432 Human Resource Development
432 Human Resource Development
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MBA PAPER 4.32 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT SYLLABUS UNIT 1: Introduction Evolution of Human Resource Development as a management philosophy Scope and importance Personal management vs Human resource development Human resource system designing. Role Analysis and Human Resource Development Role analysis methods Key performance areas Critical attributes and role effectiveness Performance appraisal and its objectives Considerations in performance appraisal Development oriented appraisal system. Performance Consulting and Interpersonal Feedback Developing dynamic relationship through effective counseling Potential appraisal and development Career planning and individual development. Training Conceptual framework Learning principles Identification of training needs Training objectives Designing training programmes Training methods Evaluation of training and retraining. Organizational effectiveness organizational Human Resource development organizational development interface Human Resource development and TQM and ISO 9000 Human resource development strategies for higher organizational performance.
UNIT 2:
UNIT 3:
UNIT 4:
UNIT 5:
Contents
UNIT I 1. Introduction UNIT II 2. Role Analysis And Human Resource Development UNIT III 3. Performance Counselling and Interpersonal Feedback Unit IV 4. Meaning for Training And Development UNIT V 5. Organisational Effectiveness UNIT VI 6. Current Status And Experience In Role Analysis And HRD
Lesson 1 Introduction The Growth in Economy for any country in the world mainly depends upon the Technology and economical resources. It has proved in a progress result for the last decades. The new Dimensions been dreamed by various industrial philosophers on the angle of effective civilization of Human Resources. Because it is also richer in terms of human capabilities, facilities and quality of living. Improvements in education, Technology, communications and markets have made the world a Global village, Rather to the previous decade, people live longer today, all better informed, possibly they communicate themselves to one another across the world this results then the grow themselves of Economic, Professional, Educational, social and other activities with case. These developments have taken by the management philosophers to argue that, whether this remarkable progress have benefited the worlds growing number of poor people. And where only some benefits been unitized by the poor, new problems are appearing in the form of deteriorating social fabric and environmental degradation. Inevitably the world nations faces two major challenges on development. The first is to confirm that on the end result as development reach the most needy through equitable distribution of resources, opportunities and benefits. The second is to develop human capabilities and address the challenges of development political, economic, and social. There are few countries have balanced this to meet both these challenges as importance of investing in developing people and improving the quality of life, though the adoption of human resources development strategies. Every human being are gifted with the ability and potential to do an achievement. If they have been accustomed with opportunities organizations have ignored the people to treat them as an important resources asset in an organisation. These organizations tended accomplishing organizational goals and therefore, managed. It doesnt exist to be, due to the changing technology increasing size of business, larger volume of production, necessity improvement, to enrich the market share, to maintain the effective leadership. Organisation have been turned into more complex in nature. Organizations have started to realize the importance of effectiveness need for an organisation, in order to attain these effectiveness in terms of productivity, quality and customer delight orientation, to match the objectives of stability, profitability. Turnover ratio and for survival in Business. Organizations requires well developed, committed and eminent people on the job. This necessarily makes the organizations to pay a special attention towards the development of people. In fact people are the most and valuable resources in every organizations as in the form of its employees. The organisation can be made into more systemic by the contribution of effectiveness employee. A ViewAbout HRD The concept of Human Resource Development (HRD) has been giving prominent role and focus in management during the last two decades. In any process of development economy Human Resources being the most significant role in a man is the essence of human resources development. HRD is the process of increasing the capacity of human resources through development. HRD makes an effective attempts on adding on adding value to the individual, terms and organisation and human system. In a broader sense, HRD refers to empowering the people and enabling them to use their power and development of the organisation to which they belong and society at large. HRD paves and paradigm shaft from traditional Master-slave relationship to the modern trusteeship system, in which employees and employers and considered a partners investing their wealth and labour respectively, as from Traditional salary administration to the new Human Resource System (HRS). Almost all the organizations have now established HRD departments separately to effectively deal with the human resources. Releasing the necessity and importance, Government of India has set up a separate functionary HRD Minister at the National Level. Evolution of HRD as a Management Philosophy Concept evolution of HRD 4
When we trace the concept tract of HRD, the theme of HRD is interestingly observed about the occurrence of during different periods and different places. Economics Adam smith, Karl Marks and a host of classical and modern of Human resources and focused on labor, identify and skill development. Even though there is a lot of controversies in the parameter regarding the quality of human resources in a country preferred by the world organisation, Such as World Bank, Internationals etc. These parameters been accepted based on the validity. The three parametrical stages in HRD in history are, the first was the ancient, in which India was the leader. The second Medical stage, though the recognized concept of a welfare stage could not make it a reality. Thus paved a way to the evolution of feudalism and perpetrated traditionalism. Human development failed to cope with the faster development of material world. The Third stage is modern and India has entered it with numerous problems due to foreign rule, overpopulation, poverty etc. Only after the Indias freedom, Human resource has been recognized as a resource. The development in Human Resource ahs taken a lead only after it was given a due consideration. Based on various literatures HRD understood as a multidisciplinary concept. Different philosophers have argued it from different angles. But economist have consider human resources as an economic angle of capital assets, labour, skills and wages. They argued that human resources in an asset investment to the organisation. A psychologist treat HRD an a psychological dimensions of attitudes, aptitude, values, intelligence, perceptions, aspirations and motivations. All these factors provides and forces as an input and output in the system of human resources development. A sociologist perception of HRD moves around social relations like family, groupism, Grows as mob etc. Anthropologists looks at HRD by giving priority of humarity history and focuses of on several aspects of traction, kinship, culture, myths, an d convenes. From the angle of social-and cultural point, HRD been viewed as, it helps people to lead a fuller and rich lives and to unlock the doors to modernization. Organisational behaviour theory highlights the HRD as in behavioural science viewpoint. The lesson of US, Germany, UK are strikingly different. Wrong market information, coupled with lack of corrective measures plunged the large auto-manufactures in distress. Consumer preference had been correctly identified by the Japanese who flooded the markets. Today the big three US auto makers (ford, GM, Chryster) as well as the German Volkeswagers and Mercedes are going through painful process of restricting, delaying, laying off to get into shape and face the Japanese onslaught. The Asian Tigers (Korea, Taiwan, Singapore) present a different story. Countries will little resources have emerged as strong economics with growing markets. How they identified their niche and set about claiming it. How they reorganized themselves into high quality low cost manufacturing bases for specialty items have become a matter of serious study. HRDA philosophical view point The term HRD refers to the improvement in capacities and capabilities of the peritoneal in relation to the needs of organisation. It involves the creation of climate in which the flower of Human Knowledge, skills, capabilities and credibility can bloom. It involves the use of process though the employees of the organisation are prepared to give their best for corporate objectives and involves optional effectiveness in their jobs. It involves in setting up of a system though which human capabilities and potentials can be tapped to the mutual satisfaction of individual and the organizations. It is process by which employees of an organisation are continuously helped in a planned way: To acquire or sharpen capabilities (knowledge, perspectives, attitudes, valves and skills) required to perform various tasks or functions associated with their present or future expected roles. To develop their general capabilities as individuals so that they are able to discover and utilize their inner potential for their own or organizational development purposes. To develop an organizational culture where superior subordinate relationships, team work an collaboration among different sub units are strong and contribute to the organizational health, dynamism and pride of employees. The term HRD is used at both Micro-levels in the context of improving the quality of human life: 5
At Macro level it is explained as core of all development efforts. In the sense of improvement in the quality of life of the people, At the Micro (or) Organisation level, it represents the improvement in the quality of workers so as to achieve higher levels of productivity. By interpreting these two levels in Macro level it becomes an end of all development efforts, But in Micro level in remains a Means or resource among others. Therefore, it seems proper to use the term Human Development at Macro-level and at the Micro-level it can be termed as Human Resource Development However HD and HRD is quite close and reciprocal. HRS philosophy The most fundamental part of HRD deals with HRD philosophy. It represents those basic beliefs, principles and views that are held by the management with respect to the development and growth of its employees. A well-established HRD philosophy plays two important functions. 1. It gives rise to, what one call style of management. A manager develops his practices on the basis of his philosophy. 2. In makes organizational goals more explicit. The following beliefs are essential for the success of any HRD programme: Human beings are the most important assets in the organisation. Human beings can be developed to an unlimited extent. Employees feel committed to their work and the organization if the organization develops a feeling of belonging in them. Employees are likely to have a feeling of belonging in them if the organization adequately cares for the satisfaction of their basic and high-order needs. Employees commitment to their work increases when they get opportunity to discover and use their full potential. It is every managers responsibility to ensure the development and utilization of the capabilities of his subordinates, to create a healthy and motivating work climate, and to set examples for subordinates to follow. The higher the level of a manager, more attention he should pay to HRD function in order to ensure its effectiveness. A healthy and motivating climate is one which is characterized by openness, enthusiasm, trust, mutuality and collaboration.
Guided in its HRD programme by the philosophy and ideas of its founder Jamshedji Tata, the Tata Iron & Steel Co. is one example of an ideal HRD philosophy. It believes that it can effectively discharge its obligations towards its employees only; 1. By a realistic and generous understanding and acceptance of their needs and rights and enlightened awareness of the social responsibility of Industry. 2. By providing adequate wages, good working conditions, job security, an effective machinery for speedy redressal of grievances, and suitable opportunities for promotion and self-development. 3. By promoting feeling of trust and loyalty through a humane and purposeful awareness of their needs and aspirations; and 4. By creating a sense of belonging and term-spirit through their close association with management at various levels. Another example of companys HRD philosophy is provided by the well-known Indian Tobacco Co. This company has from its original business of cigarettes and tobacco, diversified into several new areas such as cottage sector products, edible oils and oilseeds. The group employs over 15,000 people. The human resource philosophy statement of the company lists seven cardinal beliefs as under:
Self-managing resources Potential Limitations Quality of work life Meritocracy Membership Actualization
From a study a 29 business organisation (5 from Public sector and 24 from the private sector) done by the centre of HRD, Xavier Labour Relations Institute and the National HRD Network in 1987 the following information was revealed; 1. Of the 29 organisation studied, 12 (constituting about 35%) and separate departments to look after the HRD functions as direct from the traditional personnel administration and industrial relations functions. Several others had only named or renamed their departments dealings with the conventional tasks, as HRD or Human Resource Management Departments. 2. The HRD functions seemed to receive greater importance by organizations which had a diversified product range and differentiated multi-divisional structures because out of 6 such organisation as many as 5 had separate HRD functions. No significant relationship was found to exist between the HRD functions and such other variables as ownership (whether public sector or private sector), age (young or old organisation) and size (in terms of number of employees or sales turnover). 3. It was the philosophy of the top management of an organisation which was the main factor behind the setting up of the separate HRD function. Of the 12 organizations which had separate HRD function, 10 had direct formal linkages with top management. That is, in each of these 10 organisations, the head of the HRD department reported directly to the chief executive or to his assistant. 4. With the exception of training most other HRD activities such as counseling, performance appraisal, etc., were found to be in operation only with regard to the managerial and supervisory cadres. A critical drawback was the failure to involve employee unions in HRD-related activities. To conclude, it may be notices that a lot of progress has been recorded in the filed of HRD in the last 25 years, there is a lot more that needs to be achieved. So far the efforts have largely been limited to large-sized profit organisation only. Suggestions to make HRD effective in Indian Organizations: There should be an explicit corporate policy on human resources. The top head should show his commitment to HRD by his actions because actions speak louder than words. HRD needs of the organisation should be seriously examined and an action plan for HRD should be prepared. HRD departments should be headed by competent persons and should be place close to the chief executive on the organisation chart. Conducive climate should be developed. Heads of various departments which are dealing with HRD efforts should be encouraged to share their experience and develop professionally.
HRDDefinition and conceptual framework At the organizational level, HRD may be defined to include the activities and process undertaken to promote the intellectual, moral psychological, cultural, social and economic development of the individuals in an organisation in order to help them to achieve highest human potential as a resource for the community. 7
Deftur defined HRD as a system and process concerned with an organized series of leaning activities, within specified time limits, human resources in such a way that in acquires desired level of competence for present or future role. In other words, HRD brings about total all-round development of the people so that they can contribute their best to the organisation, community, society and the nation. According to Rao, HRD defined as, it is a continuous process to ensure the development by employees companies, dynamism, motivations and effectiveness in a systematic and planned way. Based on Shukla statements HRD consists of all measures calculated to improve the quality of Human Resources for the Nation as a whole. It embraces within its scope education, health, welfare and such other activities which are concerned with efficiency and quality or life. Dr. Nadler, Conol and Jones have used the term HRD mainly to refer to Training, Education and Development. Deftur defined HRD as a system and process concerned with an organized series of learning activities, with in specified time limits, designed to produce behavioural changes in the learner or available human resources in such a way what it acquires desired level of competence for present or future role. Dimensions of HRD Now-a-days, HRD is considered as the key to higher productivity, better relations and greater profitability for any organisation. As far as the dimensions/ components/ subsystems of HRD is concerned, various thinkers and professionals have given divergent views and designed the mechanism of HRD in different ways, T.V. Raos opinion that HRD sub-systems comprise performance appraisal, potential appraisal, career planning, training, performance coaching, organisation development, employee welfare, rewards, qualities of work life and human resources information systems. Udai Pareek refers to performance appraisal, feed-back, counseling, potential appraisal, career advancement, career planning and training as dimensions of HRD. M.S.S. Varandan traces HRD mechanism into performance appraisal, role analysis, organisation development and quality circles. Though there is diversity among theses arguments, but one can trace out that one some of the dimensions there is unanimity of opinion among all the exports. A well structured HRD programme is expected to have the following components. Manpower planning Manpower Planning is a process for determining and assessing that the organisation will have an adequate number of qualified person, available at proper time, performing jobs which would meet the needs of the organisation and which would provide satisfactions for the individuals involved. It is an endeavor to watch demand and supply. It involves: a. Estimation of present and future requirements and supply of human resources based on the objectives and long-term plans of the organizations. b. Calculation of net human resources requirements based on present level of human resources. c. Initiating steps to change, mould and develop the existing human resources to meet the future human resource requirements. d. Planning the necessary programme to get the rest of human resources from outside the organisation and to develop resources of existing employees. Recruitment, selection and placement Recruitment is generation of application for specific position for actual or anticipated vacancies. The ideal recruitment efforts will be to generate adequate number of suitable applications. Selection is the process of ascertaining the qualification, experience, skills, knowledge etc. of an applicant with a view to appraising his/her suitability to a job. Placement is the process of assigning the selected candidate with the most suitable job. Scientific placement underlines the need for placing right men at the right job so that the best results could be obtained. Training and development Although the two terms are generally but together, they are not identical; meaning. Training is a learning process that seeks to bring about a permanent improvement in the ability and behaviour of the employees by enabling them to acquire new skill, knowledge and attitude for more efficient performance. Training includes: Identification of training needs. 8
Developing suitable training programmes Imparting requisite job skills and knowledge to employees. Evaluating the effectiveness of training programmes
Development, on the other hand, is basically an educational process which is directed to increase the ability of employees to perceive and apply knowledge in terms of cause and effect relationship. Development includes: Identification of the areas. Conducting development programmes Motivation the executives Taking the services of specialists. Evaluating the effectiveness of development programmes.
Performance appraisal Performance appraisal is a process of determining how well a worker is performing his job. In provides a mechanism for identification of merit and deficiencies observed in an employee in relation to his job performance. The object of appraisal is to determine the present state of efficiency of a worker in order to establish the actual need for training. The process of performance appraisal consists of: Setting standards for performance Communicating the standard to the employees Measuring the performance Comprising the actual performance with the standard set.
Job rotation It is said that distribution of responsibilities will result in specialization, but to the able to utilize there specialization in the best possible way, the work-tasks should be rotated amount the employees so as to broaden their field of specialization as well as their knowledge about he organizations operation as a whole. The work-tasks, therefore, be rotated once a year among the various employees operation as a whole. The work-tasks, therefore, be rotated once a year among the various employees depending upon their qualifications and suitability to perform a new work-task. Wage and salary administration Wage and salary administration refers to the establishment and implementation of sound policies and practices of employees compensation. It includes areas such as job evaluation, development and maintenances of wage structures, wage surveys, wage incentives, profit sharing, wage changes and adjustments, supplementary payments, control of compensation costs, etc. The primary requirement of all employees in an adequate wage and salary which is commensurate with his duties and responsibilities involved. Wages and salaries are important in determining the standard of living, per capita income, productivity, moral and economic well-being of the workers and employees. Career planning and development It is the planning of ones career and implementation of career plans by means of education, training, job search and acquisition of work experience. It is aimed at generating among employees an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses and at helping them to match their skills and abilities to the heads and demand of the organisation. Without development of people in the organisation, the Organisation cannot proper. Individuals career development is considered to be a three step process: Identifying and organizing skills, interests, work-related needs and values; Converting these inventories into general careers fields an specific job-goals; and Testing the possibilities against the realities of the organisation or the job market. 9
Earnest efforts are needed to find possible congruence between the development of the organisation and the individual. Organisation development Organisation Development (OD) is an organisaion-wide, planned effort managed form the top, placing emphasis on making appropriate intervention in the ongoing activities of the changes in the climate and culture of the organisation towards harnessing the human potential for realization of organizational objectives is brought out. Thus, OD is a planned change strategy aimed at developing and revitalizing the adaptive capacities or organizations so as to enable them respond to their internal and external environments, in a pre-active manner. OD exercise includes term-building programme, interpersonal sensitivity, role clarity, personal growth and stress management.
Quality circle A self-governing group of workers with or without their supervisors constitute a quality circle who voluntarily meet regularly to identify, analyse and solve problems of their work field. The circle groups can meet both during and after the working hours and discuss issues can meet both during the after the working hours and discuss issued and problems relating to their work unit and their own jobs. In addition to the quality circles, there are facilitators, coordinators, and the steering committee who play their respective roles at various stages of functioning of quality circle. The objectives of quality circle are: To develop, enhance and utilize human resource effectively; To satisfy the workers psychological needs to motivate them; To improve supervisory skills of employees like leadership, inter-personal and conflict resolution; and To utilize the skills through participation, creating and work interest including problem-solving techniques etc.
Human resource information system It is systematic way of storing information and data for each individual employee to aid planning, decision-making and supply of returns to external agencies. A variety of records are maintained to meet the manpower planning, recruitment, development of people, compensation, integration and maintenance and separations not only for internal control, feedback and corrective action, but also to meet the various statutory obligations. Keeping in view development dimensions as discussed above, it is noticed that comprehensive policy of HRD is highly significant. While most chief executives in our country agree that human resources are very important resources and the HRD should be given high attention, this may be possible with the help of sheer exploitation of human resources for productive purposes. A management innovation like HRD can be initiated and institutionalized only wit the deep commitment and involvement of top management. Scope of the most importance of HRD One of the most talked abut subject in corporate circles, in recent times, is how to optimize the contributions of human resources in achieving organizational goals and objectives. An efficient and satisfied workforce is the most significant factor in organizational effectiveness and managerial excellence. Systematice investigations in industrial and service organizations have revealed that though individually our workers are as knowledgeable and efficient as their counterparts elsewhere thanks to the sophistication in technical training and selection methods used their collective efforts often fall short of corporate expectation. While part of this shortfall may be due to inadequate commitment and motivation, environmental pressure, attitude of trade unions etc., the contribution of management policies and practices in relation to human, technical and material resources is no less significant. Experience in business and service organizations however, indicate that managements, comparatively speaking, bestow more time and attention to policies and systems relating to production, technology, investment, inventory, marketing etc., than to human resources. Therefore, notwithstanding proven strengths in technical, financial marketing and materials areas many organizations are not able to achieve as much productivity and effectiveness as they were capable of. Despite 10
swearing by the importance of human resources, man-management problems in these organizations seem to attract much more attention in crisis times than during peace. Compulsions of modern business environment are, however, promoting corporate managements to systematically review their current attitudes, beliefs and policies towards human resources for they contribute most significantly to the survival and growth of organizations. Enlightened and progressive management have therefore come to believe that people are not problems but opportunities. They have, thus, taken expeditious steps to carefully identify, constructively channelize and consciously develop the potential of their human resource. These tasks are easily said than done because of inter lay of various internal and external environmental factors and behavioural dimensions. Careful planning of changes in corporate value systems, managerial styles, attitudinal and behaviour patterns of employees and trade unions is therefore most urgently called for. Interested organizations with the help of tools and techniques of modern management and behavioural sciences should initiate objective review of the structural and functional aspects of personnel, industrial relations and training departments, systematically audit policies, systems and procedures and constantly evaluate the role effectiveness of executives and employees at various levels in the organizational hierarchy. The observation of Henry Ford a business owes the employee the most satisfying work in can give him within the limits of staying in business is as relevant today as it was several decades ago. Clarity in organizational value systems, goals and objectives and uniform implementation of human resources management policies, systems and procedures etc., can very significantly improve employee motivation and organizational effectiveness. Objectives Enunciation of Human Resource Management Policy and its effective implementation will go a long way in: Ensuring congruence between individual and organizational goals and objectives and setting high standards of productivity, efficiency and quality of working life; Enriching employee commitment and role effectiveness through sharing of information regarding mutual rights, obligations and the philosophy underlying man-management policies and systems; Improving organizational effectiveness by providing due guidance to executives and staff in uniform and effective implementation of management policies especially in the area of human resources; Developing collaborative and problem solving approaches in human resource management. To maximize the utilization of human resources for the achievement of individual and organizational goals; To provide an opportunity and comprehensive framework for the development of human resources in an organisation for full expression of their talent and manifest potentials; To develop the constructive mind and an overall personality of the employees; To develop the sense of team spirit, team work and inter team collaborations; To develop the organizational health, culture and effectiveness; and To generate systematic information about human resources.
Contribution and HRD sub-systems to different development dimensions Each of the sub-systems or mechanisms discussed above contributes to the achievements of not only HRD goals but to its various development dimensions as indicated in Table 1. For example, performance appraisal focuses primarily on helping the individual to develop his or heir present role. Potential appraisal focus primarily on identifying the employees likely future roles within the organisation. Training is the most significant sub-system contributing to all HRD development dimensions. Training is a means of developing the individuals ability of perform his or her present job role or future job roles. Training can also strengthen inter-personal relationships (through training in communicaltions, conflict resouluion, problem solving and transitional analysis, etc.) is the mechanism for developing eam collaboration and self-renewing skills. The contribution of HRD sub systems to different development dimensions has been presented in table 1.1 11
Table 1.1 The contribution of HRD sub-systems to develop dimensions Development Dimensions Individual Individual in present role HRD Sub-systems Training Career planning Potential appraisal and development Potential appraisal and development Feedback and performance coaching Performance appraisal feedback and performance coaching Training Team rewards
Feedback and Rewards coaching performance the Performance appraisal Training rewards
Individual in regard to Potential appraisal Training likely future role and development Dynamic relationships Teams and team work Feedback and Performance appraisal performance coaching Organisation development Training Training Organisation development
Collaboration among Organisation different units/teams development Self-renewing Performance appraisal capacity and health of organisation HRD needs and priorities
Training
As mentioned earlier, HRD is continuous process. While the ultimate objective of HRD is to develop competencies in individuals, groups and collectives, developing competencies is a never-ending process. As one level of competencies is developed in an individual or a group, another set of needs may arise requiring the development of another set of competencies. The side-effects of development in terms of he greenhouse effect and environmental degradation requiring attention to be given to new issues and environment-friendly technologies are an illustration of this. So is the increasing incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in a world that has increased greater longevity and life expectancy. Increased conflicts, suppression of human rights, terrorism and fundamentalism, leading to intolerance for fellow human beings is another illustration of the developmental needs at political and spiritual levels. The point is that the HRD needs are never-ending. However, a Government or a society or a group may have HRD needs and priorities which are unique to them, depending on where they stand and what they have or do not have. In a world where information travels fast and communications have tremendously improved through radio, television and other media, people get to know very quickly about what is possible and what other have, and thus substitution new HRD needs or goals quite soon. Similarly, some of those who have achieved a certain of development and comforts derive satisfaction in help in the less fortunate ones to acquiring what they do not have. Of course, a few also on the misfortunes of others by continuously suppressing or exploiting them. In all this, the national governments and intergovernmental and international agencies have a responsibility to ensure that a certain minimum level of development takes place for all people and all societies. Thus the first goal of any government is to ensure that basic minimum capabilities of people that are required for survival and healthy living are developed. This is the reason for considering programmes that ensure the availability of food and basic nutrition, water, sanitation and other health facilities as the first-level, basic HRD programmes. They ensure that people survive to develop themselves further. Also included in this basic list are the basic education programmes for literacy and primary education and a income/employment generation programmes for the poor. These are considered basic because in the modern world basic literacy and education are expected to equip the individual with instruments for an informed a self-sustaining living, although in exceptional cases and in some it is possible to have such an informed and self-sustaining living without literacy and with some other forms of education. However, this situation is changing fast, much longer or may be exploited by others in the changed societies and groups may not last 12
much longer or may be exploited by others in the changed scenario. At least to escape such dangers it is necessary to equip people with literacy, basic education and income-generation skills. It is therefore the responsibility of national governments to provide these basic HRD facilities to all people. National development policies and programmes should take care of this need. Public policy interventions thorough resource allocation and programme formulation try ot achieve these goals. In the past some countries have; (a) either neglected this and therefore allocated very few resources without realizing long-term effects of such lopsided policies, (b) or have implemented such programmes very ineffectively, and as a result the benefits did not reach those for whom they were meant and benefited those who were already part of a better group. The poor do not have a voice and therefore those responsible for administering them got away, and continue to get away, taking a major cut from what is meant for the poor, the hungry, the continue, the sick and the voiceless. In the changing world, governments can no longer be blind to this. With international pressure and the work of some NGOs and missionaries, even reluctant governments are being required to formulate HRD policies and programmes to meet the basic HRD needs. In the past, mistakes were made by governments and international agencies even with good intentions or out of a lack of understanding and knowledge. With the increasing knowledge base, national governments and international agencies are becoming wiser and are trying to give the right kind of emphasis to HRD policies and programmes. For example, until a few years ago the consequences of neglecting he human dimensions of development had not been recognized. The structural adjustment programmes of some countries particularly of HRD policies and programmes, and the consequential fall in human development variables have become more sharper. At the same time, another development that has taken place internationally is the opening of global markets and increased market orientation of economies. Competitiveness has gone up globally, forcing developing countries to produce and market, quality products at competitive prices. Even knowledge has become a highly prices commodity. With these changes cutting into the economy of developing countries which enjoyed certain market share in the past, such countries are required to change their strategies and improve their technologies to compete in the global market. This required them to pay attention to another level of human resources development that provides quick results and protects the economy. This form of HRD dealt with the development of technological capabilities, requiring investments in science, technology, research and development and industrial high-tech products. This also required policies and programmes that deal with higher education, science and technology, and industrialization. The competition in the global markets requires competitive technologies and managerial efficiencies; most developing countries have found themselves lacking in both of these. They had accumulated a large degree of inefficiencies in the form of many layers of administration bureaucratic procedures and accommodating employment policies, resulting in a lot of dysfunctional and unnecessary fat that became a drag on the nation. They also had outdated technologies and were required to pay a heavy price for borrowing these from the industrialized countries to make products for the very counties from which they imported the technology. It has not taken took long for the developing countries to realize the impact of the neglect of scientific talent, technology and effective management. Resource crunch added to this problem. Thus governments are faced with a situation where they are hit on both sides due to the neglect of competency development. On the one had in the importance of providing basic HRD services to people (as it is the responsibility of the governments, and failure to do so will affect the economy and development in the long run), and on the other, to invest in science, technology and other economic activities to compete in the global markets. Both these are resource-intensive, putting strain on the already resource starved economies. Added to this the increasing population growth which puts strain on the resources even further. How to balance these? How does one find resources? Which ones to prioritize? What strategies can be used to get out of these problems? It is not easy to solve all these problems. However, what could be attempted is to learn from the success stories of some countries and failure of others from the past. Personal function and human resource systems The Human Resource Systems (HRS) is qualitatively different from the traditional personnel function (PF). The main differences are shown in Exhibit 1.1. These differences indicate that human resource systems has to be designed in a different way. While the personnel function is seen as an independent function in the organisation, HRD is viewed as a sub-systems of a larger system. The organisation is a system, with several sub-systems, all of which are interdependent. HRS is one of such sub-systems. The view that HRS is a sub-system of a larger system implies that its design cannot be considered in isolation, which means that HRS itself is thought of as an organic whole, with the various sub-functions 13
regarded as parts with interlinks. The traditional PF would consider the various sub-functions more or less independent of one another. A major difference between PF and HRS is that while the former takes a coping stance, the latter has a proactive approach. Traditional PF is regarded as a service function in the literal sense, responding to the needs of the organisation as stated by it, and providing service as demanded. On the other hand, HRS regards its main role as the development of enabling capabilities, i.e. capabilities of the organisation to deal with problems, rather than just responding to demands made on it by several other sections of the organisation. While the trading PF treats personnel function as the exclusive responsibility of the personnel department, HRS regards the functions of human resources as the concern of all the managers in the organisation. Human resources responsibility is shared by the managers. HRS goes much beyond the personnel function which has been traditionally confined to salary and job administration, and to the administration of various aspects of the personnel and their development. HRS is also concerned with the management of jobs and system in the field of personnel and with the process of development of the total organisation. The main emphasis of HRS, is certainly, on the process. The traditional PF evolves out of a concern for the administration of the personnel, and is called personnel management. HRS, on the other hand is concerned with the development of people and their competencies. Its main emphasis is on development of human resources and the process problems of the organisation. The shift in the concept is also partly due to the changed emphasis in the organisation. In PF, the main emphasis is on the contribution (from personnel side) to the maximization of efficiency. Personal function and human resource system : A comparison Personal Function (PF) 1. PF is an independent function. 2. There are several sub-functions under PF. 3. The main task of PF is to respond effectively to the demand (coping role). 4. PF has the main responsibility for personnel matters. 5. The main responsibilities of PF relate to salary and job administration, besides management of people and their development. 6. The main emphasis of PF is on personnel administration or management. Human Resources System (HRS) 1. HRS is a sub-system of a larger system (organisation). 2. HRS is an organic whole; all the parts are interlinked. 3. The main task of HRS is to develop enabling capabilities (proacting role). 4. All managers share the responsibility of human resource management. 5. The responsibilities of HRS relate to HRS, people systems and the process of the total organisation. 6. The main emphasis of HRS is on developing people and their competencies.
7. Personnel system and procedures should be 7. HR systems and procedures should be designed to achieve maximum efficiency. designed on the basis of process values to reduce human wastage. 8. People in an organisation are motivated 8. People are primarily motivated by challenges mainly by salary and rewards. and opportunities for development and creativity. Changing values have resulted in the emphasis on process values like trust, openness, exploration, managing conflicts, etc. HRS is concerned with such values, and with reducing human wastage through ensuring a high level of motivation in the organisation. The difference between the two also lies in their concept of motivation. While PF regards salary and rewards as the main basis of motivation, HRS regards job challenges and creativity and opportunities for development as the 14
main motivating forces. The emphasis in PF is on job design and salary administration, whereas HRS emphasizes developing the organisation and its people and their competencies. HRDSystem Designing Functional of HRS It is being a much more dynamic concept that the traditional personnel function in an organisation. It has multiple functions. Like personnel it is not only deals the administration of personnel function it also helps the organizations on different ways. The functions of HRS are five types: Providing support to other systems. Developing of systems and research Management of HR. Developing competency of various kinds. Catering to the process needs.
If we look in to brief about the above said functions it clearly explains as: Supportive role This role has mainly two functions: Strengthening operating and executive levels Consolidating existing strengths
Role of systems development and research Its role is briefly mentioned have as Planning for future manpower needs Getting the best people available Utilizing people select. Retaining, motivating and integrating people. Assessing people for their contribution. To plan the growth of people Job analysis and evaluation Facilitating key organizational task processes.
Role of developing competence The most important function of HRS is to develop various types of competencies which relate to general areas: Technical competence Managerial competence Process competence Helping competence Coping competence
Process role Due to the increasing complexity and new emerging expectations of the employees from the organisation. The process role plays a vital role to the organisation climate. There are three main functions by this process role: 15
Creating the necessary culture and values in the organisation. Proper diagnosis of problem in organizations. Interventions at the necessary time. Systems designing of human resource In any organisation designing a Human Resources System play an eminent role. While designing the HR system it should take several factors in to accountability. These different dimensions and context are discussed with the support of general principles as below. Organisational context Any organisation will try to develop its own identity based on its own tradition and history. Its size and the filed of operation makes it unique. In the same way some of the factors to be considered as an organizational characteristic factors for a specific design. These are: Size of the organization Technology of function Skill levels available in organisation Support from organisation Availability of outside support Practice of existing facilities
Organisational culture Based on the culture contribution designing of HRS is planned to have an effective system. This profile of organizational culture helps us to develop the HRS system. The values contributing are simply coded as (OCTAOACE). This is nothing but O C T A P A C E Openness Confrontation Trust Authenticity Pro activity Autonomy Collaboration Experimenting
Societal culture context in designing HRS Like the organizational context dimensions, the societal culture is also a very important context in designing HRS. By referring the models developed by Kluchohn, Strodtbeck and McClelland, six concerning factors of a society can be used to mention the various aspects of its culture. The following aspects are suggested for the study of cultures (a) Nature (b) Environment Structure 2. Ambiguity tolerance vs. non-tolerance 16 1. Fatalism vs. Scientism
Sensitivity Concern (c) Time (d) Collectivity Primary Norms Boundary Linkage (e) Gender (f) Power Tolerance Type
5. Traditional (past), existential(present) future oriented 6. Collectivistic vs. individualistic 7. Other-directed vs. inner-directed 8. Particularistic vs. universalistic 9. Role-bound vs. identity-bound. 10. Androgynous vs. sexist 11. Power distance nontelerance 12. Expressive, expanding tolerance vs.
conserving,
assertive,
Designing principles of HRS On the part of designing HRS for an organisation some of the principle should be considered. These principles been discussed under three main categories: Focus of the system Structure of the system Functions of the system
The principle parameters been regularized for the utilization of HRS designing as said below. Focus of the system These principle parameters are locating on these factors they are: Focus to enable the capabilities Maintaining the balance to the existing and changing organisation culture. To give on attention to the contextual factors. Attempting to build linkages with other functions. Balancing specialization and diffusion of the function.
Structure of the system Principles suggested in the part of structure in designing HRS are: Identity establishment necessity To ensure the respectability for the function. Balancing between differentiation and integration. Proper functional designations for the roles. 17
Function of the system Considering factors from the side of functions in designing HRS are: To build the feedback and reinforcing mechanisms. Balancing techniques between qualitative and qualification decisions. To perform the internal and external help of balancing. Utilizing the planning function in HRS.
The HRD system can be effectively used to create more conductive cultures. In the light of the understanding of the Indian culture, the following suggestions are made for HRD practices: Use individual performance appraisal only for development; emphasize coaching. Use appraisal by peers and subordinates also. Introduce some form of mentoring system. Introduce rewards, and link them with indicators of group effectiveness, and not performance (e.g. Modi Xeroxs use of quality as the criterion of rewards). Do not reward individuals. Use potential appraisal from promotions (to be done only if positions of higher responsibility are available or created, and not under pressure). Introduce team rewards. Link major rewards like increments, bonus, special trips etc., with team results. Introduce more rituals (like celebrations) to communicate the respect the value the organizations has for its present and ex-employees. Break large organizations into small and autonomous units (in India, smaller organizations work more effectively). Improve communicating. Use various ways of employees participation and collectively responsibility.
2. Role Analysis and Human Resource Development In an organisation, the effectiveness will have a result of all individual effectiveness, group effectiveness and the organisation itself. Effectiveness of an organisation is a necessary quality in reaching the goal. The analyzed information of various jobs in an organisation has been a necessary art of the personnel function. The activities like Job Description, Job Analysis and Job Specification. The nature of increasing complexity of work in the organizations. There is a drastic change undergoing the job performance by the people in organisation. In spite of this dynamism faced by the organizations, it is necessary to study the work or the job to understand about the details of recruitment, salary administration, disciplinary procedures etc., but is also help people develop in the organisation. The need for analyzing the roles and jobs for purposes of HRD is a vital one. For the easy approach of analysis the different terms used for describing work by the people do in an organisation are listed as: Analyzing the Role for Development Understanding of the various jobs in an organisation has been a necessary part of the personnel function. This is reflected in activities like job description, job analysis, and job specification. With increasing complexity of work in the organizations, the nature of understanding of the job performance by various people in the organisation has been undergoing a drastic change. The study of work or the job is important not only to prepare details for recruitment, 18
salary administration, etc. (as head been in the past), but also to help people develop in the organisation. In this chapter, the need for analyzing the roles and jobs for purposes of human resource developments will be discussed. Various terms have been used for analyzing and describing work people to in an organisation. Some of these terms are stated briefly and explained. Task Task is the basic unit of a job, and may be defined as a specific element in a particular job. It may be also defined as a specific activity quite often bound by time. Job Job is a component of work and may be defined as a specific requirement to get a product, or achieve an objective. A series of tasks to be accomplished within a job could be. In a job there is a strong relationship between the job performer and the product of that performance. Position or office A specific point in the organisation (the organisation being represented as a pattern of hierarchy) is the position or office. While the term job is descriptive (it describes the activities in which the person is likely to be engaged). Position is evaluative (it described the level, power, authority sanctions, etc., the person has in carrying out a job assigned to him). Role Role is the latest concept in the area of relationship of an individual and the organisation. Role is a position or an office a person occupies as defined by expectations from significant persons in the organisation, including the person himself. In other words a position or an office becomes a role when it is defined by various expectations from that position. Role therefore may keep changing with time. Changes in technology challenges the environment, people and the competencies of the role holder. Work Work is a wider concept in which a person involved in an activity is seen in relation with his tools and other persons performing a similar activity. The various concepts have their related configurations. A configuration is the pattern of relationship amongst individuals involved. The configurations increases in complexity in the following order : task, job, position, role and work. This shown in Exhibit 2.1. Exhibit 2.1 Concept Task Job Work Position or Office Role Basic definition Basic elements of a job A module of work Productive activities Relationships Person-specific product Person-overall product Configuration type Isolation Unrelationship
Person - technology Basic socioeconomic economy system relationship Hierarchy Social-psychological constellation
A point in the Position-position organizational structure Expected tasks (in a Person-job-self-others position) by self and others
An individual task, requiring a person to achieve a specific product, isolates an individual from others, whereas the job, a complex system of tasks, requiring a person to achieve an overall product, makes the relationship irrelevant. 19
These are the problem of the traditional task and job systems. The person is treated as a means to achieved a product, as an isolated machine. This results in dehumanization and demotivation. The position puts a person in a hierarchical configuration, and does not improve the situation; it may still lead to dehumanization, for a person in lower hierarchy (feeling that he has to surrender to higher positions, and conform to expectations), as well as for one in an upper hierarchy (feeling that one can exploit the relationship, and demand conformity). The concept of role takes the person out of the traditional configuration and puts him in a complex one, defining the configuration in terms of expectations. However, work involves the most complex configuration, extending it beyond individual persons and putting it in the context of a productive or economic relationship. Thus a higher integration of technological, economic and socio-psychological relationship is subsumed in the concept of work. Analysis of role would involve analysis of specific activities or functions in the role as well as various other components of the expectations by significant persons. Traditionally, such an analysis was done in relation to a job. The concepts of job analysis and job specifications were used for the personnel functions. Job analysis was usually done by collecting the background information about a job, selecting a few representative positions to be analyzed, collecting data about the job through various methods like observations, interviews, analysis of records, etc. These led to both job description and job specifications. Job description included details of the specifications of a job in terms of the actual day-to-day activities and responsibilities of a job holder. Usually job descriptions are long, and indicate in detail what is expected from the job holder. Such details are usually worked out by a third party using several methods of collecting data. Job specifications indicate what kind of people should be hired for what jobs. After studying the job, such specifications are worked our and used for recruitment. It is useful to have job descriptions prepared containing (for each job) information about the general task and the specific tasks, work relationship (within the department and outside), authority, responsibility, facilities needed, performance rate required, job characteristics, and job requirements. One activity which has been extensively used, and which has attained a high degree of sophistication in the multinational companies is job evaluation. Each job is analyzed in terms of the level of specific dimensions (like education level, responsibility level, discretion level, relationship with others, impact level etc.). There are then evaluated and a few levels are fixed so that these can be used to determine compensations to the job holders like salary and other financial and non-financial rewards. The following steps are involved in a job specifications exercise. Description the main criteria for evaluation, e.g., education, experience, responsibility, discretion (decision making), liaison with other units/departments/ agencies, relationship with others, impact of the job. Decision about weightages (if any) for the various criteria. Definitions of each criterion in details into 7,9 or 11 levels. Determining scores to be given to each level for each criterion (depending on the wieghtages). Setting up of job evaluation panels (three to four members). Interview of several job holders by the panel, to finalize the scores for each job on each criterion. Decision about the number of personnel levels decided, on the basis of the total scores. Grouping of the jobs into the various levels (and sub-levels). Examination of the results of job evaluation, exercise, making necessary adjustments and finalization of the system.
While job analysis is useful in giving some idea about the contents of the job, and job specifications in suggesting the levels of salary and other compensations for different jobs, they do not directly contribute to peoples development purpose. We shall discuss below three dimensions which need more attention in this area. Role Analysis Role analysis
20
Role is the position a person occupies in the organisation as defined by the role senders (significant persons having expectations), including the role occupant. The set of persons having expectations from the role is called the role set. The role set for each role set for each role can be drawn as a map, with the role in the centre. Role analysis may be used to define a role more clearly so that ambiguity in the expectations may be avoided. A series of exercises have been designed (Pareck, 1974) o increase role effectiveness. One exercise relates to the defining of organizational roles. The purpose his role description, and to reduce role ambiguity. Such an exercise may be very useful for new roles, or for roles which undergo some change. The exercise is conducted by the role-set membes (those who have an interface relationships with the role). The following steps are involved in the exercise.: All the role senders, including the role cooupant, individually complete the Your Expactataion form. The role occupant collects all the completed forms, and prepares a summary of all the expectations in Expectations Summary. The role occupeant meets all the role senders and discusses with them expectations requiring clarification, conflicting expectations, and his own reactions to the expectations. In the light to the discussions, the role occupant finalise the description of his role and distributed copies to all the role senders.
Thus, indetification of KPAs, critical attributes and role analysis help an organisation in establishing clarity of functions, defining inter-relationships among various roles, identifying capabilities required to perform effectively the different jobs, and indicating developmental needs for different role incumbents. Steps in Role Analysis 1. Identification of roles. 2. Finalization of role-set members for each focal role. 3. Bringing the focal role and the role members together in a Behavioural Skills Workshop. 4. Asking the focal roles to write down a list of descriptions of what he offers to each role set members, while performing the given role in the organisation. 5. Each role member asked to write down a set of descriptions as to what each one of them expected from the focal role, by dint of his performance as focal role. 6. They were asked to sit together and come to an understanding between each role-set member and the focal role, thereby giving shape to a detailed role description. 7. The focal role and his boss were asked to sit together and asked to identify the agree key performance areas for the focal role, from the role descriptions as emerged out of the discussions between the focal role and the role-set members. 8. Each role-set member and the focal role were also asked to put down a list of critical attributes in the area of knowledge, attitude, skills and habits required for effective performance of any role occupant in a given focal role. 9. Attempts were made through discussions to draw a common list of critical attributes for each focal role. 10. Each focal role member was asked to set goals for himself on the basis of the identified key performance areas (for the period of action research project). 11. The boss of the focal role member was also asked to sit down and discuss, to set agreed goals for the focal role (for actions research project). 12. Both, the focal role and his boss, were asked to sit down and discuss, to set agreed goals for the focal role (for action research project). 13. The performance of each focal role was reviewed every month at the end of the action research project for six months a total review of the performance of each focal role was done. 21
14. Each member was asked to share the experience and learning from this effort. 15. A new Appraisal form was used for performance Appraisal of each focal role for the action research project. The appraisal format was tested for its qualitative dimensions. Each member of the action research project was asked share his experience about the new appraisal system. 16.To promote supervisor-subordinate relationship and create concern for development, we introduced into diaries : (a) significant Events Diary for the supervisor, and (b) Development Dairy for the subordinate, significant events (both of success and failure) were to be recorded. These events were required to be shared and discussed between the supervisor and t. subordinate. Selecting right people for jobs and placing them in right roles plays an important role in determining whether they are giving their best to the organisation. Selection strategies play an extremely important role in new organisation and in those that are fast expanding. Through proper selection of the new entrants it is possible to build a desirable culture and desirable norms in the organisation. If the organisation has had a fairly ling history, and it has smaller intake, it may be difficult to influence the organisation culture. Howsoever careful one is in selection, the culture already prevalent in the organisation would influence the new entrants orientations. A proper system of selection and placement helps to achieve the following: 1. A feeling of satisfaction among the employees that their capabilities are being properly utilized by the organisation and that they are not wasting their talents. This feeling is likely to raise the morale among employees and may result in higher levels of commitment and productivity. 2. Supplying the right type of people to the needy departments or Units within an organisation in a short period of time. Such prompt action is likely to keep up the morale of the departments at high level as the needs are being attended to more promptly. 3. Minimizing the wastage of human talent, through providing Opportunities for people to apply their capabilities. 4. High level of employee-commitment and by providing and by providing them opportunities to work on jobs that they like and are capable of performing. Role set as a strategy of selection and appraisal system In the traditional system of selection, generally a few top people constitute an interview committee and select the candidates. Most often, the candidates, if selected, may not be working at all with anyone present in the selection committee. Or sometimes those with whom the candidate is working are represented in minority in the selection committees. Because of such minority representation the committee may select candidates who may not have adequate skills of working with others who are not represented in the selection committee. Therefore, the candidate selected without meet the expectations of the selection committee but not necessarily of the persons with whom he has to work. A useful way of looking at the selection approach may be by suing the concept of role set from the role theory. The role-set of an individual is constituted by all those people who have legitimate expectations from him and towards who he has an obligation to perform certain functions. The role-set for a TM consists of other TMs with whom he has to work, trainees under training, administrative staff in the branch, honorary part-time faculty, branch alumni, the CTM, the successful professional members who have established linkages with the branch and who keep on drawing from the resources of the branch or contributing to the resources of the branch and the Board members. By applying the role theory, every role in an organisation will have a set of other connecting roles constituting the role-set. By definition, the members of the role-set will have certain expectations from the roleincumbent. Such expectations, that are legitimate by virtue of the nature of the task position, tasks involved, norms and values or the organizations, etc., are critical and have to be fulfilled if the role-incumbent has to perform his role effectively. To meet the expectations he needs certain skills. While the members of the role-set would be aware of the expectations they have from the role-incumbent (it focal role, here TM), they need not always be aware of the qualities knowledge, skills, values etc., required on the part of the focal role to meet these expectations. However, experienced and insightful members of the role-set may be able to identify such skills, etc., required on the part of their focal role. Occupants of similar focal roles also are another potential source for identifying such qualities, skills, etc., required to meet the expectations of the role-set and perform the role effectively. Besides, the members of the role-set may not have way of assessing such qualities skills, etc., in applicants. 22
Thus, in the role-set-based framework of assessment centre, the role of the assessment centre specialist (testing specialist) is that of: Identifying the expectation of the role-set and finding out con sensual expectations or them through appropriate techniques; Identifying the qualities, skills, knowledge, values, etc., required by the focal-role incumbent to be able to meet such consensual expectations; Devising techniques to measure these dimensions in the aspirants for the focal roles; Training members of the role-set wherever needed to assess the potential candidates; and Developing internal resources by educating all members of the assessment center.
Using the members of the role-set in assessing candidates has several advantages if they are inadequately trained by the expert before involvement. They would be more objective, feel more involved and may even clarify some misconception in the process. It has a self-educative value. In this selection process weithtages also need to be given to the different categories of people in the role-set of he incumbent. This is so because meeting the expectations of different members of the role set may have different weightages on role effectiveness. There should be representation from each of the role-set categories. In cases where it is not advisable to use role-set members of certain categories indirect approaches may be used. Some such instances are described later in this chapter. This strategy was adopted for the establishment of the recruitment system in this organisation. The number of persons included from each category of role set and the rationale for including them in the selection system is described as follows: 1. Managing director: The MD was the initiator of the whole programme. He possessed certain technical skills which were relevant for the TMs. Moreover, from his experience of working with several TMs in different branches, he also had the advantage of having assessed at a psychological level some of the qualities required for successful TMs. He had an opportunity to assess the TMs in relation to his organizational skills, leadership qualities, personality traits and adaptability to the organisation. Of these, he had less information on the adaptability as his interactions were limited in this sphere, He had been weighing the TMs on how they organized the programmes and how they developed the branches once they were given a branch. Therefore, this advantage which the MD had was used for: (a) identifying the qualities of these dimensions for an effective TM; and (b) assessing these qualities once the instruments for such an assessment had been developed by the testing specialist. 2. Chief training manager: The TM had similar advantages similar to those of the MD and, in addition, he also had knowledge of the professional knowledge the TMs possessed and the importance of these. He also had a few indications of the counselling skills of the TMs. Because of these inputs that he possessed, he became another potential member of the selection and appraisal system. He was also used for assessing the leadership qualities and counselling skills of the applicants. 3. Other training managers: Other TMs who have been recruited earlier have gained enough experience of the qualities required to be a good TM. From their experience they now know the problems they have to face, the kind of activities they have to perform, and the skills that are required to be training manager. From the positions they occupy aid from their personal experiences, they are in a better position to look for the qualities required for this role. Therefore, their inv was also sought and a few of the experience training managers formed a part of the selection system. However, they had to be briefed in detail before they assessed the candidates. They participated in the assessment of leadership qualities, counselor skills, and other personality characteristics like initiative, etc. 4. Alumni: The students who had passed the courses offered by the branches and who had established themselves in the profession were thought of as another potential source. As alumni, they from time to time keep on drawing on the resources of the TMs and have certain expectations from them. As students, they have gained impressions about what a TM is, and what he should be from the trainees point of view. Therefore, 23
such alumni formed another part of he assessment system. They were used in the assessment of problem solving abilities, and counselor skills as these are the two areas where they have relationship with TMs. 5. Honorary part-time faculty: Although the honorary part-time faculty have expectations from the TM, they are not critical to a great extent. What is more important is how the TM would manage cooperation from the parttime faculty. Certain qualities required for this were tested in an indirect way by in-basket simulation exercises involving role relationships with the part-time faculty. No real part-time faculty was involved because they would look at it from their angle of what is required for a TM to be effective in the branch in his relations with the part-time faculty. The in-basket game also tested the organizational skills of the TMs in relation to curriculum, external faculty, internship programmes, etc. 6. Administrative staff of the branch: They formed a critical part in terms of how well the TM will be able to make use of the services of the staff. This was indirectly measured through an in-basket technique testing the organizational skills of the candidates in the sue and management of the administrative staff. Key performance areas Analysis of a role for its key performance areas (KPAs) is necessary for performance appraisal training, and development, both of people and the jobs. Performance appraisal has to be done against certain functions and objectives on which a person works. A person performing a job should clearly know what are the main functions he should attend, and which other functions he may regard as routine and not as the key functions of the job. His development in his role will very much depend on the clarity about such priorities of the functions of his role. Training can greatly benefit from such an analysis of the roles, so that it can focus on important functions. The identification of (KPAs) is therefore useful for an organisation in several ways. Firstly, the KPAs of a role are those functions which require priority attention. A job description contains too many details, and does not point out the key areas that need to be attended to. Secondly, a job description only describes the job as it is now. The KPAs may indicate the critical functions of the job relevant at present, and also in the future. Thirdly, KPAs are much more specific and indicate what the job contributes to the organisation. One advantage of identifying KPAs for the various roles in that people can clearly distinguish between the specific contributions of one role from that of a related role in the organisation. When an organization has several roles, it is necessary to be clear about how one differ form the other. In the absence of role clarity, there may be contradictory and conflicting expectations by different persons from the same role (role ambiguity) or a feeling that the same function is being performed by two roles (role erosion). Experience has shown that identification of KPAs also leads to delegation of functions to the next jobs. When a manger realizes that his KPAs have to be qualitatively different, indicating higher responsibility, from those of his subordinate, he is forced to think of delegating to the subordinate what he can do and define his own KPAs in terms of higher responsibility. Thus, the discussion of the KPAs may be useful not only for performance appraisal, but also for a general development of people in the organisation. It may be useful to prepare KPAs for each role. An organizations can undertake this task by appointing several task groups with each task group taking the responsibility for preparing KPAs for a few (not more than four) jobs. Thus simultaneous work can be undertaken by several tasks to identify the KPAs for various roles. As already stated, KPAs represent the functions which are critical and are very important for a role, and which distinguish between an effective and a less effective and a less effective job holder. The following general principles are suggested for the preparation of KPAs. 1. KPAs for a job should not be too many. Generally they may be about four to five. 2. Each KPA for he job should distinctly characterize the job, and make it different from other jobs. 3. KPAs should indicate those critical groups of task for which the job holder can be held responsible. 4. KPAs should help distinguish between an effective (good) and less effective job performance. 5. Under each KPA the job holder should be able to write down specific tasks (objectives) to be done every year. 6. KPAs can change from time to time over years, but once identified they should be good for a few years. 24
The following steps are suggested while identifying KPAs: 1. List-out all the activities that a role occupant is expected to carry out as a part of his role. 2. Group these activities into categories which may be labeled as functions. 3. Identify those functions which are critical for his role. KPAs can also be weighted according to their importance for the role during a particular period of time. Usually KPAs will remain unchanged for a few years. However, specific objectives under each KPA may change from year to year. KPAs for some roles from a large manufacturing company, identify KPAs helps the individual to clarify his role as well as to assess his won capabilities in performing each functions. It helps the employee establish a sense of identify through describing his contribution to the organisation. There is no ideal technology for identifying KPAs. However, well-identified KPAs focus the attention of the job-holder on his critical functions and on those that distinguish his functions and tasks from that of his boss, subordinates and colleagues. Critical attribution The analysis of a role into Key Performance Areas (KPAs) indicates which functions in the role are more important and represents the key contributions the role is making to the organisation. The role can be analyzed to indicate what personal qualities and characteristics (called attributes) a role occupant should heave in order to be effective in the role. Critical attributes are those characteristics of a role which distinguish an effective role occupant from an ineffective one. Critical attributes will include all kinds of qualities educational qualifications, experience, physical characteristics, mental abilities, skills, personality characteristics, emotional and attitudinal characteristics, etc. However, only critical characteristics are included to indicate which attributes make a major difference for a person to be effective in a role. Critical attributes have several uses. The critical attributes of a job can be used for improving the recruitment policy. If we know the improvement qualities a role occupant should have, we can try to identify them in the applicants for the role to ensure matching of role requirements and the profiles of the candidates. Similar matching can be attempted for better placement. By examining the extent towhich critical attributes are present in the various persons available for placement for a particular role, we can improve the match between the role and the person. The same is true with regard to promotion of people. As we shall discuss later, promotions should be based more on potential appraisal of a person for the job for which he is being considered. This is possible only if the job is analysed for its critical attributes a role requires for its occupants to be effective, we can devise ways of developing such attributes in those people who are likely to undertake the responsibility of that role. Thus, the effectiveness of the role occupants may be increased. In identifying critical attributes for various jobs, several methods can be used, either in isolation or in combination. In additions to the various methods, the participants in the processof identification of critical attributes may vary. Either the role occupants themselves may participate in such a process of other role senders may be involved. Mixed groups in the form of task forces or task groups may also be used for this purpose. Again, different participants may be involved at different stages in the identification of critical attributes. Four different methods which may be used in identifying critical attributes are given here. As already stated, these can be used individually or in combination. Observation If people have enough time they can observe the working of an effective or an ineffective role occupant over a long period of time, or taking some representative samples of his behaviour on his job. They can note down qualities the effective role occupants show in their roles, contrasted with those less effective one. Thus observation of two known contrasting of groups of effective role occupants may give a good idea about the critical attributes for that role. However, this method is rather expensive, because so may observations would be needed for different roles. Interview Interviews can be conducted either with the role occupants (divided into known effective groups) to find out what qualities they perceive as distinguishing between effective and ineffective role occupants and other role senders to find out from their experiences what qualities they perceive as distinguishing between effective and ineffective role occupants. Such interviews can be conducted either with a structured questionnaire or in an unstructured way. Data 25
from such interviews can be collated and used by a takes groups or a panel for further discussion and finalization of CAs. Critical incidents technique This technique has been used extensively for the identification of CAs. A request is sent to some role occupants and several other role senders to think of situations and actual examples in which a role occupants was more effective, and describe the actual examples in which a role occupant was more effective, and describe the actual incident indicating that he was effective. In describing the actual incident, they are requested to describe what the situation was, who were involved, what was the problem, what happened, what the role occupant did not led them to think of a situation in which a role occupation was least them to think of a situation in which a role occupation was least effective, and similarly describe the incident. These are called Critical difference between the effective and indicate the basic of critical difference between the effective and ineffective behaviour of a role occupant. After the critical attributes have been written out, they are collected, and a list of behavioral characteristics of an effective role occupant is prepared. This is further edited to give the CAs for that role. Although this technique may take more time, it utilizes the best experiences of people and provides a rich material for the finalization CAs. Check-list The quickest way of getting data about CAs is to prepare a long list, after consulting various studies and books, of all the general attributes found in the past. For various roles they can be used as a check-list. The check-list can be given to the role occupants and other role senders with a request that they may check those attributes which in their opinion are critical for that role. After collecting the responses from a large number of respondents, hey are combined and edited to give the final list of CAs. If the check-list is used, an index of agreement amongst respondents can also be worked out. A standard book of statistics may be consulted for the procedure of calculating such an index of agreement. As already indicated, the critical attributes can be used by employing individuals and task groups at different stages. The procedure followed in one leading private industry, along with the critical attributes identified for some roles. Illustration Identification of critical attributes in I&T Ltd. Steps in preparing critical attributes A of two Sub-Task Forcesone for production and one for marketing. Individual interviews of two or three persons for each role by the Sub-Task Forces. Preparation of job description and critical attributes of each job. Checking the above with immediate superiors. Review of the critical attributes by the Task Force. Compilation of the matter list of the critical attributes (see C). Identification of 10 attributes for each role by a group of five to seven participants, and ranking them for criticality. The same was done by he peers. The above step was taken by the immediate superiors and bye the next superiors. Nominal Group Technique as used for steps 7 and 8. The steps in Nominal Group Technique were given in E.
Introduction note for determination of critical attributes 1. In 1976, L&T took a first step towards implementing a systematic procedure for the development of its human resources, as an integrated part of its management process. This was by introducing a feedback and development-oriented appraisal system in place of an older system which was largely reward-oriented. 2. With the identification of Critical Attributes for different jobs within the company, a second step is being taken in the implementation of the Human Resources Development System or HRDS as it has come to be known in the company. 26
3. This exercise aims at compiling and categorizing the Critical Attributes. Critical Attribute are skills, abilities, and characteristics which an individual requires in a good measure in order to function effectively on a job and/or with people. 4. The Critical Attributes so identified could be used primarily for the purpose of developing the appropriate skills and abilities in individuals so that they perform effectively their tasks and become suitable for advancement when opportunities arise The exercise may also an insight into the make-up or scope of every job, which may lead td and enrichment of the job. The compilation of Critical Attributes will also be a step towards potential appraisal. The Critical Attributes will be of assistance in the selection of personnel, whether by way of recruitment or placement, for position in the Company. 5. It is recognized that there are major difficulties in identifying the Critical Attributes for any given position. There is no unique combination of attributes which make for success in a position. The attribute critical, to a position may change from time to time, depending on changes in the internal or external environment. Measures for the Critical Attributes are yet to be developed for use within the company. The terms in which Critical Attributes are stated are imprecise and cannote different meaning to different people due to limitations of language and of the understanding of the parameters. The language of psychology or the behavioral sciences has been avoided so as to make it easily understood. 6. In spite of all the foregoing reasons, which make it liable to error, the listing of Critical Attributes cannot be avoided if the development of people is to be done on a systematic, fair and equitable basis. 7. In order to allow for, or circumvent, the difficulties and yet obtain a reliable and valid listing of Critical Attributes, the following methodology has been employed: The categories of persons, mentioned below, are being requested to identify the Critical Attributes and assess the criticality of a particular position: 8. All positions are not being evaluated for Critical Attributes. At this state, positions held only by a large number of employees are being evaluated. 9. At some stage, after gaining more experience, the Critical Attributes may even be incorporated into the Performance Appraisal. 10. Methods will have to be developed to assess attributes of individuals not just in relation to criticality in their own positions, but also in relation to other positions which are, or may become, vacant. 11. The chart at the end of this note shows other sub-systems which have to be worked out in details or introduced to achieve an integrated Human Resources Development system. Determination of critical attributes: instruction sheet 1. Read carefully the principal responsibilities mentioned in the Job Description for that position, and make any amendments in part I of the Determination of Critical Attributes Form. 2. Read next the Technical Knowledge Requirements for the position and make amendments, if necessary, in Part II of the Form. 3. Read the Critical Attributes List (see D) and their definitions. 4. In the Determination of Critical Attributes Form (see D), enter the position for which the Critical Attributes are being assessed. 5. Tick the appropriate position in relation to the rater. 6. From D, select 15 to 20 attributes which you consider most critical for an effective functioning of the job being rated, and list the title heads in Part III of the form. If you wish to add any attributes which have been covered in D, you may do so in Part IV of the form.
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7. After listing the title, indicate the extent to which the attribute is critical for that role on a 9-point scale ( 9 represents the highest criticality and 1 the lowest. Cricle the appropriate number. Performance Appraisal System Developing the person in the role performance appraisal Performance appraisal has traditionally been used as a mechanism of controlling employees through salary administration, reward administration, promotions and disciplinary action. Many organizations use performance appraisal, confidential reports or employees service records in a confidential form. Each employee is rated confidentially by one or more senior officers for his performance on some dimensions and the confidential ratings are handled by he personnel department. In most cases the employee does not know how his performance has been rated by his superiors. A few companies have the practice of informing employees if their ratings are below a certain level, while some organizations do not do even this. Such practices have been found to result in the following. 1. Employees never get to know their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their capabilities as officers, managers or supervisors throughout their life in an organisation. 2. They are often taken by supervise because some junior to them supersedes them in promotion and thus often tend to attribute his to favouritism, poor personnel policies, good superior officers of he promoted employuees and keep wondering what they lack. Their morale is down, they lose motivation, develop defensive behaviour and it is difficult to get them back to the original level of drive and enthusiasm. 3. In organizations where only poor performance below a level is feedback, the employees only get to know their weaknesses and not their, strengths. Feedback has a tremendous motivational value (both Positive and negative). Researches by psychologists have established the behaviour changes occurs by positive feedback reinforcement, i.e., rewarding strengths and helping the employee in analyzing his strength weaknesses, successes and failures. Even when such negative feedback is given to the employees in these organizations, they often perceive the feedback as condemning them, as they are only told that their performance is poor. The entire responsibility for such poor performance is placed on considered poor and what opportunities are available to them for overcoming their weaknesses. Thus employees often get lost and demoralized with such negative feedback. Better performing employees also feel frustrated because their performance is not recognized. Many do not even know how well are doing. 4. Very often, promotions are demanded by better performing employees and are given to some of the confidentially rated better performers with little consideration for their potential to perform new roles in the new job. Good performance on the current job is confused with potential for higher responsibility and performance appraisal used a the main input for promotions, often causing adjustment problems. To satisfy better performers, sometimes with all good intentions, employees are promoted to new responsibilities. This also results in frustration due to promotion. 5. Due to such mechanized and impersonal systems the role of the personnel department becomes narrow. It is seen as ineffective, and doing only post-office functions. It enjoys little respect and credibility with the managers. 6. As a result of such a one-sided and narrow appraisal, managerial resources in organizations do not grow, and start stagnating instead of multiplying. Human resources should grow and multiply people have tremendous capabilities for development, acquiring the skills to perform new roles. Such a development and multiplication of human resources in not only good for the organisation and the employees, but also for the society as a whole. This is a process of continuing education. Performance appraisal can be an effective instrument for helping people grow and develop in organizational settings. It could be used as a mechanism of continuing education and learning from one another. Though a well-organized appraisal system an employee can create learning spaces for himself in an organisation. Recent researches and experiences have shown that development-oriented performance appraisal and review system, when effectively practiced, substantially contributes to the organizational health and facilitates multiplication of managerial resources. A good performance appraisal system should have the following objectives: Help the employee to overcome his weaknesses and improve over his strength and thus enable him to improve his performance and, of the department. 28
Generate adequate feedback and guidance from he reporting officers to the employee. Contribute to the growth and development of the employee through helping him in realistic goal setting. Provide inputs to: (i) system of rewards comprising salary increments, appreciations, additional responsibilities, promotions, etc. and (ii) salary administration. Help in creating a desirable culture and traditions in the organisation. Help identifying employees for the purpose of motivating, training and developing them. Generate significant, relevant, free and valid information about employees.
Thus, a good appraisal system should primarily focus on employee development and at the same time, provide a significant input for salary and reward management. Assumptions underlying open appraisal systems The following points should be kept in mind while designing any performance appraisal system that aims at facilitating employee development. Employees, irrespective of their age, position, experience, nature of the job, etc., can continuously grow and develop behaviorally, professionally and technically. Development of people and multiplication of human resources in the interest of the organisation as well as of the persons working in the organisation. Organizations can plan to provide Opportunities and conditions for development and multiplication of their human resources, thus contributing to organizational growth, development and effectiveness. Performance appraisal, appraisal feedback and review, counselling, training, job enrichment, job-rotation, potential appraisal, potential training are some useful ways to promote employee development and organizational effectiveness. A carefully administered system of appraisal which is primarily oriented to employee development, besides providing inputs for salary and reward administration, can be instrumental in creating a healthy climate and higher employee motivation. Every manager has the responsibility of creating conditions for development of his subordinates, just as every employee has the responsibility to grow and develop himself. Employee development can be ensured if he individual is interested in his own development and is clear about the direction in which he should develop; he is willing to receive feedback on his strengths and weaknesses; he makes efforts to develop himself; and he reviews his progress periodically with the help of another person in the organisation. An effective appraisal system should be based on: Clarity of roles and responsibilities. Periodic goal setting Annual or periodic assessment of performance in terms of such goals. Analysis of the achievement of these goals and development of action plans for overcoming inhibiting and strengthening facilitating factors. Periodic review of behaviour, which contributes to managerial effectiveness, and working out action plans for developing such behaviour. Identification of development needs and preparing plans for employee development through training and related activities. Implementation and review. 29
Main components of a performance appraisal system In order to meet the objectives spelt out earlier, the following components could form a part of the performance appraisal system: Identification of key performance areas (KPAs) Performance appraisal should not take place in isolation. Performance has to be appraised against certain functions and objective that have been agreed to by the employee and his reporting officer. A good way of starting this may be for every employee to sit with his reporting officer a year in advance and identify the areas of his performance which are considered to be very important for his role. The critical functions associated with a given role may be called as his key function areas or key function areas. After identifying such key function areas, it is necessary for both, the employee and his reporting officer, to have an understanding of the level of performance expected, nature of performance expected, quality of performance expected, time in which the tasks are expected to be completed, etc. This is possible only through an intense dialogue between the officer concerned and his reporting officer. Unless such expectations are shared, the final appraisal may be more a reflection of the reporting officers biases rather than a reflection of the appraisees actual performance on job. Setting of goals of objectives (under each KPA) every year for the next year In order to have a clear understanding of the expectations, it is useful to set goals or objectives under each KPA. Some examples of the KPAs and the objectives set and presented in Appendix 6.1 These cover a variety of roles. Quote often there may be jobs which offer very little scope for quantification. However, in each case qualitative or time-bound objectives could be set. A good performance appraisal should take into consideration how well an individual has performed his role rather than what results he has achieved. This is so because in an organisation achievement of results is generally the task of not a single individual but of a group of individuals. Any single individual should not be penalized for not achieving he results, which depend upon several other factors outside his control. The individual should be assessed for his effectiveness in performing whatever functions given to him. Hence the appraisal System described here is different from other systems which take into consideration the results and not the individuals. We believe that every organisation has enough of other control mechanisms to ensure that the results and achieved. Performance appraisal cannot be a mechanism to ensure the achievement of organizational results; it can only be a mechanism in helping individuals do their jobs better. Fortunately, both are linked, though the focus is different. Identification of behavioral dimensions that are critical for managerial effectiveness A good performance appraisal system should also have a set of behavioral dimensions that is critical for managerial effectiveness. These dimensions should be desirable for performance more and more high managerial jobs and universally applicable in the organisation. These qualities can be identified through a good research programme. At present, a least four qualities are likely to meet these criteria. They include: creativity, initiative, contribution to team spirit and to the development of subordinates. More such qualities can be identified and included in the performance appraisal form. These dimensions should be linked with the philosophy of management to develop certain types of managerial force. If some organizations want loyalty and conformity as more desirable qualities, the same could be included. Periodic review on these qualities through an appraisal system helps managers to increasingly develop them selves in relation to these qualities. Thus, this is conducive for managerial development. Periodic (preferably annual) review of performance on objectives and behavioural dimensions on a rating scale Rating on performance and behaviour are necessary in any appraisal system to generate data. Such rating also forms a basis for discussions and exchange of expectations. Some experts propagate the idea of using the category system of assessment. While some use categories like outstanding performance, good performance, average performance, satisfactory performance, below average, etc., are used, some others use scaling systems of 5 point, 10 points, etc. Both these systems have advantages as well as disadvantages. Whatever is the system used, the range of assessment (rating scale or categories) should not give scope for the appraisee and the appraiser to get over-concerned with the number of categories. Such an over-concern can be reduced by limiting the range of 3 or 5 point scales or 3 to 5 30
category systems. However, what is important in any appraisal system is not the numbers but the process by which an officer arrives at the number and the communication of this process to the appraisee or the appraiser. Thus the assessment categories or the rating scale is a means for more communication and need not be an end in itself. Analysis of performance by identifying facilitating and inhibiting factors in performance A good performance appraisal system should focus on identifying the factors that help or hinder good performance. These facilitating and inhibiting factors may be either within or outside the control of the appraisee. The performance appraisal system should give scope for the appraisee to identify these factors. The appraisers role may be to help him identify many more of these factors, under stand their respective roles in strengthening the facilitating factors and weakening the inhibiting factors, and work our action plans to that effect. In this process, the appraiser helps the appraisee to understand his difficulties through realistic goal setting and commitment of support. A formal performance review and discussions at a convenient and facilitative period between the employee and his reporting officer Much of the problems in the companies today are because of lack of communication between people. While people spend a lot of time in the organisation trying to achieve targets and perform task related functions, they rarely spend any time to discuss how they are working and to share their problems. Performance appraisal should provide one such opportunity where an officer and his reporting officer can sit together and share with each other their problems, difficulties, perceptions, views, etc. Therefore, a good performance-appraisal system should aim at facilitating he communication between two officers and developing empathy, mutuality and appreciation for each others problems. Such discussion should not be threatening and occasionally may take the form of counselling. Identification of development needs and development of action plan for future with definite commitments by the employees and his reporting officer Performance appraisal data are useful in identifying the training needs of employees. Constantly poor performance on certain dimensions can be identified and training and developmental activities aimed at developing the employees on these dimensions can be planned. Developmental activities may take the form of organizing internal training programmes, sponsoring for outside programmes, delegating higher responsibilities, job rotation for acquiring new skills, etc. These should flow from performance analysis and identification of personal factors facilitating or inhibiting performance. Thus basic to this system is goal setting, behaviour analysis, communication and feedback. Effective use of this system requires skills of goal setting, interpersonal communication and counselling. Every manager or user of this system should have these skills, which, as research and experience has amply can be easily acquired. Several effective managers in any organisation may already possess them to a great degree and can even train others in them. However, many managers who have such skills may not be aware of them. Conditions for use of open appraisal system The system presented here can be effectively used if some of the following conditions are met: The corporate management is committed to the development of human resources in the organisation. It is prepared to make investments in terms of managerial time, a budget for training, and some preparedness for job rotation and such other programmes to make organisations places of learning and make work more enjoyable and contributing to development. There is already a reasonably good degree of openness and trust in the organisation and the management is interested in creating more openness and trust and building mutuality among employees. Openness is the willingness of people to share their concerns and perceptions without fear and hesitation. Trust is indicated by the general feeling that the information given or feelings shared by one will not be Mutuality is the general feeling that people at all levels can vide help and there is willingness to ask for a give such help. If these are not existing and if the organisation is closed and bureaucratic, the introduction of such a system may create problems. The organisation believes in developing a climate of openness, mutuality, trust and collaboration and is prepared to orient or reorient its employees through training and such other strategies to achieve these goals. 31
The organisation believes that the development of human resources will contribute to its effectiveness and productivity. If these conditions exist, the introduction of this system is likely to yield good results. However, the initial period of the system requires a lot of preparation and the employees or participants in this systems should be prepared to face the initial pains of developing new norms and valued. The experience of introducing such system is two Indian organizations, given at the end of his book, amply demonstrate the amount of preparation and investment required for their introduction. However, the pay-offs are likely to be very high, and much of them visible only after long periods of time.
Linkage with other systems Performance appraisal system, as described here is linked with training, promotions, salary and reward, administration and research and OD. It is links with training because the identification of training and other developmental needs partially flow from performance analysis and review. It is linked with promotions in a limited way as performance appraisal ratings do form one of the inputs in promotions. For example, at the time of promotions, employees consistently performing poorly on the jobs are treated differently. It is linked with reward administration as consistent good performance has to be rewarded Linkages with Other Systems some way or the other. It may be through giving increased responsibility (not promotion), salary increments, cash awards, etc. It is linked with research and OD because the data generated through appraisal systems can help a great deal in studying several issues related to organizational life.
Some commonly asked questions When appraisal systems of this kind are introduced, employees express a number of apprehensions and doubts. From the experience of the authors, a few such common question are listed, followed their answers. Question 1: What is the difference between this system and MBO? Answer 1: under the MBO system, the individual managers objectives are arrived at the following way. Based on the statement of the organisations business mission or purpose, a list is prepared of the key results for the organisation. This list is prepared after discussion amongst heads of the various functional areas and includes both qualitative/quantitative, short/long term aspects of the organisations working. Next, an analysis is done of he relative contributions to be made by each functional head in the various areas, called Key Result Areas (KRAs), i.e., whether their involvement needs to be of an advisory nature, or a major contribution, or a minor contribution, etc. The particular functional head, who has to make a major contribution in a particular KRA, is assigned the prime responsibility for that KRA. The task of the functional heads is to develop objectives fro each of their KRAs. The relative contributions to the KRAs will determine the weightage of the corresponding objectives. The KRAs and objectives developed in this way are then translated downwards to the divisional / departmental levels and then further to each individual managerial level, i.e., KRAs with corresponding objectives will be determined for each of the lower levels. Thus MBO is a total process touching all areas of an organisations working. Most of the key result areas of an organisations MBO programme require the contributions of several cooperating departments/ employees. In this situation the objectives associated with KRA. Cannot be achieved by a single employees effort and for this reason these objectives cannot be the ones that a single employees performance can be measured against in performance appraisal. This is one of the main criticisms of the MBO approach and hence of performance appraisal under MBO, i.e., the results of a mulitiperson objective cannot be properly used to measure a single persons performance. The present appraisal system focuses on the individual and his tasks. Only the results of objectives or KPAs that are within the scope of an employee are used. The KPAs stress the individual and his role as contrasted with the KPAs in MBO that stress objectives and the organizational outcomes. There are no complicated processes of interdepartmental coordination, etc., involved in setting objectives in this system. 32
Question 2: If in my self-ratings, I rate myself low, what is the guarantee that my superior will not use my own rating against me/ Answer 2: The success of the system depends on a minimum level of trust between the appraiser officer and the appraisee. Such doubts may indicate lack of trust. The simple answer to such a question is that an employee should not rate himself low, if he thinks he is not low. Self-rating should be realistic. Our experience has been that in some cases where the employees rate themselves low due to modesty or low self-esteem, the appraisers rated them much higher and raised the point of low self-esteem of the employees. Question 3: Can this system ensure justice to talented employees in terms of promotion and rewards? Answer 3: No system can provide complete assurance that only talented employees will promoted. Promotions depend on a number of factors like the availability of new posts, roles and responsibilities, and assessment of the potential of people to perform these roles and responsibilities. We do not have perfection in matching employees talents with the talents required by a job. However, to the extent such sales are available and successfully used by an organisation, a system of potential appraisal (as different from performance appraisal) will ensure selection (and promotion) of right persons for the jobs. Performance appraisal provides only one of the Inputs for promotions. It is certainly not the main input. It is only after the potential appraisal indicates that an employee has potential to perform new functions involved in the new roles he has to occupy in case he is promoted, that his performance appraisal data are reviewed rating should not be based merely on the quantity of goal achievement but equally on the capability of the employee. All these should be discussed in review interviews. Question 4: What is the use of such systems when talent in this company is not recognized? Answer 4: That is a statement indication a feeling of despair. At least in this system there is an opportunity for some people to recognize others talents and share the information and also record it. Often employees confuse recognition with reward. Sometimes, talents are recognized but may not be rewarded due to organizational constraints or limitations. Recognition may be in various forms. Some forms of recognition are encouraged through this system. Some employees may feel that they are not recognized because they have not been reward ed. Companies also take this approach. This attitude can change at all levels through systems like this. Question 5: How do I ensure that my negative feedback does not put off he employee? Answer 5: By giving the negative feedback in a helpful way. By continuing to support him even after such negative feedback in given, mainly by accepting his as a person in spite of his weaknesses. Some employees get more blocked to negative feedback than others. The manager needs to be sensitive to such employees. Read Pareeks (1977) article on interpersonal feedback. Question 6: How can I promise anything on the development needs of employees when I cannot do anything in this regard? Answer 6: Check with the training department or the concerned officer before you suggest or offer anything to the employee in terms of his development needs. It is not advisable to offer anything that you cannot do as it might reduce your credibility. Beyond the Present Role: Potential Appraisal In Indian organizations, it is a normal practice to promote people on the basis of their past performance. Most of the organisations are hierarchical in nature. In such organizations, the functions and responsibilities depend upon the level at which the role is located in the organizational hierarchy. The past performance of an individual can only reflect whether he has been able to do a given job at a given level successfully or not and is an indicator of the future potential to the extent the two jobs are similar in functions. However, when an individual is promoted on the; basis of his past performance, an assumption is being made that competence in perform in the present role in the organisation. This assumption is not correct in hierarchical organisaitons. The capabilities required to perform one role may not be the same as those required to perform a higher role having different functions. There fore, past performance is not necessarily a good indicator of the suitability of an individual for a higher role.
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It is with this major inadequacy of the system of promotions based on performance appraisals, that a new system of developing employees for occupying higher positions has been thought of. This new system is called Potential Appraisal. The objective of Potential Appraisal is to identify the potential of a given employee to occupy higher position in the organizational hierarchy and undertake hiher responsibilities. While research in behavioral science indicates that every employee can be trained and developed to perform complex roles in an organisation, it is diffiduct for organizations to keep on developing every employee to perform a higher role after every few years. Keeping in view its own interest, it is necessary for every organisation to identify the potential in individual to handle higher roles and responsibilities. The organisation with have to make, a every point of time, clear-cut choices from among its employees for occupying higher positions. These choices will have to be made on the oasis of data and evidence gathered about the employees from their performance in different roles are well as from simulated settings relating to new roles. Thus, a good potential for Occupying higher positions from a variety of sources, and helps the top management to make decisions about the suitable persons for a given job. However, since the organisation also has the responsibility for developing the managerial talent, a good potential-appraisal system also helps the management in identifying employees whose cap abilities can system also helps the management in identifying employees whose can abilities can be developed through job rotation, training etc. Thus potential appraisal is linked with career development. Steps to be Followed for a Good Potential Appraisal System The following are some of the requirements and steps to be followed While introducing a Potential-Appraisal System: 1. Role descriptions 2. Qualities required to perform the roles Technical knowledge and skills; Managerial capabilities and qualities; and Behavioural dimensions. Rating by others Psychological tests Simulation games and exercises Performance appraisal records To what extent is the organisation willing to go by merit rather than seniority in promotions? What is the relative weightage to, be given to the technical, managerial and behavioural qualities and, within each of those categories, to different qualities? What are the mechanisms of assessing the individual on different indicators of his potential and with what reliability?
3. Indicator of qualities
5. Feedback on potential appraisal for career development 6. Introducing potential appraisal Linkages with other systems In an organisation that believes in the multiplication and development of human resources through organized efforts, potential appraisal cannot remain in isolation. The potential appraisal system will have to be linked with the following sub-systems of HRD. Feedback and counselling Training Job rotation 34
3. Performance Counselling and Interpersonal Feedback Performance Counselling What constitutes counselling? Counseling is given by one who is senior to the person, receiving the counsel-in competence, knowledge, psychological expertise, or in the hierarchical position in an organisation. There are three main processes involved in counseling communication, influencing and helping. The counselor essentially communicates with the counselee Communication involves receiving messages (listening), giving messages (responding), and giving feedback. The person who pro-vides counselling does all the three things. Counselling also involves influencing the counselee in several ways. The manager cannot deny the fact that he is influencing his employee in such a way that the later is able to more in some direction. However, this influence is of a special type, that is, enabling the other person to exercise more autonomy, providing positive reinforcement so that desirable behaviour further strengthened, and creating conditions in which the person is able to learn form the behaviour of the counselor through the process of identification. The third element in the process, i.e., helping, also functions in a similar way. It involves three different elements. Firstly, helping behaviour based on the concern and empathy the counselor has his counselee. Secondaly, it is also based on the mutuality relationship; the counselee responds as much to the counsellors needs as the latter does to the formers. Finally, helping primarily, involves identification of developmental needs of he counselee so that he may be able to develop and increase his effectiveness. The elements of the process will be explained in more detail. The process of counselling Communication Interpersonal communication is the basis of performance review in which both the employee and his reporting officer are involved. Such a conversation in performance review should be congenial, which may help the employee to be in a receptive mood. It is important to keep in mind that communication is greatly influenced by how problems and issues are perceived by the two persons involved in the conversation. It may get distorted if people are not empathic to each other and do not try to understand each others point of view. Non-verbal communication is a important as 35
verbal communication. People speak much more through their gestures and postures than through words. The tone and manner of speaking is also important. There are three main elements in communication. Listening is the first effective step in communication. Listening involves paying attention to the various messages being sent by the other person. The obvious message is the ideas being communicated (cognitive message). But there may be hidden feelings and concerns which the other person may not be able to put dearly in words. Listening to feelings and concern is very important for effective counselling. This involves skills which can be practiced. Some exercises can be used to improve listening of such hidden messages (see Rao and Pareek, 1978). Asking questions and responding Questions can facilitate or hinder the process of communication. They can serve several purposes: they can help in getting more information, establishing mutuality, clarifying matters, stimulating thinking. Questions play a very important role in counselling. Some questions can shut off the counselee, or make him dependent on the counselor, while some others can build the autonomy of counselee. Obviously, the latter will be helpful, and not the former. 1. Questions that do not help: the following types of questions are not only unhelpful, but they also hinder the process of effective counselling. Critical question: Questions which are used to criticize, reprimand or doubt the counselee create a gap between him and the counselling. The way the question is asked (skeptical or sarcastic tone) may indicate that the question is a critical one. The choice of words may also indicate the critical nature of he question. Why did you fail to achieve your targets? communicates criticism whereas Why could you not attain your target? would normally communicate an invitation to examine hindering factors. How did you again fall short your target? is a reprimanding question. How can you achieve the target since you failed last time? indicates doubt in the ability of the counselee. All such critical questions either shut off the counselee make him different. Testing questions: Questions which are asked to find out whether a person is right or wrong, or how much he knows, are evaluating or testing questions. Such questions may tend to put the other person on the defensive. In a testing question, the person asking the question takes a superior attitude, while the other person is put in a kind of witness box. Such questions may also take the form of a cross examination. A reporting officer who proposes to find out why his employee was not able to meet his target can easily slip into a cross examination, testing or evaluating posture. Again, the tone of he interviewer may determine whether the question is a testing question. Such questions are sometimes similar to critical questions. Resenting questions: A person may ask questions to indicate his resentment of the behaviour of the other person. When an employ in a counselling situation asks How should I attain a higher target? it may indicate his resentment depending on the tone in which such a question is asked. Lending questions: Quite often unknowingly, the question asked indicate what kind of answers are wanted and such answers are actually received. Such a question may be asked after making a statement. For example, a reporting officer may say to his employee: You could not attain the target because maintenance department did not cooperate. Is that true?, or it may be put in the question from: Were you not able to again the target because the maintenance department did not cooperate? Both are leading questions. A leading question almost seduces the other person to go along the line of thinking of the one who asks the question. This tends to stop further exploration and is not helpful. 2. Questions that are helpful: The following types of questions may be help in developing a more healthy relationship and in increasing the effectiveness of the other person: Testing questions: Questions which are asked to that the questioner is seeking help or suggestions may indicate the trust he has in the other person. The question How do you think I can deal with the problem I am facing? is seeking help from the other person. Such questions may be asked both by the employee and the supervisor. 36
Clarifying question: Questions may be asked to collect information, more facts and figures. Such questions are very helpful. If a counselor asks his employee several questions to help him to get more information about various aspects, the employee, in turn, would provide him with relevant information to understand his problems. After listening to a person for some time, the counselor may para-phase the counsellees statement (also called mirroring), and then he may ask a question to confirm whether his understanding is correct for example, the question, Are you worried about your lack of knowledge of the new system? is a clarifying question. A clarifying question helps the manager and the employee to remain at the same level throughout the conversation. Empathic questions: Questions about the feelings of a person, his Concern, his problem, not sop much for finding solutions as to indicate and express concern, may be classified as empathic questions. When a manager asks an employee: How is you son feeling non?, he is not merely seeking information, but in fact indicating his personal concern about the health of the employees son and there by expressing empathy with the employee. Such questions help to generate more trust, and the necessary rapport with the employee. Empathic questions create a climate mutual trust and human understanding. Open question: The most useful questions are those which stimulate reflection and thinking in the counselee. Why do you think have not achieved the targets this year while the other company has is an open question inviting the other person to explore the various possible dimensions, and to share them with the person who is asking such a question. Open questions encourage creativity, and a tendency to explore several directions which might have been neglected so far. Responding to questions: Counsellors sometimes use certain responses, some of which are useful and some dysfunctional. Some counselors may be using certain types of responses more often than others. It is necessary to be aware of this Responses that alienate the employee criticize him or order him, are more likely to be dysfunctional. Empathic, supportive, and exploring responses are more functional. Feedback Interpersonal feedback is an important input for increasing self awareness. It helps in reducing the blind area of a person, helping him to become more aware about his strengths and weaknesses. If properly used, it results in higher mutuality between two persons. The process of interpersonal feedback, and conditions which make it effective, have been discussed in detail. The following hints are reproduced form that source: Feedback will be effective if the person who gives the feedback (counselor) makes sure that it: Is descriptive and not evaluative; Is focused on the behaviour of the person and not on the person himself; Is data-based and specific and not impressionistic; Reinforces positive new behaviour; Is suggestive and not prescriptive; Is continuous; Is mostly personal, giving data from ones own experience; Is need-based and solicited; Is intended to help; Is focused on modifiable behaviour; Satisfies needs of both the feedback given and one who receives feedback; Is checked and verified; Is well timed; and 37
Contributes to mutuality and building up of relationship. From the point of view of the one who receives the feedback, it is necessary that the reaction to feedback is more in terms of exploring ways of improving behaviour rather than of defensive, behaviour. The following defensive behaviour might not help in using feedback properly; the behaviour which are opposite of these may be helpful. Denying feedback as opposed to owning up responsibility for behaviour. Rationalisation (explaining away feedback by giving reasons) as opposed to self-analysis to find why such behaviour was shown. Projection (contributing negative feelings to the other persons) as opposed to empathy (trying to understand the point of view of the other persons). Displacement (expressing negative feelings to one who may not fight back) as opposed to exploration (taking help of the other person in knowing more about he feedback given). Quick acceptance without exploration as opposed to collecting more information and data to understand the behaviour. Aggression towards the person giving feedback as opposed to seeking his help in understanding the feedback. Humour and wit as opposed to concern for improvement. Counter dependence (rejecting the authority) as opposed to listening carefully to the person giving feedback. Cynicism (generally strong skepticism that things can not improve) as opposed to a positive, critical attribute to accept some feedback and to question some other. Generalization (explaining things in a general way) as opposed to experimenting.
Influencing Influencing would mean making an impact on the person relationship. Such impact need not necessarily be of a restrictive type. Influencing in counselling would involve the following three aspects: 1. Increasing autonomy of the person: Usually, influencing is understood only in the sense of restricting the autonomy of the person and directing him into channels which are predetermined by the person exerting influence. Positive influencing is the opposite of this; the autonomy of the other person is increased, and he has larger scope of making his own choice. Even this is influencing, but of a different kind. Flanders makes a distinction between the two modes ox influence, viz., the direct mode of influence (which restricts the freedom of the other person), and the indirect mode of influence (which increases the freedom of the other person). Flanders has developed some categories to indicate the two modes. He classifies criticism and punishment in the first category, and encouraging a person in the second category of influence. The reason is obvious. When a person is criticized or punished, some actions for which he is criticized or punished are inhibited and the person avoids doing those in future. This restricts his freedom. On the other hand, if a person is directions. This results in an increase in the field his autonomy. In counselling, much more use in made of the indirect mode of influence, by recognizing and expressing feelings, acknowledging and praising good ideas given by the counselee, and raising questions which promote thinking and exploration. 2. Positive reinforcement: It has been established by Skinner that change in behaviour cannot be brought about in human beings through punishment or negative reinforcement, but only through positive reinforcement. Influencing would involve providing encouragement and reinforcing success so that the person takes more initiative and is able to experiment with new ideas. Change cannot take place without experiment and risk taking. And these are encouraged through positive reinforcement. 3. Identification: One major influence which helps an employee to develop is the opportunity for him to identify himself with individuals having more experience, skill and motivation. This is the first stage in the development of psycho-social major power motivation. This legitimate need should be fulfilled. Levinson states several barriers which may come in the way of such a legitimate process of identification: lack of time, intolerance for mistakes, complete rejection of dependency needs, repression of rivalry, and unexamined 38
relation ship. Levinson suggests that to help the development of the process of identification it is necessary that the managers also examines his own process, and need of interacting with the subordinates. Helping Counselling is essentially helping. Helping involves several processes but the following three are mainly important: 1. Concern and empathy: Without the managers concern for his employee, effective helping cannot be provided in a counselling session. Such concern is shown when the counselor able to feel for his subordinate and is able to empathise with him. This would be reflected in the kinds of questions asked and the tone in which the conversation takes place. Managers may constantly ask themselves how much concern and genuine empathy they have for the employees they are counselling. Without such genuine concern, counselling may only degenerate into a ritual and cannot achieve its goals. 2. Mutuality of relationship: Counselling should not be regarded as merely giving help. It is also receiving help on various aspects. Unless such a relationship is established i.e. both persons involved in the relationship feeling free to ask for and provide help to each other counselling cannot be effective. Mutuality is based on trust and the genuine perception that each person has enough to contribute. Although the counselor is in a superior position, he continues to learn and to receive help from the counselee. 3. Identifying development needs: the main purpose of performance counselling is to identify the development needs of the employee which can be met through various ways. It is necessary that counselling results in clear and systematic identification of such needs and in subsequent plans as to how these needs will be fulfilled. Objective of counselling Counselling aims at the development of the counselee. It involves the following: Helping him to realize his potential as a manager. Helping him to understand himself his strengths and his weaknesses. Providing him an opportunity to acquire more insight into his behaviour and analyze the dynamics of such behaviour. Helping him top have a better understanding of the environment. Increasing his personal and interpersonal effectiveness by giving him feedback about his behaviour and assisting him in analyzing his inter-personal competence. Encouraging him to set goals for further improvement. Encouraging him to generate alternatives for dealings with various problems. Providing him empathic atmosphere for his sharing and discussing his tensions, conflicts, concerns and problems. Helping him to develop various action plans for further improvement. Helping him to review in a non-threatening way his progress in achieving various objectives.
In addition to these, performance counselling strengthens the dyadic relationship between the employee and his boss. Sequential process of performance counselling Counselling is helping the employee to grow and develop in the organisation. Every manager is counselling his employee, knowingly or unknowingly, in his day-to-day work-life. An effective counselor-manager is one who helps his employee to become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and helps them to improve further on the strong points and overcome weaknesses. By the process of mutuality and support, he helps the employee to develop, by providing the proper emotional climate. Mutuality involves working together with the employee and developing future plans of action for the employees growth and contribution to the organisation. Support involves acceptance of the employee as a total person, with his strengths and weaknesses, and encouraging him with warmth. 39
Counselling requires certain interpersonal skills which can be acquired easily if a manager is genuinely interested in developing his subordinates. Counselling skills are important for a manager, particularly at the time of performance review. Good managers, whenever the necessity arises, counsel their employees in their jobs. Annual performance reviews provide formal opportunities for formal counselling. Such a formal counselling process passes through certain stages which are important for the managers to note. The counselling process has the following three phases: rapport building, exploration, and action planning. In the rapport-building phase, a good counselor attempts to establish a climate of acceptance, warmth, support, openness and mutuality. He does this by empathizing with the employee and his orientations, by listening to his problems and feelings, by communication his understanding to the employee, and by expressing empathy with and genuineness of interest in him. In the exploration phase, the counselor attempts to help the employee to understand himself and his problem better. He may do this by raising questions to help the employee explore his problems and diagnose the problem properly. In the action planning phase, the counselor and the employee jointly work out or plan specific action steps for the development of the latter. The manager makes commitments to provide the specific support to employee for development. Rapport Building Rapport building is essential for any effective counselling out come. This phase involves generating confidence in the employee to open up and frankly share his perceptions, problems, concerns, feelings, etc. the counselor-manager should level himself with his employee and tune himself to his orientations. This can be done by adopting the employees frame of reference. Attending: The opening phase of counselling is very important in rapport building General opening rituals may communicate messages of attending to the counselee and give importance to the counselling transaction Inviting rituals like offering the chair, closing the door to indicate privacy, asking the secretary not to disturb or not to connect telephonic calls during the conversation, may indicate that the counselor is attending to the counselee. However, all such rituals should come out of the genuine concern for and full attention to the employee during the counselling session. Listening: It has already been discussed that listening is important for effective counselling As already stated it is important to listen to what the employee says, as well as to his Feeling and concerns. Physical posture (e.g., leaning forward) and keeping eye contact with the employee are indicators of listening. Acceptance: Establishing a climate of acceptance is a necessary part of establishing rapport. The employee must feel that he is wanted and that his counselor is interested in understanding him as a person rather than as a role or a position in an organisation. The counselor communicates this to the employee by listening to all the problems of the employee says. For example, when an employee says, I am really mad. I have tried to do my best in the past year. I have worked twice as hard as anyone else in the office. But I never get promotion, he is expressing his anger. The counselor may reflect back and say, You feel that your superiors have not shown proper recognitions for your hard work. Such a reflection or mirroring would help the employee feel that he is being understood and that his counselor is interested in him. This builds a climate of acceptance and facilitates the process. Exploration Besides accepting the employee, listening to him, and establishing a climate of openness the counselor should attempt to understand as well as help the employee understand his own situation, strengths, weaknesses, problems and needs. Nobody would like to be directly told his weaknesses. Counselling skill lies in making The employee discover his own Weaknesses, and identify his problem. At the most, the counselor may use open and exploring questions. Exploring: Exploring helps an employee to search various dimensions of the problems, or discover unidentified problems and bring to the surface unnoticed issues. Exploring can be done by using questions and suggesting to the employee to talk more on a problem he mentions. As already discussed, a variety of questions may be used. Problem identification: After general exploring, questions may be asked to help the employee focus on the problem. It is necessary for the counselor to use questions, both to generate information on some concerns and problems and to 40
narrow down focus to identify a more probable problem. For example, if an employee feels that his problem is that others do not cooperate with him, the counselor may ask questions to narrow down the problem to the employees relationship with a few colleagues, and then questions may he asked to help the employee see what he does that prevents possible cooperation. Eventually, the problem may turn out as to how the employee may deal with competitive relationship, and yet collaborate. Identification of a problem is the necessary step in planning for improvement. Diagnosis: Diagnosis of the problem is the next step in exploration. Explorations should lead to the diagnosis: Without diagnosis there is a little scope for solving any problem. Open questions like Why do you think people are put off when you talk with them?, Can you recall occasions when you got full cooperation?, What do you attribute it to?, What personal limitations mainly bother you? may help the employee more towards a better diagnosis. The main attempt should be to generate several alternative causes of a problem. Action Planning Managers are expected to guide their employee and contribute to their development. Counselling interviews should end with specific Plans of action for the development of the employee. Identifying a training need, job rotation, sponsoring for further training, increased responsibility, role clarity, etc., are some of the likely outcomes in such action plans. Three sub-phases can be identified in action planning. Searching: The main contributions of the counselor to actions planning is the help he provides to the employee in thinking in brain-storming such alternatives, the counselor at a late stage can also add to this list of alternatives for further exploration. This should, however, be done only after some time. The employee should primarily take the responsibility of generating alternatives. Decision making: After the alternations have been generated, the counselor may help the employee assess the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, rise questions on the feasibility of the various alternatives, and help finalize a plan to be implemented. This may, however, be regarded as a contingency plan, to be altered in the light of further experience. Supporting: The final and crucial stage of counselling is to communicating support and plan for such support in implementing the agreed actins plan Psychological contract of providing help should emerge after considerable exploration and discussion Support and help should facilitate in further increasing the autonomy of the employee, and not his dependence on the counselor. A system for monitoring and follow up of the action plan may be prepared. This closes the counselling interaction. Suggestion for making counselling effective In performance counselling or developmental counselling formally organized by the organisation interviews as an organizational requirement. On such occasions, the employee may be forced into a counselling situation. If counselling is given without having been sought, it is likely to be of limited value. It may prove frustrating both to the counselor and to the employee. In such situations, the counselor would do well by forgetting about performance counselling and talk to the employee about his lack of interest in growth. The employee is likely to pen up if the counselor establishes an open climate. If the employee has serious emotional block in dealing with his superior there is not sue organizing a counselling interview. They need a problem-solving session before that. Hence, before counselling, it must be ensured that the employee is willing to learn from this interview. Some employees are so loyal and some superiors so protective, that there is a danger of employees becoming totally dependent on the counselor. The counselor should check fro time to time through reflection, if he is making the employee too dependent on him. The counselor must allow the employee to make his own decisions and perhaps help him in making decisions, but must not take decisions for him. The employee must understand the purpose of counselling. If he does not understand or has wrong expectations, he may not receive whatever is said to him in the proper perspective. If it is felt that he has some misunderstandings, it is better to use the first session to clarify them and then schedule another session. Minimize arguments One argument is sufficient to make both parties defensive. The counselor should accept everything the employees says and try to build on it. Acceptance is the best way of bringing about self-realization in the person. 41
Good counselling sessions fail to produce effective results due to lack of follow up. Follow-ups through informal exchanges go a long way in communicating interest in the employee. Otherwise, he may feel that the counselling is only artificial and may lose interest in it eventually. Developing Dyadic Relationships: Performance Review and Counseling Any organisation interested in using a good performance appraisal and review system that aims at developing employees has to practice and pay enough attention to performance counselling. Performance appraisal does not serve the purpose of developing employees unless an effective system of performance counselling is introduced and practiced in the organisation. Performance counselling can be defined as the help provided by a manager to his subordinates in analyzing their performance and other job behaviours in order to increase of performance on the job, and on the identification of training needs for further improvement. Counselling is a dyadic process. It is based on a relation between two persons, manager who is providing help or who is counselling and an employee to whom such help in given or who is a counselee. It differs from training mainly in its intensity of dyadic relationship and its focus on establishing mutuality and confidentiality. Managers provide such help or counseling at various stages. For example, an employee may be provided such personal help soon after his selection or when he is facing difficulties or problems. The focus of performance counselling is the employees performance on the task assigned to him. Sometimes performance counselling is also called coaching, mainly because the purpose of counselling is to improve the performance of the employee. Although the word coaching is a widely used for this purpose, the word counselling is a much wider and appropriate term for such a process. Conditions for development For helping an employee to grow and develop in any organisation, it is necessary to understand the conditions associated with development. The following are some such conditions. The individual should be interested in developing himself Development cannot take place if the person himself is not interested in it. The first condition for Human Resources Development is to ensure the interest of the individual in developing himself. Quite often, higher level officers in the organizations write off some of their employees as not growing or not willing to grow. Such perceptions only show bias. No individual wants to stagnate. Only others, because of their expectations and their limited perspectives, brand people as stagnating. This may be because of the difference between the observers interests in the employees development in one direction, being different from the employees own desire to learn something else. It is useful to know in which areas the employee is interested in developing. Through such an understanding and mutual discussion, it may be possible to create interest in individuals for new areas of development that are congruent with organizational goals and plans. The individual should know the areas of his potential development Although the recent researches in behaviour suggest that individuals can learn any skills, there is also ample evidence to show that some individuals can grow faster on some dimensions that on others. These are called aptitudes. While in the developed countries there are enough opportunities for an individual to know about his potential through psychological tests, school counselling services, family guidance services, etc., we do not have such services easily available in India. An individual himself may discover, quite often too late, that he is good at certain things and he is not as good at certain other things. A persons insight into his strengths and weaknesses may depend on his introspective capability and the opportunities he gets to test himself. In organizations where fresh graduates are exposed to a variety of jobs through job rotation procedures, the young men get opportunities to test themselves and their aptitudes in relation to various functions. In organizations which do not have such a job rotation policy at the early stages of employees career, the chances of round pegs being put in square holes increase. While every individual should attempt to discover his own potential, the organisation also has an obligation to create conditions for such a discovery. The individual should make a clear choice about the directions in which he would like to grow and develop Besides discovering his aptitude, the individual should be in a position to make a clear choice about his career. He might discover that he has more than one strength. A combination of his strengths may indicate that he is good at a 42
number of things. Some careers may be more paying than others, which according to him is rewarding only in a limited way. In such a case, he should be able to take the risk and create opportunities for himself to develop strengths required for new careers. Through a good career planning and training system, the organisation should attempt to help to develop himself. The organisation should also help in setting such career goals realistically. He should be able to identify opportunities for development within and outside the organisation Identification of potential, strengths, weaknesses, etc., may have a demoralizing effect on the employees if no system exists for developing or overcoming them. Opportunities for the development of individual employees within and outside the organisation should be created. He should identify mechanisms of using these opportunities and get the support he needs from his superiors and the organizations While the organisation should plan for the growth of the employees according to their career plan, it is unrealistic to expect it to support the career goal of each individual employee. However, it should help the individual to understand the limitations and work out alternative strategies. He should make efforts to develop Mere interest in development does not serve an purpose if the individual is not prepared to invest himself and his energies in his development. Such an investment would depend upon how much he is prepared to act. Development can take place only through concentrated efforts to acquire knowledge and the ability to experiment with that knowledge. High-activity level and risk-taking orientation accelerate learning. He should take outside help to periodically review his progress Person cannot develop in isolation. Most of the development at higher levels is facilitated through human interaction. A person should have either a reference group or a few selected helpers in the environment for periodical reviews. The reference group or selected helpers act as mirrors so that the individual can continuously look at himself in the direction in which he is growing. A positive emotional and professional climate should be created in the workplace for the employee to progress and review himself. The responsibility for creating such a climate lies at every level with higher level officers and the top management of the organisation. Such a climate facilitates free expression of feelings, emotions, free exchange of views, opinions and, at the same time fostering of mutual trust. The identification of potential and development of the employee is a joint responsibility of the employee himself and the organisation. While the latter should provide opportunities for the individual to grow, the former should get interested in identifying opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, set himself realistic career goals, and continuously review his growth. The individual has the responsibility to make use of such opportunities and act with drive and determination. One of the most effective instruments in the hands of an employee for development is performance review (feedback and counselling). Performance reviews can be done at several stages. While it is the responsibility of the supervisors to guide and counsel their employees in relation to their past, present and future, a formal system of performance review can be employed by organizations. Performance review can be done both for the individual and the group. Individual-level review The purpose of performance review is to help the employee grow and develop. Others can help him as quite often he may be aware of his own strengths, just as he may be blind to his weaknesses. Those who continuously interact with the person can act as mirrors. However, such a feedback should be specific and purposeful. It serves three main purposes: (1) general development of the person, (2) improvement of his performance in specific tasks, and (3) identification and development of his potential for higher level responsibilities. 1. General improvement: Feedback for the general improvement of an employee is a continuous process. It occurs either inside or outside the organisation through colleagues, friends, subordinates, family members, etc. Within the organisation, people who work closely can be instrumental in helping the employee 43
contiguously assess the impact he is making on people and the environment. Such an assessment would help him to understand his own characteristics and develop as a mature person. No formal system can help in such a continuous interpersonal feedback. However, it can be facilitated through an open climate, a climate of psychological security, and positive attitudes towards one another in he organisation. 2. Improved performance: While the senior officer help their subordinates to perform gains. Usually, managers guide their subordinates more in relation to specific, immediate task-related problems rather than on other aspects of behaviour. For example, whenever a subordinate faces a problem, his officer may give a solution for that particular problem. Merely providing the solution to a problem does not amount to giving feedback. This will not necessarily help the employee to develop the ability to solve future problems by him self. This ability to solve problems by him self can be developed through continuous education. The formal appraisal system is another mechanism of giving feedback discussion. In such a formal system, the tasks are set much in advance. The qualities on which the individual is going to be rated are also identified in advance. At the end of a specified perioid of time, both the individual and his senior officer sit together for performance review. Feedback is a critical factor in such a review. In the performance review, the individual points out his own accomplishments in relation to the objectives decided upon. He may also identify the factors that have helped him in achieving whatever he could achieve, and the factors that prevented him from doing better. The individual may also highlight the qualities he has shown in that particular period. After he presents his own assessment, his senior officer tries to help him analyze his own performance in greater depth. He might add a number of other factors which have helped him to achiever whatever he has achieved, and a number of other factors that prevented him from doing better. The senior officer may also focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the appraisee. He might also point out the consistencies or inconsistencies of behaviour he observed in the employee. Both the manager and his employee jointly identify the developmental needs and ways of meeting the needs. 3. Potential development of the employee: Employees develop their potential if they are aware of the opportunities in the organisation and also of the mechanisms for developing this potential. Some organizations use mechanisms to appraise the potential of an employee. Usually, data are collected about all the employees whose potential is being assessed. It may be useful to give feedback to the employee on such data. Feedback on potential assessment would help the employee to understand his strengths and weaknesses, and help him to modify his career plans accordingly. If the employee has no opportunity to explore the feedback further, it is likely to demoralize him. Since emotions are involved here, it should be handled delicately. Such review should better be done either by one whom the employee trusts, or by an outside expert who has used objective measures of assessing the potential, or by a group of people from the top management who have a broader perspective and who can counsel the employee. Such feedback can be given by the officers one or two levels above the employee either formally or informally after a system of potential appraisal has been introduced in the organisation in such a review with the employee, they would have with them the employee a ratings and other data on him potential. The following points may be kept in mind in the potential appraisal review of the employee. The employee should be given the source of feedback; The employee should to told the limits of the feedback; The employee should be helped to view alternative career opportunities; Before giving such feedback, it is necessary to ensure that the employee believes that there are opportunities to develop his potential and that human behaviour is dynamic and changeable; and While giving the feedback, the relationship of the employee with others who work with him should also be kept in mind.
Feedback to groups or teams Feedback needs to be given to a group of people who constitute a small unit or a department within a large organisation. It may help the group to grow and develop as such. Feedback to groups is generally useful in terms of the process mechanisms operating in the group, like decision styles, collaborative orientation of the group with other groups, delegation, supervisory styles, morale, etc. Feedbacks can be given either by the organizational leader or 44
through an external agent using the research and surveys. Mechanisms of giving group feedback using survey research are described in the section on research and OD. Value in the helping process The central issue in a helping process relates to the value of the helper. The helping behaviour and strategies flow out of the basic stand he takes in relation to the client. The helper should ask himself/herself what value he/she holds, and with what con sequences. Okun (1976) has suggested that the following set of images of people is essential for and effective helping process: People are responsible, and capable of making their own choices and decisions. People are controlled to a certain extent by their environment, but they are able to direct their lives more than they realize. They always have choices and freedom, along with responsibility, even if they have restricted options due to environmental variables or inherent biological or personality predispositions. Behaviours are purposive and goal-directed. People are continuously striving towards meeting their own needs, ranging from basic physiological needs to abstract self-actualization ones (fulfilling physiological, psychological and aesthetic needs). People want to feel good about them selves and continuously need positive confirmation of their own selfworth from significant persons. They want to feel and behave congruently, to reduce dissonance between internal and eternal relations. People are capable of learning new behaviours and unlearning existing ones and they are subject to environmental and internal con sequences of their behaviours, which in turn, serve as reinforcements. They strive for reinforcements that are meaningful and congruent with their personal values and belief systems. Peoples personal problems may arise from unfinished business (unresolved conflicts) stemming from the past (concerning events and relationships) and, although some exploration of causation may be beneficial in some cases, most problems can be worked through by focusing on the here and now, on what choices the person has now. Problems are also caused by in-congruencies between internal (how you see things inside) and external (how you see things outside) perceptions in the present. Many problems experienced by people today are societal or systemic rather than personal or interpersonal. People are capable of learning to effect choices and changes within the system as well as from without.
Conditions for effective counselling Counselling is a means and not an end in itself. Development does not occur just because there is counselling. Counselling could be an effective instrument in helping people integrate with their organizations and have a sense of involvement and satisfaction. The following conditions are necessary for counselling to be effective: 1. General climate of openness and mutuality: if the organisation or department in which the employee is working is full of tension, and people do not trust each other, counselling cannot be effective. A climate of minimum trust and openness is essential for effective counselling. 2. General helpful and empathic attitude of management: Counsel ling involves effective helping, which is not possible unless the counselor has a general helping attitude and has empathy for the counselee. 3. Sense of uninhibited participation by the subordinates in the performance review process: Unless the subordinates in department or organisatoin feel free enough to participate without inhibition in he process of review and feedback, counseling cannot be effective. Counselling is not a one-way process of communicating to the employee what he should or should not do. It is a process of developing a dialogue which eventually contributes to a better understanding on the part of the counselee. 4. Dialogic relationship in goal setting and performance review: Performance counselling focuses on the counselees achievement of the performance goals set in consultation with his manager. Joint participation by the employee and his reporting officer is necessary both in goal-setting and performance review. Without such collaborative effort, counselling cannot achieve its purpose. 45
5. Focus on work-oriented behaviour: The main purpose of performance counselling is to help the employee to improve his performance. Counselling can be effective if he focus is kept on the work-related goals rather than on diffusing and personal issues, but these are used to refocus on improvement on organisation roles rather than on personal or general personality problems. 6. Focus on work-related problems and difficulties: Performance counselling is not only related to the achievement of goals, hut also to the contextual problems in achieving or not achieving the goals. Analysis of performance therefore becomes the basis of counselling. 7. Avoidance of discussion of salary and other rewards: Performance counselling may not serve its purpose if it includes discussion about salary raise, rewards, etc. The main purpose of performance counselling is to use performance appraisal in planning and improvement of the employee, rather than in understanding the relationship between performance and rewards like salary, etc. Bringing such discussion in the performance counselling may vitiate the main purpose of counselling. Potential Appraisal for Advancement career Planning and Development Every employee aspires for the advancement for his career, and or better opportunities to use his talents. In fact, for mot managers, career advancement is the most motivating factor, from the organizations point of view, it is necessary to develop in managers some expectation of opportunities for the future in order to keep their motivation high. Career planning does not mean predicting or envisaging which higher jobs will be available for each person. It essentially I means helping the employee plan his career in terms of his capabilities within the content of organizational needs. Career planning need not imply any specific commitment on the part of the management to promote an employee. It only implies that the individual, after becoming aware of some of his capabilities and career and development opportunities, chooses to develop himself in a direction that improves his chances of being able to handle new responsibilities. It is also the responsibility of the boss or the reporting officer of an employee to help him to identify the career opportunities, make choices, and develop his career. Identification of such opportunities becomes easier once he future manpower needs, rate of mobility, etc., are known. The reporting officer or officer at two or three levels above the employee are in a better position, because of heir experience and insights, to counsel the employee on his career development. While career development means the development of the general technical and managerial career in the organisation, career planning implies planning with the help of the reporting officer, of specific career paths of the employee in the foreseeable future. As such planning flows from manpower planning and potential appraisal. Career planning gets closely linked with these components of the human resource system. Career planning is a slow process and should come as a natural part of the organizational culture, it cannot be avoided in any organisation having a human resource system. However, it should not be formalized or hurriedly introduced, as it may give rise to problems. Attention should be paid to the career development of employees on a systematic basis. For career planning and development purposes, the employee can be viewed under three groups. The first group are the new recruits who are generally fresh candidates from educational institutions and who look forward to opportunities to improve their technical and managerial skills and develop their careers. The second group are the employees who may have spent a long time in the company but may be in the same position for more than six to seven years and may have shown potential. The third group are those who may have reached a stage beyond which may not be able to advance. Career development for the first group of employees should include the identification of the phases of development of an employee: Learning specific technical and job-specific skills, Learning other related technical roles and skills, Learning general managerial skills, and Getting acquainted with various departments, functions, etc., to get integrated with the organisation.
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For the employee who have been with the organisation for quite some time and show potential specific career plans need to be worked out. Such plans can be developed in terms of positions which may be created or which may fall vacant in the future. If a person is to retire, the new incumbent should work with him for some time for inductions. For employees not doing well, or who do not seem to have further potential, special efforts may be made to motivate them to demonstrate their potential. When this does not work out, such employees may be helped to accept their limitations without rejecting themselves (or the organisation rejecting them), and they should be encouraged to be creative even though they may not advance further in the organisation. This difficult task can be accomplished with the help of counselling services, etc. The final alternative in such cases may be to help them leave the company to seek more meaningful and satisfying places elsewhere. The advantages and disadvantages need to be debated, deliberate choices made, and the philosophy behind such strategies explained to employees. For example, some organizations believe in slow pro-motions at the lower levels because they believe in exposing the officer at these levels to a variety of tasks before they are promoted. This would require an employee to spend at least two years in one department and work in a minimum of three departments. When a young employee works in three different departments, he has an opportunity to test himself in different task situations and thus gain an insight into his won potential. This also helps the organisatoin to know its officers better. In addition, he may acquire a comprehensive picture of the organisatoin, because of this understanding, he may be able to function much better at higher levels as a team member. It is with this philosophy the management does not promote candidates until they have been fully exposed to the organisation. Then career paths are worked out and promotions are faster. In some departments, the nature of the tasks is such that the employees cannot handle any other function. For example, if people working in the personnel department are not professionally technical people, they cannot be later moved to the technical or production departments. In such cases, the organisation should develop a policy of personal promotions or some other mechanism so that the officers in those departments do not get demoralized. In fact, it may be useful to work out career-path charts for incumbents of different job clusters. Activities and Current Status Career planning and development should include the following activities: Human resources planning and forecasting, Career information, Career counselling, Career pathing, Skills assessment and training or potential development, Succession planning, Career development for fast-track employees, and Realistic career planning and development works
Comments on the current status of each of these activities are made below. Future directions are also pointed out. Most organizations seem to have good manpower planning systems. Some of them also undertake forecasts of manpower requirements. However, these documents are rarely shared with employees for fear of raising their expectations. The personnel or manpower planning departments keep these as secrets. More harm is done by not sharing this information than by sharing it. By sharing the information, employees get a clear picture of the opportunities available for them. In addition to manpower plans, it is useful to share other career information. For example, the promotion policy and career paths should be shared with employees to help them plan their careers. The nature of tasks performed by executives at various levels and the competency requirements of these jobs also should be shared. Wherever role directories or directories of KPAs and critical attributes are prepared, they could be made available to employees to help them identify the possible career paths and competency requirements. Such information also helps employees to plan their own career development. Similarly, information on possible separations (retirements etc.) helps employees to plan their careers. In the absence of such information, employees tend to see their career planning as the responsibility of the organisation rather than their own. 47
4. Meaning for Training and Development Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behaviour. It is application of knowledge. It gives people an awareness of the rules and procedures to guide their behaviour. It attempts to improve their performance on the current job or prepare them for an intended job. Development is a related process it covers not only those activities which improve job performance but also those which bring growth of the personality; help individuals in the progress towards maturity and actualization their potential capacities so that they become not only good employees but better men and women. Difference between Training and Development Training is short-term process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which non-managerial personnel learn technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose. Development is a long-term educational process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which managerial personnel learn conceptual and theoretical knowledge for general purpose. Training refers only to instruction in technical and mechanical operations, while development refers to philosophical and theoretical educational concepts. Training is designed for non-managers, while development involves managerial personnel. In the words of Campbell, training courses are typically designed for a short-term, stated set purpose, such as the operation of some piece(s) of machinery, while development involves a broader education for long-term purposes. Training and development differ in four ways: What is learned; Who is learning; Why such learning takes place; and When learning occurs.
Learning Principles The outcomes and process of learning The previous section concluded that human resource managers needed to understand the processes and nature of learning and development. This section will, therefore, examine the following: The outcomes of learning: Skill Competence know-how and tacit knowledge Hierarchies of cognitive and other skills; The process of learning; Theories of the process of learning 48
Elements in the process of learning The stages of learning Cyclical models of learning, learning styles.
Theories of the Process of Learning Behaviorist approaches to learning The behaviourist approach has been one of the most influential in the field of psychology. It proposes that learning is the process by which a particular stimulus, repeatedly associated with, or conditioned by, desirable or undesirable experiences comes to evoke a particular response. This conditioning can be of two kinds: Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus leads automatically to a response. Dogs, for example, salivate at the presentation of food: Pavlov demonstrated that they could also be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell rung before food is presented. Operant conditioning takes place after a desired response, which is then reinforced, or rewarded, to increase the probability of the repetition of the same response when the stimulus recurs. There has been much experimental research (including many animal studies) into such issues as the nature of the reinforcement (negative reinforcement, or punishment is not as effective for learning as positive reward); the schedule of reinforcement (whether fixed or variable intervals; intermittent reinforcement is more effective than continuous reinforcement). This form of conditioning is also used to shape behaviour, that is to continue to reinforce responses that approximate to the desired behaviour until that behaviour is finally achieved. We are familiar with this kind of approach to the encouragement of fairly simple forms of learning: we use it with small children, with animals, and in basic forms of training. The S-R approach pays no attention to the cognitive processes whereby the stimulus comes to be associated with a particular response. Cognitive learning theory, however, offers a more complex understanding of learning, proposing, again on the basis originally of animal studies, that what is learned is not an association of stimulus with response (SR), but of stimulus with stimulus (S-S). The learner develops expectations that stimuli are linked; the result is cognitive map or latent learning. Hence insightful behaviour appropriate to a situation takes place without the strengthening association or S-R bonds. Social learning theory also addresses what is in the black box. It recognizes the role in learning of the observation and imitation of the behaviour of others, but as seen in the debates over the influence of the media upon, say, young peoples behaviour, there are clearly many moderating variables. Information-processing approach to learning This approach regards learning as an information-processing system in which a signal, containing information, is transmitted along a communication channel of limited capacity and subject to interference and noise (Stammers and Patrick, 1975). The signal has to be decoded before it can be received, and then encoded to pass it on. In learning, data received through the senses are filtered, recognized and decoded thorugh the interpretive process of perception; this information is then translated into action through the selection of appropriate responses. The effectiveness of learning depends on attention being padi only to the relevant parts of the stimuli, the rapid selection of appropriate responses, the efficient performance of them, and the feeding back of information about their effects into the system. Overload or breakdown of the system can occur at any of these stages. Gagne (1974, in Fontana, 1981 : 73) expresses this as a chain of events, some internal and others external to the learner. It begins with the learners readiness to receive information (motivation or expectancy), and continues as the learner perceives it, distinguishes it from other stimuli, makes sense of it and relates it to what is already known. The information is then stored in short or long term memory. Thereafter it can be retrieved from memory, generalized to and put into practice in new situation. Its final phase is feedback from knowledge of the results obtained from this practice. Those concerned to facilitate learning in others can use knowledge of this chain to prevent failure to learn, which can take place at any one of those levels. Elements in the Process of Learning 49
This subsection will deal briefly with other important elements in the process of learning that need to be taken into account when designing or facilitating learning. These are the need for feedback, the choice of whole or part learning, and the role of memory.
Feedback (or knowledge of results) The feedback to learners of the results of their performance is recognized as essential to their effective learning. This is discussed in Ribeaux and Poppleton (1978) and Stammers and Patrick (1975). Feedback will be either intrinsic or extrinsic (or augmented). Learners receive visual or kinaesthetic feedback (intrinsic) from their responses to stimuli in the learning situation; they need to be encouraged to listen to such bodily cues in order to improve performance. They may also receive feedback (extrinsic, augmented) form an external source while they are performing (concurrent feedback) or after it (terminal). Learners may also benefit from guidance before their performance about what to look out for during it. The sources cited above set out the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of these different kinds of feedback. The nation of feedback is frequently discussed in terms of learning perceptual-motor or similar skills. It is still of considerable importance in the learning of the higher order skills discussed in this chapter, but here it is very complex in nature and difficult for the learner to be aware and make sense of it. However, by reflecting and engaging in the whole loop learning discussed below, the learner will have opportunity to pay attention to both intrinsic and extrinsic feedback. The choice of whole or part learning Psychologists continue to debate the appropriateness of whole or part learning to the learning of various tasks, that is, whether the task is learned as a whole, or in parts Ribeaux and Poppleton (1978:61) report on one approach that classifies tasks according to their complexity (the difficulty of the component sub-tasks) and organisation (the degree to which they are interrelated). Where complexity and organisation are both high, whole methods appear superior; where either is low, part and whole methods are equally successful. Stammers and Patrick (1975: 85 88), however report on research that draws opposite conclusions: where the elements of a task are highly independent the task is best learned as a whole, but where they are interdependent, they should be learned in parts. It tends to be the whole method in operation when learning takes place during the performance of a job, through actions learning, or through observing others. The role of memory in learning Memory plays a significant role in learning, and some understanding of it can, therefore, be used to make learning more effective. Once again, it is not possible to do more than present an outline here, but texts such as Fontana (1981), Atkinson et al.(1993), Ribeaux and Poppleton (1978) and Stammers and Patrick (1975) give further information. Memory involves three kinds of information storage: the storage of sensory memories short-term of primary memory, and long-term or secondary memory. Unless transferred to short-term memory, and sensory memory retains sense data for probably less than two seconds. Unless incoming information is paid particular attention or rehearsed, shortterm memory holds it for up to 30 seconds and appears to have limited capacity, whereas long-term memory appears to have unlimited capacity and to hold information for years. What is, therefore, of concern for effective learning is the ability to transfer information to the long-term memory. There are two aspects to such transfer; The first is rehearsal, that is paying attention to and repeating the information until it is coded and enters the longterm store; it is other wise displaced by the incoming information. The second aspect of the transfer of information to long-term memory is coding: the translation of information into the codes that enable it to be field into the memorys filing system. Information is largely coded according to meaning ( a semantic code) or through visual images, but sometimes (where the meaning itself is unclear) according to sound. 50
The ability to retrieve information from long-term memory depends in part upon how effectively it ha been organized (filed) in storage (for example, words may be stored according to sound and meaning), and having the most appropriate retrieval cue. We experience this when we are searching for something that we have lost; we think systematically through what we were doing when we believe we last used the lost object. Recognition is easier that recall from memory because it follows the presentation of clear retrieval cues. Difficulty in retrieving information, or forgetting, occurs for several reasons apart from those concerning the degree of organisation in storage. Interference from other information can disrupt long-term as well as short-term memory (where new items displace existing items in the limited capacity). Interference may be retroactive, when new information interferes with the recall of older material, or proactive, when earlier learning seems to inhibit the recall of later information. Forgetting also takes place through anxiety or unhappy associations with the material to be learned, which may become repressed. Unhappy childhood experiences, for example, may be repressed for many years. Finally, memory does not just operate as a camera recording what is experienced: it is an active and a constructive process, particularly when learning the kind of complex material that constitutes the world of organizations and human resource management. As well as recording its data inputs, the process of memory draws inferences from and so elaborates upon them, filtering them through the individuals stereotypes, mind-set and world view. What is then stored is this enhanced and repackaged material. An understanding of the nature of memory suggests various ways in which it might be improved to make learning more effective. The transfer of new information to long-term memory is clearly crucial: attention, recitation, repetition and constant revision (known as overlearning) are needed. The coding and organisation of material to be stored is also important: this is helped by associating the new information with what is already familiar, especially using visual imagery, by attending to the context giving rise to the information to be learned, and by making the effort to understand the information so that it can be stored in the appropriate files. Facilitators of learning need to ensure that the learning context or event does not provoke anxiety. The Stages of Learning As we suggested above, the hierarchies of skills outlined there could be regarded as macro stages of the learning process. Here we shall examine the micro stages through which the learner has to pass within each of the levels of those hierarchies. Below we examine a related, and more dynamic, notion: that of a cycle of learning. Fittss stages of skills acquisition Fitts (1962, in Stammers and Patrick, 1975) distinguished three stages of learning, in particular of perceptual-motor skills acquisition. It is recognized that they may overlap. Cognitive stage: The learner has to understand what is required, its rules and concepts, and how to achieve it. Associative stage: The learner has to establish through practice the S-R links, the correct patterns of behaviour, gradually eliminating errors. Autonomous stage: The learner refines the motor patterns of behaviour until external sources of information become redundant and the capacity simultaneously to perform secondary tasks increases. Gagnes classification of learning Gagne (1970, in Stammers and Patrick, 1975) studied both the process of learning and the most effective modes of instruction, and has made several classifications of types of learning. For example, he identified the ability to make a general response to a signal; to develop a chain or two or more S-R links, including verbal chains and associations; to make different responses to similar though different stimuli; to achieve concept learning and identify a class of objects or events; to learn rules through the acquisition of a chain of two or more concepts; and, finally, to combine rules and so achieve problem solving. Gagnes classification allows us to identify the processes whereby skills of the all levels are acquired, and hence suggests how to facilitate learning and prevent failure to learn at the various levels. The learning curve 51
It is recognized that there is a relationship between the rate of learning and the passage of time: managers working on the introduction of a new system, for example, may say we are on a learning curve. According to Hodgetts (1991: 99), many psychologists feel that the S-shaped curve represents the most accurate description of learning. However, since the shape of the curve must clearly depend on the nature and circumstances of the learning, this notion of a learning curve perhaps adds little of value to the understanding of learning. The S-shaped curve of learning. Cyclical Models of Learning Learning Styles The recognition that learning is a process that may have different identifiable phases, and that more effective learning may be facilitated if methods appropriate to the various phases are used, has led to the development of models of learning as a cycle. As you will see, they offer a number of important insights to the human resource manager concerned to facilitate higher order skills in the organisation. They draw attention to the significance of learning through action and reflection, as well as through the traditional channels of teaching/learning. They recognize that individuals may prefer different phases of the cycle and have different styles: they offer means to identify those preference; to engage in dialogue about them with individuals; and to identify means of helping individuals complete the whole cycle. Koibs learning cycle The best known learning cycle in the field in which we are interested is that of Koib. There are two dimensions to learning (Koib et al. 1984): concrete abstract (involvement! Detachment) and active/reflective (actor/observer). Learning is an integrated cognitive and affective process moving in a cyclical manner through concrete experience (CE) to reflective observation (RO) to abstract conceptualization (AC) to active experimentation (AE) and so on (Koib, 1983). Effective learning calls for learners To become fully involved in concrete, new experience (CE); To observe and reflect on those experience from many perspective (RO); To use concept and theories to integrate their observations (AC); To use these theories for decision making and problem solving (AE).
However, many people have a preference for a particular phase and so do not complete the cycle; thus they do not learn as effectively or as comprehensively as they could. Koibs Learning Styles Inventory identifies these preferences (Mumford, 1988: 27). The converger (AC and AE) prefers the practical and specific; the diverger (CE and RO) looks from different points of view and observes rather than acts; the assimilator (AC and RO) is comfortable with concepts and abstract ideas; and the accommodator (CE and AE) prefers to learn primarily from doing. Honey and Mumfords learning styles questionnaire Honey and Mumford (1982) identify four learning styles similar to those of Kolb, and develop norms based on the scores of management educators and trainers. Their activists learn best when they are actively involved in concrete tasks; reflectors learn best though reviewing and reflecting upon what has happened and what they have done; theorists learn best when they can relate new information to concepts or theory; pragmatists learn best when they see relevance between new information and real-life issues or problems (Mumford, 1988: 28). The Lancaster cycle of learning A cyclical model said to represent all forms of learning including cognitive, skill development and affective, by any process (Binsted, 1980: 22) is the Lancaster model. This identifies three different forms of learning: receipt of input/generation of output, discovery and reflection consequences actions. They follow the reflection. Need for basic purposes of training The need for the training of employees would be clear from the observations made by the different authorities. To increase productivity by the performance. To improve quality by good relationship between employer and employee. 52
To help a company fulfill its future personnel needs. To improve organizational climate. To improve health and safety Obsolescence prevention Personal growth An increased use of technology in production; Labour turnover arising from normal separations due to death or physical incapacity, for accidents, disease, super-annuation voluntary retirements, promotion within the organisatoin and change occupation or job; Need for additional hands to cope with an increased production of goods and services; Employment of inexperienced, new or badly labour requires detailed instruction for an effective performance of a job; Old employees need training to enable them to keep abreast of the changing methods, techniques and use of sophisticated tools and equipment; Need for enabling employees to do the work in a more effective way, to reduce learning time, reduce supervision time, reduce waste and spoilage of raw material and product quality goods, and develop their potential. Need for reduction grievances and minimizing accident rates; (Need for maintaining the validity of an organisation as a whole and raising the morale of its employees.
Importance of training Training is the corner-stone of sound management, for it makes employees more effective and productive. It is actively and intimately connected with all the personnel of managerial activities. It is an integral part of the whole management programme with all its many activities functionally inter-related. Training is a practical and vital necessity because, apart from the other advantages mentioned above, it enables employees to develop and rise within the organisation, and increase their market value, earning power and job security. It enables management to resolve sources of friction arising from parochialism, to bring home to the employees the fact that the management is not divisible. It moulds the employees attitudes and helps them to achieve a better co with the comp any and a greater loyalty to it. The management is benefited in the sense hat higher standards of quality are achieved, a satisfactory organizational Structure is built up; authority can be delegated and stimulus for progress applied to employees. Training, moreover, heightens the morale of the employees, for it helps in reducing dissatisfaction, complaints, grievances and absenteeism, reduces the rate of turnover. Further, trained employees make a better and economical use of materials and equipment; wastage and spoilage are lessened, and the need for constant supervision in reduced. The importance of training has been expressed in these words Training is a widely accepted problem-solving device. Indeed, our national superiority in manpower productivity can be attributed in no small measure to the success of our educational and industrial training programmes. This success has been achieved by a tendency in many quarters to regard training as a panacea. Responsibility for training Training is the responsibility of four main groups: The top management, which frames the training policy; The personnel department, which plans, establishes and evaluates industrial programmes. Supervisors, who implement and apply developmental procedure; and 53
Employees, who provide feedback, revision and suggestions for corporate educational endeavors.
Creation of a desire for training The employees can be persuaded to be interested in training programmes in one of the following three ways: 1. They will respond to programmes involving changed behaviour if they believe that the resulting modification in the behaviour is in their own interest, that they will receive personal benefits as a result of their new behaviour. 2. Trainees will change their behaviour if they became aware of better ways of performing (more productive or otherwise more satisfactory ways) and gain experience in the new pattern of behaviour so that it becomes their normal manner of operation. 3. A trainee may change his behaviour in compliance will the forced demands of his superiors or others will more power than the trainee possesses. Principles or concepts of training Since training is a co-process and not a one shot affair, and since it consumes time and entails much expenditure, it is necessary that a training programme or policy should be prepared with great thought and care, for it should serve the purposes of the establishment as well as the needs of employees. A successful training programme presumes that sufficient care has been taken to discover areas in which it is needed most and to create the necessary environment for its conduct. The selected trainer should be one who clearly understands his job and has professional expertise, has an aptitude and ability for teaching, processes a pleasing personality and a capacity for leadership, is well-versed in the principles and methods of training, and is able to appreciate the value of training in relation to an enterprise. Certain general principles need be considered while organizing a training programme. For example: 1. Trainees in work organizations tend to be most responsive to training programmes when they feel the need to learn, i.e., the trainee will be more eager to learn training if training promise answers to problems or need he has an employee. The individual who perceives training as the solution, to problems will be more willing to enter into a training programme than will the individual who is satisfied with his present performance abilities. 2. Learning is more effective where there is reinforcement in the form of rewards and punishments, i.e., individual do things that give pleasure and avoid things that give pain. In other words, after an action, if satisfier is received, the action will be repeated. In other words, after an action if satisfies is received, the action will be repeated. If no satisfaction is received, the action will not be repeated. 3. In the long run, awards tend to be more effective for changing behaviour and increasing ones learning than punishments. 4. Rewards for the application of learned behaviour are most useful when they quickly follow the desired performance. 5. The larger the reward for good performance following the implementation of learned behaviour, the greater will be the reinforcement of the new behaviour. 6. Negative reinforcement, through application of penalties and heavy criticism following inadequate performance, may have a disruptive effect upon the learning experience of the trainee than positive reinforcement. 7. Training that requests the trainee to make changes in his values, attitudes, and social beliefs, usually achieves better results if he trainee is encouraged to participate discuss and discover new, desirable behaviour norms. 8. The trainee should be provided with feedback on the progress he is making in utilizing the training he has received. As Miller has stated, if a person with the required abilities is to improve his performance, he must (i) know what aspect of his performance is not up to par; (ii) know precisely what corrective actions he must 54
take to improve his performance. The feedback should be fast and frequent, especially for the lower level jobs which are often routine and quickly completed. 9. The development of new behaviour norms and skills is facilitated through practice and repetition. Skills that are practiced often are better learned and less easily forgotten. 10. The training material should be made as meaningful as possible, because if the trainee understands the general principles under lying what is being taught, he will probably understand it better than if he were just asked to memorize a series of isolated steps. Steps in training programmes Training programmes are a costly affair, and a time consuming process. Therefore, they need to be drafted very carefully. Usually in the organisation of training programmes, the following steps are considered necessary: 1. Discovering or identifying the training needs: 2. Getting ready for the job. 3. Preparation of the learner. 4. Presentation of operations and knowledge. 5. Performance try-out. 6. Follow-up and evaluation of the programmes. Discovering or identifying training needs Identifying of training needs must contain three types of analysesorganizational analysis, operations analysis, and man analysis. Organizational analysis centres primarily upon the determination of the organizations goals. Its resources, and the allocation of the resources as they relate to the organizational goals. The analysis of the organizational goals establishes the framework in which, training needs can be defined more clearly. Operations analysis focuses on the task or job regardless of the employee doing the job. This analysis includes the determination of the worker must dothe specific worker behaviour requiredif the job is to be performed effectively. Man analysis reviews the knowledge, attitudes and skills of he incumbent in each position and determines what knowledge, attitudes or skills he must acquire and what alterations in his behaviour he must make if he is to contribute satisfactorily to the attainment of organizational objectives. William Berliner and William McLarney say that discovering training needs involves five tasks: Task Description Analysis 1. List the duties and responsibilities or tasks of the job under consideration, using the Job Description as a guide. 2. List the standards of work performance on the job. Determining Training Needs 3. Compare actual performance against the standards. 4. Determine what parts of the job are giving the employee troublewhere is he falling down in his performance? 5. Determine what kind of training is needed to overcome the specific difficulty or difficulties.
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DEVELOPMENT
Conduct training
The training needs been identified to solve the specific problems as follows Identifying specific problems: Such problems are: productivity, high costs, poor material control, poor quality, excessive scrap and waste, excessive labour-management troubles, excessive grievances, excessive violation of rules of conduct, poor discipline, high employee turnover and transfers, excessive absenteeism, accidents, excessive fatigue, fumbling discouragement, struggling with the job; standards of work performance not being met, bottlenecks in production, deadlines not being met, and delayed production. Problems like these suggest that training may be necessary. For this the task the workers should be closely observed and the difficulties found out. Anticipating impending and future problems: bearing on the expansion of business, the introduction of new products, new services, new designs, new plant, new technology and of organizational changes concerned with manpower inventory present and future needs. 56
Management requests: The supervisors and managers make specific request for setting training programmes. Though this method is simple and a correct evaluation of he employees performance deficiencies can be made, but often such recommendations may be build on faulty assumptions; and requests may not coincide with each other or organizational goals. Interviewing and observing the personnel on the job: inter viewing personnel and direct questioning and observation of the employee by his superiors may also reveal training needs. Performance appraisal: An analysis of the past performance records of the perspective trainee and comparing his actual performance with the target performance may provide clues to specific interpersonal skills that may need development. Checklist: The use of checklist is a useful supplement to interviews and observations. Through it, more reliable information can be obtained and the data got are quantifiable. This facilities evaluating the training programmes effectiveness Morale and attitude surveys: An occasional personnel may be conducted to forecast future promotions, skill requirements, and merit rating, to initiate informal discussions and an examination of records and statistics regarding personnel, production, cost, reject and wastages. All these generally reveal the potential problems to be tackled through training programmes. In addition tests of the interpersonal skills through handling of posed cases and incidents, may also reveal training needs.
Support material for training A variety of tools and equipment are utilized to impart effective training. These are Lectures (learning by hearing supplemented by reading assignments); conferences seminars and staff-meeting (learning by participation); demonstrations (learning by seeing); and short courses, through coaching. Role-playing (learning by doing) and job rotation (learning by experience). Case or project studies and problem-solving sessions (learning by personal investigation). Use of pamphlets, charts, brouchers, booklets, handbooks, manuals, etc. Graphic, pictures, books slides, movie projectors, film strips, type recorders, etc. Posters, displays, notice and bulletin boards. Reading rooms and libraries where specified books and journals are maintained for reference and use. Under-study and visits to plants. Correspondence courses under which knowledge about business law, statistics, industrial management, marketing, office procedures, retailing and many other similar subjects may be imparted. Teaching machines. Membership of professional or trade associations, which offer new techniques and ideas to their members.
Training methods/techniques The forms and types of employee training methods are inter-related. It is difficult, if not impossible, to say which of the methods or combination of methods is more useful than the other. In fact, methods are multi-faceted in scope and dimension, and each is suitable for a particular situation. The methods of training as follows 1. On the-job-training (OJT) 2. Job instruction training (JIT) 3. Vestibule training 57
4. Training by experience workmen 5. Classroom or off-the-job-training like Lecture Conferences Group discussion Case studies Role playing Programme instruction T-group training
On-the-job-training (OJT) There are a variety of OJT methods, such as Coaching Under study Job rotation Internship Apprenticeship Trainee learns on the actual equipment in use and in the true environment of his job. Secondly, it is highly economical since no additional personal or facilities are required for training. Thirdly, the trainee learns the rules, regulations and procedures by observing their day-to-day applications. He can, therefore, be easily sized up by the management. Fourthly, this type of training is a suitable alternative for a company in which there are almost as many jobs as there are employees. Finally, it is most appropriate for teaching the knowledge and skills which can be acquired in a relatively short period, say, a few days or weeks. Instruction is often highly disorganized.
Merits of on-the-job-training
Demerits of on-the-training Job instruction training (JIT) This method is very popular in the States for preparing supervisors to train operatives. The JIT method requires skilled trainers, extensive job analysis, training schedules, and prior assessment of the trainees job knowledge. This method is also known as training through step-by-step learning. It involves listing all necessary steps in the job, each in proper sequence. These steps show what is to be done. Along side each step is also listed a corresponding Key point, which show how it is to be done and why. The job instruction training process is in four steps: The preparation of the trainee for instruction. This includes putting him at case, emphasizing the importance of the task and giving a general description of job duties and responsibilities; Presentation of the instructions, giving essential information in a clear manner. This includes positioning the trainee at work site, telling and showing him each step of the job, stressing why and how each step is carried out as it is shown; 58
Having the trainee try out the job to show that he has understood the instructions, if there are any errors they are corrected; and Encouraging the question and allowing the trainee to work along and the trainer follows up regularly.
The JIT method provides immediate feedback on results, quick correction of errors and provision of extra practice when required. However, it demands a skilled trainer and can interfere with production and quality. Vestibule training (or training-centre training) It is a classroom training which is often imparted with the help of the equipment and machines which are identical with those in use in the place of work. This technique enables the trainee to concentrate on learning the new rather than on performing an actual job. It is a very efficient method of training semi-skilled personnel, particularly when many employees have to be trained for the same kind of the same time. Training is generally given in the form of lectures, conferences, case studies, role playing and discussion. Merits of the vestibule training Training is given in a separate room, distractions are minimized. Trained instructor, who knows how to teach, can be more effectively utilized. The correct method can be taught without interrupting production. It permits the trainee to practice without the fear of supervisors / co-workers observation and their possible ridicule. The splitting of responsibilities leads to organizational problems. An additional investemtn in equipment is necessary, though the cost may be reduced by getting some productive work done by trainee while in the school. This method is of limited value for the jobs which utilize equipment which can be duplicated. The training situation is somewhat artificial.
Class-room or off-the-job methods Off-the-job-training simply means that training is not a part of everyday job activity. The actual location may be in the company class rooms or in places which are owned by the company or in universities or associations which have no connection with the company. These methods consist of: 1. Lectures 2. Conferences 3. Group discussions 4. Case Studies 5. Role-playing 6. Programme instruction 7. T-Group training. 1. Lectures (or class-room instruction): Lecturers are regarded as one of the most simple ways of imparting knowledge to the trainees, especially when facts, concepts, or are formal organized talks by the training 59
specialist, the formal superior or other individual specific topics. The lecture method can be used for very large groups which are to be trained within a short time, thus reducing the cost per trainee. In training, the most important uses of lectures include: Reducing anxiety about upcoming training programmes or organizational changes by explaining their purposes. Introducing a subject and presenting an overview of its scope. Presenting basic material that will provide a common back ground for subsequent activities. Illustrating the application of rules, principles; reviewing, clarifying and summarizing. The learner are passive instead of active participants. The lecture method violates the principle of learning by doing. A clear and vigorous verbal presentation requires a great deal of preparation for which management personnel often lack the time. The attention span of even a well-motivated and adequately informed listener is only from 15 minutes to 20 minutes so that, in the course of an hour, the attention of listeners drifts. It is difficult to stimulate discussion following a lecture, particularly if the listener is uninformed or awestruck by the lecturer. The untrained lecturer either ramples or packs far too much information in the lecture, which often becomes unpalatable to the listener. The presentation of material should be geared to a common level of knowledge. It tends to emphasize the accumulations and memorization of facts and figures and does not lay stress on the application of knowledge. Though a skilful lecturer can adapt his material to the specific group, he finds it difficult to adjust it for individual differences within a group.
2. The conference method: In this method, the participating individuals confer to discuss points of common interest to each other. A conference is basic to most participative group-centred methods of development. It is a formal meeting, conducted in accordance with an organized plan, in which the leader seeks to develop knowledge and understanding by obtaining a considerable amount of oral participation of the trainees. Three types of conferences are 1. Directed discussion 2. Training conference 3. Seminar conference 3. Seminar or Team Discussion: This is an established method for training. A seminar is conducted in many ways: It may be based on a paper prepared by one or more trainees on a subject selected in consultation with the person in charge of the seminar. It may be a part of a study or related to theoretical studies or practical problems. The trainees read their papers, and this is followed by a critical discussion. The chairman of the seminar summarizes the con* tents of the papers and the discussions which follow their reading. It may be based on the statement made by the person in charge of the seminar or on a document prepared by an expert, who is invited to participate in the discussion.
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The person in charge of the seminar distributes in advance the material to be analysed in the form of required readings. The seminar compares the reactions of trainees, encourages discussion, defines the general trends and guides the participants to certain conclusions. Valuable working material may be provided to the trainees by actual files. The trainees may consult the files and bring these to the seminar where they may study in detail the various aspects, ramifications and complexities of a particulars job or work or task.
4. Case studies (or learning by doing): This method was first developed in the 1980s by Christopher Langdell at the Harvard Law School to help students to learn for themselves by independent thinking and by discovering in the ever-tangled skein of human affairs, principles and ideas which have lasting validity and general applicability. A collateral object is to help them develop skills in using their knowledge. In case study method the trainee is expected to: Master the facts, become acquinted with the content of the case; Define the objectives sought in dealing with the issues in the case; Identify the problems in case and uncover their probable causes; Develop alternative of actions; Screen the alternatives using the objectives as the criteria; Select the alternative that is most in keeping with the stated objectives Define the controls needed to make the actions effective; and To role play the action to test its effectiveness and find conditions that may limit it.
5. Role-playing: This method was developed by Mereno, a Venetian psychiatrist. He coined the terms roleplaying, role-reversal, socio-drama, psychodrama. And a variety of specialized terms, with emphasis on learning human relations skills through practice and insight into ones own behaviour and its effect upon others. It has been defined as a method of human interaction which involved realistic behaviour in the imaginary situation. The Role-playing method merits are: Learning by doing is emphasized; Human sensitivity and interactions are stressed; The knowledge of results is immediate; Trainee interest and involvement tend to be high; It is a useful method to project the living conditions between learning in the classroom and working on a job and creating a live business situation in the classroom. It develops skills and ability to apply knowledge, particularly in areas like human relations; and It brings about desired changes in behaviour and attitudes.
6. Programmed instruction (or teaching by the machine method): Programmed instruction involves a sequence of step which are often set up through the central panel of an electronic computer as guides in the performance of a desired operation or series of operation. It incorporates a pre-arranged, proposed, or desired course of proceedings pertaining to the learning or acquisition of some specific skills or general knowledge. The merits of the methods are: Trainees learn at their own pace; Instructors are not a key part in learning; The materials to be learned are broken down into small units; 61
Immediate feedback is available; Active learner participation takes place at each step in the programmes; Individual differences can be taken into account; Training can be imparted at odd times and in odd places; and There is a high level of learner motivation. The impersonality of instructional setting; An advanced study is not possible until preliminary information has been acquired. Only factual subject matters can be programmed; Philosophical and attitudinal concepts and motor skills cannot be taught by this method; and The cost of creating any such programme is very great.
7. T-group training: This method of training is a technique of composition of audio visual aids and planned reading programmes Audio-visual aids records, tapes, and films are generally used in conjunction with other conventional teaching methods. Retraining Retraining programmes are generally arranged for employees who have long been in the service of an organisatoin. The retraining programme may be necessitated by the following facts: Some employees are engaged in a confined phase of a particular task and lose their all-round skills in a particular trade. Hence, to keep them active in all-round skills, such training is needed. During prolonged lay-off periods, employees on certain highly skilled jobs are given retaining when they are called back to work. Technological changes may make a particular job, on which an employee is working unnecessary, and the company may desire to retain him rather than discharge him. An employee, because of illness, accident or incapacity due to age, may no longer be able to do his share of the work he performed when he was in normal health. Economic depression or cyclical variations in production create conditions in which employment stabilization may be achieved by having a versatile work-force capable or performing more than one job.
Steps to increase to improve effectiveness of training The training programmes can be made effective and successful if the following hints are considered: 1. Specific training objectives should be outlined on the basis of the type of performance required to achieve organizational goals and objectives. An audit of personal needs compared with operational requirements will help to determine the specific training needs of individual employees. This evaluation should form a welldefined set of performance standards toward which each trainee should be directed. 2. Attempt should be made to determine if the trainee has the intelligence, maturity, and motivation to successfully complete the training programmes. If deficiencies are noted in these respects, the training may be postponed or cancelled till improvements are visible. 3. The trainee should be helped to see the need for training by making him aware of the personal benefits he can achieve through better performance. He should be helped to discover the rewards and satisfactions that might be available to him through changes in behaviour.
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4. The training programme should be planned so that it is related to the trainees previous experiences and background. This background should be used as a foundation for new development and new behaviour. 5. Attempts should be made to create organizational conditions that are conducive to a good learning environment. It should be made clearly why changes are needed. Any distractions, in the way of training environment, should be removed. The support of the upper levels of management should be obtained before applying training at lower levels. 6. If necessary, a combination of training methods should be selected so that variety is permitted and as many of the senses as possible are utilized. 7. It should be recognized that all the trainees do not progress at the same rate. Therefore, flexibility should be allowed in judging the rates of progress in the training programme. 8. If possible, the personal involvement or active part of the trainee should be got in the training programmes. He should be provided with opportunity to practice the newly needed behaviour norms. 9. As a trainee acquire new knowledge, skills or attitudes and applies them in job situations, he should be significantly rewarded for his efforts. 10. The trainee should be provided with regular, constructive feedback. 11. The trainee should be provided with personal assistance when he encounters learning obstacles. Designs for evaluation training After deciding on the criteria to use in evaluating a training program the HR professional should choose an experimental design. The design is used to answer two primary questions: (1) whether or not a change has occurred in the criteria (e.g., learning, behaviour, organizational results) and (2) whether or not the changer can be attributed to the training program. Designs employ two possible strategies to answer these questions. The first is to compare trainees performance before and after participation in training. This is done to determine what changes may have occurred in learning, behaviour, or organizational results. While this is important for answering the question of whether a change has taken place, it is difficult in answering the question of whether a change has can be attributed to the training program, since the criteria may have changed for any number of reasons. What is needed to answer the second question is a design comparing the changes which took place in the trainees with changes that occurred in an other group of employees who did not receive the training (e.g., a control group), yet who are similar to the training group in important ways (e.g., in that they have similar job titles and ranks and are in the same geographical location). The most effective experimental designs use both strategies (i.e., before-after measures and a control group) and are thus able to answer both questions. Some of the more commonly used designs for training evaluation are described below. ONE-SHOT POSTTEST-ONLY DESIGN In many organization, training is designed and conducted with no prior thought given to evaluation. For example, a sales managers may decide to put all his or her sales personnel through a course entitled Effective Customer Relations. After the course is completed, the sales managers decided o evaluate it. This design looks like the one shown here. TRAINING--------MEASURE Any of the four types of criteria (e.g., reactions, learning, behaviour, and organizational results) could be used as the after measures. It would be difficult, however, to know what, of any, changes occurred since no before measure (e.g., no protest) was made. In addition, since the results may not he compared with those of another group who did not receive training, it would not be possible to say whether any change was due to the training. As a result, this design is not recommended. ONE-GROUP PRETEST-POSTTEST DESIGN Another design for evaluating the training group on the criteria of interest is to measure the group before and after the training. This design is a follows: MEASURE---------------TRAINING------------------MEASURE 63
This design is able to assess whether a changer has occurred for the training group in the criteria (e.g., learning, behaviour). Unfortunately, it is not able to tell whether or not the change is due to training, since there is no control group. A change that is detected could have been caused by the introduction of new equipment or a new manager, or by any number of other reasons. Thus, this design is not extremely useful and is not recommended. POSTTEST-ONLY CONTROL GROUP DESIGN A much stronger design for assessing the effectiveness of a training program is shown here. Group 1 R: Group 2 R: training measure no training measure
In this design, two groups are used and individuals are randomly assigned (R) to either group (i.e., an individual has an equal chance of being put in either group 1, the training group, or group 2, the control group). The use of random assignment helps to initially equalize the two groups. This is important to ensure that any differences between the two groups after training are not simply caused by differences in ability, motivation, or experience. The posttest-only control group design is useful when it is difficult to collect criteria measures on individuals prior to offering them the training. (for example, an HR professional may believe that giving individuals a pretest. Such as a learning test, might overly influence their scores on the posttest, which might he the same learning measure. Another HR professional may not have time to give tests.) individuals are randomly as signed to the two groups, and their scores on the posttest since it is assumed that the two groups were somewhat equal prior to training. From the organizations standpoint, it would be beneficial to make sure the employees from the control group are placed in a training program at a later time. PRETEST-POSTTEST CONTROL-GROUP DESIGN Another powerful design that is recommended for use in training evaluation is as follows: GROUP 1 ---- R: MEASURE -----------------TRAINING----------MEASURE MEASURE----------------------NO TRAINING--------MEASURE GROUP 2-------------R:
Individuals are randomly assigned to the two groups. Criteria measures are collected on both groups before and after the training program is offered, yet only one group actually receives the training. Comparisons are made of the changes detected in both groups. If the change in group 1 is significantly different from the change in group 2, we can be somewhat certain that it was caused by the training. Since many organizations will want all the employees in both groups to receive the training, the training can be offered to group 2 at a later time. MULTIPLE TIME-SERIES DESIGN Another design recommended for use in training evaluations is shown below: GROUP 1-R: MEASURE---------MEASURE-MEASURE-------TRAINING--------MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE. GROUP 2-R: MEASURE-------MEASURE------MEASURE-----------NO MEASURE-MEASURE TRAINING---------------MEASURE-
In this design, individuals are randomly assigned to two groups, and the criteria measures are collected at several times before and after the training have been offered. This design allows the HR professional to observe any changes between the two groups over time. If the effects of training held up over several months, this design would offer stronger support for the program. Assessing the costs and benefits of training To conduct a through evaluation of a training program, it is important to assess the costs and benefits associated with the program. This is difficult to do but may he important for showing top management the value of training for the organization. For example, in one case, the net return of a training program for bank supervisors was calculated to be $148,400 over a 5-years period. Generally, a utility model would be used to estimate the value of training (benefits minus costs). Some of the costs that should be measured for the training program include needs assessment costs, salaries of training designers, purchase of equipment (computers, video, handouts), program development costs, evaluation costs, 64
trainers costs (e.g., salaries, travel, lodging, meals), facilities rental, trainee wages during training, and other trainee costs (e.g., travel, lodging, meals). It is important to compare the benefits of the training program with its costs. one benefit that should be estimated is the dollar payback associated with the improvement in trainees performance after receiving training. Since the results of the experimental design will indicate any differences in behaviour between whose trained and those untrained, the HR professional can estimate for that particular group of employees (e.g. managers, engineers) what this difference is worth in terms of the salaries of those employees. Another factor that should be considered when estimating the benefits of training is the duration of the trainings impact-that is, the length of time during which the improved performance will be maintained.. While probably no programmes will show benefits forever, those that do incur longer-term improved performance will have greater value to the organization.
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5. Organisational Effectiveness Developing Self-renewal : Organisation Development and Research Training has made very limited contribution to the capacity of the organizations to respond to new developments and changes, and to proact (to anticipate new conditions and take action to influence them). An effective organisation needs to develop self-renewing properties a capability to continuously examine itself, and taken both reactive and proactive actions in relation to the environment (both internal and external). Organizations can develop internal mechanisms in this regard. This can been done by establishing a function of Organisation Development (OD) and research. In some organizations this can be an independent function (like in the Hindustan Machine Tools) and in some others this can be a part of the Human Resources System. The latter has the advantage of building better linkages with other sub systems of the HRS. HRS itself needs self-renewal. Research is the most appropriate mechanism for systematizing collection of information and data, analyzing these scientifically, and learning from them for improvement. Action research as a special emphasis of research for solving problems also needs to be increasingly used in organizations. In this chapter we shall first discuss the concepts of OD and actions researched and then present some areas in HRS with research potential. Organisation development Organisation Development (OD) as an approach to planned change in organizations, has been widely used in recent years. Several writers have defined OD in different ways. Although there are several points of agreement in these definitions, special important aspects emphasized therein. The following definition is proposed here Pareek, 1978): OD is a planned effort, initiated by process specialist(s) to an organisation develop its diagnostic skills, coping capabilities, linkage strategies in the form of temporary and semi permanent systems, and a culture of mutuality. There are several important dimensions of OD contained in definition. Some elaboration of these dimensions may be useful. A plant effort: OD is a planned effort, and, therefore, required a great deal of thinking and planning on the part of the OD expert. Initiated by process specialists: The knowledge and applied behavioral science are used in OD. It can, therefore properly initiated by an expert who has both the knowledge of app behavioral science, and the skill of applying this knowledge in organizational situation. This effort may be taken over by the organisation in the long run, and an internal resource in the organisation be developed to carry on this work. However, in the beginning, behavioral science consultants from outside are used for this purpose. Diagnostic skills: The emphasis of OD is on planning changes the basis of data. As a part of OD, data are continuously collected about several aspects of the organisation ant its problem. OD tried developing the capacity of the organisation to diagnose its problems. The emphasis of OD is not only on the diagnosis of the current problem but also on developing these skills in the organisation, so as to use them to diagnose its problems as a part of the regular functioning. Coping capabilities: The main thrust of OD is on problem-solving abilities of the organisation. The organisation is helped to develop ability to confront and cope with the problems encountered. OD certainly deals with the problems, the organisation is currently fad, but that is not the end. Linkage strategies: OD lays emphasis on building of link between the individual goals and the organizational goals, individuals who work in the various roles and amongst various groups which function in the organisation. Problems of the organisation can be resolved only through collaborative efforts. An emphasis of OD, therefore, is on building such collaborative effort in the organisation. This is done, amongst several other ways, by setting up temporary systems, like task forces, and by creating structural changes which may ensure continuing collaboration in the organisation. Culture and mutuality: OD is based on certain values which are important for the development of organisation as open and proactive systems. The client organisation should know it clearly that OD fosters a set of specific values. OD makes an effort to develop OCTAPACE culture. OCTAPACE stands for eight important values, which OD tries to develop in the organisation. Those are: openness, confrontation, trust authenticity, 66
proaction, autonomy, collaboration and experimentation. Openness implies confronting the problems rather than avoiding. Confrontation means facing the problems, and solutions of the problems. trust is the result of these values as well as supports in generating mutuality in the organisation. Authenticity is the value underlying trust. It is the willingness of a person to acknowledge the feelings he has and accepts both himself as well as others who are related to him as persons. This value is important for the development of the culture of mutuality. Another value emphasized in reaction. Instead or merely reacting to the situations, the organizations should take the initiative in influencing the situation. Autonomy is the next value emphasized. An individual who does not feel threatened in seeking help from others in coping with the various problems is an autonomous person. Autonomy involves collaboration and mutuality, because only an autonomous person can collaborate, and does not perceive his own collaborative initiative as a sign of weakness or inferiority. Collaboration is emphasized as a value, so that individuals instead of working independently in solving their problems, work in teams and develop commitment to their roles and to the organisation. Experimenting is important for creativity and innovative approaches, so necessary in the competitive world. Operational goals of OD The OD approach to change treats the organisation as a system. In this respect OD is different from action research. While the latter may attempt solutions of one problem without much regard to related issues in the organisation, the former takes the entire organisation. This would mean understanding both the organisation in relation the environment, and the internal dynamics of the organisation. Systematic view of the organisation would imply understanding various dynamics of the organisation: its interface with the environment; the stable system in the organisation; interteam, i.e., collaborative relationship and working amongst various groups in the organisation; teams, i.e., groups of which the organisation consist inter person, i.e., relationship amongst the various members of a t and finally, being the most important, the person who works in t organisation. For accomplishing this, OD has to work with some operational goals. 1. The person: The individual is the centrally important entity of OD. Although the goal of OD is to produce change in the organisation, the individual working in the organization is the most important vehicle as well as target of change. The development self-awareness and self-acceptance is the main goals of working with the individuals in an organisation. In many cases the individual may be alienated, and OD focuses on the integration of the individual with organisation. OD focuses on the motivation of the people by help them to learn how to set realistic and challenging goals so as to have sense of satisfaction and challenge. It helps individuals in developing the skills of planning so that the goals can be further divided into smaller achievable units. OD attempts to develop the skills, knowledge and ability of individual. 2. Interperson: the individuals competence to work effectively in the organisation depends on his interpersonal effectiveness. OD tries to open communication amongst the various persons working in the organisation with a view to increase their interpersonal cohesion. It tries to foster what we have called OCTAPACE values. 3. Teams: Teams are temporary as well as permanent systems are semi-permanent groups in the organisation. By developing teams, OD tries to work for establishing continuous improvement mechanisms in the organisation. These are mainly in the form of temporary system. These mechanisms may help the organisation to build the ability to cope with the problems it faces. 4. Interteams: regarding the interface between teams and groups in the organisation, OD aims at developing the ability of the teams to manage the conflicts and to develop collaboration among them in order to further the attainment of the individual and the organizational goals. 5. Organisation: OD helps the total organisation in its goal-setting process. It also helps the organisation to develop internal resources for carrying on the work which may be started by an outside expert. This new role of an internal OD facilitator is important for the continuous growth or development of the organisation. 6. Interface with environment: OD deals with the problem of the organizations ability to transact with the environment through adaptative as well as proactive bahaviours. Adaptation is not the same as adjustment. The changing environment may demand certain changes within the organisation so that it can continue effective transaction with the environment. Proactive behaviour is equally important where the organisation needs to produce change and initiate new action. Compared to several foreign, countries, India seems to be in a better position where several organizations especially those in the public sector, are in a position to influence national issues and policies which may have long-term and widespread repercussions. The 67
organisation should realize their potential for taking proactive action and help to develop a conducive climate and environment in the country. Conditions for OD success Before we discuss the various phases of OD programmes, and how OD works in organizations, it may be useful to consider the various conditions necessary for successful use of OD in an organisation. In the absence of these conditions, OD work is not likely to succeed. However, one way to create such conditions is to start some OD programme. In that case OD may attempt mainly to create preconditions for full-scale OD work. These conditions are enumerated below: 1. Commitment at the top: OD cannot succeed unless the persons at the top are committed to what is being done through OD in their organizations. By the very definition of OD, the work has to begin from the top level. In many organizations, the top people may be in favour of OD but not in favour of making changes in some aspects and involve themselves in the effort of change. In the absence of such a commitment, OD cannot succeed. 2. Strong linkpins: OD can succeed if what Likert describes as linkpins are strengthened in the organisation. These are the roles which connect various levels and various parts of the organisatoin. These roles which link different parts of the organisation are extremely important because change can flow through these key roles which can become the main media of communication. In some organisation these may not be visible and several parts of the organisation may be functioning almost independently of each other, with only the head the organisation coordinating the various parts. The absence of strong linkpins may not be conducive to the use of OD in the organisation. 3. Willingness and resources in a department: OD can be successful if at least one department in the organisation is both willing experiment and has resources which can be used to stabilize change introduced through OD. It is necessary to stabilize change in the organisation, and this can be done by making sure that at least in on part of the organisation such a change will continue. If at least department is ready for this kind of work, OD can have an introduction into the organisation and can be later spread out when other department see effect of the OD work in that department. If organisation does not have any department in which there willingness as well as resources to carry on this kind of change, it is not likely to succeed. 4. Involvement of an external consultant: In the beginning, various reasons an external consultant is necessary for a successful OD effort. He not only brings expertise with him, but his role is helpful in confronting several issues in the organisation which an internal person my find difficult to do, even though he may have the skill an ability to do so. An external OD consultant can take certain risks an can confront the organisation to some extent. In due course, L external consultant withdraws from the organisation, and the internal people can take over the function of OD. 5. Strong internal resources: One of the objective of OD is I develop strong internal resources in the organisation to be able to continue the work which an external consultant may start. For this, it is necessary that internal resources are identified in the organisation. These persons should be able to develop as OD facilitators, and tb should be able to replace the external consultant. Such a replacement has to be properly phased so that there is an overlapping between the external consultant and the internal facilitator. In organizations where such people have been identified and developed, OD effort stabilized and the organisation is able to continue to develop on those lines. Phases of organisation development The OD programme develops through certain phases. The purpose of discussing these phases is to see how the OD programme flows. Although there will be variations, and some elements of these phases may either overlap, or the phases may come in a different order, generally OD goes through the following phases: Entity in the organisation The first phase of OD is the establishment of rapport between the external consultant and the organisation. During this phase, the external consultant enters an organisation and establishes both this identity and understanding with the organisation regarding the purpose of OD. There are several ways in which a consultant enters an organisation. He 68
may either be called by the organisation for a specific problem, or he may be called to discuss the prossibility of a general OD programme leading on to the various kinds of OD activities. In any case, the following things may occur during the first phase: a. Preliminary information: The external consultant collects some preliminary information about the organisation in order to under stand its nature. In order to have an overview of the organisation he may look at the various reports and other papers available, may go round and acquaint himself with the nature of technology, a general view of the size and the type of the organisation, etc. b. Interviewing key persons: The consultant collects information not only through a general survey and reading of the available material, but he also interview those persons who are involved in an organisation and who, in fact, determine its culture. The main purpose of interviewing the key persons is to understand their value systems, the various roles in the organization, and to develop a shared under standing mainly about two things: firstly, the assumptions on which they are operating and performing their roles, and secondly, the chief actors in the organisation. It is necessary for the organisation to understand the assumptions on which the consultant will operate as well as for the consultant to understand how the chief persons in the organisation operate. This helps to develop healthy relationship between the consultant and the main persons in the organisation. c. A glimpse of the process: The consultant may also have an opportunity to look into the process, and one useful way to do this to sit in one or a few meetings of top people, and of some other groups. The discussions in the meetings and the way differences are voiced and are resolved give much more insight sometimes than an interview can do. It may, therefore, be useful for the consultant to have such as opportunity to observe the dynamics of the interactional process. d. Presentation of OD approach: Finally, before OD work is takes up in the organisation, the consultant makes a presentation of what OD is and what it involves. Such a presentation may be made to the top group of the organsiation so that they have an opportunity to a questions and raise doubts. Such a meeting is very useful to allay many fears about OD in some cases a top person from another organisation where OD has been used can be invited to informally share his experience with the group on how OD was introduced and its successes and failure. As a result of such a meeting, the consultant may either be finally invited to initiate the OD programme or it may be felt by the top group that their organisation is not yet for OD programmed. Problem identification After the first phase is over, and is case the OD consultant has been invited to work with the organisation, the second phase begins. The main purpose of the second phase is to understand the problems of the organizations. This understanding has to be developed by working with sever people in the organisation. In addition collecting preliminary data, the consultant gives more detailed information to OD strategy. The following elements are involved in this phase. a. Interview: The consultant interview people as several stages. In addition to interviewing top people, he interviews person at various levels and collects information based on these interviews. He keeps his eyes open to see in the organisation what ordinarily would & neglected. For example, while going through the shop-floor to inter view the supervisor, he may observe some behaviour of a person shouting at another person, or people busy in hurried conversation in a small group, etc. The consultant notes down al these important observation. b. Data collection: As a result of the interview with several people the consultant has some information to select some aspects of the organisation to work on. He may, for example, find that the main problem in the organisatoin is that of lack of trust in each other, or people feel that they do not get enough responsibility in their roles. F collects more data in order to go into more details about the problem. The usual way of data collection is to use some instruments to be filled out by the individuals. Such instruments may give data about the individuals as well as group processes. The instruments used may focus on such aspects of the organisation: the climate, the motivational patterns, perception of leadership styles, perception of various kinds of problems, delays, etc., work satisfaction and role tension. Such instruments are either available as standard instrument (see Pareek and Rao, 1974) or these instruments are specially prepared by the consultant in order to collect data. Data collection through structured instruments helps in getting some 69
systematic information about the organisation and many things which may not come out in the interview can be known from such data. In many cases it may not be possible to interview such a large number of persons in the organisation, and data collection through instruments may be more convenient. c. Diagnosis: After data collection the consultant tries to diagnose the main problems. Diagnosis takes into account not only the data collected through the instruments, but also the data from the interviews with the people, as well as several observations and notes kept. The consultant has his preliminary understanding of the diagnosis. He prepares notes on it and has some notions of what the problems are and which of these are more important than the others. d. Strategy planning: The consultant then sits with the main persons in the organisation in order to give a first feedback to them and work with them on what to do. During this part of the-second phase, a shared understanding of where the organisatoin will go from here is necessary. During strategy planning, the first step is the feedback of the diagnostic understanding to the main persons. Then the consultant works out various alternatives for dealing with the problem which was identified and agreed up on. He discusses the consequences of suing different alternatives. This may help to under stand what may happen while using one kind of intervention as against another kind. This helps the client group get involved in the decision about the intervention to be used. At this stage the choice of termination of the relationship with the consultant is always open. The consultant helps the client commit himself to the OD work. Once the strategy is planned, it is a strategy to which the client is committed: he can commit himself to a particular action plan only when he is clear about what is the task involved. Specific intervention After planning the strategy for change, the specific intervention has to be worked out and implemented. Such on intervention may be in the form of specific structural changes, working on conflicts on some aspects, team building in a particular department, work at the top level, etc. Each intervention requires a detailed plan. Two main aspects of intervention are as follows: a. Team building: One of the goals of any intervention used in an organisation is to build teams in it. Team building may be done either through special programmes or through specific activity on which they have to work together. Sometimes team building exercises are held in quick succession so that a shared understanding and a culture of mutuality could be developed and the teams are able to function effectively on the intervention chosen. b. Collaborative work on intervention: Both as a result of team building and for continued work on team building, it is necessary that the work on the interventions is done jointly by he consultant and the various teams which have been identified and are able to collect data and work out the details. In practice, such collaborative work may result in further strategy planning. Building collaborative culture While the work on the intervention is going on, it is necessary to build collaborative culture in the organisation. This is both the culmination of and the necessary part of OD effort. The following steps are involved during this phase: a. Data collection: After the use of the intervention the various terms which have been formed and the consultant jointly collect data in order to see whether any change has taken place, and to what extent. The data may be collected again either through interviews and/or through the use of specific instruments. b. Review: The consultant looks at all the data collected and he has joint meetings with the groups of the client organisation in order to review and asses what OD work has been effective so far. In such reviews either the top people are involved or members of the various teams. It depends on what is being reviewed and for what purpose. c. Formation of temporary teams: As a result of the review work in order to sustain the OD efforts, some teams are formed which have the responsibility of continuously subsequent and frequent meetings. d. Planning of the next phase: The organisation and the consultant together plan the next phase of the programme. They may, for example, decide that the next phase may have to do with more process work, or what specific structural changes are needed, or that a particular department may be taken up for more 70
intensive work. At this stage, it is necessary for the consultant to see how much involvement he would like to have, and to ensure that the internal person is able to take on a larger responsibility. Development of internal resources Although this has been mentioned as the last phase, in fact, this runs throughout the four phases already mentioned. The consultant indentifies an internal resource in the beginning and he works with him in such a way that the internal resource person is strengthened both in terms of his acceptability as a consultant and in his skills to work on various aspects of the OD programmes. If the person is not strong enough in terms of his professional preparation, plans are worked out to help the persons develop professionally as OD consultant. Investment of the external consultants time and energy in the development of an internal person of OD work in the organisation is very well paid off in terms of seedier work and sustained effort if OD. HRD managers and training institutions have been extensively involved to function not only as internal OD resource people, but also as external consultant for various branches and other subsystems of the Bank. Organisation Culture and Human Resource Development Every organisation has to have view of organizational life that focuses on a strong company philosophy, a distinct corporate culture, long range staff development and consensus decision making. In each case, the climate could be good or bad depending on whether the employees own views of life fit the prevailing managerial culture. Willian Ouchi. Introduction Every organisation has a culture. It has its own cultural forms that constitute the expected, supported and accepted ways of behaving. These norms are mostly unwritten and tell employees the way thing really are. These influence everyones perceptions of the business, from the chief executive to the lowest rank and file cadre employee. Employees from all cadres of any organisatoin contribute to the cusses or failure of the organisation, to the norms by accepting and supporting them. But managements behaviour has a special impact because of its strong modeling influence. The top executives and leaders working at the top echelons can make a mask on their companies of understanding building and managing the corporate culture. What is Corporate Culture? In the article published in fortune (USA), the author has rightly commented on the concept of corporate culture. In his words, for all the hype, corporate culture is real and powerful. It is also hand to change and you wont find much support for doing so inside, or outside your company. If you run up against the culture when trying to redirect strategy, attempt to dodge, then you must meddle with culture directly, head carefully, and with modest expectations. While noting that culture exist in social organisatoins of all sizes (from civilizations to countries to ethnic groups to organizations to work groups), Edger Schein defined culture as A pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptations and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems. The concept of corporate culture has many dimensions. Stanley Davis while commenting on this concept has aptly remarked in the following words: Corporate culture is the pattern of shared beliefs and values that give the members of an institution meaning and provide them with the rules for behaviour in their organisation. Every organisation will have its own word or phrase to describe what it means by culture. Some of these are being, core, ethos, identity, ideology, manner, patterns, philosophy, purpose, roots, style, vision, and way. To most managers these mean pretty much the same thing. There are a good number of elements which work as specific manifestations of organizational culture. Janice M. Beyer and Harrison M. Tnce have given a list of such constituents that shape the organizational culture, which is quoted here. Specific manifestations of organizational culture Rite A relatively elaborate, dramatic, planned set of activities that combines various forms of cultural expressions and that often has both practical and expressive consequences. 71
Ritual A standardized, detailed set of techniques and behaviours that manages anxieties but seldom produces intended, practical consequences of any importance. Myth A dramatic narrative imagined events, usually used to explain origins or transformations of something. Also, an unquestioned belief about the practical benefits of certain techniques and behaviours that is not supported by demonstrated facts. A historical narrative describing (usually in heroic terms) the unique accomplishments of a group and its leaders.
Saga
Legend A handed-down narrative of some wonderful event that has a historical basis but has been embellished with fictional details. Story A narrative based on true events often a combination of truth and fiction. Folkale A completely fictional narrative Symbol Any object, act, event, quality, or relation that serves as a vehicle for conveying meaning, usually by representing another thing. Language A particular manner in which members of a group use vocal sounds and written signs to convey meanings to each other. Those things that physically surround people and provide them with immediate sensory stimuli as they carry our culturally expressive activities.
Gusture Movements of parts of the body used to express meanings. Physical setting
Artifact Material objects manufactured by people to facilitate culturally expressive activities. Ribbins has aptly defined organizational culture as relatively uniform perception held of he organisation, that it has common characteristics, that it is descriptive, can be distinguished from another and it integrates individual group, and organisatoin system variables. Campbell, Dunnelte and Lawler have commented that organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive the six basic characteristics: individual, autonomy, structure, reward, consideration and conflict. What Constitutes the Culture? Corporate Culture is elusive, says Davis. He feels that, people have all sorts of beliefs form profound to trivial. In many cases, corporate culture is made up on the two dimensions, viz, guiding beliefs, and daily beliefs. Guiding beliefs, themselves come in two varieties. There are external beliefs about how to compete and how to direct the business and there are internal beliefs about how to manage, how to direct the organisation. Taken together, they are the roots and principles upon which the company/organisation is built, the philosophical foundation or the organisation. As fundamental percepts, guiding beliefs rarely change. They are held in the realm of universal truths and are broad enough to accommodate any variety of circumstances. Daily beliefs on the other hand, are a different species, while they are equally a part of a corporations culture, they should not be confused with guiding beliefs. Daily beliefs are rules and feelings about everyday behaviour. They are situational and change to meet circumstances. They tell people the ropes to skip and the ropes to know. They are the survival kit of an individual. There is a close association between beliefs and strategy. Strategy proceeds from guiding beliefs. Beliefs are the roots from which the strategies grow. If the strategy is a statement of what a company wants to accomplish and organisation is a vehicle for how the company will accomplish it, then guiding beliefs are the statements of why the company wants to accomplish the strategy. The success of a strategy depends greatly on these beliefs. Exhibit I will help to visualize this relationship. Strategy is a plan for allocation of future resources to anticipated demand. Ultimately, resources allocated in pursuit of companys guiding beliers. If the guiding beliefs are important for formulation of strategy, daily beliefs are relevant for indication strengths and weaknesses in implementing strategy. When a company looks at what the 72
environment holds in the future, and what its organisation will have to be like to realize its strategic intentions, serious question may be raised about whether its corporate culture is appropriate and supportive to the task ahead. Impact Of Corporate Culture On Work Systems The nature of corporate culture that exists in a company is going to decide the degree to which the desired results from the employees are obtained. The common perception of the individual members about the organisation determines the type of organizational culture. Individuals with realm of universal truths, and are board enough to accommodate any variety of circumstances. An organisation culture consists of two primary components The primary values of the organisatoin; and The existing management style and systems.
These two components significantly the degree to which the desired result from the employees are obtained. The value system to which the employees support directly or indirectly, or by their behavior, indicates the direction in which organisations are likely to move in the future. A strong culture is a powerful lover for guiding behaviour. It helps the employees to do their jobs better. The essence of the organizational culture can be stated in its five characteristics. 1. Individual autonomy; 2. Organizational structure; 3. Reward organisation 4. Consideration; and 5. Conflicts. Organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive each of he five characteristics stated above whether it may be positive or negative. An effective culture is a system of informal rules that spell out how employees are behaving most of the time. It also enables people to feel better about what they do, so they are more likely to work harder. It provides a sense of common direction and guidelines for day-to-day behaviours. Four Functions of Organizational Culture A growing organisation cannot neglect its human side. Employees are the real fortune makers who make the organisation a strong and growing unit. It becomes necessary for management to nurture the spirit of oneness and to develop an organizational entity. Organizational culture helps to develop this spirit of growth with unity. Organizational culture performs this rule by playing four different types of function. The fooling of organizational identity No organisation can grow without strong commitment of its employees to the cause of organisation. The spirit of organizational entity is generally developed by organizational culture. Organizational culture has its own ability to attract, develop and keep talented people. Poor level of organizational culture may lead to higher employee turnover. Collective commitment Organisation development is the result of group efforts. If the employees feel that they can make or mar the unit, it leads to enhancement of a collective feeling and ideology of working in union. Culture is that invisible band of emotions and feeling that ties employees at various levels to develop collective commitment. Socialization of members A stable and uniform system of promotions, remuneration, and behavioral standards leads to smooth socialization of employees. The organizational culture develops those desired modes and behavioral patterns which can socialize the employees without any group conflicts and ideological clashes. The strength of organisation culture (whether dominant or sub culture) is generally ascertain by following four factors: 73
Homogeneity of group membership Groups and organisation made up of individuals with similar beliefs and values come into existence with the basis for a culture already in place. These individuals are already predisposed to value the same things and behave in a similar manner. Length of group membership Group which remain together for a long periods of time have a good amount of common beliefs and shared history. This helps them to tie together and unders what has happened to them, similarly what will happen to them. Stability of group membership High level of labour and managerial turnover prevents from developing a sound culture as it restricts from creating a band of close relationships. A stable membership with close interaction is vital to the development of a strong culture. Intensity of group experience Those groups of employees who have worked in tough times and good times as well have many things to share. They develop a common way of seeing the things and understanding the problems. Their values and beliefs are likely to be accepted on a large scale among group members. Developing Corporate Culture The development of Corporate Culture should be viewed from different dimensions. It is not easy to identify the exact set up of parameters to develop a corporate culture, which is best fit for all sorts of organizations. However, one can identify the areas which are common to all organisatoins for appropriate development of corporate culture. A framework for developing an effective corporate culture is presented here. Developing organizational philosophy Organizational philosophy is a foundation stone of development of organizational culture. The expectations of top management from its managerial staff and other employees can be properly expressed by formulating a statement of organizational philosophy. This philosophy should be communicated to the staff so as to develop awareness about the organizations goals and missions.The statement of philosophy helps the employees in many ways. It cleans their misconceptions about organizational objectives, mode of functioning and the proposed targets to be achieved. In normal course, the organizational philosophy provides guidelines in the following areas: Relationship with Customers; Social Responsibility; Growth Orientation; Strategic Mission; and
Value orientation and value sharing The development of right approach towards values, ideas and ideology is of great help for proper corporate development corporate value is the basis to form a firms foundation for strong philosophical and ideological development. These values have to be shared by all the members of the organizations. It is universally agreed the what brings values in life is their extensive sharing leading to awareness of the sense of the values and why they are import. Managerial model behaivour A manager is a leader not only to order the subordinates but to direct and guide their behaviour. His behaviour influences the behaviour of his subordinates strongly. All the managers can be given different roles and models so as to develop the desired culture. Corporate citizenship 74
The image of the company can be property projected by developing the concept of corporate citizenship. Companys employees have to develop a strong social conscience and feeling of an important part of the organisation. They should not feel that they are mere employees of the company but should have a strong belief that they are part of excellent corporate entity and corporate citizens who make the business world. Reinforcing the right belief In order to uplift the standard and improvement of work systems, it is necessary to develop the right set of corporate daily beliefs. The best way to reinforce the right set of corporate belief is to support the guiding beliefs, and encourage employees to follow the standard practices. A sound reward system, higher standards of accountability and supportive strategic management practices can help organizations in winning employees beliefs. The benefits of organizations sound culture are certainly noteworthy. The effective culture has the potential to provide meaning and purpose to an employees participation and role in his organisation. He works not only to get salary but to contribute in a positive and purposeful way. Culture can bind the employees together in a strong band of commitment and unity. It increased employee efforts, pride and loyalty. It reduces employee turnover. It provides the employees a way of life in the company and not to merely work for jobs. Effective culture provides the ability to grow rapidly through directing more efforts towards implementing plans, programmes and objectives. Conclusions Organizational culture helps the organisation to accomplish what it desired to achieve. Managers can give extraordinary attention to whatever matters are stressed in the value system and this in turn tends to produce good results. The corporate culture as a management programme has peat motivating impact to motivate employees to improve their own and organizations performance. Human Resources Development and TQM and ISO 9000 Quality and Excellence in Human services Quality Assurance The bureaucratic nature of the system and dissatisfaction with the external assessment system. In the end, each organisation will have to perform its own cost-benefit analysis of BS5750 / ISO9000, and weigh up the advantages to it as an independent concern. It is interesting to note that some companies, having done this, opt not to seek accreditation. These companies include some of those seen as paragons of quality products, such as Nissan, Others adopt their own quality system standards which, as in the case of the Ford Motor Companys Q1O1 standards, are considered more stringent and detailed than BS5750/ISO 9000. When, later, we consider the impact of BS 5750/ISO 9000 on human services, particularly health and social care, these considerations become even more important. Total quality management There are a number of specific tools and techniques that can be used as part of a general approach to quality assurance in an organisation. Management philosophy that underline an organisation-wide implementation of both these elements: tools and techniques and frameworks of quality assurance. This is known as total quality management (TQM) Defining TQM As we have seen, all discussions of quality and quality assurance processes involved detailed discussion of definitions, and each attempts to discuss definitions poses particular difficulty. This is equally true of attempting a definition of TQM. Some writers, particularly the Japanese ones, refer not to sue the term, describing the same concepts as company-wide quality control or to quality control. One of the standard texts on TQM is that Oakland (1989), from which we have already quoted and cit extensively. He defined TQM as: An approach to improving the effectiveness and flexibility of businesses as a whole. It is essentially a way of organizing and involving the whole organisation; every department, efvery activity, every single person at every level. For an organisatoin to be truly effective, each part of it must work properly together, recognizing that every person and every activity affects, and is in turn affected by others. TQM is a method for ridding peoples lives of wasted effort by involving everyone in the process of improvement; improving the effectiveness of world so that results are achived in less time. The methods and techniques used in TQM can be applied throughout the organisatoin.TQM needs to gain ground rapidly and become a way of life in many organizations (Oakland, 1989, pp. 14-15)
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In a recent paper (Dotchin and Oakland, 1992), Oakland has extended this definition by an analysis of the characteristics of to quality as advocated by seven writers, including Juran ai Ishikawa. He outlines six features of TQM. 1. TQM is holistic it concerns the organisation as a whole, with all its functions, employees and suppliers. 2. Customer orientation TQM is involved with being responsibility to customer requirements. 3. Empowering people to achieve quality TQM stresses the u of management and decision-making techniques that involve all the workforce. 4. Attention to the process TQM involves detailed attention the process of service delivery, including the setting of standards and using the tools and techniques of quality control. 5. Quality systems TQM requires a systematic approach that might be in the form of a framework such as BS5750/IS090. 6. Continuous improvement TQM stresses a programme and philosophy of a cycle of continuing quality improvement. Besides this definitions there are few others, and certainly no standard way of defining TQM. As Dale and Phunkett (1991) point our, there are a number of features of TQM that are common to all attempts to define it, and may in themselves serve as a definition. These commonalities are: 1. TQM is an organisation-wide philosophy of management, based on the assumptions of the importance of customer needs and the need for quality processed on the part of the provider. 2. TQM assumes that everyone in the organisation is continually involved in improving the elements of the product manufacturing or service deliver processes for which they are responsible. 3. Each person in the organisation is committed to providing the highest level of satisfaction for all their customers, whether they are internal or external. 4. The essence of such improvement is teamwork and collective involvement and improvement, as well as demonstrated commitment by all levels of staff to furthering quality within the organisation. 5. Such participation in the development of quality is recognized and rewarded. 6. Customers and suppliers are seen as an integral parts of the quality management process, and their views are sought and valued. 7. Quality improvement is seen as the responsibility of all staff, and is not a function delegated to specialist department, manager or team. Dale, Lascelles and Plunkett (1990) see TQM as the last stage in the evolution of quality management procedures, whilst at the same time subsuming all the other preceding types. It can be seen as an all-embracing framework within which all aspects of quality are considered. Tom Peters is acknowledged as one of the gurus of management referred to in an earlier chapter. His early work focused on the production of a set of characteristics of what he termed excellent companies. He returned to this theme in a later work (1987), and set out 12 characteristics of new companies that have started a quality revolution. These are: 1. Management is obsessed with quality. This is communicated through concern with the emotional aspects of quality as much as with the practicalities. Quality is at the top of very agenda, and is communicated in symbolic ways through the company. There is persistence in this approach through setbacks, and f pursued through constant actions to improve quality. 2. There is a guiding system or philosophy. Peters suggests that you pick a system and stick with it, as long as it is thorough and rigorously applied. 3. Quality is measured, through, for example, quality costs. I result of the measurement are displayed and communicated and every worker is involved in the measurement process. 76
4. Quality is rewarded. 5. Everyone is trained in technological for assessing quality. 6. Terms involving multiple functions/systems are used. Quality improvement opportunities lie outside the natural work group. 7. Small is very beautiful. Any improvement, however small, worthwhile. 8. There is consultant stimulation. 9. There is a parallel organisation structure devoted to quality improvement. 10. Everyone plays; suppliers, distributors and customers, all be a part of the organizations quality process. Likewise parts of the company must be involved in the quality programme. 11. When quality goes up, costs go down. 12. Quality improvement is a never-ending journey. There must continue improvement in all aspects of the system. The essential aspects of TQM Attitudes and values Earlier we cited the work of Dale, Lascelles and Plunkett (1990) that suggested that there was a move from more tangible, quantitative methods of quality assurance, with an emphasis on inspection, control and statistical techniques, to methods that stress the inter and intrapersonal aspects of quality assurance. Above we have reviewed some techniques of quality management, and seen that a similar progressions is observable, whilst at the same time placing some of the more analytic techniques in their place in a general framework of quality improvement. Some authors, notably Oakland (1989), Dale and Cooper (1992) and Bright and Cooper (1993) see these aspects as two vital elements in any description of TQM. On the one hand there are the hard aspects, including the tools and techniques and the systems or frameworks with which they are employed, and on the other the soft aspects, which concern attitudes, values and interpersonal behaviour. Okland (1989) emphasized that TQM is more concerned with the latter than with the former, although the former have their place as methodological variables. He writes: TQM is concerned with moving the focus of control form outside the individuals to within; the objective being to make everyone account able for their own performance, and to get them committed to attaining quality in a highly motivated fashion. TQM is concerned chiefly with changing attitudes and skills. (Okland, 1989, p. 26) Okland also warms against the danger of preoccupation with the hard aspects, which are relatively easier to learn, employ and control, to the determent of the soft aspects. The history of quality in most Western countries shows just such a preoccupation with magic techniques, including statistical process control, quality circles and BS5750 / ISO 9000. Unfortunately, TQM can also be seen in the same light, as some sort of universal panacea for quality problems or even for organizational problems in general. Heller (1993) stresses this point, and argues that TQM has been seen as just another objective technique of quality, rather than an all-embracing philosophy that is fundamentally subjective. He suggests that in TQM, all three initials must hold equal weightit should be total involving the whole company; qualityin its focus; and about the management of quality. The essential element of TQM, therefore, is its emphasis on the involvement of the individuals values and attitudes in the development of a quality product or service, and the use of a set of techniques as a framework within which these attitudes and values can be articulated. Some writers, including Cormack (1992) consider that TQM an organisation has to consider the processes of value development and attitude change, as well as methods of even the organisation in such a way that the inculcation of attitudes and values includes the production and commitment to an organisation culture that stresses quality. Bright and Cooper (1993) point out that whilst this is important in manufacturing industry, it is essential in service industries, because of the nature of such industries and their relationship to their customer, as well as the intangibility of the product. In essence, TQM in service industries therefore stresses the internalization of new values and attitudes, which in itself can change the nature of employee employer relationships, as Collard (1989) has shown. Bright and Cooper further suggest that using some of the hard techniques within TQM leads to some cultural change, and that the major assumption of TQM is that the organizational culture can be man aged. They conclude that there is little evidence for the influence of TQM at this deeper level, whilst there is much evidence for organizational change at a superficial level as a result of TQM. Towards a framework for total quality Two models 77
One of the major aspects of TQM is that it provides a framework for considering all the aspects of an organisatoin that are concerned with quality, including the hard and soft ones. Dotchin and Oakland (1992) have outlined a model of TQM that is based on the soft aspects of quality, and on the definition TQM set out earlier in this chapter. Basing on this, and on the analysis of the writings of the major quality gurus, they firstly establish ten points that need to be considered as a background to their model of TQM. 1. The organisation needs long-term commitment to constant improvement. 2. The philosophy of zero errors/defects must be adopted to change the culture to right first time. 3. People must be trained to understand the customer-supplier relationships. 4. Do not buy on price alone look at the total cost. 5. Recognize the improvement of the system has to be managed. 6. Adopt modern methods of supervision and training-eleminate fear. 7. Eliminate barriers between departments by managing the processimprove communication and teamwork. 8. Eliminate: Goals without methods; Work standards based only on numbers; Barriers to pride of workmanship; Fictionget facts by using the correct tools.
9. Constantly educate and retraindevelop experts and gurus. 10. Develop a systematic approach to managing the implementation of TQM. TQM, and its processes There are four major sections to this model Organising This is the foundation stage and is concerned with the motivation for starting a process of quality improvement, and the resulting strategies, plans and policies being adopted. The stage also involves training and the communication of what TQM is about, as well as the identification of potential problems and actions to avoid them. A number of actions comprise this stage. A clear long-term strategy for the quality improvement process must be formulated, integrated with other business activities and communicated to all employees. This should also involve the development of quality improvement plans that are more detailed and form objectives against which performance could be judged. A common organizational definition of quality and TQM should be arrived at. All sources of potential advice and guidance should be identified, and at this stage the consideration of the need for BS5750/ISO9000 should be discussed. Formal project planning techniques should be used to identify the necessary stages and actions required to meet the objectives. Leadership and involvement should be gained from all management staff, who should see their role as formulating and communication the vision of quality and the mission statements that support the process. A formal programme of education and training should be developed, including hard and soft aspects of TQM. An organizational infrastructure that will support, develop facilitate and maintain the quality approach should be develop and established.
This is the backbone of the quality improvement system, and is concerned with the development of a framework within which quality improvement works, and the application of the hard tools and techniques to facilitate this. Actions required include: Identification of the appropriate tools and techniques, an the processes involved in using them. Essential training in the sue of these tools and techniques. Consideration of the need for a formal quality system such as BS5750/ ISO9000 and it if is decided upon, the necessary requirements should be met.
Measurement and feedback This area of he model is where the needs and requirement of the customer or consumer can be translated into measured of performance. Actions required include: Identifying key internal and external performance measures, and related goals and targets for the improvement. Clarifying customer expectations and needs. Benchmarking against other organizations to ensure practice. Deciding on the means for the communications and celebration of success in meeting quality improvement targets, an recognizing individual and team efforts. Linking rewards to quality improvement activities, an ensuring it is a part of all jobs within the organisation.
Changing the culture As we have already seen, cultural change is essential for the Successful implementation of TQM. Actions in this area include. Seeing cultural change as a developing entity, and a dynamic one throughout the process of TQM. It will involve planned changes, with an emphasis on communication the message of quality. Placing an emphasis on the development of people within the organisation, in skill and personal terms. Realizing the importance of the establishment of teamwork. Considering the interrelationships of elements within the organisatoin, to minimize conflict. Developing performance indicators for the success of TQM on cultural change.
Dale and Boaden outline six stages in the implementation of this model: 1. Reviewing the organisations adoption TQM to dale. 2. Considering the framework and customizing it to suit the organisation and its business. 3. Assessing the features of the organisation against the frame work to see which aspects are already in place. 4. Prioritizing the features not in place in line with the overall quality strategy of the organisation. 5. Developing plans to introduce the priority features. 6. Identifying potential problems and solutions to them. In using this framework with a number of organisation and services, the authors recognize and document some of the outcomes, these include its usefulness in general terms as an organizing framework, its use as an integrating approach for multisite businesses, and its use as a framework for the audit of TQM implementation. Implementing TQM and Reasons for its Failure Despite claims made for its success in changing company performance, there is little documented evidence of the superiority of TQM over other quality assurance methods. There is also a growing body of literature on TQM failure. Walker (1992), in a review of the literature on this, suggests five reasons why TQM systems fail or underachieve; 79
1. The efforts involve a great deal of motivational hype, but do not dedicate sufficient resources for day-today running of the system. 2. In manufacturing industries, the main focus is too often the production unit, to the determent and neglect of service and marketing sides. 3. The TQM system has only limited objectives and defines quality immurement in a restricted way. 4. Organizations view one method-particularly quality circle-as the sole solution to quality problems. 5. The organizations think that simply redoubling existing effort at quality assurance of sufficient. By contrast, the successful programmes are charactererised by: 1. An emphasis on educating employees in quality and the practicalities of the business. 2. Inspiration of the employees by leadership and good communication. 3. Participation of employees by leaderships and good communication. 4. Meaningful rewards for success. 5. A focus on the total organizations effectiveness through the use of cross-functional teams on structure and people.
6. Current Status and Experience in Role Analysis and HRD Several organisations have conducted role analysis exercises and used it for development purposes in the last ten years. Indian Oil Corporation has initiated their HRD effort through role analysis exercises ranging over a period of two to three years. As a result of this exercise, role directories have been prepared presenting the details of the tasks expected form each role-holder. Using these directories, career paths have also been prepared for career planning purposes. A good degree of role clarity was achieved. Similar experiences were reported from other organisatoins like Crompton Greaves. Details of thse4 experience are reported in Rao et al. (1988). Crompton Greaves Limited has used role analysis for performance appraisal and potential development purposes also. In fact, most organizations seem to use role analysis as a periodic renewal exercise for executives. From the experience available in our country, role analysis could be considered an important activity in HRD. Once roles are analyzed, other such systems may take off from there. Appraisal, training, career paths, career planning, transfers, job-rotations, reorganization where required etc., follow role analysis. Role analysis may be undertaken periodically. The first time it is undertaken periodically. The first time it is undertaken, it may involve a considerable time of the managers. Thereafter it is a matter of updating the KPAs and critical attributes once in three years, or once in five years depending on the speed with which changes are taking place in organizations. Increased role clarity, increased accountability and a feeling of significance were found to be the resultants of role analysis exercises. Role analysis exercises should be conducted through participative methods for achieving such results. Involvement of the current role-holders and their supervising seniors is an important step in role analysis. Current Status and Experience in Performance Appraisal Indian organisatoins are yet to focus their attention on potential appraisal. As outlined in this chapter, systematic potential appraisal is a time-consuming activity. The returns can be higher in a stable industrial environment. With growth opportunities all around, there has been high mobility among executives. Due to this mobility, most organisatoins are not willing to invest their time and effort in identifying and developing, the potential of managers. 80
They seem to be content with appraising the potential of the employees along with performance appraisals. A few organizations, however, have adopted the strategy of identifying general competencies required for higher level jobs, and incorporating them in performance appraisals. In these organisatoin, performance is appraised on KPAs, KRAs or tasks assigned, and potential on managerial qualities. While this is a useful distinction, in the long run it does not help much unless the organisation takes up separate potential development activities. A step in this direction was initiated at Crompton Greaves Limited but in was not developed into a full-fledged potential development system. In Crompton Greaves, in-basked exercises were prepared to identify and develop the potential senior executives into higher level positions. The in-baskets were in the form of situations a senior manager is likely to face if he is to perform jobs one or two levels above them. The candidate was expected to take decisions which indicated if he had the potential to think and act like the person who would be successful in that job. Top management itself was involved in evaluating their responses, and provide feedback. The need for having separate potential appraisal system is being felt slowly in Indian organizations. Some consulting firms have come up to cater to this need. Human resource planning in public enterprisesStrategic issues Human Resource Planning is the process of determining human resource requirements in terms of number, kind, place and time for doing the right kind of jobs, which result in long-run maximum individual and organizational benefits. It involved projecting and forecasting present personnel functions into the future which would be affected by organizational plans and business environment, both internal and external. In order to utilize the human resource fully, it is necessary to have careful planning so that the right men can be placed on the right jobs. Planning certainly helps in exploiting their talents and capacities thoroughly and realizes their potential. Maximum productive use4 of any organisation input can only attained through the conscious and prolonged attention to planning details. Human resource planning provides a sound basis for most other functions at the national level. The national economic plan, in a way, is an end product and aggregative macro-level actions, achievements and productive efforts of labour, management and administrators in different sectors of the economy, at diverse levels, within the overall integrated economic framework. Despite the significance of human resource planning, the project reports of some public sector units give scant attention to it. In some project reports the details given are grossly inadequate and the basis for planning is not indicated. In other reports, detailed plans are furnished by foreign consultants only to be contested subsequently. In other reports these norms and standards have varied considerably between consultants even for comparable projects. The Administrative Reforms commission observed that manpower planning is poorly understood and vaguely interpreted and applied in Public Sector Undertakings. Manpower planning is considered necessary in the stages of project formulation, expansion and diversification in some enterprises. Beyond this, human resource planning seems to signify nothing concrete to a number of public sector units. The Commission looked into the question of human resource planning from three angles: Personnel planning of project formulation stage; Personnel planning for expansion and diversification; and Personnel planning for the normal operational phase.
Place and Extent of Public Enterprises in India After the attainment of independence and the advent of planning. There has been a progressive expansion in the scope of the public sector in India. The pronouncements of the socialist pattern of society as our national goal further led to a deliberate enlargement of the role of the public sector. When India attained independence in 1947, if found like many other under-developed economies, that the capital was scare and shy, the innovators and entrepreneurs were conspicuous by their absence. The available technical know-how was very merge, the labour was unskilled and undirected, and financial institutions had not been established. Under these circumstances, the government had to choose the path of mixed economy with a growing emphasis on the public enterprises to achieve rapid industrialization and accelerate economic growth at a faster rate with social justice. As a result, public enterprises have emerged as an important sphere of activity and growth-leader not only in the production and manufacturing industries, but also in the field of trade and commerce as also energy and transport infrastructure. It is important to appreciate the significance of this trend. It is not only the dimensional growth of this 81
sector that is important, but what is even more important is the composition of industries over which the public sector has proliferated. Personnel Management in Public Enterprises The personnel management function has not been given due importance in the structural framework of Public Enterprises. Functions like long-term detailed planning, clear job specifications, scientific requirement and selection, training and development, etc., do not receive adequate attention in a large number of public enterprises. It has become fashionable to appoint a personnel officer or to give this title to an existing member of staff who has some responsibility for routine administration. The Administrative Reforms Commission Study Team on public undertakings reported that personnel managers in public enterprises were often not professionally qualified, and personnel departments more or less resembled the establishment section of government departments with their activity often decaying into a lifeless routine. It recommended recognition of personnel management as a staff function of the highest importance and the department dealing with it to be equipped with the expertise in industrial engineering labour relations. Planning etc. and attached directly to the Chief Executive of the enterprise. The committee on public undertaking in its Report on personnel Policy and Labour Relations, however, emphasized that the officer in-charge of the personnel matters should have the attitude, training and experience of industrial relations and labour management. In most of the undertakings, the personnel managers lack adequate training and modern management approach. With the result, the personnel management has not received due weightage. The aim of purposeful and effective personnel policy is to create and maintain committed and disciplined personnel for the enterprise. It should aim at attracting promising candidates for employment to jobs which required technical and managerial competence. It should also aim at creating wide opportunities for advancement within the organisation by giving encouragement to good workers by stimulating action in the recruits of basic grade and by motivating individuals and stay in organisation for a long period. Present Position of Manpower Planning in Public Enterprises During the last decade, the public sector has built a massive reservoir of manpower, controlling the inflow and outflow of critical resources in the country. However, appropriate strategy has not been evolved to harness this manpower properly and exploit the human potential fully. Progress in this area is painfully slow. Corporate planning, which gives an organisation a sense of direction and strategy for long-term adaptation, is virtually absent in most of the public sector except occasional paper exercises. Two reasons can be cited in support of this negative contention. Firstly, there is a general feeling that this is a function of the Ministry, which has a wider knowledge of he environment and ahs the financial powers to decide about allocations to various undertakings. Secondly, the absence of generated also causes these undertaking to indulge in diversification and modernization without forward planning. However, there are certain notable exceptions like the HMT where corporate planning is done and expansion and diversification plans are undertaken with consequent manpower implications. According to a study made by B.L. Agarwal of the 49 Central Public Sector Undertakings which responded, most of them were found to assess their current manpower resources and maintain some form of a manpower inventory with recruitment, training and succession plans. It was found that only 14 companies prepared recruitment and training plans and of these 11 formulated a succession plan also. With regard to manpower forecasting, 6 companies did not make any estimates, 25 companies estimated future manpower requirements on a regular basis, and the remaining 18 companies did so on an adhoc basis. Recruitment of Personnel Public enterprise should be given complete between freedom so far as the personnel recruitment in concerned. Personnel policies should not be tied down by Treasury regulations. In India, the basic policy of the government in respect of recruitment, training and deploying of staff in the government undertakings of the statutory corporation and the company type has been to grant a large measure of freedom to the management of the undertaking. The following suggestions and conclusion bear upon the recommendations of the estimates Committee: 1. Industrial undertaking of the company type, managed or owned by the government, should be run, as far as possible, on business lines with as little interference as possible and if the boards of such undertakings can be given authority to direct the working of the company, take broad policy decisions and authorize expenditure 82
of large sums, they could be trusted to exercise their authority wisely and impartially in respect of recruitment of staff. 2. A standard procedure of recruitment with sufficient elasticity and flexibility to avoid unnecessary and impractical restrictions on the efficient functioning of these companies should, however, be evolved in order to remove any doubts in the public mind regarding fairness in the matter of selection of staff. 3. Recruitment of personnel through the Public Service Commission would constitute and infringement of the autonomy of the companies, and is also likely to involve considerable delay. 4. To prevent undue competition for recruits among various undertakings, steps should be taken to have fairly uniform pay scale for comparable posts in different state industrial undertakings. It is notable that all the world over personnel policies of public enterprises are governed by certain rules and regulations. It is generally due to the fact that a senior level functionary of a Corporation can do immense good or damage to the organisation by a single act of commission or omission as he is not inhibited by the usual government rules and checks and balances. Besides, in many public enterprises corrupt and nepotistic practices are to be found, both inside and outside public service. Hence there is a fear on the part of the government and of the public that if the enterprise is allowed freedom to devise this own personnel policies, it will take advantage of that freedom to abuse it, and permit the development of all kinds of corruption and nepotism which are not found to the same extent in the civil service because of the very strict regulations which apply to that service. In a developing country like India, where the public sector is still in the stage of development, there may not be much hope to obtain immediately a highly skilled and competent personnel from within the organisatoin. This is a major problem in the case of new industries. For example, direct recruitment is as high as 100 percent in the Dredging Corporation of India. On comparative terms, established units can meet their manpower requirements through internal promotions and transfers and can afford to visit the open market less frequently. For example, the percentage of direct recruitment to the total required is 35 in companies like IOC, HMT and ONGC. But trade unions allege that the managements have been going for outside candidates who have sometimes less or equal qualifications compared to those within the organisation. In view of these hurt feelings and negative reactions form different quarters, managers depend on internal sources, so as to give maximum opportunities to internal employees. The recruitment policy of PSEB bears ample testimony to this fact. Public Enterprises Selections Board In view of the limitations of the panel system maintained by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the government replaced the above procedure by creating a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PSEB) by a resolution dated 30th August, 1974. The government at the national level has retained the prerogative of making appointments to the higher level posts. i.e., Chief Executives and Functional Executive Directors at the Board level. The PSEB was established to spot the most suitable talents for the right jobs and advise, on the basis of an objective analysis of job requirements, right persons for appointment to the higher level positions in the public sector units. The PSEB is responsible for recommending for appointments and term extensions within the purview of the government in all public sector units, except those of insurance and banking, the PSEB submits a panel of two or three names for consideration to the Minister concerned in the case of new appointments. However, the appointments are made with the approval of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet. Industrial Management Pool The Industrial Management Pool (IMP) had been an earlier attempt at providing personnel for many of he managerial positions in the public sector. Concern for the efficient management of public sector enterprises dates back to 195354, when the Estimates Committee of the Parliament recommended the constitution of Indian commercial and Industrial Services. The Government of India, however, decided to constitute and Industrial Management Pool in 1957 to cater to the managerial posts of a non-technicla nature relating to general management, finance, personnel marketing, etc. No posts were to be reserved for the pool members, but these officers were available for posting in public enterprises which wanted to have them. But it was not obligatory either for public enterprises to fill their vacancies out of the pool or for the controlling authority to supply a pool officer for every vacancy. The initial strength of the pool was fixed at 200 and the annual intake, at 5 per cent of the authorized strength. Selections were to 83
be made by and adhoc Special Recruitment Board. As against the 212 selected initially for appointment to the pool. Only 130 could be appointed because either the private sector did not release some and some others did not find the scheme up to their expectations. Not further recruitment has been made since then. Government Policy 1. The government had formulated the following note regarding personnel policies of public enterprises. 2. All efforts to be made to recruit persons displaced from the area acquired for the project specially the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. 3. Next performance to be for those who even if they come from a distance, have retrenched by other public enterprises. 4. Skilled workers, clerks and other non-technical staff, if basic qualifications and experience are available, will be recruited with the same preferences as for non-skilled staff. 5. Middle level technical and non-technical posts having higher salaries equivalent to Class I Junior scale of Government of India are filled on all-India basis. Merit and qualification being the principal criteria. 6. Higher non-technical posts should be filled from the candidates available in the Industrial Management Pool, Failing which the posts be advertised on all-India basis. 7. All higher technical posts should be filled from persons recruited either by advertisement on all-India basis or by personnel contact. 8. All applications received along with the list sent by the employment exchange should be screened, and appointments be made by selection committees which will have representative from the State Government. 9. For higher and medium level posts. At least one representative of State Government, preferably a State Government official who is on the Board of Directors, should be included in the Selection Committee. 10. Urgent and adhoc appointments, if made, should be brought to the notice of the Selection Committees. The public sector undertakings should pursue manpower planning diligently even for normal operations because of internal and external mobility of employees due to promotions, transfers, demotions, resignations, dismissals, retirements, death, etc. However, this part of the planning processes is often neglected or overlooked for most of the enterprises. Career Development Strategies and HRD Introduction It is generally assumed that a Career Development Programme should be tailor-made to a specific business, structure and time-that it would differ from one type of organisation to another; that it would be different from a low growth business to a medium or high growth organisatoin; from a low profitable to a medium of highly profitable organisatoin. It is also assumed that the nature and scope of a career planning and development programme would depend upon the nature of the business e.g. a highly innovative, technical organisation or an organisation which has relatively low level of technology or low level of innovation. Even in organisation which emphasize a high degree of innovation, how do people learn with transient products and learn to handle or live with future products. If we look at various businesses with various types of structure of level of technologies, none of the above compartmentalized distinctions are appropriate. In other words, Organizations are not static. Our experience with the life of business organizations clearly show that a highly profitable and high productivity-oriented organisation has become a medium or less profitable or less productive organisation depending upon a variety of factors including the business environment in which it operates. Even within a business organisation, if we examine it on a portfolio model, we find that some parts of the organisatoin are highly profitable, innovative, highly predictive whereas some other parts of the same organisation are less profitable, less innovative and less productivity. Tracking If we look around, we indeed can see how effectively some organisation have used the challenges within the organisation as well as the tracking system most imaginatively which have helped in achieving individual and 84
organizational objectives family-managed business houses and professionally managed companies, the basic concerns are the same-that managers should be groomed to take higher levels of responsibilities. However, both type organizations go about it in different ways. What makes some of these companies successful is in their approach in their tracking system. Development No matter whether the business is small, medium or large, if we do a portfolio analysis, how do we develop people to cope with the changes? Selection To begin with tough quality control system at the intake stage is critical. In my years with professionally managed companies, when a young trainee is recruited, the basic emphasis given in our choice is on the Selection Boards own judgment about the candidates longer tern managerial potential. We do not recruit a trainee to do a specific job in the Company. We select him for a longer term career in the Company. Equally important is the choice of Tutors or Trainer managers, who can facilitate the new entrants early integration with the organisation as well as his personal growth and effectiveness.
Appraisal and reward system the monitoring task Performance must be regularly appraised. Appraisal is a key feature in reviewing management resources and how best to utilize them. It is also a natural follow up to the selection process. During the early years of a managers career, special emphasis should be given to the appraisal process to ensure that the young managers is of he caliber the organisation would like to have and that he is capable of assuming higher responsibilities later in his career. The appraisal process should also allow him to know how well he is performing, what has been his significant accomplishments, how his performances can be improved upon and if there are shortcomings in accomplishments or personal weakness identified, what specific training and development inputs are to be given to him in order to strengthen his effectiveness and contribution to the Company. In this process, the role of self-assessment cannot be underestimated. In professionally managed organizations, performance evaluation forms the basis for rewarding the manager. In my view, such an annual appraisal exercise should not preclude continuous exchange of information throughout the year between the boss and the subordinate at an informal level. This whole process can be described as a monitoring task this being a very important task, let me hasten to add, is also a most difficult one to be used the careful way in which it is used calls for an hones and courageous approach on the part of every appraiser assisted by the HRD function. Training & Development We all recognize that training is a continuous process in a managers career. I propose that predominantly training becomes most effective when it takes place on the job or as closely related to it as possible. It enables him to learn by doing. Some 10 per cent can be supplemented by class room courses, provided they are designed to meet specific needs of he managers at various stages of their development. Functional/Inter-functional courses, e.g. Marketing, Accounts, Engineering, Buying, Industrial Relations, etc. or Finance for Non Finance Managers, Marketing for Technical Managers, Commercial appreciation for Research Scientists, etc. General Management/Business courses form the second category. Most experienced managers get stuck with their own specific jobs, be it production or salesthey become somewhat incest with it. Training courses provide them with a new vista. This exposure value, the opportunity to evaluate ones own performance vis--vis his peer group and the peer group evaluation and estimation also adds considerable impetus for self development. Ultimately, all managers have responsibility for their own development. Courses facilitate this process of introspection-the managers with the right attitude to self-development takes such feed back as a personal challenge and converts them into an agenda for self-learning and development. Potential assessment The values of a planned job rotation are many. Firstly, it provides an in depth understand of the various managerial tasks and roles which cuts across functions, product. 85
As the business environment becomes increasingly more complex and demanding, the development of potential for senior management wants to follow some policies like; Most of those who progress to senior management positions will in the future have been recruited immediately after University Degrees. Selection and training of trainees with really high potential is, therefore, fundamental to the successful performance of organizations. Recruitment must be regular; in bad times as well as good times. The career development system must be fed by a regular intake of high potential trainees. The first four/five years are particularly important. Firstly, the new entrant has to be provided with actual responsibility. Appraisal and Feedback are vital. Personal interest by senior management in his professional growth is vital and should be built into the system. We have to acknowledge the outstanding managers are vulnerable to the market in their early years and loss rates should be a matter of constant attention and review. Planned experience is the key element in the development of senior managers. Every management vacancy must be considered as an opportunity to develop someone with proven managerial competence. Besides the experience of being in charge, experience of the main elements of a function is very important for a managers with high potential.
A career template to guide the planning of careers would be useful. A typical template for a senior commercial manager would have the following elements. Financial accounting EDP system Audit Management accounting Head office finance functions like Banking, Texation Commercial functions like Buying, Planning, Distribution, etc.
Equally, breadth of experience is important. A high potent manager necessarily should have had a broad range of experience. Identification of such job opportunities, implementation of such movers, planning for future development, de-blocking key development positions, etc are key tasks of the Board of the Company, ably assisted by the HRD function. The organisation structures must also be designed in such a way to provide stepping-stone jobs. A cadre of high potential managers can only be achieved with full commitment of the top management of the Company. Organizational culture conducive to the system has to be evolve Every opportunity should be sued to communicate the care planning and development policy of the Company to the management group. Regular courses are good medium for such co medications and for greater understanding. Check Points Finally having outlined the various considerations for designing effective career development programme. Suitable check points should be designed to determine whether the career development plans are working or not. Each organisation will have to decide about few critical checkpoints for evaluating the effectiveness of its care planning strategies. Let me share with you a few ideas for your consideration. The value of inter-functional shifts provide breadth of experience; we may ask why inter-functional shift especially in a Divisionalised/ Profit Centre Organisation? Experience has shown that it achieves two objectives (a) to develop diverse managerial abilities and (b) to develop the ability to effectively deal with different types of subordinates with different functional background and skills and ultimately his ability to manage them. Equally, if the organisation structured on a functional line, the extent to which functional specialization is focused in the career planning programme assumes great importance. In any event, there are some sectors or parts of the business which require more entrepreneurship, which means a premium attach to risk taking behavior. 86
If the senior management of the Company convey their positive expectation to their high potential managers, they are likely to rally around challenging and difficult tasks with a hope of success. A higher failure rate in such interfunctional moves would indicate that career planning process is not working well. This means the HRD Manager has to diagnose and come out with solution or directions for changing the mix of career development inputs. A manager is laos an innovator. He has to deliver results. A manager who delivers very well the bottom line prescribed to him at the cost of the morale of the people working with him shows lack of concern for the well-being and personal growth of his subordinates. If an organisatoin produces more maintenance-oriented managers without achieving excellent performance through effective use of people in an innovative and achievement-oriented work climate, it would possibly signal some deficiency in the Organizations career planning strategy. Let us look at yet another common experience most of us have come across. Many managers are well accepted by their bosses as well as subordinated. Yet they are not so well accepted by their peer group-As a manager moves up on the organizational hierarchy, breakthroughs and team development are possible only when they are able to co-operate and obtain collaboration from key people at the peer group level. More failures in collaborative efforts at the peer group is also an indication that the career planning strategy is not working effectively. Sometimes, despite the best of intentions to strictly follow a plan, organizational compulsions and pressures can force senior management to look for expedient solutions at the cost of longer term career development needs of their managers. If this happens occasionally, there is no serious damage to the overall plans; but if this becomes a way to life, two things happen (a) credibility to the career planning systems reduces considerably, and (b) it is a clear proof that the system in the long run will not work. Finally, the most important checkpoint to find out whether an organisatoin has obtained the best desired result through effective career planning strategy is to examine whether it has at-least two or three choices for its key managerial positions when an opportunity arisen. To summarize the career development strategies are That it is wrong to assume that a career planning programme should be tailor-made for a specific business or type or structure or for a level of its performance. The very distinguishable variations in a business organisation themselves offer considerable opportunities to evolve a suitable career planning strategy. The while it is basically essential to provide career development opportunities to everyone in the organisation, there must be an effective system of tracking down high performing and high potential managers. That tough quality control system for selecting future managers is a key for successful career development strategy. In the selections process, we should look for future managerial potential rather than ability to perform a specific job. That appraisal is a key feature in reviewing management resources. Training and development inputs are in integral pat of career development. That a sound monitoring system for both performance appraisal and early identification of managerial potential is critical to the success of a career planning strategy. To realize the potential, the benefits of a planned job rotation should be fully utilized. And finally, I have proposed a few checkpoints to determine whether the career development plans and strategies are effectively working.
Integrated HRD System-intervention Strategies We look at three kinds of experiences What kind of forces in an organisatoin trigger action on HRD? What are the different leverage points which can be used as the entry subsystem in moving towards an integrated HRD system? Apart from the internal dynamics of HRD, what interface issues arise between HRD and other management systems and practices in the organisatoin? 87
Conceptualization Following each module of experiential data, we conceptualize certain frameworks, which can then serve as theory and guide for future HRD intervention strategies. The concepts are developed out of each of the three kinds of experiences mentioned above. From the trigger even experiences, we desire a 5-element Framework. In this framework, the HRD System is only the elements, From the leverage experiences, we derive an integrated System Model, comprising several sub-systems, and suggested three step process for the design of the Integrated System.
Intervention Triggers It is only recently that Indian organisatoin have been developing explicit strategies and systems for facilitating the development and utilization of human resources. Why has it taken so long? Even now, forces make some organisatoin to wake up to the immense possibilities HRD? HRD Framework From the above case studies of intervention triggers and similar other experiences, one can propose the conceptual framework. Participation The ultimate aim of HRD is the full participation of the individual in job and life. Modern industry, formal organisation, technology and similar impersonal forces may tend to create alienation in the individual. An intense form of this is self-alienation, where the Person is not even aware of the damage his alienation is causing to himself. HRD move executives and workmen towards fuller participation, so that potential can be utilized to the benefit of themselves and the organ. There are three dimensions to participation in organizational life, namely. 1. Participation of executive in the management process. 2. Participation of workmen in work itself in a total sense. 3. Participation of workmen in the management processdirectly in their work place, and through representative mechanism the total organisatoin. Philosophy The starting point in moving towards fuller employee participation the adoption or reaffirmation of the human resource philosophy, minimum, four basic tenets of this philosophy need to be accepted articulated by the top management. Every employee has some kind of potential. It is necessary and possible to help him identify develop utilize the potential. Every person also carries some weaknesses. He can be helped to become aware of the weaknesses and ac to reduce or remove them, so that his full potential may flower.
Climate The top management, namely the chief executive and his immediate team, subscribing to human resource philosophy, is a useful start that is not enough, as we saw in the case of the pharmaceutical corn This philosophy needs to be articulated and shared with cross-section of executives and workmen in the organisation, including union. When a critical mass has internalized these values, there will emerge conducive climate for HRD. In such a positive climate, 88
even the ex HRD systems and practices will be more effective. It will also be receptive to the introduction of relevant additional subsystems. Systems It is difficult to sustain the HRD for long, without the support comprehensive HRD system to meet the expectations raised by the climate Conversely, the climate provides an opportunity to develop a total system, all elements of which may be received and utilized better system design and implementation can be in three stages. Improve the existing HRD subsystems Introduce the missing subsystems. Integrate all the subsystems into a synergistic total HRD system
A comprehensive model of a HRD system consists of the following 12 elements. 1. Corporate planning 2. Manpower forecast 3. Selection, induction and placement 4. Role analysis 5. Appraisal 6. Counselling 7. Self-development 8. Career planning 9. Succession planning 10. Rotation and transfer 11. Training 12. Data bank Skills An integrated HRD systems has many potential benefits, namely 1. Moving from alienation to participation. 2. Enhancing the individuals effectiveness in present and roles. 3. Facilitating the design of structures and roles for optimal utilization and development of human potential. 4. Sustaining and improving the organizational climate. 5. Through the developing cadres, enhance strategic and organizational effectiveness. However, to what extent these benefits are actualized will depend on the skills with which the HRD systems are used. A variety skills are needed for effective HRD. 1. Role clarification 2. Goal proposal, demand and discussion. 3. Appraisal. 4. Feedback, counselling and subordinate development. 5. Review and moderation 89
6. Learning and self-development Systems Design Levers The very concept of a system means that at whatever point of the system we begin to intervene, it will logically lead us through the subsystems towards the total system. The point of entry depends on felt needs of organisation. Training Perhaps the most widely felt HRD subsystem need is training intensive effort in training generation constructive pressures towards subsystems. A consumer products company, doing reasonably well, approached me with the feeling that it could do better, it had a number of competitors. It felt a need to bridge that gap with the industry leader. The aim was to enhance managerial and organizational effectiveness through training. the company has two factories, one each in northern and southern India and the corporate office in Delhi. I designed the first training programme for senior managers, as a workshop on organizational effectiveness, and used it as a device for problem census and identifying those problems where training could help. The following needs emerged: To reduce compartmentalization and interdepartmental hostilities. To add a managerial competence dimension to the existing functional capabilities of middle and senior executives. To replace expected superannuations of long-serving old timers and some seniors on tenure jobs after retirement from the armed forces. To develop a pool of management talent with inter-functional and multi-territory awareness. To enhance skills of goal setting, counselling, appraisal for subordinates developed. Enhance training and its effectiveness Improve the existing appraisal system; but also Introduce rotations, career and succession planning.
As we responded to these, the company found it necessary and possible not only to:
Appraisal The initial priority of top management was to improve the appraisal system. As we worked an appraisal system redesign and skill training, many other needs and possibilities emerged organically and sequentially. Objectivity of appraisal called for some concept of Agreed goals. The prerequisite for such goals was role clarity Between levels top management, Director Projects, I Head, Site Head. Between functions-technical groups in the project support staff functions.
To enhance the developmental value of the appraisal system was felt necessary to introduce a quarterly, interim reviews feedback and counselling system, in addition to on-going informal interactions. Investment of the self in roles and goals required a better particularly of inter-level and inter-functional understanding. This, in turn, made a Rotation and Transfer System urgent. Although there was a national, preference for internal prom at senior levels, the experience had not been happy with tunnel vision seniors. This highlighted the need for con Career and Succession Planning. That could be done better if the element of potential was brought into the appraisal system.
Quite independently, the company had used computer to build personnel inventory. With these additional HRD subsystems, there is now the additional possibility of enriching it into a total Human Resource Data Bank with real time information on training, performance and history. 90
Career planning The immediate need of the pharmaceutical company was felt Career Planning, through inter-divisional and interfunctional rot As this began, the company had a confront the reality that it had isolated divisional cultures. Policies, practices and styles. The foil issues had to be tackled through further HRD interventions. Clarification of roles, job evaluation and delegations. Dare to open the question or division heads and other managers anticipated superannuation and the need for success planning. Some essential commonality in the other subsystems of Manpower Forecasting and Control Selection, Induction and Placement Between Consulting specialists and consultant managers. New Products A second major manufacturing location Export oriented FTZ project.
Succession planning It has an early starter in corporate planning. With its awareness of human resources needs for growth, the company stepped up management training and rotations. One unintended, but wholly desirable effect, has been that the company has ended up providing top management personnel and many other public enterprises, and lately also some private companies. Page No. 141.
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MODEL QUESTION PAPER Paper 4.32 Human Resource Development Time : 3 Hours PART A Answer any FIVE questions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. List the need and importance of HRD. Explain the necessary factors for the success of HRD. With the support of flowchart explain the HRD framework What do you understand by performance appraisal? List the essential steps to be followed for a good appraisal system. Brief about the objectives of training. What is TQM? Name the 14 Basic guidelines of TQM. Explain the HRD strategies for Higher Organizational Performance? PART B Answer any FOUR questions All questions carries equal marks Question No. 15 is Compulsory 9. Elucidate the need and objective for HRD, and differentiate the HRD functions from Traditional Personnel Management. 10. Discuss the methods of performance appraisal. 11. a. Explain the process of employee performance analysis. b. Narrate the steps involved in career planning. 12. a. Detail about the methods of training. b. How are the training methods evaluated in an organisatoin. 13. Define organizational effectiveness. Organisational effectiveness is a sum of individual, group and organizational itself? Discuss. 14. a. What do you understand by the term TQM? b. How ISO 9000 lead to TQM? 15. Analyse the following: (4 x 15 = 60) Maximum Marks: 100 (5 x 8 = 40)
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