Labor Education and Extensive Employee Development - Essay Example

Labor education and extensive employee development Labor education and employee development is in fact a continued effort on part of the labor/employees and organizations to train and polish the knowledge and abilities of its employees. Its objective is to maximize the skills of employees so that they can work better for organization having an updated training and skills which can integrate with their goals and career needs. The back bone of any organization is workforce, hence, if they are trained enough with the updated knowledge and requirements of the organization, they can put utmost efforts in the organization in achieving its goals. Employee learning explains the process of acquiring knowledge through curiosity to learn. It is a mind-set that has anxiety to get information. Employee learning and labor education will definitely increase the abilities and competency of the employee (Dixon, 1999). Employee development and labor education have become the burning questions for today’s human resource management. Increased downsizing brought by organizational change has amplified the needs of employee development because the labor is needed to be more flexible and responsive at all levels. In the recent years, employee development schemes have seen exponential growth because the learning atmosphere in organizations is boosting. Donaldson (1993) asserts that the organizations have realized the importance of workforce and the need for their education and development in work place (as cited in Lee, 2012). Developing employee abilities can make them more adaptable to internal and external working requirements and definitely add to their learning and confidence which bring in higher productivity to the organization. A research by Lound, Rowe and Parson (2001) confirms that EDS (Employee Development Schemes) have been employed at extensive levels both in public and private organizations. These schemes add loyalty, confidence, and commitment which boost learning in the work place. IRS (1993) puts it as: “Employee development schemes are proving to be one of the successes of human resource management. They can have real business advantages, creating some of the right conditions for organizations to transform themselves into what has been called the ‘learning organization’, but what might as appropriately be termed the ‘continuously changing organization’, given economic imperatives and a positive impact on individuals’ self-esteem and confidence (as cited in Maguire, 1997). Chris Argyris referred to this commitment as a “psychological contract” where employers pledge to provide opportunities for promotion, job security, training and education to the labor (as cited in Shelton, 2001). Labor education and employee development is the main area of concern for any organization, but employee development starts with what the needs and requirements of the labor as well as of the employees. Analysis of employee and organization gives exposure to ascertain the goals and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals so that the resources could be used in full for development purposes (Mathis and Jackson, 2008). Work place learning today has been viewed with great importance by human resource departments. It is a flexible form of learning that enables the employees to involve in continued professional developments and up-dating of new information related to profession. Work place learning is usually precise and is one of the facilitating forms of learning. It has more relevance to the work (as cited in Lee et al., 2004). When employee performance would increase, this will lead to the organization effectiveness. Champathes (2006) explains the importance of employee development within an organization by stating that there is a direct relationship between the two. When the employees are provided with the opportunities, like education and training, to develop, they get more committed to job, feel satisfied and performance boosts at exponential rate (as cited in Spence, 1999). The popularity of the labor education and the employee development schemes among employers has been associated to the existing climate which puts great focus on permanent learning. The desire of organizations to become the learning organizations which has been significant in the growth of the labor education and employees’ development schemes models so far. Laborcentered educational/learning programs are democratic in structure. Many researches show that the involvement of the learner proves much helpful and enhances learner’s critical thinking, collaborative skills and personality (as cited in Spence, 1999). The way how technological innovations are taking place and globbalization of economy emerging today, many workers feel that their technical skills are unable to abreast with modern technologies and their present skills are going to obsolete. Furthermore, international corporate competitiveness has become more dependent on the problem-solving abilities of the workers. So, there is an acute need of getting up-to-date technical and technological skills that can solve the problems of labor and work force (Inman and Vernon, 1997; Payne, 1997; Rowden, 1996, as cited in Spence, 1999). Today, labor education and employee development is taking a form of strategic and critical vitality in the current business environment. The efficacy and performance it delivers, has enhanced its utility at all corporate levels. Hameed and Waheed (2011) write that coaching, training and development, empowerment, participation and delegation are the five main characteristics that lead to employee development and, therefore, yield the organizational effectiveness which means that organization is ready to achieve its desired goals in all possible manners. The phenomenon that organizations and employees face today is that as they are not provided with job securities, ultimately they change their loyalties to the company they work for. This led the companies to change the policies that were first generally aimed at providing employees with promotion. Today, the employees and labor force need lifelong learning, job enrichment, skill development and special assignment as incentives to be loyal to the organization. The companies can make the employees stick to the current workplace by retaining them from downsizing and restructuring (Moses, 1999, as cited in Shelton, 2001). The primary goal of every labor development program is to assure their employees that they are the team that can guarantee the success of company. It is also obligatory on part of company to communicate the vision, corporate values and culture to its employees so that they can better understand what their company demands (Gerbman, 2000). Moses (2000) gives the argument that it is not possible for every organization to assure the top promotions to employees, but what they can offer is, provide skill development and career opportunities by communicating that their jobs will not be risked. The organization can prioritize their career planning and keep them away from thinking about downsizing and restructuring of the company. Research into employee development schemes, stipulation and proof from case studies of particular organizations provide an insight into finest practices for applying a labor education and employee development schemes. The practice of organizations with schemes has recognized problems which can occur and ways to overcome or prevent these. Responses to labor education and the employee development from both employees and employers, who participate, have been incredibly positive and there is proof of significant advantages to both parties. Benefits for employers are closely related to their major reasons for initiating a scheme, namely increasing competitiveness, staff motivation, flexibility, job satisfaction and the benefits for employees are reduced labor absenteeism and turnover, enhanced productivity of the workers, great motivation and loyalty with work. In conclusion, we can say that every labor and employee is an asset for an organization. Excellency in performance of the labor is brought by training, education and learning process to make them adaptable with the requirements of the organizations in all possible measures. Today, the organizations are investing huge amount onto the labor force to get them equipped with changing environment to get the best and increase efficiency of organizations. Shelton (2001) gives the suggestion about how labor education and employee development program should be structured. An effective program can be only one when it has four elements: learning/education, goal setting, career planning and last, but not the least, its evaluation. Any employee development program structured on this basis will be utilized effectively not only by the workforce, but by the labor too. If these elements are not present, it will go down to the level of just training that will not benefit the company at all. Hence, labor education and extensive employee development should be in the priority list for company in order to achieve the maximum productivity. References: Dixon, N. M. (1999). The organizational learning cycle: How we can learn collectively (2nd ed.). Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=gTn1rJFSOm0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+organizational+learning+cycle&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DHlsT9yXB4qbOruWjeYF&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20organizational%20learning%20cycle&f=false Gerbman, R. V. (2000). Corporate universities. HR Magazine, 101, 45(2), 101-106. Hameed, A., & Waheed. A. (2011). Employee development and its affect on employee performance a conceptual framework. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(13). Retrieved March 23, 2012 from http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol._2_No._13_Special_Issue_July_2011/26.pdf Lee, et al. (2004). Learning as work: Teaching and learning processes in the contemporary work organisation. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://learningaswork.cf.ac.uk/outputs/Workplace_Learning_Final.pdf Lee, C. (n.d). Learning from employee development scheme. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/mp1.pdf Lound, B. D., & Rowe, V., Parson, J. D. (2001). Research on recent developments in employee development scheme. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RB310.pdf Maguire, M. (1997). Employee development schemes: panacea or passing fancy. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000422.htm Mathis, L. R., & Jackson, H. John. (2008). Human resource management (twelveth ed.). The United States of America: Thomson South Western. Moses, B. (2000). Give people belief in the future: In these cynical times, HR must assure employees that faith and work can coexist. Workforce, 79 (6), 134-13. Shelton, K. (2001). The effects of employee development programs on job satisfaction and employee retention. Menomonie, University of Wisconsin-Stout. Spence, G. J. (1999). Worker-centered learning: labor’s role. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://calpro-online.org/eric/docs/dig211.pdf Read More