Introduction: Organization and individual should develop and progress simultaneously for their survival and attainment of mutual goals. So, every modern management has to develop the organization through human resources development. Employee training is the most important sub-system of human resources development. Training is a specialized function and is one of the fundamental operative functions for human resources management.
Meaning: After an employee is selected, placed and introduced in an organization he/she must be provided with training facilities in order to adjust him to the job. Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skill of an employee for doing a particular job. Training is a short-term educational process and utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which employees learn technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose. Dale S. Beach defines the training as”….. the organized procedure by which people learn knowledge and skill for a definite purpose”. In other words, training improves changes and moulds the employee’s knowledge, skill, behavior and aptitude and attitude towards the requirements of the job and the organization. Training refers to the teaching and learning activities carried on for the primary purpose of helping members of an organization to acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes needed by a particular job and organization.Thus, training bridges the differences between job requirements and employee’s present specifications.
Training and Development: Employee training is distinct from management development or executive development. While the former refers to training given to employees in the areas of operations, technical and allied areas, the latter refers to developing an employee in the areas of principles and techniques of management, administration, organization and allied areas.
Importance Of Training and Development
Optimum Utilization of Human Resources – Training and Development helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals.
Development of Human Resources – Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resources’ technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth.
Development of skills of employees – Training and Development helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees.
Productivity – Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal.
Team spirit – Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within the employees.
Organization Culture – Training and Development helps to develop and improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organization.
Organization Climate – Training and Development helps building the positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers.
Quality – Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and work-life.
Healthy work environment – Training and Development helps in creating the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal.
Health and Safety – Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence.
Morale – Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force.
Image – Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image.
Profitability – Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation.
Training and Development aids in organizational development i.e. Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and carrying out organisational policies
Training and Development helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display.
Training Objectives: Generally, line managers ask the personnel manager to formulate the training policies. The personnel manager formulates the following training objectives in keeping with the company’s goals and objectives.
(i) To prepare the employee, both new and old to meet the present as well as the changing requirements of the job and the organization.
(ii) To prevent obsolescence.
(iii) To impart the new entrants the basic knowledge and skills they need for an intelligent performance of a definite job.
(iv) To prepare employees for higher level tasks.
(v) To assist employees to function more effectively in their present positions by exposing them to the latest concepts, information and techniques and developing the skills they will need in their particular fields.
(vi) To build up a second line of competent officers and prepare them to occupy more responsible positions.
(vii) To broaden the minds of senior managers by providing them with opportunities for an interchange of experiences within and outside with a view to correcting the narrowness of outlook that may arise from over-specialization.
(viii) To develop the potentialities of people for the next level job.
(ix) To ensure smooth and efficient working of a department.
(x) To ensure economical output of required quality.
(xi) To promote individual and collective morale, a sense of responsibility, co-operative attitudes and good relationships.
Training Methods: As a result of research in the field of training, a number of programs are available. Some of these are new methods, while others are improvements over the traditional methods. The training programs commonly used to train operative and supervisory personnel are discussed below. These programs are classified into on-the-job off-the-job training programs.
On-the Job Training Methods: This type of training, also known as job instruction training, is the most commonly used method. Under this method, the individual is placed on a regular job and taught the skills necessary to perform that job. The trainee learns under the supervision and guidance of a qualified worker or instructor. On-the-job training has the advantage of giving first hand knowledge and experience under the actual working conditions. While the trainee learns how to perform a job, he is also a regular worker rendering the services for which he is placed on rendering services in the most effective manner rather than learning how to perform the job. On-the-job training methods include job rotation, coaching, job instruction or training through step-by-step and committee assignment.
Job Rotation: This type of training involves the movement of the trainee from one job to another. The trainee receives job knowledge and gains experience from his supervisor or trainer in each of the different job assignments. Though this method of training is common in training managers for general management positions, trainees can also be rotated from job to job in work-shop jobs. This method gives an opportunity to the trainee to understand the problems of employees on other jobs and respect them.
Coaching: The trainee is placed under a particular supervisor who functions as a coach in training the individual. The supervisor provides feedback to the trainee on his performance and offers him some suggestions of his burden. A limitation of this method of training is that the trainee may not have the freedom or opportunity to express his own ideas.
Job Instruction: This method is also known as training through step by step. Under this method, the trainer explains to the trainee the way of doing the jobs, job knowledge and skills and allows him to do the job. The trainer appraises the performance of the trainee, provides feedback information and corrects the trainee.
Committee Assignments: Under the committee assignment, a group of trainees are given and asked to solve an actual organizational problem. The trainees solve the problem joint6ly. It develops team work.
Internship: Internship is one of the on-the-job training methods. Individuals entering industry in skilled trade4slike machinist, elect6ician and laboratory technician are provided with thorough instruction though theoretical and practical aspects. For example, TISCO, TELCO, and BHEL select the candidates from polytechnics engineering colleges and management institutions and provide apprenticeship training. Apprenticeship training programs are jointly sponsored by colleges, universities and industrial organizations to provide the opportunity to the students to gain real-life experience as well as employment. Exhibit presents the benefits of apprenticeship training.
MAKE INTERNSHIPS BENEFICIAL
Most of the Universities and Colleges encourage students for internship as part of the curriculum, as it is beneficial to all concerned.
Benefits to Students:
• Practical knowledge and exposure
• Higher initial salaries
• Faster promo9tions
• Quick job orientation
Benefits of Universities:
• Touch with market place
• Improvement in recruitment chances
• Improvement in attraction of quality students
Benefits to Potential Employers:
• Competent assistance
• Opportunity to evaluate potential employees
• No obligation to continue relationship at the end of internship
• Reduce recruitment expenses.
Off-the-Job Methods: Under this method of training, the trainee is separated from the job situation and his attention is focused upon learning the material related to his future job performance. Since the trainee is not distracted by job requirements, he can place his entire concentration on learning the job rather than spending his time in performing it. There is an opportunity for freedom of expression for the trainees. Companies have started using multimedia technology and information technologies in training off-the-job training methods are as follows:
Vestibule Training: In this method, actual work conditions are simulated in a class room, material, files and equipment which are used in actual job performance are also used in training. This type of training is commonly used for training personnel for clerical and semi-skilled jobs. The duration of this training ranges from days to a few weeks. Theory can be related to practice in this method.
Role Playing: It is defined as a method of human interaction that involves realistic behavior in imaginary situations. This method of training involves action, doing and practice. The participants play the role of certain characters such as the production manager, mechanical engineer, superintendents, maintenance engineers, quality control inspectors, foremen, workers and the like. This method is mostly used for developing inter-personal interactions and relations.
Lecture Method: The lecture is a traditional and direct method of instruction. The instructor organizes the material and gives it to a group of trainees in the form of a talk. To be effective, the lecture must motivate and create interest among the trainees. An advantage of the lecture methods that it is direct and can be used for a large group of trainees. Thus, costs and time involved are reduced. The major limitation of the lecture method is that it does not provide for transfer of training effectively.
Conference or Discussion: It is a method in training the clerical professional and supervisory personnel. This method involves group of people who pose ideas, examine and share facts, ideas and data, test assumptions and draw conclusions, all of which contribute to the improvement of job performance. Discussion has the distinct advantage over the lecture method, in that the discussion involves two-way communication and hence feed back is provided. The participants feel free to speak in small groups. The success of this method depends on the leadership qualities of the person who leads the group.
Programmed Instruction: In recent years, this method has become popular. The subject-matter to be learned is presented in a series of carefully planned sequential units. These units are arranged from simple to more complex level of instruction. The trainee goes through theses units by answering questions or filling the blanks. This method is expensive and time consuming.
The Training Procedure: The training procedure discussed below is essentially an adoption of the job instruction training course, which has been proved to have a great value. The important steps in the training procedure are discussed below:
Preparing the Instructor: The instructor must know both the job to be taught and how to teach it. The job must be divided into logical parts so that each can be taught at a proper time without the trainee losing plan. For each part, one should have in mind the desired technique of instruction, that is, whether a particular point is best taught by illustration, demonstration or explanation.
A serious and committed instructor must:
• Know the job or subject he is attempting to teach.
• Have the aptitude and ability to teach.
• Have willingness towards the profession.
• Have a pleasing personality and capacity for leadership.
• Have the kno2wledge of teaching principles and methods.\
• Be a permanent student, in the sense that he should equip himself with the latest concepts and knowledge.
Preparing the Trainee: As in interviewing, the first step in training is to attempt to place the trainee at east. Most people are some what nervous when approaching an unfamiliar task. Though the instructor may have executed this training procedure, many times he or she never forgets its newness to the trainee. The quality of empathy is a mark of the good instructor.
Getting Ready to Teach: This stage of the program is class hour teaching involving the following activities:
• Planning the program.
• Preparing the instructor’s outline.
• Do not try to cover too much material.
• Keep the session moving along logically.
• Discuss each item in depth.
• Repeat, but in different words.
• Take the material from standardized texts when it is available.
• When the standardized text is not available, develop the program and course content based on group approach. Group consists of employer, skilled employees, supervisors, trade union leaders and others familiar with job requirements. Group prepares teaching material.
• Teach about the standard for the trainee like quality, quantity, waste or scrap, ability to work without supervision, knowledge or procedure, safety rules, human relations etc.
• Remember your standard, before you teach.
Presenting the Operation: There are various alternative ways of presenting the operation, viz. explanation, demonstration etc. an instructor mostly uses these methods of explanation. In addition, one may illustrate various points through the use of pictures, charts, diagrams and other training aids.
Try Out the Trainee’s Performance: As a continuation of the presentation sequence given above, the trainee should be asked to start the job or operative procedure. Some instructors prefer that the trainee explains each step before doing it, particularly if the operation involves any danger. The trainee, through repetitive practice, will acquire more skill.
Follow-up: The final step in most training procedures is that of follow-up. When people are involved in any problem or procedure, it is unwise to assume that things are always constant. Follow-up cab be adopted to a variable reinforcement schedule as suggested in the discussion of learning principles. Every training program should have follow-up otherwise the training programs in the future cannot be improved.
EVALUATION OF TRAINING PROGRAMME
The specification of values forms a basis for evaluation. The basis of evaluation and the mode of collection of information necessary for evaluation should be determined at the planning stage. The process of training evaluation has been defined as “any attempt to obtain information on the effects of training permance and to assess the value of training in the light of that information”. Evaluation leads to controlling and correcting the training program. Hamblin suggested five level at which evaluation of training can take place, viz, reactions, learning, job behavior, organization and ultimate value.
Positive Attitudes Make an Organisation
• Determine training needs through job description, performance appraisal forms and potential appraisal discussions.
• Prepare a training calendar in discussion with managers.
• Training programs should be well defined specific objectives.
• Nominate the employees for training based on a need for training.
• Trainers should be qualified and experienced, and preferably internal.
Reactions: Training program is evaluated on the basis of the trainee’s reactions to the usefulness of coverage of the matter, depth of the course content, method of presentation, teaching methods etc.
Learning: Training program, trainer’s ability and trainee ability are evaluated on the basis of quantity of content learned and time in which it is learned and the learner’s ability to use or apply the content he learned.
Job Behavior: This evaluation includes the manner and extent to which the trainee has applied his learning to his job.
Organisation: This evaluation measures the use of training, learning and change in the job behavior of the department/organization in the form of increased productivity, quality, morale, sales turnover and the like.
Ultimate Value: It is the measurement of the ultimate result of the contributions of the training program to the Company goals like survival, growth, profitability etc., and to the individual goals like development of personality and social goals like maximizing social benefit.
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INTRODCTION
What is Management Development?
Management development is a systematic process of growth and development by which the managers develop their abilities to manage. So, it is the result of not only participation in formal courses of instruction but also of actual job experience. It is concerned with improving the performance of the managers by giving them opportunities for growth and development, which in turn depends on organization structure of the company.
Role of the Organisation:“The role of the company in management development is to establish the program and the development opportunities for its present and potential managers”. “Executive development is eventually something that the executive has to attain himself. But he will do this much better if he is given encouragement, guidance and opportunity by his company”.
Objectives of Management Development: The management development programs are organized with a view to achieving specific objectives. They are:
(i) To overhaul the management machinery.
(ii) To improve the performance of the managers.
(iii) To give the specialists on overall view of the functions of an organization and equip them to coordinate each other’s efforts effectively.
(iv) To identify persons with the required potential and prepare them for senior positions.
(v) To increase morale of the members of the management group.
(vi) To increase versatility of the management group.
(vii) To keep the executives abreast with the changes and developments in their respective fields.
(viii) To create the management succession that can take over in case of contingencies.
(ix) To improve thought process and analytical ability.
(x) To broaden the outlook of the executive regarding h is role position and responsibilities.
(xi) To understand the conceptual issues relating to economic, social and technical areas.
(xii) To understand the problems of human relations and improve human relations skills and
(xiii) To stimulate creative thinking.
Achievement of the above stated objectives is very difficult as some factors inhibit the management development process.
Evaluation of Management Development Programs: Management development programs should be evaluated in order to find out whether the objectives of the programs are achieved or not. The development programs would be effective, if they contribute to the organizational group and individual goals. Management should delegate the responsibility of evaluation to a senior manager in the HRD department. The evaluation specialist should be clear of the objectives and goals against which the evaluation is conducted. Evaluation should be a continuous process and specific. The evaluation specialist should inform the trainees well in advance the content, objectives, areas and the method of evaluation. Evaluation must be objective oriented. Evaluation must be realistic in terms of direction, standards etc.,The areas of evaluation include different managerial skills, knowledge, technical skills and knowledge and conceptual skills and knowledge. The areas should be specific for each MDP based on the content provided. Further, the evaluation can also be conducted regarding the training methodology, input/output/content, infrastructure and physical facilities, teaching aids etc.,
Evaluation should not only immediately be after the completion of the programs but also in specific intervals in the long-run in order to find out the impact of the MDP on the job behavior and efficiency of the trainee. Further, their evaluation may also measure the improvement in decision-making skill, interpersonal relation, strategy making and implementation skills, role modeling skills etc., these areas depend upon the content of each MDP. The evaluation results should be provided to the trainees, their superiors, subordinates and HRD department of the organization. These results can be used for further improvement of the future programs in the company.
Methods of Management Development: There are mainly two types of methods by which managers can acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes and make themselves competent managers. One is through formal training and the other is through on-the-job experiences. On-the-job training is of utmost importance as the real learning takes place only when the learner uses what he has learnt. The saying ”an ounce of practice is worth tons of theory” is true, whoever said it. But it should also be remembered that class-room training or pedagogical techniques have also get their own importance in learning new knowledge, learning new techniques and broader concepts.
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. The focus of the performance appraisal is measuring and improving the actual performance of the employee and also the future potential of the employee. Its aim is to measure what an employee does.
According to Flippo, a prominent personality in the field of Human resources, “performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and an impartial rating of an employee’s excellence in the matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.” Performance appraisal is a systematic way of reviewing and assessing the performance of an employee during a given period of time and planning for his future.
It is a powerful tool to calibrate, refine and reward the performance of the employee. It helps to analyze his achievements and evaluate his contribution towards the achievements of the overall organizational goals.
By focusing the attention on performance, performance appraisal goes to the heart of personnel management and reflects the management’s interest in the progress of the employees.
Objectives Of Performance appraisal:
●To review the performance of the employees over a given period of time.
●To judge the gap between the actual and the desired performance.
●To help the management in exercising organizational control.
●Helps to strengthen the relationship and communication between superior – subordinates and management – employees.
●To diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals so as to identify the training and development needs of the future.
●To provide feedback to the employees regarding their past performance.
●Provide information to assist in the other personal decisions in the organization.
●Provide clarity of the expectations and responsibilities of the functions to be performed by the employees.
●To judge the effectiveness of the other human resource functions of the organization such as recruitment, selection, training and development.
●To reduce the grievances of the employees.
Traditional Methods of Performance Appraisal
ESSAY APPRAISAL METHOD: This traditional form of appraisal, also known as “Free Form method” involves a description of the performance of an employee by his superior. The description is an evaluation of the performance of any individual based on the facts and often includes examples and evidences to support the information. A major drawback of the method is the inseparability of the bias of the evaluator.
STRAIGHT RANKING METHOD: This is one of the oldest and simplest techniques of performance appraisal. In this method, the appraiser ranks the employees from the best to the poorest on the basis of their overall performance. It is quite useful for a comparative evaluation.
PAIRED COMPARISON: A better technique of comparison than the straight ranking method, this method compares each employee with all others in the group, one at a time. After all the comparisons on the basis of the overall comparisons, the employees are given the final rankings.
CRITICAL INCIDENTS METHODS: In this method of Performance appraisal, the evaluator rates the employee on the basis of critical events and how the employee behaved during those incidents. It includes both negative and positive points. The drawback of this method is that the supervisor has to note down the critical incidents and the employee behaviour as and when they occur.
FIELD REVIEW: In this method, a senior member of the HR department or a training officer discusses and interviews the supervisors to evaluate and rate their respective subordinates. A major drawback of this method is that it is a very time consuming method. But this method helps to reduce the superiors’ personal bias.
CHECKLIST METHOD: The rater is given a checklist of the descriptions of the behaviour of the employees on job. The checklist contains a list of statements on the basis of which the rater describes the on the job performance of the employees.
GRAPHIC RATING SCALE: In this method, an employee’s quality and quantity of work is assessed in a graphic scale indicating different degrees of a particular trait. The factors taken into consideration include both the personal characteristics and characteristics related to the on the job performance of the employees. For example a trait like Job Knowledge may be judged on the range of average, above average, outstanding or unsatisfactory.
FORCED DISTRIBUTION: To eliminate the element of bias from the rater’s ratings, the evaluator is asked to distribute the employees in some fixed categories of ratings like on a normal distribution curve. The rater chooses the appropriate fit for the categories on his own discretion.
Modern Methods of Performance Appraisal
ASSESSMENT CENTRES: An assessment centre typically involves the use of methods like social/informal events, tests and exercises, assignments being given to a group of employees to assess their competencies to take higher responsibilities in the future. Generally, employees are given an assignment similar to the job they would be expected to perform if promoted. The trained evaluators observe and evaluate employees as they perform the assigned jobs and are evaluated on job related characteristics. The major competencies that are judged in assessment centres are interpersonal skills, intellectual capability, planning and organizing capabilities, motivation, career orientation etc. assessment centres are also an effective way to determine the training and development needs of the targeted employees.
BEHAVIORALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) is a relatively new technique which combines the graphic rating scale and critical incidents method. It consists of predetermined critical areas of job performance or sets of behavioral statements describing important job performance qualities as good or bad (for eg. the qualities like inter personal relationships, adaptability and reliability, job knowledge etc). These statements are developed from critical incidents. In this method, an employee’s actual job behaviour is judged against the desired behaviour by recording and comparing the behaviour with BARS. Developing and practicing BARS requires expert knowledge.
HUMAN RESOURCE ACCOUNTING METHOD: Human resources are valuable assets for every organization. Human resource accounting method tries to find the relative worth of these assets in the terms of money. In this method the Performance appraisal of the employees is judged in terms of cost and contribution of the employees. The cost of employees include all the expenses incurred on them like their compensation, recruitment and selection costs, induction and training costs etc whereas their contribution includes the total value added (in monetary terms). The difference between the cost and the contribution will be the performance of the employees. Ideally, the contribution of the employees should be greater than the cost incurred on them.
360-Degree-Performance-Appraisal Method: 360 degree feedback, also known as ‘multi-rater feedback’, is the most comprehensive appraisal where the feedback about the employees’ performance comes from all the sources that come in contact with the employee on his job. 360 degree respondents for an employee can be his/her peers, managers (i.e. superior), subordinates, team members, customers, suppliers/ vendors – anyone who comes into contact with the employee and can provide valuable insights and information or feedback regarding the “on-the-job” performance of the employee.
360 degree appraisal has four integral components:1. Self appraisal
2. Superior’s appraisal 3. Subordinate’s appraisal 4. Peer appraisal.
Self appraisal gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his achievements, and judge his own performance. Superior’s appraisal forms the traditional part of the 360 degree performance appraisal where the employees’ responsibilities and actual performance is rated by the superior. Subordinates appraisal gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like communication and motivating abilities, superior’s ability to delegate the work, leadership qualities etc. Also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to find employees’ abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.
360 degree performance appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals it helps to keep a track of the changes others’ perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc.