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... etc. The coach provides the individual with constant feedback on their performance and how they are progressing. AMA use both mentoring and coaching as forms of training staff to perform different tasks, for example, a direct mail worker being trained to be a telephone operator. Apprenticeships An apprenticeship is where an individual is trained by working with a skilled craftsperson. This method of training has however decreased in popularity over the past number of years.
AMA doesn't use apprenticeships as a form of training. In-house Training In house training involves training several employees within the business. This usually happens in organisations where the business has its own training department. It can take place on the job or off the job. External Training This method of training involves employees are sent to take part in external courses or are trained away from the business. It can only take place off the job.
Training can take place on-the-job or off-the-job. On-the-job training takes place when the individual are trained whilst they are carrying out the activities. This usually takes place in within their own organisation. Off-the-job training takes place away from the job but can happen internally or externally.
Employees are often keen for the training to lead to a national qualification as this can generally improve their career prospects. NVQs, GNVQs and Avces are all nationally recognised qualifications. Training can lead to employees gaining one of these qualifications. Over the past few years NVQs, GNVQs and Avces have contributed immensely to raising the standards of training and development. They contribute to a businesses training and development programme as they show that employees have knowledge and skills in these fields. AMA does not use training that leads to national qualifications as few skills are required to work for AMA.
An effective training programme will contain an appropriate mixture of the different methods of training. The method chosen should be relevant to the employee and their current skill level. The government knows the significance of training both for businesses and for the employees. They have set national training targets to help encourage businesses to perform training and increase the skill levels and qualifications of the entire UK workforce.
The Investors in People is one of the schemes used by the government which sets standards for businesses within every sector to meet in relation training and development. If a business succeeds in meeting these standards they can display the official logo and show their commitment to training and development. Another scheme setup by the government is the Individual Learning Account. This scheme allows individuals to pay for their own training and receive discounts and different benefits.
This can also be used by the employee to show their efforts and interest in developing their skills and moving up in the business. Transferable and non-transferable skills can be developed through training programmes. Non-transferable skills are skills which can only be used within a particular industry. Transferable skills are generic skills which can be used within different industries. These skills are very valuable as a variety of employers can use them. These skills include communication, problem solving, team working, ICT and numeracy skills.
Skills obtained by call centre operators are generally non-transferable as they can usually only be used in other call centres. Training and development methods used by AMA are often influenced by the motivational theorist Frederick Herzberg's two factor theory. Herzberg's theory suggests that there are two types of factors that affect how employees feel about work. These two factors are known as content factors which are factors that lead to worker satisfaction and hygiene factors which if not met lead to worker dissatisfaction.
He suggested that one of the ways of achieving the content factors was to give employees new tasks. If employees are to perform new tasks they will have to be trained or have their skills developed. AMA will then have to decide upon the most suitable method of training. Another way in which Herzberg suggested would motivate staff was to give the employee more responsibility or new special assignments to perform.
If AMA were to give their employees more responsibility or new tasks to carry out it is probable that the employees would have to be trained. This is because the employees may lack the skills required to perform these new tasks and to handle the extra responsibility. Training and the development of employees's kills would result in these tasks being performed efficiently and effectively. Another theorist whose theory influences a business such as AMA's training and development programme is In order for a business to remain competitive regular analysis must be performed on performance management. Performance management is a process conducted by human resources, which is constantly ongoing. This process involves measuring the performance of the employees against the individual targets set for them and the overall objectives of the company.
It will entail the human resources department having to conduct performance appraisal. From the results of the performance management the human resources team will identify ways to improve upon the performance of the companies employees. (E 1 /A 2 /E 5) Employees are often set objectives so their performance can be measured against them. These objectives should be directly related to the objectives of the organisation so that the actions of the employees are helping the organisation meet its objectives. The following are methods that the business uses to manage the performance of their employees: Performance Reviews Every business including AMA has their own objectives both for the business and the individuals. Performance can be measured on how well these objectives are met. "Performance appraisal is a process of performance systematically and of providing feedback on which performance adjustments can be made" (Heinemann AVCE Advance Business). There are two basic systems which should be operating during a performance appraisal system; an evaluation system and a feedback system.
The evaluation system which AMA uses identifies any performance gaps. AMA has a standard appraisal form which they used when performing appraisal on employees. The responses on this form help AMA's human resource department to identify performance gaps in their employee's performance. The feedback system informs employees of these gaps. Feedback also allows employees to discuss their aspects of the job. The purpose of performance appraisal is to allow the development of employees and their skills, attributes and performance.
This feedback according to theorist Frederick Herzberg is a motivator. The feedback given to employees by their managers is said to encourage the employees to work harder and produce higher quality work. Self Evaluation This method of performance analysis involves the individual assessing how they feel they are performing. They state how they feel they are meeting their individual targets. There are benefits of using this method of evaluation including: & # 61607; As employees are given more responsibility they become more motivated. & # 61607; The employee may have a better knowledge on how their work should be done than an external assessor would have. & # 61607; It saves time and money which would have been spent on getting an external evaluator. & # 61607; It allows the individual the chance to see what they are doing, what they have done and what they have yet to do.
Individuals often don't see their own deficiencies so another form of review should be used alongside this method. AMA seldom uses this method of performance analysis. AMA only uses this method of performance analysis as a method of motivation. The theorist Herzberg suggests that giving employees more responsibility and new tasks will motivate employees.
Asking employees to perform a self-analysis is giving them more responsibility and new tasks to perform. AMA therefore uses self evaluation as a method of staff motivation. Peer Evaluation Peer evaluation is most commonly used in situations were teamwork is taking place. It allows for the team members to evaluate how much each team member is contributing towards the task. It can result in peers giving constructive criticism and individuals using this to improve their own performance. However it can also result in peers only giving low levels of criticism so not to offend other team members.
AMA refrain from using this method of performance analysis as they feel that it can result in tension between employees and as employees work in close quarters it is important to remember this. Target Setting for Individuals and Groups Employees can help their managers or superiors to set their own individual targets which will be related to the targets of their department and the organisations overall goals. Staff appraisal can be based on: & # 61607; Personal Attributes - including reliability, judgement, initiative, disposition, etc. However this system allows for wide interpretation, inconsistency and therefore the results could be unfair. & # 61607; Skills - this looks at the skills the individual has and if they allow them to perform their job effectively. The person measuring their performance will observe their work and judge them & # 61607; Performance - checking how the individual meets their own targets. This can however be affected by factors out of the control of the individual, for example, the quality of resources, team performance, etc.
This is AMA's main method of performance analysis as individuals have their own targets which they are to meet. This AMA feel is the easiest way for them to remain aware of how their employees are performing. The human resource department will observe the performance of employees, analyse it and decide if there are gaps or anything that should be done to improve their performance. AMA provides a link between their training and development and performance management functions. When performance management is conducted the results show the human resource department ways of improving the performance of their employees.
The management team will then decide on ways in which these improvements can be carried out. Often training and development schemes are used by the human resources department to fulfil these gaps in their staffs' performance. As mentioned before staff appraisal is based on personal attributes, skills and performance. Both skill and performance shortages and problems can often be solved through the used of different training and development programmes. In AMA the process of appraisal and other forms of evaluation are directly linked to training and development. If employees are to meet their own individual targets, which lead to the department reaching their aims and the organisation in turn meeting its objectives then it is essential that staff are trained and developed to their full potential.
Appraisal and other evaluation methods used with AMA often lead to the employees stressing their own needs and how they feel they could or should be trained in order to develop his or her skills. Appraisal and these other evaluation methods give the employees the chance to communicate their needs to superiors. Training and development can enhance the performance of individuals, teams and departments. This improvement in performance can lead to AMA becoming more competitive in their market. Finally when conducting performance management the human resource department of AMA should ensure that legislation relating to employees and their work are not being breached. This legislation includes: & # 61607; Maximum Hours Legislation & # 61607; Leaving arrangements i.
e. maternity and paternity leave & # 61607; Minimum Wages The different human resource activities being performed within AMA can result in conflicts arising. Potential conflicts include: The theorist Herzberg stated that responsibility was one of the motivators. Motivators are the factors that are said to lead to worker satisfaction.
The human resources department within AMA may decide to give employees more authority and responsibility as a method of motivating their staff. This increase in employee's authority and responsibility may however lead to conflict as there would be too many people giving orders and not enough employees willing to do the work. This would result in the quality of the products and services being produced being diminished. This would cause problems for the business as it would result in little work being done and fewer products being produced. This is a conflict which could between different activities being performed in AMA.
This conflict could be resolved by giving employees responsibility in forms other than deciding on how tasks should be done and who should do them. These other forms could include; letting them write their own appraisal, i. e. self evaluation. The human resource department in AMA may use Herzberg's theory to help motivate their employees. Herzberg's theory suggests that there are seven ways of motivating employees including managers giving direct feedback to employees.
If AMA were to give direct feedback to their employees conflict could arise. This conflict is that the manager will have to take time out of their own duties and responsibilities to have individual meetings with each of the employees for whom they are responsible. This will be very time consuming and the fact that they are getting little work done will reflect upon their department and directly upon the rest of the business. Also when the manager is providing employees with their feedback the employees aren't doing their job. This again can have a detrimental affect on their department and the company. If AMA use the suggestion from Maslow and Taylor's theories that money is the first or the main motivator of employees and pay their employees well then their staff should be highly motivated.
This however has two consequences for management. Firstly if employees are being paid too well then this will have a direct affect on the profit levels of the business. They will have to consider the company's costs, how much if any money is being reinvested in the business and what profit they aim to make. These figures can then be used to decide upon how much the company can afford to pay each of the different employees. Secondly as Maslow's theory states a person can only be motivated slightly by money before other factors have to be considered such as security, their feeling of belonging, etc. The human resource department within AMA are reasonable when it comes to giving employees holidays as long as a sufficient period of time is given to find a replacement or when they have genuine reasons.
However there are circumstances that will mean that AMA may not be able to satisfy the employees request for holidays, for example, a major job which requires all or the majority of the employee's to work. This may result in the employees who have to work when they want to be somewhere else being unmotivated and unhappy in their work. This can affect the quality of their work and their supervisor will have to take action to ensure that the employee does their job properly. A hostile relationship may be formed between the supervisor and the employee. Finally AMA may decide to give employees new tasks. For example call centre operators who answer the telephone and resolve customer queries may be asked to make direct phone calls, produce letters for direct mail or insert leaflets into already produced packages.
This is AMA multi-skilling their staff so they can do different jobs. AMA will however have to train their staff to do these different jobs and this will be both time and money consuming as current staff will have to take time out of their current jobs to learn how to perform these new tasks or to train other staff to perform particular tasks.
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Research essay sample on Human Resource Department Human Resources Department
