diversity with which they are unfamiliar will have to be delivered by the pedagogical approach. I would encourage them to actively participate in the program with ideas and suggestions of their own and initiate active discussions on controversial and interesting matters that might crop up. Question 2 An organization of your choosing has asked you to help them design and run a basic skills/literacy training program for many of their employees. What approach would you take to this training? How would you evaluate the effectiveness of this program? Answer: I would first classify the employees based on their level and role in the organization, mental and cognitive ability along with past education and experience. After dividing them into suitable groups based on the above criteria, I would design training programs based on both instructional and active participation patterns such as workshops. The program would involve multimedia presentations covering the various aspects of training to be presented by experts in the pertinent subjects. If practical skills are involved, they would be covered in workshops with actual situational analysis by the participant trainees. In my opinion, the evaluation of the employees should run concurrently with the training with short questionnaires, oral presentations by volunteer employees during the training and an informal synopsis at the culmination of the program. Question 3 Many managers and supervisors find coaching difficult to do or are reluctant to do it. What do you believe are at least two important reasons for this? How do you think the obstacles you identify can be overcome? Answer: Two important reasons for this could be lack of teaching or coaching experience of the managers or supervisors and the non cooperative attitude of the trainees due to their pre fixed notions and ideas. The first obstacle can be overcome by employing managers with the required skills in the first place. If this is not possible, then the managers/supervisors can be asked to develop the required skills and abilities with their own efforts. The second one can be overcome by following and andragogical educational approach to trainees wherein they are made to shoulder some responsibility of the training themselves. Question 6 Stress management interventions commonly focus on helping employees find ways to deal with the stressors in their lives. Yet, some experts believe organizations should modify jobs or other organizational attributes (e. g., management style) to remove or reduce the impact of such stressors themselves, rather than teaching coping skills alone. What is your opinion on this matter? Support your position. Answer: In the present era of globalization, stress can be a very important factor in the success or failure of an organization. The present scenario does not allow time for coping and recovery. I would agree with the experts who suggest organizational modifications and newer management styles. The modifications could be in the form of initially selecting only the right and properly qualified candidate for a specific position in the organization and having an adequate backup assistant for him. The time management and workload on each member of the organization should be determined scientifically and within prescribed formats for the particular position. Question 7 Your text argues that an organization needs to pay attention to career management and development with its employees. Today's job market is often "tight" with too many applicants and too few positions. How does this situation affect an organization's concern for its employees? Answer: This situation has a diluting effect on the concerns of an organization for its employees as many fresh and capable candidates are always available in the present competitive scenario and this often leads to negligence of the organizations’ attitude towards the career management and development of the existing employees. However the difference between the success and failure of a company depends heavily on these hitherto seemingly unimportant aspects. An organization which keeps tabs on the employees career and provides incentives based on the work input and the results achieved is the one that will be successful. Question 8 You have an employee who appears bright and capable yet seems to delight in being negative, critical of others and the company, withdrawn, and "above it all." They "go through the motions and do the minimal job." You can't "fire" this person for at least two years. How do you specifically "coach" this employee? Can you change this person? Answer: As this person is otherwise bright and capable, he can be coached effectively by having private and personal discussions with him by his manager where his ego is fed intentionally by making him aware how important he is for the company. However in the same discussion he should be subtly made aware of his responsibilities towards the organization and the positive impact he is and can make by not overtly criticizing others or being negative. Question 9 Compare and contrast management education, management training, and on-the-job managerial experiences. How can these be combined to create a strategic management development program? Answer: Management education involves a predetermined course content based on the past experience of the organized and civilized world. It involves a course curriculum that requires a certain level of mental and mathematical ability to master. However a person who is solely equipped with a management qualification from an institution of repute cannot be a good manager. This is where management training comes in. It involves practical hands on training at an already well managed institution or organization without the cumbersome mantle of responsibility. This gives the management trainee an insight into the duties and responsibilities he has to shoulder in a responsible managerial position. On-the-job managerial experience, however poses the real challenge to a fresh manager when the full impact of diverse problems and decision taking hits him or her. A strategic management development program is already a combination of all the three and one cannot do without the other. The three can be combined by active cooperation between management education institutes and universities and medium to large organizations which help in continuing education programs and offering employment to prospective candidates. Question 10 Assume that you work for a large manufacturing organization and that you have been asked to join a new task force charged with shifting the organization toward greater use of self-managed work teams. Currently, the organization has a fairly typical organizational structure, with a sizable number of supervisors, managers, middle managers, etc., arranged in a hierarchy. How would you recommend that the organization go about making such a major change? Identify at least two problems that would you anticipate in this change and state how you would seek to avoid them. Answer: A self-managed work team is a group of people working together in tandem in their own ways toward a common goal which is defined outside the team by the executive committee or the owners of the company. To switch an organization from a typical structure is an enormous task and needs pre analysis and preparation on part of the organization executive as well as senior managers. The organization should go about the matter in a phased manner as too sudden a change will be both unacceptable to the employees as well as impracticable. The organization should have a board meeting in which the steps and sequence of the transformation should be decided in a mutually acceptable manner. Subsequently the staff should be trained to assume responsibilities in their respective sections independently and responsibly. Fresh incentives should be provided to all the staff irrespective of cadre to make this important switchover. An independent monitoring team preferably from outside should be hired to make the switchover. Two major problems in such a switchover can be expected in the form of non cooperation from senior managers in the hierarchy who might have been tuned till now to expect full compliance of their orders irrespective of correctness. This problem can be overcome by inculcating a sense of democratic values in them and motivating them to change for progress sake. The other problem can be expected from unimaginative and un-innovative lower staff who just follow orders and do nothing else. Such staff can be educated through short term training programs in independent handling of situations arising in their respective fields of responsibility. Discussion Board Question I: Do you think the companies should express the benefit conducting HRD programs in dollar terms? Briefly describe the Return on Investment (ROI) and utility analysis approaches. Discuss the limitations of conducting ROI? How can these limitations be overcome? ANSWER: Indeed the companies should express the benefit while conducting HRD programs in dollar terms because it is more comprehensible to the general workers who might be otherwise handicapped in terms of education to understand the finer nuances of development or progress criteria which are more professionally oriented. Expressing the benefits in dollar terms simplifies the task of explaining the details to a simple mathematical formula which is easy to understand even for a novice. On the other hand multi attribute utility analysis provide a more detailed and scientific approach to arrive at a conclusion which is more rational and specific. It pinpoints the exact picture of the company which is sometimes beyond contradiction. Return of investment is a performance measure to evaluate the efficiency of an investment and can be used as a tool to compare the efficiencies of different investment approaches. In simple mathematical terms it is calculated by deducting the cost of investment from the profit and dividing it by the cost of investment. However it has its lacunas and failures in that it can be interpreted wrongly by different financial analysts who use different criteria to calculate cost. The inputs are needed to be standardized in order to obtain a true picture of the ROI as otherwise it can be manipulated to suit the user’s purpose. Discussion Board Assignment II Question: Kirkpatrick argues that training efforts can be evaluated according to four criteria: reaction, learning, job behavior, and results. Do you agree with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation? Is this always easy to conduct all four levels of evaluations? Why or why not? ANSWER: The Kirkpatrick model of analysis is a fair and scientific method to evaluate the results of training. I agree with it to the extent that it has to be followed rigorously in the set pattern and sequence. The first level should be that of ‘reactions, which has aptly been called a ‘smile sheet’ wherein the reaction of the participants to the training is evaluated. The next level of evaluation is the learning where an attempt is made to assess the extent students have advanced in skills, knowledge, or attitude. The third level measures the transfer that has occurred in learners' behavior due to the training program. Evaluating at this level attempts to answer the question - Are the newly acquired skills, knowledge, or attitude being used in the everyday environment of the learner? The fourth level measures the success of the program in terms that managers and executives can understand -increased production, improved quality, decreased costs, reduced frequency of accidents, increased sales, and even higher profits or return on investment. All these levels are measurable upto some extent . However, determining results in financial terms is difficult to measure, and is hard to link directly with training. Discussion Board Assignment III Question: If you were a manager in a shoe manufacturing plant and you were asked to design and implement self-managed work teams, what kind of intervention strategy would you use? How would you involve first-line supervision in this process? What kinds of problems would you anticipate and how would you solve those problems? ANSWER: I would go about designing these self managed teams in a step wise and sequential manner. First I would select the right candidates for the training who are not rigid with fixed notions of the work environment. A young and impressionable team would be ideal for a self managed team because they are more prone to inculcation of a new work culture. I would further assess the capabilities to shoulder responsibility and dedication amongst the participants and choose candidates for team leadership. I would then go about rigorously following an intensive training program. This would involve a workshop and training session where free exchange of ideas would be encouraged. This would be followed by making an action plan to be followed within a specific time frame to practice the newly acquired skills as a self managed group where each participant will be responsible to himself. A first line supervision of this team I feel should work with a non interfering attitude and work from a distance. I would expect initial hesitation and preliminary difficulties from such a team and I would like to use occasional pep talks by a team leader or a senior staff member to egg them on to be self reliant. Discussion Board Assignment IV Question: Define the term “managing diversity.” List the challenges faced by HRD Managers of culturally diverse corporations? What are your recommendations for HRD professionals to face those challenges? ANSWER: Managing diversity involves using human resources coming from different ethnic backgrounds in a company and directing them towards a common goal for the ultimate benefit of the company or organization which they work for. The challenges faced by the HRD Managers could be language difficulties, cultural and religious diversity, varied food habits and lifestyles and difference in faith. Such a diverse group is always difficult to coordinate as sometimes the Managers themselves are not fully able to comprehend the difficulties or problems being experienced by somebody from a foreign culture. The recommendations to handle such problems are to bring all these people on a common platform and encourage mutual exchange of ideas. Certain emotions and habits are common to all human beings e.g. humor, love for food, interpersonal relationships, etc. These can be exploited by the HRD Managers in a positive manner by arranging visits, get-togethers and training programs to bring the participants towards a common goal. Reference: 1. http://authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=3256&id=1416 2. http://www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/slf_drct/slf_drct.htm Read More