Training Programs and Organizational Needs - Essay Example

Training Programs and Organizational Needs 1. Discuss How to Link Training Programs to Organizational Needs. Each organization is different from another and each has its own needs. Training programs should therefore be tailored to each organization’s goals, culture and needs. Training is usually done to prepare a new hire for a job or to improve the skills of the current employees. Some typical reasons for employee training and development are: when a performance appraisal indicates need for performance improvement; to “benchmark” a status of improvement in performance; as part of an overall development program, as part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a change in organizational role; to train on specific topics/skills such as communication, computer skills, customer service, diversity, ethics, human relations, quality initiatives, legal issues and procedures, etc; and to test the operation of a new performance management system (McNamara 1; Alliance of Sector Councils 1). “Training is either integral to the achievement of the goals of one ore more components or supportive of all project components” (World Bank 1). Before training is given to the employees, however, the type of training to be given must first be identified as well as the expected gains and benefits from the training, which should outweigh the costs (Department of Interior [DOI] 1). In the United States, the law and an executive order require agencies to annually review organizational, occupational and individual needs for training (ibid). Training needs assessment is a critical activity for the training and development of employees and involves a sequence of steps that determines the who, what, when, where, why and how of training (Miller and Osinski, 2002). Many organizations use the Individual Development Plan or IDPs to document the assessment of individual employees within the context of the organization’s strategic goals to ensure employees’ performance competency and development (DOI 1). The IDP is a way to forecast, identify and schedule individual training and development opportunities that would help meet the mission and requirements of the organization (ibid). Other training needs assessment may also be done on a group basis but overall the goal is to improve the performance of the employees in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. All training and development programs must start with a needs assessment and it is of course started by identifying a specific need of an organization (Miller and Osinski 1), which may be need for legal training, safety procedures training, cultural and diversity training or communication skills, etc. Whatever the need is, it is defined to be a gap between what is currently in place and what is needed now and in the future of the organization and may be differences between what the organization expects to happen from what is actually happening, the current and desired job performance or the existing and desired competencies and skills (Miller and Osinski 2). The needs assessment involves organizational analysis, task analysis and individual analysis. The organizational analysis looks at the effectiveness of the organization and where training is needed and under what conditions it should be conducted; it identifies the environmental impact, state of the economy, impact on operating costs, changing technology, political trends such as sexual harassment and workplace violence, organizational goals, climate and support for training, global/world market places, etc. through sources like organizational goals and objectives, planning systems, annual report, skills inventory, staffing inventory, employee attitudes and satisfaction, etc (Miller and Osinski 3). Task analysis provides the data about a specific job or group of jobs and the knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities needed to achieve optimum performance (ibid). Some sources that will support data collection for task analysis are the Job Description, which states the major activities involved in performing the job and the conditions under which these activities are performed; the KSA analysis or the knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities required; the Performance Standards, which identifies performance discrepancies and are the objectives of the tasks of the job and the standards that they will be judged by; Job Inventory Questionnaire that evaluates tasks in terms of importance and time spent performing them; Performing the Job; Analysis of Operating Problems such as down time, waste, repairs, late deliveries, quality control, etc; and Observing the Job (ibid). The last procedure for needs assessment is the individual analysis and involves evaluating how well an individual employee is doing the job and it determines which employees need training and what kind of training they should be receiving (Miller and Osinski 4). Sources of information for an individual analysis include performance evaluation, which indentifies weaknesses and areas of improvement; performance problems such as productivity, absenteeism or tardiness, accidents, grievances, waste, product quality, down time, repairs, equipment utilization, customer complaints; observation of behavior and effect of behavior; work samples; interviews of manager, supervisor, employee; questionnaires regarding job knowledge and skills; attitude surveys particularly measuring morale, motivation and satisfaction; and checklists or training progress charts (ibid). The needs assessment would be able to identify one or more training needs and from this be able to prioritize the type of training to be given based on the urgency of the organization’s need, extent of the need and the resources available (ibid). It will determine also the instructional objective, design of instructional programs, implementation of programs and the evaluation of the training provided (ibid). The type of training to be given should properly suit the organizational need and context since the training will fail if its design is flawed or insufficient attention is given to the organizational and institutional context that the training was given to (World Bank 1). People are also assets to the organization and their value in an organization can be enhanced through investment in training and development (U.S. General Accounting Office [GAO] 1). Training generally makes available to the employees planned and coordinated educational programs of instruction in the professional, technical or other fields that would be beneficial to the organization (ibid). It can be accomplished through various approaches such as classroom training, e-learning, professional conferences, etc. (ibid). An example of training that would be beneficial to an organization is training regarding workplace ethics and compliance which the Federal Government requires since it prohibits discrimination and because of this training the company may reduce on the costs of legal claims since employees will gain accurate and practical information on how to comply with the laws of workplace compliance. There is also always room for improvement, particularly in managing human capital and it has been found that organizations have shortcomings with regard to human capital that is why training and development is needed in order to meet the needs and goals of the organization (GAO 2). These shortcomings include insufficient training for employees who lacked needed skills and competencies, duplicative and uncoordinated training efforts within and across organizations, and incomplete information on the extent to which employees had received required training (ibid). Needs Assessment should properly be done in order to identify the kind of training to be given, to whom it should be given, how and when it will be given. Training approaches, methods and materials should also consider highly the culture of the organization to be effective, as well as who will be participating in the training program and the nature of the diversity issues that organization wishes to address (Office of Personnel Management [OPM] 1). An example of an organization who has conducted a training program that meets its needs is the Federal Government of the United States, which conducts training for its employees and one of the trainings done among its many agencies is the Diversity Training. The Diversity Training was conducted first at the Office of Personnel Management and the purpose for training its employees is to achieve the mission and performance of the agency and to allow its employees to know the legal and statutory requirements for Equal Employment Opportunities and Affirmative Action that support diversity in the Federal Government and the private industry since it is the agency that is responsible for Human Resources (OPM 1). Another aim of the training was to let the employees know how diversity contributes to richness in the organization by having a variety of view, approaches and actions to use in strategic planning, problem solving, and decision making (ibid). Like other training programs in other organizations the training needs of the agency were clearly identified first so that the training program may contribute to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the organization (ibid). Also like other training programs, the Diversity Training should adhere to principles such as: clearly stated goals and learning objectives that relate to the mission and needs of the organization; use appropriate training approaches, methods and materials; provide advance information to employees on course content and instruction methods and alternatives for learning; be provided in a supportive and non-coercive environment; be conducted only by experienced and fully qualified instructors; and be monitored and regularly evaluated (ibid). For an organization to be competitive in the long-run employees must be prioritized and the development of quality training programs for them must be linked to the strategic objectives of a company (Wentland 1). The training program for the employees must be linked with the needs of the organization so that it may benefit the company and the training given must match the needs of the employees also and the organizational culture. “Quality employees equate to organizational success. Unqualified and poorly trained employees equate to organizational failure” (ibid); hence, training is essential. Identifying the training needs for employees require careful scrutiny of the mission objectives, personnel, production, resources, costs and other essential factors (DOI 1). The GAO (2) has identified four broad and interrelated components in the training and development of employees that will greatly help an organization in meetings its goals and objectives; these are: planning, design/development, implementation and evaluation. Planning goes hand-in-hand with Needs Assessment, and for the DOI (1) a Multi-level Needs Assessment is even needed to create a step-by-step process for training needs at the organizational, occupational and individual levels. The multi-level needs assessment includes obtaining needs assessment data through questionnaires, surveys, advisory groups, focus groups, interviews, etc.; analyzing the data gathered by identifying the discrepancies from the current and desired skills and knowledge; defining problems; research performance solutions; determine best approaches to resolving problems and issues by using best case practices or benchmarks; and conduct a cost/benefit analysis for selected approaches (ibid; OPM 1). In the planning stage, a strategic approach establishes priorities and leverages investments in training and development to achieve the results of the agency (GAO 4). The design/development stage identifies specific training and development initiatives that improve individual and organizational performance and the implementation stage ensures effective and efficient delivery of training and development opportunities in a supportive environment (ibid). Evaluation is done at each stage and it demonstrates how training and development efforts contribute to improved performance and results for the employee and organization (ibid). It is highly important the organization ensure the training and development efforts are undertaken as “an integral part of, and are driven by, their strategic and performance planning processes” (GAO 5) so that they are aligned with the needs of the organization, occupation and individual. One model for a strategic approach in training employees is the STEM or Strategic Training of Employees Model. This model “effectively and efficiently design training and career-development programs so that organizations can generate the highest possible output value, given the realization that resources will always be scarce to some extent in all organizations” (Wentland 1). This model bases its training programs on the strategic objectives of an organization and helps you analyze specific training situations and requirements but still gives you the flexibility to apply the model in a wide range of solutions depending on the circumstances of the organization (ibid). More importantly, the model uses task analysis to help organizations determine what type of training they need (ibid). A macro and micro level of training is integrated in this model; the macro-organizational training level involves strategic planning at the corporate, business, functional and operating level and the training must be linked to all four levels (ibid). The micro-organizational training level is made after task analysis and is about developing employee training programs based on the jobs deemed necessary to support the strategic objectives identified by management (ibid). No matter what type of training will be made, the training must be catered to the specific needs of the organization in order to lessen the gap between the current skills and knowledge of the employees from what is the ideal or what is needed by the organization for it to grow and be successful. Training and development programs should be designed to fit the organization’s goals and objectives since they are made to address certain problems or needs of the organization. Training personnel involves costs and should therefore have great benefits for the company. The benefits should outweigh the costs and should improve the overall performance of the company. The training given must also be conducted in an environment conducive to learning and it must also take into consideration the audience or to whom the training will be given and the culture of the organization. Proper or appropriate training approaches, methods and materials should be used to be effective. Lastly, training and development programs should be strategic and should involve evaluation at all levels of the process to know if the organizations objectives and needs are being met. 2. Describe how organizations use assessment of personality type, work behavior, and job performance to plan employee development Employee development generally means the training, the structured on-the-job learning experiences and the education that individuals receive at their work place and it may include programs such as coaching, mentoring or rotational assignments (GAO 1). It consists of the experiences and training opportunities that are designed to enhance current employees’ knowledge and skills (University of Idaho 2). Employee development usually goes hand in hand with a training program but it should not be confused with training because the “key difference between training and development is that training is designed to address current performance problems, whereas development focuses on preparing employees for future assignments” (ibid). The aim of Employee Development is to improve the individual so that the mission and goals of the organization where the individual works will be met and that overall performance of the organization will be affected (GAO 2). Most companies and organizations usually have a development plan for each of their employees that help identify the long-term career options that the employees wish to pursue and the necessary tools to meet these options and to identify the short-term needs for improving the current performance (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] 1). Having an employee development plan is beneficial for both the employee and employer since it assists in developing long-term goals and identifying short-term goals that will give the employee a clearer sense of expectations and help identify milestones along the way to reach specific objectives (ibid). The employee development tends to focus on managers but it can also be used for other employees as well (University of Idaho 2) and the plan is usually created with the direct supervisor of the employee and it involves four basic steps, which are: 1. Employee: Conducts a self-assessment Supervisor: Know opportunities available for employee 2. Employee: Survey opportunities with supervisor Supervisor: Discuss opportunities with employee 3. Employee: Write a Development Plan and share it with the supervisor to revise Supervisor: Review Development Plan and help revise 4. Employee: Serves as a tool for communication between the employee and the supervisor Supervisor: Establish regular review of progress and help revise the IDP as needed (USGS 1). Since many companies use a “promote from within” philosophy the employee development plan helps ensure that employees will see a career path within the organization and it helps retain employees and ensure that the organization has capable employees for filling positions throughout the company (University of Idaho 2). The steps in creating an employee development plan stated above must involve the employee in consideration, the human resources department and the supervisor/manager of the employee and certain factors must be taken into consideration in the whole process to create a suitable employee development plan. The factors that a manager/supervisor must consider in facilitating the creation of the employee development plan are the organizational structure, the job descriptions, the expectations of the employee, and most importantly the personality type, work behavior and job performance of the employee. The manager/supervisor must first examine the organizational structure and the roles and responsibilities of those in the organization to ensure that they make sense for the work being done (Flores 1). The second step shows that employees must survey their opportunities with their supervisor/manager; this stage involves identifying career opportunities that interest the employee and identify developmental needs by comparing current skills and strengths with those that are needed for the career choice (USGS 1). The developmental needs will be identified in the first step, which is the self-assessment and this step involves assessing the skills, strengths and areas for development (ibid). The human resources department and manager is also involved in the assessment of the employee because they will present the opportunities available to the employee and match it with the personality, work behavior and job performance of the employee. They will assess whether the employee is suited for a certain career path and what training, coaching/mentoring the employee will need. In the four approaches to employee development, assessment is the second approach. The first one is formal education wherein employees take short courses in universities or courses that are custom designed for their organization or may opt to take masters degrees/MBAs (University of Idaho 4). In the second approach of assessment, which is the first step in creating an employee development plan, the skills and abilities of the employee are evaluated and assessed through tests (University of Idaho 5). Assessment is done by organizations to identify high-potential employees who are then guided to other developmental experiences to further progress their skills; assessment is also used to provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the employees/managers so that they can make further improvements (ibid). Cognitive tests measure the intellectual ability of the employee while personality tests are designed to evaluate the personality and key characteristics of an employee (ibid). These tests are more for identifying employees who have the potential to be leaders in the organization since they are designed to measure stable attributes or characteristics that would not change much over the years (ibid). One of the most reliable and common test that is taken to assess personality is the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which rates personality traits on four scales of preference that identify 16 unique personality types (Crowley 1). The validity of the questionnaire is however questioned by some psychologists but it is still used by many organizations to identify the issues of employees regarding working and communicating with others (University of Idaho 5). If the MBTI type of the employee can be accurately identified, the personality profile of the employee will help identify his/her greatest strengths and weaknesses (ibid). The MBTI helps the employee understand his/her unique personality and how he/she relates to other people and it also helps the manager/supervisor understand those that work for them; thus, it will help them guide the employee in increasing their productivity and indentifying leadership and interpersonal communication preferences and an optimum career path based on the personality type (USGS 2). The 16 PF and NEO-PI are more psychometrically sound tests that psychologists would recommend in assessing the personality of employees (University of Idaho 5). The NEO-PI or NEO Personality Inventory is a neuroticism scale and is used more in clinical settings to identify whether individuals have a certain personality disorder (Hersen, Hilsenroth & Segal 21). The 16PF is a comprehensive measure of normal-range personality in settings where an in-depth, integrated picture of the whole person is provided and it is commonly used in organizational functions such as: hiring, promotion, development, training, outplacement, team building and coaching (Hersen et al 46). The 16 PF scores “provide an objective, comprehensive and efficient source of information for the employer” (ibid) since key personality traits that match the organization’s values and/or the traits needed to perform a certain task or function will be seen together with the strengths and weaknesses of the employee. A fit between the employee and the job profile will be known, as well as the similarities and differences between the job-profile and the personality of the employee. These will help in planning out the career path or development of the employee since the right fit will be seen and the areas of improvement will be known. The 16PF also helps answer questions that will help in planning for employee development such as: Will the person function effectively in jobs that require a strong technical orientation? Can he/she be counted on to finish things he/she starts? Will he/she be an effective leader? Is this the kind of person who is likely to handle high-stress situations well? (Hersen et al 47). The questionnaire is also used widely in planning career and employee development both inside and outside organizations because there are many resources for identifying the degree of fit between an individual’s 16PF scores and those scores characteristics of persons in a range of occupations or occupational types (ibid). Other ways of assessing personality traits/types are through assessment centers, which consist of a series of exercises such as role plays, in-basket exercises and leaderless group discussions that are designed to assess various skills and abilities relating to managerial performance (University of Idaho 5). 360-degree feedback systems also help assess an employee’s strength and weakness by gathering feedback from everyone around the employee- from the supervisor, peers and direct reports/subordinates (ibid). Different assessment techniques identify certain personality types that are needed in certain tasks. By knowing the personality type of the individual, the employee increases his/her self-awareness and allows him/her to understand his/her strengths and weaknesses that are relative to a certain career path (Hersen et al 47). That is why personality traits are linked to career/employee development because it helps out in planning the development goals; the needed improvements will be seen and a more realistic career and development path will be known through analysis of the personality together with the requirements of certain jobs/tasks. Aside from identifying the personality type of an employee, the work behavior and job performance is also part of the assessment process in creating an employee development plan. Work behavior is defined to be the employee’s willingness to follow the organizational norms through work rules and value statements (Skinner 4). Work behavior is linked to employee development since certain job roles require or demand a particular behavior. Employees who do not meet organizational expectations detract or “take away” from the organizations needs and performance (ibid). The work behavior of the employee should also be identified by the manager/supervisor in the planning of employee development since certain behaviors that need to be changed, improved or removed must be known in order for the employee to get on the right career (Coach4Growth 1). In creating the employee development plan, the employee maybe asked to identify certain work behaviors that he/she would wish to improve on or master, and then these could be integrated in the development plan (ibid). The manager/supervisor of the employee, upon proper assessment, will also know what behaviors an employee lacks and will then know how to reinforce new behaviors that the employee needs as part of the development plan. New skills and behaviors that an employee may need for a certain career path may also be identified with the assessment of the current work behavior. If the employee wishes to take a career path that is more customer-focused, he/she may need to learn new work behaviors and these will be integrated in the employee development plan. Superiors of the employee must know how to manage and foster change in the modes of behavior needed in “flatter, more participatory, customer-focused, results-oriented work environments” (GAO 23). Job performance, like work behavior, should also be properly assessed to know what discrepancies the employee has with the kind of career path he/she may need so that these will be placed in his/her employee development plan. Job performance is defined to be whether “an employee is actually performing the required job duties at, at least, a satisfactory level” (Skinner 4). The strengths and weaknesses in the job performance of the employee should be identified and the weaknesses should be improved on in order to pursue career goals that are made in the development plan (GAO 21). Candid and constructive job performance counseling should also be given to employees in order to aid them in enhancing needed competencies for their desired career path (GAO 23). Job performance may also include the different jobs that the employee may do. Job experiences is the third approach to employee development and it is the most common way of fostering employee development because it entails giving the employee more responsibilities and tasks (University of Idaho 6) to know if the employee would be fit to handle bigger responsibilities and to assess how well the employee performs so that the development plan could be adjusted to the needs of the employee. Job rotations, transfers, temporary assignments or projects and promotions are part of the employee development plan and all aim to improve the skills and job performance of the employee since “the idea is that an executive will be more effective if he or she has a good understanding of all the different parts of the business” (ibid). The fourth approach in employee development is mentoring and coaching wherein a more experienced employee provides guidance and advice to a less experienced employee (University of Idaho 7). This approach, however, is integrated as part of the employee development plan already and is not a step in the planning process. It only adds to the further development of the employee with regards to personality, work behavior and job performance. The assessed discrepancies and improvements needed in the personality, work behavior and job performance should be placed in the development plan and the training and development to be given to the employee should address the discrepancies. “Proper assessment will create the desired changes in the abilities, attitudes and behavior of the employee” (GAO 6). The benefits derived from the training should also directly apply newly acquired learning in the individual job performance and work behavior (GAO 72). Through proper assessment of the personality type/trait, work behavior and job performance of the employee, a more realistic career path and employee development plan will be created since the strengths and weaknesses of the employee will be known and the areas for improvement and needed developments will be identified. References “Development Action Plans for Employee Development through Behavior Changes and Skills Improvement.” Coach4Growth. 2007. 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