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Assignment #5 Training and Development MANA 6323: Human Resource Management Dallas Baptist University

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Abstract Organizations need to remain competitive within their respective markets and therefore they need their employees to equally competitive. The primary way in which an organization achieves this is to position is self in a learning posture. The learning organization encourages employees to receive training for their current positions and development for their future career paths. These two forms of learning will help propel the organization to the front of the lines within their market. It will also ensure that they are employing the highest caliber employees.

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A learning organization is a place where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspirations are set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together (Ivancevich 2004). This passage quoted in our text from the original work of Peter Senges Fifth Discipline outlines several key aspects to the employee training and development. The environment that Senge alludes to is one in which the organization and its employees are free to explore and expand through critically thought. He challenges the organization and its employee to set a path of continual learning and exploration. This in turn will affect the over all results of the organization. There are two main form of continual learning within the organization, training and development. Training is focus on current immediate skills and abilities enhancements that will affect have results in the employees job today. Development is preparing the employee for a future. This is impart giving employees a hope for a future with the company or industry. This paper will explore the orientation, training and development programs for the position of the Executive Officer, Administration and Fiscal Affairs, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Commonwealth of Kentucky. These programs will be designed in tandem with the employees career goals as well as the organizations goals. Encompassed within the discussion of each program will be an assessment for each. This assessment and evaluation will help the organization measure results and return on training investments. It is vital that organizations not over look the accountability portion of training and development programs. Measuring for results helps

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the organization and the employee execute on its overall goals and expectations. In some cases results and measures are only given lip service and not actual implementation. Orientation training is the process of helping assimilate a new employee to the work environment and norms of an organization. I have decided to include the discussion of orientation within this paper because with out the proper introduction to an organization it will be difficult to execute established training programs. Orientation is a form of training, it is the first training that an employee is subject to. This training should help alleviate the anxiety of the unknown for new employees. It should also provide the employee with immediate skills training that are specific to the organization. This would include training on the phone systems, email, intranet, and other organizational specific behaviors or task. Orientation should help to reduce turnover and save time for supervisors and co-workers as well as decrease the amount of time before a new employees is able to make a significant contribution. The following is a time table as well an overview of the orientation program for the position of Executive Officer, Administration and Fiscal Affairs.

Time DAY ONE 8:00am (front doors of facility) 8:15am 9:00am 9:00am 11:00am 11:00am 12:00pm 12:00pm 1:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm

Orientation Goal Greetings and Welcome Welcome Video from CEO Tour with Introduction of Key Personnel Video on Company Benefits Lunch Orientation Paperwork Packet Overview (Personnel Manual, Benefits paperwork, Employment Forms, etc.)

Who Is Responsible HR Division Director for Area HR Division Director HR Division Director HR Division Director Immediate Supervisor HR Division Director

Development 2:00pm 4:00pm 4:00pm- 4:30pm DAY TWO 8:00am 8:15am 9:00am 9:00am 11:30am 11:30am 12:30pm 12:30pm 1:00 1:00pm 3:00pm 3:00pm-3:30pm 3:30pm 4:30pm Computer Systems Overview (email, phones, standard operating procedures) Debrief and Questions Greetings Identification Badges and Facility Security Job Expectations and Specific Job Orientation Lunch Orientation to workspace Orientation to new Job Q& A with Supervisor (complete orientation check list) Final Q&A with HR and completing paperwork IT Trainer HR Division Director HR Division Director Facilities Supervisor Immediate Supervisor With new co-workers Co-Workers Employee Mentor Immediate Supervisor HR Division Director

This orientation program is designed to have interaction with multiple parties within the organization. The overall desire is that the employee may not know all the vital information once the two day orientation program is over but they will have connected with enough people to know where to go to ask their questions. The main objective for the orientation is the new employee has time to spend with the supervisor and co-workers to fully understand the expectations of the job. I believe that employee orientation is vital to the overall success of ones employment. I would also contend that it is the first step in training employees and therefore must be considered in the overall training and development programs of organizations. Training is providing opportunities for employees to enhance, improve, or acquire skills, knowledge, or abilities that are immediately applicable to their current jobs. Training is helping employees improve their current performance which in turn should enhance the organizations ability to achieve its goals. Training should be a target

Development effort and one an activity left to random selection. In order for training to be targeted it

must come as a result of an overall individual needs assessment which is compared to the overall organizational needs assessment. The performance evaluation system provides a systematic review of an individuals performance and thus identifies areas where training is needed. The HR department of the organization should be tracking areas where it anticipates needs and what skills are most needed for effectiveness in certain positions. The individual performance evaluation and the organization supply and demand evaluation will help guide the employee and the supervisor in determining what training is needed. Therefore, in order to adequately design a training program for the stated position we must revisit the overall performance evaluation. Time management, alternative dispute resolution and situation analysis were all areas that contribute to the overall success of this position. These areas were all identified as areas in which the employee could improve and continue to grow. These must be matched with the overall organizational goals and confirmed that these skills are of value to the organizations. Once confirmed a strategy must be designed for training the employee as well as measuring the results of that training. Time management in this context is specifically a daily management issue. It is determined that the best approach for the employee gaining these skills is to have one-on-one on the job training from a mentor. A mentor is a season veteran of management and has been apart of the organization for multiple years. This mentor and the employee would agree to meet on a regular basis to review calendars and daily schedules. This coaching will include the mentor providing suggestions and alternative approaches for the employee to try. The main for of evaluation for this training will be output of the employee. It is speculated that in general the employees

Development should decrease time taken to complete a task and increase the amount of tasks

completed. The mentor will also contribute comments to the next employee performance evaluation. Alternative Dispute Resolution is a new skill and a new area of knowledge that the employee needs to acquire. The organization has begun to develop an employee resolution department within HR (which reports to the executive office) to address employee needs internally and externally. The position of Executive Officer is often working internally between agencies to mediate between competing ideas, needs or requirements. The need for volunteers in the HR department and the general responsibility of the position align for this employee to be a good candidate for such training. This training will be off the job training, in which the employee goes to a week long school to gain the needed knowledge and skills. The evaluation for this training will come in the form of a board certification that the employee will receive once the training is completed. This will require the employee to pass a standardized test and complete 20 hour of co-mediation in order to receive certification. The employee will then be required to help mediate within the HR department as well as use the newly acquired skills for completion of the overall organizational goals of the office of Administration and Fiscal Affairs. The final skills that was determined for training was the area of situation analysis. This is a skill in which the employee should be able to immediately analysis a situation and formulate a response. This training will come in the form of on the job coaching. The coach will be the supervisor. This training will occur as the situation deems appropriate. It will be the responsibility of the coach and the employee to initiate a coaching session.

Development This would mostly occur immediately prior or following a particular situation. The general questions would be: 1.? What went well? 2.) What did not go well? 3.) What

could I have done better? This form of training will be evaluated on the next performance evaluation. The employee will be evaluated on number of coaching sessions and the demonstration of an increase in critical thinking skills. Development is the second form of the learning process for the organization. Development should cover three different areas: individual, group, and organization. For the purposes of this paper the focus will be individual development. Development for the position of Executive Officer is some what difficult because of the organizational context. The organization is not one in which there is a career ladder or a next step to take. The organization, the government, consists of elected executives that bring in their own leadership. Thus, with the change in leadership there is a complete change of executive leadership. I am not sure that this is an effect way to manage an organization never the less it is the reality of government. Therefore, the whole focus of the first four years of an elected administration is to gain enough positive publicity to ensure reelection to another four year term. Development therefore is not a great concern for the appointed portion of government, which is where this position falls. The position of Executive Officer is an appoint position by the Governor at the request of the Cabinet Secretary. Therefore development must take a slightly different approach and focus more towards the overall career goals of the individual rather than the organization. Development is a long-term process and elected officials are short-term appointments. Most likely, there is an administration change after four years so this brief absence from the private sector must be carefully calculated so that one has a place to reenter that field once the

Development government tour of duty is over. The four people that occupy the positions of Executive Officer, three of them are midcareers and only one is an in the early stages of

their career. However, through the job analysis conducted in the first assignment it can be determined that each of these employees came to the position for two reasons. The first is to expand their skills by working in a large scale organization with a broad scope of responsibilities. The second is that each had a relationship with the leader of the organization and a belief in his ability to make a positive contribution to the public. This first reason should guide the development program for this position. The Executive Officers should be given opportunities to experience the large scale and scope of the organization thus able to build their resumes for future positions within government or in the private sector. The employee owns their career paths and therefore must be able to seek out development opportunities that are inline with their overall plans. The Cabinet for Health and Family services allows this form of development by offering tuition remission, manger development program and networking opportunities. The employee tuition remission benefit allows employees to purse additional education in their areas of interest while maintain a full-time income. This would be a great time for midcareer individuals to retool for a different career. The evaluation for this benefit is that employees must continue to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average and receive successful marks on their annual performance evaluations. As long as these two criteria are maintain the organization will aid in tuition and allow the employee to develop the needed skills for future positions. The Commonwealth also has a manager development program call the Certified Public Managers program. This program is for those who believe that public service is

Development their career. Sometimes after fours years as an appointed official individuals choose to continue their public service within the merit (nonappointed) ranks of the organization. This program is two years long and provides government specific training for those wanting to transition to non-merit or appointed positions. In addition to these two educational programs the Commonwealth provides networking opportunities for those whom because of elections will not remain with the government. These networking opportunities allow employees to remain connect to private industry thus easing the transition back to it once the elected administration is over. Those Executive officers that have come to gain scope and scale networking

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opportunity is vital to their futures. These opportunities can potentially lead to future jobs and thus development in this area is critical for a hope of the future. Maintaining human resources is a vital part of the overall management of organizations greatest resources, their human capital. This includes proper employee orientation, training and development. These will help the organization create a posture of learning and thus remain competitive in their respective markets. Government work because of the nature of this appoint position which is contingent upon elections poses a challenge for the creation of training and development programs however it is vital that it not be neglected just because of the different environment. The training should be employee specific and based on their performance evaluation and the overall supply and demands of the organization. Employee development because of the setting should take into account the overall career plans of the individual. The organization should provide development opportunities for those wishing to continue their stint in public service and those wishing to return to private sector. This development plan will also help aid in

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recruiting high caliber individuals from private sectors to make a significant contribution to the public. Employees should be help accountable for the training and development that they receive and thus results should be measurable for it to be an overall success. Effective training and development is vital part of the overall management of human resources however, in recent budget constraints it is often the first place organizations look to cut. This should be reconsidered based upon the return that an organization receives from its investment in its employees. Training and development are critical components to successfully managing the human capital of an organization.

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References Ivancevich, John M. (2004). Human Resource Management (9th ed.). Boston Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw Hill Irwin.