Human Resource Management (MGT302)

Dr Silvia Pirrioni

Tuesday, April 11

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Learning outcomes, 11th April 2023

• Discuss the strategic importance of employee learning

• Explain the difference between training and development
• Describe how to conduct training need assessments
• Compare and contrast a variety of training methods

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Employee Development
Employee development is critical in ensuring the organisation has
employees with the right knowledge and skills

Assumptions:

- Employees as human capital – value creation

- Alignment between individual knowledge & skills and organisation’s
objectives
- Lifelong learning – continuous need for learning and development
- Learning as resource

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Employee Development
Organisational performance depends on having the right people
in the right place with the right skills at the right time.

Mutual gain:
• Providing learning opportunities can help build organisational
effectiveness
• Learning can enable staff to achieve personal and career goals,
foster employability and increase employee engagement and
retention
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development:
A four-stage process

Identify Design Deliver Evaluate

needs requirements activities activities

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Employee Development
Training Need Assessment: a process for identifying the knowledge,
skills and abilities (KS&As) required to remain competitive and move
the organisation forward.

- identify reasons/causes of gaps in performance

- anticipating new and future performance requirements: workforce
planning

• Training need analysis should focus on business improvement

• Linking learning to desired business outcomes
• Ongoing systematic process driven by business objectives

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Employee Development
Potential indicators of training needs:

- Output: below standard outputs may be due to poor technical skills, poor
information flow, limited supervision
- Varying standards: similar groups of employees present different
performance standards; identify the reason and communicate best practice
- Time: if deadlines are not met, identify how unproductive time is used and
train in time management; improve managerial or technical skills
- Turnover and absenteeism: due to poor induction, poor occupational
training, poor managerial skills
- Complaints: from customers or other departments
(Mitchell and Gamlem, 2012)

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Employee Development
Need assessment methods:
• Performance appraisal: should include plans for performance
improvement and should point to development needs
• Employee or managerial interviews: i.e. interview employees in a call
centre to understand what knowledge and skills are lacking and what
training is required. Supervisors can confirm employees’ views
• Focus groups: 5 to 12 people with similar experience discussing a
topic
• Surveys or questionnaires
• Observation
(Mitchell and Gamlem, 2012)

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Employee Development
What to consider in determining learning needs?

Capability analysis:

• Which capabilities are/will be required to carry out the job? (job

description/person specification)
• Which capabilities do existing employees possess (TSA)?
• What are the gaps between existing capabilities and current/new/future
requirements?
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Example of KS&As in a Project Manager

• Knowledge: the nature of the projects managed, techniques of

project management and the system used to manage projects
• Skills: dealing with others, communicating, team management,
influencing stakeholders
• Attitudes: attention to details, drive, persistence to overcome
obstacles and see the project through.

(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Employee development programmes should:

- Link to the organisation’s strategic plan

- Have management support
- Individuals should take responsibility in the process
- Consider the breadth of learning methods available
(Mitchell and Gamlem, 2012)

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Employee Development
Learning methods:
any interventions deliberately undertaken to help the learning process
at individual, team or organisational level
• Training is an instructor-led, content-based intervention designed to
lead to skills or behaviour change in order to improve performance on
a current job (i.e. training for a particular software: SPSS) = narrow
focus
• Development implies a longer-term or broader process – acquiring
skills or knowledge by a range of different means such as coaching,
formal and informal learning interventions, education or planned
experience. (i.e. MBA) = broad scope; helping employees growing
professionally
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Employee Development
Both theory and practice have shifted emphasis from a limited
perception of formal training to a broader concept of learning and
development:

Learning is
• Learner-centred rather than trainer-centred
• Self-directed rather than instructor-led
• Work-based rather than content-based (increased line managers’
responsibility)
(CIPD, 2018)
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Employee Development
Learning methods can be categorised as:
• Internal or external provision of learning
• Team or individual arrangements
• Formal or informal techniques
• Digital or face-to-face
• Located at the place of work or away from the place of work
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Workplace learning techniques:
• On-the-job training: learning through observing and/or being assisted
by a colleague with more experience in performing a task. It’s usually:
- delivered on a one-to-one basis at the trainee’s place of work
- allocated time to take place
- a specified, planned and structured activity; practice-based
Advantage: it is immediately relevant to basic job needs
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Workplace learning techniques:
• In-house development programmes: diverse range of learning
interventions that are longer-term, broader and/or of a higher level
than basic on-the-job training (coaching and mentoring,
secondments, formal or off-the-job learning or educational
arrangements).
In-house programmes are often used for management or leadership
development activities but are not limited to these.
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Workplace learning techniques:
• Job rotation, secondment and shadowing:
Secondment: the temporary loan of an employee to another
department or role, or sometimes to an external organisation
- valuable for both employee development and organisation development
Job rotation and shadowing: support employees in developing skills
and competencies required for moves to new or higher-level roles
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Workplace learning techniques:
• Mentoring and coaching: development techniques based on one-to-
one discussions to enhance an individual’s skills, knowledge or work
performance – for the current job, or to support career transitions.
- Coaching describes a relationship in which the coach listens and
questions to enable learning to come from the 'coachee'.
- Mentoring describes a relationship in which a more experienced
colleague (rather than line managers or external coaches) uses their
greater knowledge and understanding of the work or workplace to
support the development of a more junior or inexperienced member of
staff by sharing experiences (CIPD, 2018)
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Employee Development
Example A: coaching

Jeremy is an energetic sales associate who has been identified as a high

potential. While he is energetic and enthusiastic in sales team
meetings, he turns into a different person when he is in front of senior
managers. He becomes nervous, he fumbles and his mind wanders. His
boss decides that he should work with a coach. His boss hires a
presentation skills coach to help Jeremy deliver more engaging
presentations. A presentation skills coach will give Jeremy the specific
tools he needs to ease his tension, allow him to focus and apply his
natural energy to the presentation.
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Employee Development
Example B: mentoring

Since Jeremy is new to the sales department and a natural with customers,
his boss sees his career potential immediately. He sees a bit of himself from
20 years earlier. He wants to groom Jeremy for a management position in the
next few years. The boss has two options: To mentor Jeremy himself or to
find another senior level sales professional to mentor Jeremy. Sometimes the
boss plays the role of coach or mentor; sometimes, it is more appropriate to
select another person either inside or outside the organization to assist the
professional who needs help.
Source: https://www.kent.edu/yourtrainingpartner/know-difference-between-coaching-and-
mentoring

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Employee Development
Coaching aims to produce optimal performance and improvement at
work.
• It focuses on specific skills and goals, although it may also have an
impact on an individual’s personal attributes such as social interaction
or confidence.
• it typically lasts for a defined period of time.
• Delivered by the line manager or an external coach.
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Mentoring: a relationship in which a more experienced colleague
shares their greater knowledge to support the development of an
inexperienced member of staff.
• It calls on the skills of questioning, listening, clarifying and reframing
that are also associated with coaching.
• Mentoring relationships tend to be longer term than coaching
arrangements.
• Usually the mentee chooses his/her mentor.
(CIPD, 2018)

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Mentoring vs Coaching

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Employee Development
Learning methods away from the workplace:
• Courses and classroom training:
- protected time for learning
- opportunity to practise, share ideas and experience in a structured
risk free setting
- immediate and nonthreatening feedback
- the ability to signal what matters to the organisation – i.e. health and
safety training send out a strong signal that this knowledge is
important.
(CIPD, 2018)
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Employee Development
Learning methods away from the workplace:
• Courses and classroom training:
- Internal courses: training content is specific, provide an opportunity
to focus on organisation-specific issues (increased learning transfer)
- External courses: training content is generic; interaction with people
from other organisations may help individuals see situations from a
fresh perspective and share knowledge
(CIPD, 2018)

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Employee Development
Learning methods away from the workplace:
• Formal education and qualifications: i.e. University degrees, professional
courses
• Distance learning and digital learning: learning materials delivered
through the post or electronically.
provides large groups with consistent material
flexible access, people can learn in their own time
learner motivation can slip without contact with fellow learners and tutors, so tutor
support (remote or face-to-face) is important
Effective distance learning engages learners in a forum or collaborative environment
(via interactive classroom or webinars), as well as through materials provided for self-
directed learning.
(CIPD, 2018)

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