Evaluation and Performance Management - Literature review Example

Critical Review Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx July 26th, 2012 Introduction Training and development refers to the process of acquiring skills, knowledge and abilities by employee/s. In a formal setting, development and training can be defined as “any attempt to improve current or future employee’s performance by increasing the ability to perform through learning especially by changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his/her skills and knowledge” (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). It is observed that the need for training and development is determined by the worker’s performance deficiency. In summary form, training and development need is standard performance minus actual performance. In that respect, worker training and other development activities are meant to improve the overall performance of the organization. Nevertheless, not all training and development activities succeed in achieving this goal because they are ‘more often than not’ thrown at problems that are not well stated. As the major task of both development and training is to improve the organizational performance, it is important that they are implemented together in whichever company (Blalock, 1999). By so doing, the performance management process will guide the company in determining which development is effective every circumstances. In particular, training of employees returns value of investment to the organization if and only if it is clearly spelt out. It also focuses on the needs and wants of not only the organization but also the employees. On its self, performance management bridges the gap distinction between what the employee want to accomplish and what the organization what to achieve (Heuerman, 1997). However, the aim of bridging this gap is to improve the main objective of the organization. It is also noted that the aim of training the employee/s is to reduce the mentioned gap. More so, training enables the organization to understand what the employee can do and what the organization what the employee to do. This is also called the performance gap (Heuerman, 1997). Performance management is therefore the starting point in determining the applicable training needed by the organization. This training is not for employees only but also the entire organization. It is important to differentiate between training and development though they are put together in performance management (Heuerman, 1997). On its part, training involves organizing some events like workshop, seminars and the pertaining instructions. On the other hand, development involves enriching the employee/s on the basis of the organizational daily routine (Blalock, 1999). For example, if the employees exchange their job responsibilities so that each employee within the organization gets to learn what his/her colleague does, it will eventually increase the experience of the employees. With this, it is easily identified that employees’ development encapsulates training and other learning activities within an organization. In addition, different learning activities mean and aim at different things in an organization (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). Say, if the aim is to improve the understanding of how different departments work to different workers, the best approach would be to rotate responsibilities of the workers between departments. Again, if the aim is to make employees understand how to operate a computer, the appropriate method would be to train through a workshop. As mentioned above, the main objective of a good performance management system is to improve the overall organizational performance by way of managing the workers’ performance. The benefits of performance management system include; every worker understands the importance of the work and contribution towards the organizational objectives and goals. It also helps the employees to understand what is required of them and more so to evaluate their skills in relation to the required task. The overall communication within the organization is enhanced by performance management system. Finally, performance management also improves the relationship between employees’ and between the managers and the employees (Stone, 2002). With these benefits of performance, employees are positively influenced enhance job satisfaction. Performance management also improves the workers’ loyalty to the job by; frequently employees are provided with feedback of their performance in respect to the expectations of the organization. It also establishes a strong connection between performance and reward. In a broader perspective, training and development are very essential components of human resource development (Yeung, Woolcock & Sullivan, 1996). These two aspects assume the important role more so in the current advancement in technology as well as competition in the market. Performance management therefore raises the customers’ expectation of the quality of both services and goods hence the need to reduce the cost. It also prepares the workers in terms of competitiveness of the services they provide. So, in order to achieve the goal of satisfying the customers, the employees in every organization must be trained and developed through whichever means (Storey & Sisson, 1993). For example, in developing countries where women are taking the traditionally male jobs, training is being done to basically teach the essential skills required to undertake the task. The training is also done sin policies of sexual harassment and the physical nature of the job. There are several factors that necessitate training and development but the major ones are change and development. The world is in dynamic change in every aspect of life such as technology. In the current world, technology is been regarded as the main driver of change. In that respect, technology is changing the way businesses are conducted, functions, deliver, and compete hence the need for training and development (Yeung, Woolcock & Sullivan, 1996). Development comes-in in the sense that remuneration in terms of liquid cash is not the only motivator of employees. With that, when people are employed, they are getting more value from employment other than material worth (Yeung & Berman, 1997). In RAAF for example, employees enroll in self-awareness courses which in terms of business performance has no consequence. However, the course is important to the well-being of the employee which makes the employee to be spiritually elated about the job. From these we conclude that training and development are the bottom line implications of any organization performance. To take a leadership role in an organization and in the market place, it requires proper strategies to be put in place so as to improve productivity and performance as opposed to how much the organization spend in learning and developing. This paper identifies the strengths and weakness of how performance management and training and development work together in Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and how they are integrated into the organization’s strategy. This will be achieved by critically reviewing the work of various scholars on the subject matter. Critical review A critical review on Ahmed, Tabassum and Hossain 2005-06, Human Resource Management Practices: A case study of the Supply Chain Department of Square Pharmaceuticals: Sri Lankan Journal of Management. Vol. 10, Nos. 3 & 4: Vol. 11, Nos. 1 & 2 Ahmed, Tabassum and Hossain (2005-06) discuss the human resource management practices including the training and development of employees in the context of Sri Lanka. They noted that though HRM is been regarded a new concept in business, most of the organizations across the country are putting more emphasis on its practices so as to gain the much needed competitive edge. In the case study more stress was put on HRM practices such as selection and recruitment, training, employee development and performance management to name but a few. According to Ahmed, Tabassum and Hossain (2005-06) training is any planned for effort in order to acquire the relevant working knowledge which is inform of skills or behaviour. Employees’ training is of four kind namely; classroom training, induction training, on-the-job training and off-the-job training. The induction training is done to employees after they successfully have been recruited in the organization. In most cases, induction training process takes place within the first six month after recruitment (Storey & Sisson, 1993). From the training, the employees get to learn about the organization working culture and skills required in the job. Classroom training involves giving instructions to the employees though workshops and forums. This is done after the performance management system notices some lethargy with the workers ability. It is therefore meant to motivate workers to work productivity towards attaining the overall organizational objectives. Off-the-job training takes place away from the working situation and in this case the employee is not regarded and as a productive worker. It takes place in form of conferences and further studies. On–the–job training involves training while the employees are still attending to their daily responsibilities which include guiding and instructing on a particular area. In addition, according to Ahmed, Tabassum and Hossain (2005-06) employees’ development involves acquiring the skills, knowledge and behaviour which eventually will improve the employees’ ability to work in terms of meeting customers demand and job qualifications. Among other forms of employees’ development are job rotation, job enlargement, transfer, job enrichment, promotion, and normal educational programs. In conclusion, the discussion presented in this journal article is important in the sense that it provides us with the phases of training and development (Warr, 1969). It also makes us understand different training programmes and employees’ development within an organization. A critical review of Siraj ud Din and Ahmad Iftikhar 2009 Evaluating Training and Development: Gomal Journal of Medical Sciences July-December. Vol. 7, No. 2 According to the authors, HRM is an important aspect in health more so in the line of performance of health sectors. This is because; it assumes the main role of success of such an organization by putting together interests of the organization and those of the workers. From this article, development and training in HRM is meant to improve the productivity of the employees by “learning process that involves the acquirement of knowledge, improvement of skills, concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviours in organizational settings”. Therefore, training enhances knowledge and skills that is much needed by the employees of the organization (Blalock, 1999). In that respect then, training makes the employees to be more prepared in terms of new job as development is needed for future assignments. As Hamblin (1974) points out, the process of assessing development and training is any process of obtaining informative feedback based on the effects of training. This is contrary to what Warr (1969) defines evaluation as the “systematic collection and assessment of information for deciding how best to utilize available training resources in order to achieve organizational goals. Comparing the two definitions of evaluation, it is clear that the aim of training employees in an organization is to increase productivity. Training and development is also done to decrease economic fall in the global market. By so doing, organizations are increasing the competition both internally and externally. The top managers within an organization are looking to the need to train and develop the skills of the employees hence the need for the overall evaluation of train programs. In conclusion therefore, organizations are adapting training in order to fill the gap of employees’ skill through evaluation. It is also clear that a successful evaluation is a matter of either the evaluation was propagated based on the sole reason of training (Blalock, 1999). A critical review of USOPM, 1999 Strategic Human Resources Management: Aligning with the Mission. Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness This article discusses the strategies put in place by HRM in order for the organization to accomplish its mission (USOPM, 1999). From this article, HR representatives are involved in planning process such as integrating HRM goals, strategies and objectives (NAPA, 1996). Therefore, HR leaders are working together to fully integrate HRM into planning process so that it will become an important, causal factor to action success and planning. Both HR and HRM are collaborating and in the process the HR personnel are becoming more consultative and involved in daily management of operations. The provided study in strategic planning summarizes it into three steps namely, high level of agency goals and needed resources, operational level strategies and status report on achievement of agency goals (Fey, Bjorkman & Pavlovskaya, 2000). By so doing, organizations have understood that it is not only financial and technological capital with competitive advantage but other this like human capital. So, without ‘keeping’ the right people, with proper training and skills, in the right job, businesses cannot develop and success as expected (Huselid, 1995). Hence people or the human capital has been recognized as the most essential asset in an organization. In respect to this, HR alignment with vigorous processes to advance in agencies like accountability helps in assessing and maintaining human resource management measures and goals through communication and involving human capital in decision making process. Communication contributes to mission accomplishment and executive is held responsible for accountability in support of mission achievement. The HRM therefore measures the average number of employees training hours hence understand the skill level. This is comparison to actual skills gained in the training session with what skill the human capital already possesses (USOPM, 1999). In conclusion therefore, HR has found its way to working in corroboration with HRM in managing and maintaining training and development of employees in an organization. It is also clear that development of employees’ skills through training assist the managers to use human capital in decision making process (Storey & Sisson, 1993). This improves organizational performance through repeated training and consultation of employees to attain the general success of the organization. This critical review of the three articles provides a good basis to discuss the concept of performance management, training and development of employees. The performance and training in RAAF is a complex process that involves the commanders and other technical personnel. It is both in terms of classroom seminars and off-the-job training such as conferences and other physical training (Fey, Bjorkman & Pavlovskaya, 2000). Discussion The existing HRM research and studies conducted through India, North America, European and Asia have indicated that HRM practices have substantial positive impacts on organizational performance based on the market value, revenue growth, revenue per employee, productivity, return per capital employed and ultimately for the organization survival (Ulrich, 1997). From RAAF perspective and the above findings of critical review, it is evident that organizations have known and implemented HRM practices (NAPA, 1996). Nevertheless, high involvement in human resource management is only one way of managing business HRM in the aim of increasing performance. In addition, business performance can be enhanced by managing HRs for expense control (Yeung & Berman, 1997). It is also clear that low involvement human resource work well with some employees and organizations. Together, high and low involvement in human resource management practices forms the basis of performance appraisal which enriches the HR executives’ with consequential lessons (Ulrich, 1997). According to dual theory, any work force is characterized by two distinct elements namely, core and periphery. The core work forces are permanently employed on full-time basis and are paid a salary or wages. They are also covered by benefits like training, promotions and they are involved in decision making process. For example in RAAF, the chief commander, chief of air force, squadron leader, and other departmental security officers receive constant training and are involved in decision making process. These officials are carefully selected into their position following the HRM recruitment criteria. In addition, these officers are remunerated handsomely according to their position. They are also promoted based on their level of competency and ability. Moreover, this cohort of core work force has employment security and some performance-based pay and they are constantly updated on the happenings of the organization. The other cohort of workers (periphery workforce) constitutes of temporary, contract and outsourced employees. They are remunerated on wages and they are not necessary covered by any benefits. In most cases they are not properly trained and not developed or promoted according to performance. This group of workers is not involved in decision making and they have little or no performance promotion and pay. In RAAF for example, the technical team and compound clears are not treated like the other employees. Though the other ranking officers are treated like core workforce, there is a considerable distinction between the high ranking officers and the low ranking officers in terms of nature of work, remuneration and responsibilities. To ensure that services operate run well in RAAF, training, developing and supporting of staffs is done in branches of the organization. Once one becomes personnel in the RAAF services, they are subjected to variety of responsibilities most of which run parallel to civilian life (Perry & Mesch, 1997). The development programmes are mainly to help improve the workers’ spirit, personal flexibility, and general robustness so that employees can work sufficiently and achieve the mission of the organization. The training fields are situated all over the world but the base is at RAAF grounds in Australia. The officers once they are done with basic training programmes, they are subject to posts and appointment which requires that they go back to training after every two years. However, during the line of duty, officers are made to rotate a responsibility (which is known as ‘tour’ within the organization). The time of ‘tour’ or rotation of job vary from one post to another. In general it takes eighteen months or a maximum of three years. Furthermore, one can be move out of the working situation to attend a seminar or a camp for several days. This means that one can be posted outside Australia or be based in your ordinary work role. One is therefore engaged in the following work roles; HRM, estate management and infrastructure, accounting and finance, community support, media and communication, force development, training management i.e. design, development assurance and delivery, operational training i.e. ground training and flying, and governance among others (Collins, Smith & Stevens, 2001). It is bee hive of activities in RAAF base on training and development of officers and other personnel. It is common that during the first tour you land in station adjutant on a RAAF station where among responsibilities you will communicate internally, public relation, ceremonial duties and disciplinary, contractor connection and management inspection. This gives one a chance to gain experience that is much needed throughout the career endeavors in the organization. Another option is that you can be a training officer in the RAAF station; here you develop programmes of activities so as to productivity engage other individuals (Boxall, 1992). Working in partnership with RAAF’s integrated project team and defense estate the AMEC leads the initial investigation of the training of current officer’s and airmen requirement. The two planning programmes are aimed at meeting all the elements of associated with the provision of residential training courses which include classroom and lecture facilities, accommodation social, and community. To achieve this, RAAF have to provide suitable environment for learning through sustainable environment. At the beginning of the programme, AMEC confirms the facilities to be used such as calculating the floor area demand for both indoor facilities and trainees. At various stages, corroboration is do with other senior officials so as to fully understand all the operations and organization issues that influence the working and operation of the organization (USOPM, 1999). After training, evaluation is done based on the initial need for training. This way the organization plans for the unseen future events since the officers are constant trained with the modern technology there is. In accomplishing this, planning is also done based drainage, environmental conservation and infrastructure. From this it is crystal clear that RAAF is crowded with training of its personnel starting from the basic training to continuous learning throughout one’s career (Boxall, 1992). Though some of the training undertaken helps the employees to gain self-esteem with the work they are doing, other training is done to improve the workers’ productivity. In this case, due to the nature of work undertaken in RAAF, officers may suffer shock or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) hence after an event which is traumatic such as combat, those who were directly involved receive a guiding and counseling session. This training is necessary for the officers not to be frustrated with their career and hence lack job satisfaction. Other basic training like matching in squadron and how to operate a gun is essential for the physical nature of the job they undertake. Conclusion In conclusion, training and development are summarized as the standard performance minus the actual performance. In other words, training and development is sum total of all the employees’ engagement activities that foster acquisition of new skills and knowledge be it in form of theory or practical involvement (Storey & Sisson, 1993). These skills and knowledge are the key factors in the organizational performance management since they provide the strengths and weakness of the organization. In addition, they provide the basis of evaluation of the organizational performance to the managers (Davies, 1999). Like in RAAF, performance management has enabled the organization to gain strengths in the following areas; personnel (as per 2011, the organization had 14,573 permanent full-time personnel and 2, 800 part-time workers), aircraft which include BAE systems Hawk, Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III among other world class aircraft, 292 flying and non-flying squadrons, different headquarters and several force element groups. On the other hand the weaknesses are being curbed by the using the feedback from operations, training and the general development of duties and responsibilities (Yadapadithaya, 2001). With that, we can draw a difference between training, development and education. As was mentioned earlier, training is the process of imparting knowledge and skills. Development is the learning opportunities made to assist employees to grow in terms of skills and job satisfaction while education is the theoretical learning confined in a particular setting such a classroom. Though education and training are defined differently, they complement each other. That is to mean that training is not whole without educational factor (Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Furthermore, training and development is taken by organizations to fill the break as mentioned above. Hence evaluation of the organizational performance must be based on the employees’ capability and situation. Nevertheless, evaluation is not important to the organization managers but also to the employees for they are able to work accordingly hence improve their productivity. Consequently, evaluation must be based on the initial need for training and development (Davies, 1999). Finally, it is recommended that RAAF implement a strategy of praising, promoting and increasing salary and wages of the workers for its known to increase performance. In that respect, there should be an all rounded feedback of the performance appraisal in RAAF. It is also required that all aspects of human resources be managed and maintained in the employees data-base hence avoid laying-off of the workers hence make the employees’ information cost effective (Perry & Mesch, 1997). 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