Training and Career Development Strategies Help to Solve IT Professional Retention in Vietnam - Literature review Example

Training and Career Development Strategies Help to Solve IT Professional Retention in Vietnam (Literature Review) Background of the Issue With the three-year young introduction of Information Technology within the Vietnam society, IT professionals within the said area are surely in a situation that is most susceptible to behavioral changes.(Tarasco, 2006, 37) Being new in the system, it could be observed that the Vietnam society is still in the phase of preparing themselves for the challenges of working in a much high tech society that is ready to take the entire country in a much industrially and internationally developed state. This particular situation naturally brings in a great question then on how to help the IT professionals actually realize their role in making a better Vietnam through embracing the international practices of being an IT worker. Since it is understood that the birth of IT in the country still remains to be young, it may not be that easy to help the people within the country realize that they are indeed doing an important job for their country. (Belinda, 32) Some may even loose interest once faced with too much pressure at work thus simply decide to change their career concentrations to less stressing ones compared to that of the IT operations that they are involved with at present. Hence, in this section of the study, understanding how to effectively motivate the said professionals of Vietnam through an effective management approach and efficient training procedures shall be well discussed. Training for Better Future Retention Rates Because employees need to learn how to work with new equipment-such as word processors, computers or possible, robots, companies are finding that they must offer proper planning programs that are often sophisticated enough to support the skills enhancement needs of the employees. Training and development include all attempts to improve productivity and competencies of the employees. Training focuses on short-term skills, whereas development focuses on long-term abilities.(Neelankavil, 1992, 33) It should be noted though that both training and development programs include three steps: (a) assessing the needs of the organization and the skills of the employees to determine training needs, (b) designing training activities to meet the identified needs and (c) evaluating the effectiveness of the training. Some common training and development activities are employee orientation, on-the-job training, job simulation and management training. (Hubert, 2006, 437) (a) Employee training is the activity that initiates new employees to the organization; to fellow employees; to their immediate supervisors and to the policies, practices, and objective of the firm. Orientation programs include everything from informal talks to formal activities that lasts for a day or two, and include visits to different departments of the organization and the handling of required readings and handbooks for organizational familiarity. For example, at British Airways, new employees participate in meetings that provide education in the company’s values, culture and ethical measures of business operations. Part history lesson and part on-the-road orientation, the training covers everything that the employees must learn about the organization even before they begin to operate with the entire staff. (b) On-the-job-training is the most fundamental type of training for employees in different types of industries. The employee being trained on the job immediately begins his or her tasks and learns by doing so, or watches others for a while and then imitates them right at the workplace. It could be observed though that more sophisticated jobs such as that of the IT positions would require much intense procedures of training than simply making an imitative approach to the process. Intranets and other forms of new technology are leading to cost-effective on-the-job training programs available 24 hours a day, all year long. Computer systems can monitor workers’ input and give them instructions if they become confused about what to do next. MCI WorldCom’s intranet training system saved the company about $33 million by reducing the training cost per employee by 22 percent. (c) Apprentice Programs involve a period during which a learner works alongside an experienced employee to master the skills and procedures of a craft. Some apprenticeship programs also involve classroom training.(Brocio, 2003, 6) Many skilled crafts such as brickyard and plumbing require a new worker to serve as an apprentice for a couple of years. In the future, it is believed that there are likely to be more but much shorter apprenticeship programs that are made to prepare people for skilled jobs in different arising industries. For example, computer or IT professionals would naturally require much intensive and regular trainings since the different developments in the industry come almost every year. (d) Off-the-job training occurs away from the workplace and consists of internal or external programs to develop any of a variety of skills or to foster personal development. Training is becoming more sophisticated as jobs become more sophisticated. Furthermore, training is expanding to include education and personal development management. These educational facts may include time management, stress management, health and wellness training, physical education, nutrition and even art and languages. (e) Online training offers an example of how technology is improving the efficiency of many off-the-job programs. For example some organizations today offer online training programs, which are known as distance learning programs whereas the instructors are away from the students and they are interconnected through the Internet. (f) Vestibule training (near-job-training) is done in classrooms where employees are taught on equipment similar to that used within the job area proper. Such classrooms enable the employees to experience the actual job procedures within the said rooms without actually having the chances of ruining the ones that are actually used within the offices. (McDonald, 13) Such classrooms enable employees to learn proper methods of safety before assuming their actual job positions. This kind of training is best for IT professionals in Vietnam especially concerning the fact that their operating machines have controllable numbers. (g) Job Stimulation is the use of equipment that duplicates job conditions and tasks so that trainees can learn skills before attempting them on the job. Job stimulation differs from vestibule training in that the stimulation attempts to duplicate the exact combination conditions that occur on the job. These particular types of trainings are actually designed to make it certain that employees would have the chance to enhance the talents that they already have. (Pampersad, 2006, 437) It could be observed that through these chosen types of training, IT professionals from Vietnam would have better chances of making greater improvements with their systems of approach in work that would rather equip them with the right kind of skills that they need to become the asset of the organizations that they choose to work for. (Kirk, 2000, 205) SO to speak, employees who have the right kind of primary training are the ones who are likely to make better assets of the organization. These are the few among the many individuals who aim to stay within the positions being an IT professional in Vietnam. Likely, keeping them best served and most competent in performing their appointed tasks while actually being trained continuously shall leave a huge impact on the possibilities of retaining the said employees for a long time within the companies that they are working for. Hand in hand, all the trainings mentioned above, when continuously applied in the procedures of human resources management would certainly aide every organization in the process of making possible efforts in retaining their best employees and further training competent individuals in the field. The question then is that, if the employees are already working within the organization’s systems, how are they supposed to be continuously educated and assisted towards better performance so as to ensure that they are to become assets of the organization through the coming years with an insurance of higher rate of retention among IT professionals of their kind? From Practices of Assessment to Processes of Employee Retaining Managers of any organization, especially that of the IT-based institutions should be able to find better ways to determine whether or not their workers are doing an effective and efficient job, with a minimum level of errors and disruptions that may case certain irregularities of operations within the organization. (Pegg, 199, 65) Mangers could handle this particular responsibility through the use of employee performance appraisal programs. There are at least six primary steps to coming up with an effective employee performance appraisal program: 1. Establishing performance standards-this is a crucial step. Standards must be very understandable on the part of the employees. They must be both reasonable and accepted well by the administration of the organization as well as with the employee body of the institution. 2. Communicating the standards-often, managers presume that employees already know what is expected of them from their work performances. However, it could be observed that such assumptions are dangerous enough for both parties involved in the contract of work and employment. Employees must be told clearly and precisely what the standards of the company are with regards the performance of expected from them. This should also include some certain guidelines that shall help the employees understand how they could be able to meet the said standards successfully as part of the organization. 3. Evaluating performance-this phase is simply a matter of evaluating the employee as to how his personal behavior actually coincides with the kind of standards that the organization recognizes. 4. Discussing Results with the Employees- most people will make mistake and fail to meet expectations at first time. It takes time to learn a new job and do it well. Discussing an employee’s successes and areas that needs to be improved can provide managers the opportunity to be understanding and helpful towards the new employees. Additionally, the performance appraisal program can be a good source of employee suggestions on how a particular task could be better performed. 5. Taking corrective actions- as an appropriate part of the performance appraisal program, a manager could take corrective action or provide corrective feedback to help the employees improve their performance and avoid further destructive matters that they have been involved in the past. 6. Using the results to make decisions-decisions on retention, promotion or firing shall also be based on this particular performance appraisal approach. With the effective application of the performance appraisal programs, it could be observed that the entire aim of increasing the competencies of the employees is well given focus. Considerably, for the IT professionals of Vietnam, such procedures would likely be much helpful. Likely, those who are well skilled and finely talented for the job would be able to receive motivational rewards that could give them the best kind of satisfaction they need in their jobs. Meanwhile, others with minimal level of focus and skills on the job could be given better guidance to improve and thus increase their possibility of being retained in position. Through using an appraisal system for the employees of the company, having the chance to retain the best would become possible, while improving the least experienced would become a stepping-stone that the organization could base their further progress later on. Vietnam IT professionals may be less trained sometimes even when they already undergo the pre-training procedures, there are still other things that they are not much competent about that are necessary for their position as IT professionals. Hence, through the appraisal programs, it could be noted that the individuals who are both talented and are less competent are to be given the rightful attention that they need, whether may it be a promotion or a re-training process, the said employees would surely benefit from anything that that they are to be provided with by the organization. Through this, the Vietnam IT industry could actually be able to take position in the international status of IT operations. Conclusion Training IT professionals in Vietnam may not be that easy, especially since the process had been newly introduced to the society yet. IT introduction and professional motivation should certainly be adapted within the management and training procedures that administrations of businesses handling IT services are involved with. It could be noted that through the process of implicating effective managerial procedures within the system along with the enhancement of team building within the staff of IT professionals, a considerable improvement on the retention rate among the said individuals could be well expected. Hence, from this part of the study, it could be observed that the collaboration of human intervention with the systems of a high tech society is sure to bring in changes and developments to third world societies such as that of Vietnam to make it in the face of international trade. References: Joseph A Tarasco; Nancy A Damato. Build a Better Career Path. Journal of Accountancy; May 2006; 201, 5; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 37. Belinda Renee Barnett. The impact of organizational support for career development on career satisfaction. Emerald Publishing Unlimited. Feild, Hubert S.; Harris, Stanley G. Entry-Level, Fast-Track Management Development Programs: Developmental Tactic. HR. Human Resource Planning; 1991; 14, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 261. Neelankavil, James P. Management Development and Training Programmes in Japanese Firms. The Journal of Management Development; 1992; 11, 3; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 12. Paula McDonald, Kerry Brown and Lisa Bradley. Have traditional career paths given way to protean ones? Evidence from senior managers in the Australian public sector. School of Management, Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Betty Jane Punnett, Jo Ann Duffy, Suzy Fox, Ann Gregory. Career success and satisfaction: a comparative study in nine countries. Mike Broscio; Jay Scherer. New ways of thinking about career success. Journal of Healthcare Management; Jan/Feb 2003; 48, 1; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 6. James J. Kirk. Name your career development intervention. Journal of Workplace Learning Volume 12 . Number 5 . 2000 . pp. 205-216. Hubert Rampersad. Change your organization, start with yourself. Training & Management Development Methods; 2006; 20, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 437. Mike Pegg. The art of mentoring. Industrial and Commercial Training. Volume 31 . Number 4 . 1999 . pp. 136-141. Read More