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An examination of the utilization of coaching for improved performance within the retail environment. Contents Introduction. Literature review and current knowledge Research method and results Conclusion Bibliography 1. Introduction I have carried out a single case study of a branch of Safeway in Scotland.
My aim is to identify the value of coaching and training to style of coaching used and analyse if it is being implemented and if so if it is improving performance within the staff. Another goal is to find possible solutions to revealed problems and suggest the ways of solving them. 2. Literature review and current knowledge Every organization needs to have well-trained and experienced people to perform the activities that must be done. If current or potential job occupants can meet these requirements, training is less critical. When this is not the case, however, it is necessary to raise the skill levels and increase the versatility and adaptability of employees. As jobs have become more complex, the importance of employee training has increased.
When jobs were simple, easy to learn, and influenced to only a small degree by technological changes, there was little need for employees to upgrade or alter their skills. But the rapid changes taking place during the last quarter-century in our highly sophisticated and complex society have created increased pressures for organizations to readapt the products and services produced, the manner in which products and services are produced and offered, the types of jobs required, and the types of skills necessary to complete these jobs. Many of the jobs currently being done in the United States did not exist half a century ago. It is becoming increasingly common for individuals to "change careers" several times during their working lives. The probability of any young person learning a job today and having those skills go basically unchanged during the 40 -odd years of his or her career is extremely unlikely.
In a rapidly changing society, employee training is not only desirable, but also an activity that an organization must commit resources to if it is to maintain a viable, up-to-date, and knowledgeable work force. Training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent change in an individual that will improve his or her ability to perform on the job. We typically say training can involve the changing of skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior (2). It may mean changing what employees know, how they work, their attitudes toward their work, or their interaction with their co-workers or supervisor. We will differentiate between employee training and employee development for one particular reason.
Although both are similar in the methods used to affect learning, their time frames differ. Training is more present day oriented; its focus is on individuals' current jobs, enhancing those specific skills and abilities to immediately perform their jobs (3). For example, suppose you enter the job market during your senior year of college, pursuing a job as a marketing representative. Although you have a Business Administration degree with a concentration in marketing, when you are hired, some training is in order. Specifically, you " ll need to learn the company's product line, your territory, and other pertinent selling tactics. This, by definition, is job-specific training, or training that is designed to make you more effective in your present job.
Employee development, on the other hand, focuses on future jobs in the organization (4). As your career progresses and you move up in your field, new skills and abilities are required. For example, if you become a sales manager, the skills needed to perform that job are quite different than those required for marketing a product. Now you will be required to supervise marketing representatives; requiring very specific management competencies like communication skills, evaluating employee performance, and disciplining problem individuals. As you are "groomed" for positions of greater responsibility in the company, employee development efforts will help prepare you for that day. Irrespective of whether we are involved in employee training or employee development, the same outcome is required that is, these programs are designed to enhance learning, so that employees are more effective and efficient on the job.
Since learning is critical to both these efforts, let's take a look at what we mean by learning. We have previously described training and development as a learning process. Of course, much of an employee's learning about a job takes place outside of specific training activities. But if we are to understand what training techniques can do to improve an employee's job performance, we should begin by explaining how people learn.
Learning is the process of bringing about relatively permanent change through experience. This can be done through direct experience doing indirectly, through observation. Regardless of the means by which learning takes place, we cannot measure learning per se; we can only measure the changes in attitudes and behavior that occur as a result of learning. For our discussion, we will emphasize how we learn rather that what we learn. Two major theories have dominated learning research over the years.
One position is the cognitive view. Its proponents argue that an individual is solely responsible for his or her actions (3). The other position is the environmental perspective, whose proponents believe that an individual's behavior is a function of external consequences (6). More recently an approach has been offered that blends both of these theories: Learning is a continuous interaction between the individual and the particular social environment in which he or she functions. Called social-learning theory (7) it acknowledges that we can learn by observing what happens to other people and simply by being told about something, as well as by direct experiences. Since much of training is observational in nature, this theory appears to have considerable application potential.
The influence of models is central to the social-learning viewpoint. Research indicates that much of what we have learned comes from watching models parents, teachers, peers, motion picture and television performers, bosses, and so forth. Four processes have been found to determine the influence a model will have on an individual. 1. Attentional Processes.
People only learn from a model when they recognize and pay attention to its critical features. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive, repeatedly available, that we think are important, or that we see as similar to us. 2. Retention Processes. A model's influence will depend on how well the individual remembers the model's action, even after the model is no longer readily available. 3. Motor Reproduction Processes. After a person has seen a new behavior by observing the model, the watching must be converted to doing.
This process then demonstrates that the individual can perform the modeled activities. 4. Reinforcement Processes. Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modeled behavior if positive incentives or rewards are provided. Behaviors that are reinforced will be given more attention, learned better, and performed more often. Social-learning theory offers us insights into what a training exercise should include. Specifically, it tells us training should provide a model; must grab the trainee's attention; provide motivational properties; help the trainee file away what he or she has learned for later use; and, if the training has taken place off the job, allow the trainee some opportunity to transfer what has been learned to the job The above processes derived from social-learning theory are frequently presented in more specific terms as principles of learning.
In this section, we will briefly review these principles. You should, of course, be able to see how they closely align with social-learning theory. Learning is enhanced when the learner is motivated. An individual must want to learn. When that desire exists, the learner will exert a high level of effort. There appears to be valid evidence to support the adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. " The learning experience, therefore, should be designed so that learners can see how it will help them achieve those goals they have set for themselves.
If, for example, the new trainee desires the security and fulfillment that comes from being a skilled computer-assisted design operator, he or she is more likely to be highly motivated to learn how to perform that job successfully. Learning requires feedback. Feedback, or knowledge of results, is necessary so Feedback Knowledge of that learners can correct their mistakes. Only by getting information about results, how you are doing can you compare it against your goals and correct your deviations. Feedback is best when it is immediate rather than delayed; the sooner individuals have some knowledge of how well they are performing, the easier it is for them to correct their erroneous actions. Additionally, self-generated feedback (in contrast to that provided by others) can provide intrinsic fulfillment.
When individuals obtain information on their performance, the task becomes more intrinsically interesting and acts to motivate them. Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a learned behavior will be repeated. The principle of reinforcement tells us that behaviors that are positively reinforced (rewarded) are encouraged and sustained. When the behavior is punished, it is temporarily suppressed but is unlikely to be extinguished. Punishment tells learners they are doing something wrong. What is desired, however, is to convey feedback to the learners when they are doing what is right to encourage them to keep doing it.
Learning will be facilitated by providing feedback through positive reinforcement. For instance, if workers are verbally praised when they have properly performed a task, they are likely to continue doing the task this way and be motivated to strive toward performing better work. Practice increases a learner's performance. When learners actually practice what they have read or seen, they gain confidence and are less likely to make errors or to forget what they have learned. Active involvement through practice, therefore, should be made part of the learning process. There are a few ways a worker can practice a job.
One is to practice the whole job at once. Another is to break the job into parts and practice each part independently. Which way is best? The answer lies in the type of job being done. It appears that if the total work the person does is small and relatively simple, like stocking shelves in a grocery store, practice should cover the whole job. If the job is complicated, like tracking a satellite in space, the independent part approach is best.
In doing so, each element in its entirety is given its appropriate focus. Learning begins rapidly, then plateaus learning rates can be expressed as a curve that usually begins with a sharp rise, then increases at a decreasing rate until a plateau is reached. Learning is very fast at the beginning, but then plateaus as opportunities for improvement are reduced. The learning curve principle can be illustrated by observing individuals in training to run the mile. At first, their time improves rapidly as they get into shape. Then, as their conditioning develops, their improvement plateaus.
Obviously, knocking one minute off a 10 -minute mile is a lot easier than knocking one minute off a 5 -minute mile. Learning must be transferable to the job. It doesn't make much sense to perfect a skill in the classroom and then find that you can't successfully transfer it to the job. Therefore training should be designed for transferability. Learning is enhanced when the skills learned are readily transferable to the job. Transfer of learning can be positive or negative.
The ability to carve a turkey with a knife will aid in learning to carve one with an electric knife. This is a positive transfer, for it improves performance. But knowledge of German can impede students learning to speak French if the harsh pronunciations used in German are carried over and attempted on the light pronunciations needed for French. This latter case illustrates negative transfer, which hampers performance.
From an organizational point of view, we witness the same transfers. The social-learning model and learning principles tell us training should provide the trainee with a given model to follow, (8) specific goals...
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Research essay sample on Social Learning Theory Skills And Abilities
