Performance Appraisal and Training and Development - Assignment Example

Performance Appraisal and Training and Development Institution Name Introduction The Resource based view (RBV) states that employees are among key resources that an organization can use in order to attain its objectives and maintain a competitive advantage. Consequently, it is the role of the Human Resource Department to ensure that employees can perform effectively to guarantee the survival of the organization and the attainment of the stipulated organizational objectives. Two fundamental human resource functions that handle the issue of employee performance include; performance appraisal and training and development. This paper seeks to critically evaluate the relationship between appraisal and training and development, and how the effective integration of these HR functions is necessary to achieve long term organizational strategies. Performance appraisal is defined as a formal and periodic evaluation of employee performance with the objective of discovering how and why the employee is currently performing on the job and how they can improve their performance in future in order to meet organizational objective (Randhawa, 2007). Training and development (T&D) on the other hand is a planned and continuous effort undertaken by the management in order to improve the performance and competency levels of employees. Training is mainly designed to offer employees with knowledge and skills required for their current jobs. Development on the other hand entails learning that looks beyond the current job and is more long term (Mathis and Jackson, 2000). One existing relationship between performance appraisal and employee training and development is that the information gathered from the process of performance appraisal reveals the training and development needs of employees. By periodically evaluating the performance of the employees and highlighting the main areas of weakness, Human resource managers are able to identify the training needs of employees. Performance appraisal is therefore part of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) which is vital process undertaken before conducting training (Kleynhans, 2010). The needs analysis identifies the areas of performance that require initial training or additional training. In addition, it also identifies the employees require training and the specific skills they are to be trained on. A case in point Telstra; the leading communication company in Australia, which is greatly dedicated to the continuous training and development of its workforce due to the competitive and dynamic nature of the information and communications technology industry. The company therefore undertakes performance appraisal by conducting two informal quarterly reviews on employee performance and a formal half yearly and yearly review that mainly targets leadership and business results. The findings attained from the performance appraisal process are then used to conduct a skills gap audit and a training needs analysis to identify training areas that need to be addressed across every area of business operations (Telstra Corporate Social Responsibility, 2006). It can therefore be stated that a performance appraisal is significant in the identification of training needs. Performance appraisal and employee training and development are also related in the sense that by conducting performance appraisal, Human resource managers are able to identify the type of training and development programmes that are to be offered to employees. Brown, (1998) highlights that identifying a training program that is to be used for employees can be difficult if one has not identified the training needs of the employees and the areas that require training. Thus, conducting appraisals is useful in identifying employee training needs which further assists designing suitable training programmes to meet those needs. In most cases the employees have different training needs which should effectively be catered for by the training by the program. For instance; a suitable case to highlight how performance appraisals can assist in the designing of training and development programmes is that of Vero Insurance Intermediate, which is part of Suncorp Group. The company mainly conducts business by selling a broad range of insurance products. The company was faced with the challenge of competing in the market due to the huge number of insurance companies in the market. Findings of performance appraisals revealed that the management was supposed to have high level negotiation skills and relationship skills and also the ability to place the company as the first choice suppler of insurance products. In order to improve the performance of the management the Human resource department prepared an action plan which involved conducting a three phrase training program. The first phase of the training involved; working with the management in order to come up standards for broker visits and sales. The second phase then involved implementation of the standards through conducting a series of workshops for the managers. The workshops were to ensure that the managers have the ability to coach, assess and improve performance. The third phase then involved transferring the skills learned from the classroom to the actual workplace (Prosell, 2013). An additional relationship between performance appraisal and employee training and development is that both support the performance management process. Performance management is a continuous process that is focused on improving the performance of the employees in order to attain organizational objectives. Both performance appraisal and training and development are majorly geared towards improving the performance of the employees. Performance appraisal for instance seeks to identify the gaps in performance while training and development works towards improving the existing gaps in order to ensure that the employees are more productive. For example; as part of its performance management strategies, Telstra conducts performance appraisal of its Customer Service Representatives through the use of a continuous monitoring program referred to the task master. Whenever a customer calls the CSR, one receives a message saying, ‘’ This call may be monitored for the purposes of staff training. ‘’ This basically implies that someone may actually be listening to the call in order to evaluate how the CSR will handle the call. After listening to the call, the team leader or the supervisor writes a report that highlights how each employee answered the call in the previous month, how much time the call took and how long the CSR took before answering the call. In the event that the performance of some of the employees were not up to the set standards of the job description, then the employees are bound to be trained on the identified areas (Armitstead, 2009). When appraisals are conducted and employees are well trained, they can perform their work more effectively, they will need less supervision, they are bound to make few errors and develop positive attitudes which are bound to improve the performance of the organization. Duggan (2014) also argues that training and development should prepare managers in conducting effective performance appraisals. Training and development activities can be developed in a manner to support the process of performance appraisal through the establishment of an ongoing process of communication between managers and employees. Managers should therefore be trained concerning how to conduct effective performance appraisals for the employees. By learning how to define performance measures, job responsibilities and competencies, managers can ascertain that the process of performance appraisal works towards improving the performance of employees. In addition, gaps that exist when conducting training should result to the development of recommendations that can still be evaluated during the performance appraisal process. How the Effective Integration of Performance Appraisals and Training and Development Is necessary to achieve long term organizational strategies Organizational strategies can be described as the actions in which an organization intends to undertake in order to attain the long- term objectives of the organizations. A combination of these actions therefore makes up the strategic plan. It can take almost one year and above to implement the strategic plan. The top management is charged with the responsibility of developing the larger strategy while employees on the lower levels adopt the plans and goals in order to fully implement the strategy (Johnson, 2014). The effective integration of performance appraisals and training and development is vital for attaining long term organizational strategies based on the fact that when both processes are well integrated, the Human resource manager is able to identify the training needs of the employees, after which training is conducted, and then employee performance is bound to improve. In the event that the performance of the employees is improved the employees will be able to work effectively in order to implement the long term strategic objectives that are set by the management. Saks (2010) discloses that organizations that have expanded their training programs have realized gains such as an increase in their operational profits. Such companies usually spend about 6% of their revenue on training and receive a 57% increase in profits from every employee trained. Also, other studies such as those conducted by Russell et al (1985) reveal that investment on employee training is essentially in improving areas such as team work, problem solving and inter –personal relations which further results to increased outcomes such as an increase in the volume of sales and also maintaining a competitive advantage in the market. It is through conducting performance appraisals that training can be conducted thus in order to achieve the long term organization objectives then the two processes have to be effectively integrated, as key actions that assist in attaining the long- term organizational objectives. Also it can be stated that the effective integration of performance appraisals and training and development is vital for attaining long term organizational strategies because both training and development and performance appraisals can collectively bring about keenness in the quality process that is performed by the workforce. It is clear that training should mainly target the areas in which the employees are weak and which hinder employees from performing their tasks effectively. Performance appraisal on the other hand offers a clear picture on the existing weakness that employees have and those that greatly require training. Therefore it is vital for performance appraisals and training and development to complement each other, when this occurs then the two processes can collectively ignite a sense of keenness by employees when performing their tasks. Employees will therefore work to ensure that the performance appraisal process does not reveal their weakness in the same areas where they were trained. By avoiding a repetition of the area of weakness the quality of work done by employees will be of quality. Quality work may in the long run accomplish long term organizational strategies such as quality customer services and also maintaining a competitive advantage (Farooq, 2011). Similarly, the effective integration of performance appraisals and training and development is vital for attaining long term organizational strategies based on the fact that it facilitates the development of a progressive and consistent learning environment. Organizational learning involves a continuous process that enables employees to acquire skills and competencies that can enable them to cope with the changes in the business environment (Silberman, 2013). When the performance of the employees is constantly evaluated through performance appraisal and training conducted then the organization becomes a consistent learning environment, which can further result to the attainment of long term strategic plans such as maintain a competitive advantage. The dynamic nature of the global economy requires organizations to have employees who can handle the changes in the business environment. Organizations today face new challenges each day. For instance, advancement in technology has greatly changed the competencies and traits that are needed to performing various tasks. Consequently, more enhanced and effective training techniques are needed for every organization in order to deal with the existing changes. Development of a progressive learning environment is therefore vital in order to deal with upcoming challenges. If an organization is able to effectively handle the existing challenges in the business environment then it bound to attain strategic objectives such maintaining a competitive advantage in the market despite the existing changes (Farooq, 2011). Conclusion The discussion above has presented various views concerning the relationship between appraisal and training and development. Some of the points highlighted include; the information gathered from the process of performance appraisal reveals the training and development needs of employees. Other links identified include the fact that both support the performance management process and also the fact that performance appraisal can lead to the development of training programs. The paper has also examined how the effective integration of these HR functions is necessary to achieve long term organizational strategies. In conclusion it can be stated that is vital to integrate the two functions in order to effectively attain organizational objectives. References Armitstead, R.(2009). Business Services Training. Software Publications Pty Ltd. Brown, J. (1998) .Training needs assessment. Baltimore . Duggan, T. (2014). Performance Appraisal Training & Development. Demand Media Johnson, S. (2014). What Is the Meaning of Organizational Strategy? Demand Media. Farooq , M. (2011) . Impact of Training and Feedback on Employee Performance. Far East Journal of Psychology and Business. 5(1), p 23- 36. Kleynhans, R. (2010). Fresh Perspectives: Human Resource Management. Pearson. Mathis, R and Jackson, J. (2000). Human Resource Management. Cincinnati. Prosell,.(2013). Vero Insurance Case Study. Retrieved From< http://www.prosellsalestraining.edu.au/sales-training-resources/case-studies/vero- insurance> Randhawa , G.(2007). Human Resource Management. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Russel J, Terborg J and Powers M.(1985 ) “Organizational performance and organizational level training and support.”Personal Psychology, 849-863. Saks, A , Saks, R and Haccoun, M. (2010). Managing Performance Through Training and Development. Cengage Learning. Silberman, J. (2013). The importance of organizational learning to company flexibility and adaptation. Training station. Telstra Corporate Social Responsibility. (2006). Retrieved On 10 August 2014 From http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/download/document/cr-report-06.pdf Read More