Ways of Evaluating Staff Development Needs - Coursework Example

Staff Training and Development Name: Course: Institution: Tutor: A Report on Staff Training and Development Executive summary The following report is a reflection of the relevance and importance of staff training and development. The report is based on a case study of a company engaged in the business of selling and distributing books. The report begins with a critical analysis of development need assessment. This section has reviewed the various tools that human resource managers can use to determine the training and development needs of their employees. The next section is a critical review of the strategies that can be used to effect staff development while the last section is a discussion of the strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of staff development programs. The report discusses that staff development helps organizations develop flexible and competent workforces as is necessary to achieve strategic objectives. Introduction Continuous training and development of staff is crucial in the management of organizations regardless of the nature or size of their businesses. Staff develop helps develop highly skilled workforces, which is a key resource necessary for realization of strategic objectives. In the modern world of business, it is important for organizations to develop their staff members by equipping them with knowledge and skills necessary for effective competition in the market place. According to Oribabor (2000), development programs provide a framework for staff members to align their personal and organizational skills with an organization’s strategic mission and objectives. Accordingly, organizations engage different staff development programs and strategies to nurture superior workforces and are necessary in accomplishing organizational objectives (Yeo, 2005). Ways of Evaluating Staff Development Needs Continuous staff training and development is an essential aspect of organizational management. To effectively manage staff training and development needs, an organization’s management should implement appropriate mechanisms for determining staff development needs. Essentially, the process of determining staff development needs starts with organizational analysis. As a development need assessment tool, organizational analysis is all about identifying aspects of an organization’s culture, mission objectives, market environment, management policies and production process that impact on employee performance. Organizational analysis helps human resource managers develop strategies for aligning employee competencies with expected performance outcomes (Oribabor, 2000). One of the most important ways of assessing staff development needs is to carefully analyse the organization’s production process, mission objectives and human resource management practices (Tharenou, Saks & Moore, 2007). A thorough evaluation of these variables can yield valuable insight for determining specific staff development needs. An equally important tool for assessing staff development needs is performance review analysis. Use of this tool helps human resource managers to identify specific aspects of employee’s skills, abilities and knowledge that may need to be developed further. To effectively use performance review analysis in development need assessment, it is important for HR managers to work closely with employees to ensure that deficiencies in employee skills and abilities are identified and developed Pag & Donelan, 2003). Closely related to performance review analysis is the evaluation of performance ratings. This method involves continuous review of an employee’s performance ratings. The process helps in identifying areas of an employee’s performance that fall below average or expected range. The process can also be used to determine areas of employee performance whose achievement is satisfactory but would benefit from additional development (Yeung, 1996). As an example, the management at the Finish Bookstore can use performance rating to identify tasks that are likely to create performance difficulties and the measures that should be taken to address the problems. Another useful method of assessing staff development needs is for the human resource managers to discuss job requirements and performance weaknesses with the staff. This method can readily help supervisors and employees to reach agreements on which skills and abilities need to be developed. It can also be used to identify the most appropriate mechanism for effecting staff development needs (Miller, 2007). The human resource managers at the Finnish Bookstore can also use task analysis to assess the development needs of their staff. This assessment method involves identification of required competencies, skills and knowledge in relation to how they relate to expected job outcomes. To be effective, task analysis requires description of performance expectation and actual observation of the job being done (Tuckman & Jensen, 2007). Occasionally, expected performance outcomes may change over time and as such, the old procedures and technologies for executing some tasks may become obsolete. Task analysis is used to identify changes in performance requirements and hence makes it easy to implement the right development needs. If implemented effectively, task analysis is an important assessment tool that saves time and resources by concentrating efforts only on those areas that impact directly on employee performance. In general, assessment of staff development needs should be done in line with an organization’s strategic goals and objectives. In addition, the assessment should be done relation to an employee’s role in the organization (Woodland, Simmons, Thornby, Fitzgerald & McGee, 2003). Learning Strategies and Interventions to Use in Effecting Staff Learning and Development To effectively address the training and development needs of its staff, the management at the Finnish Bookstore should employ a variety of strategies and interventions depending on the particular needs. Regardless of the development need to be addressed, all interventions and strategies require the leadership, focus and vision of the organization’s management and should be able to yield desired outcomes such as improved employee motivation, teamwork and interpersonal skills (Olaniyan & Lucas, 2008). The most important strategy to be used in addressing staff learning and development is the promotion of a learning culture. According to McDowall and Saunders (2010) majority of staff development needs arise because of poor induction and orientation. Simons and Antonio (1998) have asserted that an organization’s strategic goals, whether short-term or long-term can only be realized if employees are given the right induction and the opportunity to learn new business practices and skills. In many organizations, this consideration has been met by encouraging consistent learning and by supplying employees with relevant and latest learning materials. Continuous learning helps equip employees with the most competitive performance skills (Miller, 2007). Continuous learning as a culture should be promoted alongside orientation and induction. Induction gives newly hired employees an impression of the company’s culture and the quality of relationships that will develop as they set out for the jobs. Moreover, human resource managers should develop therapeutic work and related interventions based on the principles of cognitive behavior, motivational intervention and relapse intervention in accordance with identified development needs (Kuchinke, 2010). It is also important to deliver a range of interventions aimed at promoting team work and interpersonal relationships. This may include promotion of workforce diversity. Organizations can also address staff development needs by coordinating effective transitions and promotions and by supporting employees in the impacted areas of their performance. Another important intervention mechanism is the alignment of an organization’s strategic goals and objectives to the desired performance outcomes. This strategy can be especially effective in developing customer service experience and team work skills. In his book, Kirby (2003) has emphasized that the ability of managers to clearly communicate goals and missions gives employees a sense of direction as regards specific performance outcomes. It is, therefore, important for the management to create opportunities that give employees a chance to express their satisfaction in relation to job tasks. It is also important to involve the organization’s leadership in implementing in implementing staff development programs. Kuchinke (2010) has noted that a company’s leadership should be supportive of implementation of staff development programs in order for any desired outcomes to be realized. Moreover, leaders help enhance the effectiveness of the learning process by providing necessary learning tools and guidance in regard to assessment criteria. Leaders also help influence employee perceptions about learning and development programs and their readiness to participate in development programs. Strategies for Assessing the Effectiveness of Intervention Strategies There are numerous resources and tools that can be used by human resource managers to determine the effectiveness of staff training and development programs and whether the desired objectives have been realized. Isyaku (2000) has noted that regardless of the actual tool or strategy used to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program, it should be able to result in significant reduction in costs, increased motivation and reduced grievances, increased production and reduced level of absenteeism. Kirby (2003) has further said that that the process of evaluating the effectiveness of development programs should be a continuous process and that any discrepancies observed during each evaluation should reflect the effectiveness of the intervention strategy used. The simplest way of assessing the effectiveness of staff development intervention strategies is to compare an employee’s performance prior to and after the training and development sessions (Gregory, 2002). If the comparison reveals no significant improvement in ratings after the training, then the training is likely not to have been effective. On the other hand, if the comparison reveals significant improvement in an employee’s performance ratings, then the strategy worked and should be promoted. Controlled experimentation can also be used to gauge the effectiveness of various staff development strategies and interventions. Controlled experimentation involves dividing the staff into two groups. One group is taken through the training program while the other group is not. After a reasonable period of time, performance ratings of the two groups are compared to determine whether the training program resulted in increased productivity and competence for the pilot group. An important advantage that accrues from using controlled experimentation is that it helps save resources and time that could have otherwise been wasted if the intervention strategy failed to work (Isyaku, 2000). The Finnish Bookstore can successfully use this assessment strategy to determine the appropriateness of the online training program by exposing only a small part of the staff to the online program. The company can also use behavior analysis to assess the effectiveness of the various learning interventions. Gregor (2002) has explained that behavior analysis helps human resource mangers determine how well the staff’s attitudes and behaviors change after a development training program. The main objective of behavior analysis is to determine how quickly employees put into practice the skills, knowledge and experience that they learnt in the development program. Behavior analysis can also be used to determine whether employees have attained appropriate performance improvement to guarantee promotions to sensitive areas. Result analysis can also be used to determine the effectiveness of staff development programs. This technique involves comparing actual performance outcomes against expected outcomes. Conclusion Continuous staff training and development is an integral part of effective human resource management practices. Rapid changes in business processes and the dynamic nature of markets require that organizations develop workforces that are skilled, adaptable and future-focused. Such workforces can only be developed through continuous training and development. Staff training and development should be undertaken in accordance with identified needs and their impact on realization of the organization’s objectives. It is important for organizations to implement appropriate strategies that can help bring about desired changes in employee performance. It is also imperative that organizations put in place mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of staff training and development strategies. References Gregory, C. 2002, "Why the leadership bench never gets deeper: Ten insights about executive talent development". HR Planning Society Journal 25(1) (online InderScience). Isyaku, I 2000, Training and retraining of Teachers through Distance Education. Being a paper presented at the National Workshop on Distance Education Held at Abuja Nigeria. 27-29. Kuchinke, P 2010, ‘Human development as a central goal for human resource development’, Human Resource Development International, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 575 – 585 (online Taylor & Francis/ InformaWorld). Kirby, A 2003, StorageTek expands its employees’ horizons. Training & Management Development Methods, 17(4), 961-963. 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