EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Employee training, learning and Development plan is the framework for helping employees to develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers. HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 85 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. The Company is committed to creating a learning organisation that promotes and supports individual development and is the envy of other global companies. They recognise that superior knowledge and skills of its employees are vital if they are to deliver a first class service to our customers, continue to grow as a business and be better than our competitors. At the same time, they want the Company to be a great place to work where employees have job satisfaction, grow with us and make a long-term commitment to stay with the Company.“My Learning” is a learning management system available on the GMO HR intranet. It is company’s personal link to a wealth of learning opportunities. It is a single point of access for all learning activities and information resources and a key part of the Company’s flexible learning approach. It improves the speed, quality and effectiveness of the learning process, providing greater opportunity for all employees to take part in learning activities, regardless of current job role, future career aspirations or location. In this assignment HSBC’s need analysis is done for training, learning and development and after a through study of the culture of the organization an employee development plan is designed and evaluated on the bases of values of HSBC.
INTRODUCTION
Human resource has become a very key department for any organization. The Human Resources (HR) function provides significant support and advice to line management. The attraction, preservation and development of high caliber people are a source of competitive advantage for any business, and are the responsibility of HR. Increasing importance has been played on the role of managing the work force today. Recognizing that it is the people who make a difference and who can be source of organization’s competitive advantage, organizations are placing more emphasis on understanding how to manage this key source better. (Patricia Buhler, 2002) A learning organization needs people who are intellectually curious about their work, who actively reflect on their experience, who develop experience-based theories of change and continuously test these in practice with colleagues, and who use their understanding and initiative to contribute to knowledge development. In short, it needs people who are reflective practitioners. Reflective practitioners understand their strengths and limitations and have a range of tools, methods, and approaches for knowledge management and learning, individually and in collaboration with others. I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. (Albert Einstein). Many companies do have employees with the competences to manage in a global economy for example 2/3 of the companies believes that they do not have enough employees with the global leadership skills. Among those companies that believe they
have employees with global leadership skills have of the companies believe that these skills are not adequate. To successfully manage in global economy managers should be self aware and able to build international teams and interact and mange employees from diverse cultural backgrounds. (Raymond , 2008) Employee development is now, more than ever, a key issue within human resources management and looks set to stay same way. Organisational change, particularly downsizing, has stimulated the need for employees at all levels to become more flexible and responsive (Donaldson, 1993). Developing employees’ skills can make them more and more employable and adaptable to different tasks. The required skills are not necessarily strictly job-related. Often the skills needed are general ones. Confidence, communication, initiative and team working can all be crucial to the modern, tilt organization, skills which job-related training may not necessarily address. The continued need for individual and organizational development can be traced to numerous demands, including maintaining superiority in the marketplace, enhancing employee skills and knowledge, and increasing productivity. Training is one of the most pervasive methods for enhancing the productivity of individuals and communicating organizational goals to new personnel. In 2000, U.S. organizations with 100 or more employees budgeted to spend $54 billion on formal training (“Industry Report,” 2000). Learning has become increasingly important to the survival of organisations as a result of changes both in the context of organisations, and within organisations (e.g., Argyris, 1993; Gilley & Maycunich, 2000; Marsick & Watkins, 1999; Nevis, DiBella & Gould, 1995; Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell, 1997; Poell et al, 2000; Schein, 1993; Senge, 1990a; Tannenbaum, 1997; Watkins & Marsick, 1993). The importance of learning is primarily attributed to rapid and continuous change in the organisation's environment (Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell, 1997; Revans, 1980). Forces such as globalization, technological innovation, changing consumer preferences and deregulation are thought to be responsible for change initiatives (Marquardt, 1996). Some commentators believe that organisations that learn faster will be able to adapt quicker and thus avoid the economic evolutionary weeding out process (Revans, 1980; Schein, 1993). The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage (De Geus, 1988, p.71). Learning is also increasingly important for employees to ensure their employability. Organisations expect employees to be flexible, adaptable and constantly learning to perform new and changing tasks (Poell et al, 2000). Although organisations no longer can provide employment security, the employees’ ability and willingness to learn and adapt is a key determinant of their employability (Ghosal, Barlett & Moran, 1999). Knowledge is also a critical asset in every learning organization. Because learning is both a product of comprehension and its source, a learning organization recognizes that the two are inextricably allied and manages them in view of that.
BACKGROUND
HSBC Holdings plc (Chinese: 滙 豐 控 股 有 限 公 司 ) is a global financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. As of 2010 it is the world's sixth-largest banking and financial services group and eighth-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. It has around 8,000 offices in 91 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America
and around 100 million customers. As of 30 June 2010 it had total assets of $2.418 trillion, of which roughly half were in Europe, a quarter in the Americas and a quarter in Asia. HSBC Holdings plc was founded in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company and to enable the acquisition of UK-based Midland Bank. The origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. Today HSBC remains the largest bank in Hong Kong, and recent expansion in mainland China, where it is now the largest international bank, has returned it to that part of its roots. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (where it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index), New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and Bermuda Stock Exchange. As of August 2010, it was the largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, with a market capitalisation of £115.8 billion. (wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC) Training and development is a vital part of HRM and is incomplete without proper performance management. The training and development in detail as practiced at HSBC Bank is conducted in four steps. First Training need analysis is done where the existing skills and knowledge of employees are evaluated and then training requirements are assessed. Then in the second step appropriate program is designed to fulfill the training requirements and in the third step that training is conducted. In the fourth and last step the employees are again evaluated to check the effectiveness of the program. The training program is usually divided into three parts. In the first past employee is given orientation of the bank and the job. This is called induction training. In the second part, employee is given job specific training and in the third part employees are encouraged and groomed to achieve their personal development goals. ( The Training & Development Program At HSBC Bank, syed saad mehmood, 30th april 2009) HSBC is rolling out specially designed 'learning pods' to 1200 branches across the UK. The new learning pods are workstations dedicated to staff training and development that give staff access to a variety of learning tools. These include: Live! TV, a weekly communication to HSBC staff, Online learning, A corporate lending library which offers books, DVDs and CD-Roms, HSBC's intranet and a number of external learning sites , Course information and booking. HSBC's head of learning and development Ann Ewing said: "The launch of learning pods is a major initiative in the drive to enhance the development and career progression of our people. "In a busy, fast moving world, we need to bring learning opportunities to people at their finger tips - when and how they need them. Pods bring learning to the workplace in 1200 locations around the country and are a superb resource in helping our people to reach their full potential. "Being able to roll out training over a wide area is extremely exciting and means we will be able to respond more quickly to changes in customer needs and, in the long run, continue to improve customer service." Julie Harding, HSBC HR director, stressed the importance of personal and professional growth for all staff. She said: "We aspire to be the best place to work and continually encouraging people to learn and develop is central to this. The pace of change in the
workplace is rapid and it is essential that we enable our employees to upgrade and update their skills on a regular basis." (UK training & development news, November 2006) The HSBC Group Values describe how the Group interacts with each other internally, with customers and with the wider community. All employees are expected to have and reflect Group Values. The following three statements summaries the Group's Values and each statement is expanded to help describe the way the Values operate. HSBC's culture is amongst its signature strengths; it has been and is key to the Group's past and continued success. Open to different ideas and cultures, Having a diverse and inclusive culture underpinned by a meritocratic approach to recruitment, selection and promotion, Putting the team's interests ahead of the individual's and Being a fair and objective employer connected with our customers, community and each other, Proactive and hands-on management at all levels, Appropriate delegation of authority with accountability and Ethical and sustainable business practice, taking responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of decisions, especially in relation to lending and investment. Commitment to the welfare of communities and the environment dependable and doing the right thing Openly esteemed commitment to quality, competence, truth and fair dealing, Commitment to complying with the spirit and letter of all laws and regulations wherever the Group conducts its business and Having and displaying highest personal standards of integrity at all levels. (Group Values, hsbc.com)
Present training and development at HSBC
The Company is committed to creating a learning organisation that promotes and supports individual development and is the envy of other global companies. We recognise that superior knowledge and skills of our employees are vital if we are to deliver a first class service to our customers, continue to grow as a business and be better than our competitors. At the same time, we want the Company to be a great place to work where employees have job satisfaction, grow with us and make a long-term commitment to stay with the Company. Whatever your personal learning and development goals are and regardless of your career aspirations in the Group, we have a wide range of opportunities for career development. Opportunities include the weekly 'My Next Move' and 'Global Job Opportunities' where role vacancies are advertised on the intranet. Learning is most effective when it is enjoyable, made as accessible as possible, with you in control and conducted at your own pace. Our goal is to make learning and development something that everyone in the Company is passionate about. We know that when it comes to learning, one size does not fit all and everyone is different – we all have different levels of knowledge or experience and we all like to learn at different speeds and in different ways. “My Learning” is a learning management system available on the GMO HR intranet (via Project Link). It is your personal link to a wealth of learning opportunities. It is a single point of access for all learning activities and information resources and a key part of the Company’s flexible learning approach. It improves the speed, quality and effectiveness of the learning process, providing greater opportunity for all employees to take part in learning activities, regardless of current job role, future career aspirations or location. Learning is developing new knowledge and skills and building on and improving the skills you already have to enable you to gain more from your current role or to prepare
for your next job with the Company or HSBC Group. We want you to take control of your personal learning and development by identifying your development needs and preparing your own learning and development plan. There are several resources to help you prepare your personal learning and development plan including the Group Capabilities Framework. Links to these can easily be found on the HR and Learning pages on HSBC Bank plc’s UK intranet. The Group Capabilities Framework highlights the skills and actions that best support the Group’s Managing for Growth strategy. It describes the Company’s corporate character and translates this into the qualities expected of all our employees, by defining the required skills, attitudes and behaviors. The Learning & Development team has learning and development professionals who are responsible for a wide range of learning activities, all of which are accessible through 'My Learning'. The team liaise with business units to provide the best learning solutions throughout the Company and the HSBC Group. Your learning may be provided face to face at our premier Group Management Training College in Hertfordshire, through personal coaching or with online, video and paper-based learning materials. A wealth of knowledge exists in the Company’s unique LEAP library which provides access to over 2,800 resources with speedy delivery. (Employee Hand Book, HSBC Holdings plc)
LITERATURE REVIEW
Training is concerned with the teaching of specific, factual, narrow - scoped subject matter and skills. It is a formal classroom learning activities. Training – impart skills, attitude and knowledge for direct application to a task or job. Development is concerned with a broader subject matter of a conceptual or theoretical nature and the development of personal attitudes. It comprises all learning experiences, both on and off the job, including formal, classroom training. Development - adopt skills, attitude and knowledge for application to a future role. Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skill through study, experience or teaching. It is a process that depends on experience and leads to long-term changes in behavior potential. Behavior potential describes the possible behavior of an individual in a given situation in order to achieve a goal. Learning - adopt skills, attitude and knowledge that impacts future behavior. Training, development and education are all a subset of “learning”. Training is structured presentation with a specific purpose and may or may not be classroom based. Development and learning may occur with varying levels of structure and purpose. Hope this helps. (Cite HR.com, May 2008)
THEORATICAL MODEL/FRAMEWORK
Training & Development Construct Educational Assistance
Assistance In Career Path Cost Of Learning Proactive Employees Dependent Variable Delivery Style Of Trainer Perceived Benefits Independent Variables
Organizational Learning
CRITIQUES ON EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Throughout the 1980s, until the present day, a steady output of research reports and other publications has pointed to deficiencies in the skills and qualifications of the British workforce, in comparison to the workforces of our international competitors. For example, the CBI's 'Towards a Skill Revolution' (1989) described the British workforce as 'under-educated, under-trained, and under-qualified'. This has inevitably raised questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of the education system and of the vocational education and training system. Thus, the perceived deficiencies of these systems have been held to be central to the nation's inability to compete effectively in the long term in world markets (Barnett, 1972, 1986; Wiener, 1981; Porter, 1990). More recently, the debate has grown from a concentration on vocational training to encompass a concern with increasing participation in processes of learning of the population as a whole. Indeed, the necessity to enhance adult participation in learning has been advocated on the basis of the pace of industrial change, heightened international competition, the changing demographic structure, and the now familiar fact that 80% of the workforce in the year 2000 are already at work. Edwards et al (1993) suggest that participation in education and training is closely linked to previous and recent participation in learning. They attribute this situation to cultural factors, so that members of different social classes tend to adopt class norms which greatly influence behaviour.
As far as the working class is concerned "a particular culture is engendered, a culture of non-participation, in which forms of provision are perceived to be part of a middle class culture". What cannot be disputed, however, is that there currently exists in Britain a great unevenness in the distribution of the proportions of different social classes who are engaged in learning activities. A recent review of the literature asserted that: The key message which emerges from the data ........ is that those who have had the greatest exposure to learning and who may therefore be considered to have gained greatest benefit or reward from the system, are also those who continue to be exposed to, and derive reward from and benefit from, the system. (Maguire, Maguire and Felstead, 1993, p6) It must be remembered that, as a range of literature acknowledges, individuals can have a variety of reasons for participating in learning, with a broad distinction often being made between job-related or career development reasons and non-work-related reasons, such as personal development. From her own study of the literature, McGivney concludes that 'motivations vary according to age and gender: younger adults and men learn mostly for employment-related reasons, while older adults and women learn more for personal satisfaction, self-development, leisure purposes and family or role transitions (McGivney, 1990, p26). This would appear to reflect what have traditionally been the realities of the labour market in terms of differential access, by age and gender, to both jobs and opportunities for career progression. The Learning Imperative (NIACE, 1993) asserts that adult learners usually have complex motivations and objectives in engaging in learning. They may pursue their individual aims, which often match poorly with the structures and learning programmes offered by traditional institutions, although most will express a vocational motivation. Recently, however, the workplace has grown significantly in prominence as an arena for learning. Traditionally, learning at work has been equated with training, which has been undertaken in order to impart specific job-related skills, or in order to inculcate a company ethos or culture. Research from different parts of the world has pointed to factors such as the type of work undertaken and the degree of autonomy and responsibility enjoyed by those carrying out the work (Kohn and Slomczynski, 1990), and the extent to which learning is likely to be recognised and rewarded within the organisation (Koike and Inoki, 1990) as being crucial in shaping employee attitudes to learning. Partly as a result of a growing awareness of the differences in productivity and commitment to the organisation achieved by the introduction of adaptations to organisational structures and espoused company cultures, there is a burgeoning literature and debate over the efficacy of the 'learning organisation' (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 1991 ). A significant trend which is highly relevant to this debate has been the spread of employee development schemes. While Ford's EDAP scheme is the best-known, other similar schemes have been reported as being in operation in Rover, Lucas, Baxi, ICI, Colman's, and Sheerness Steel, and the list of companies is growing rapidly. Payne's (1992) study of large firms which were either known to have set up employee development schemes or were regarded as leaders in the field of training showed that,
unlike Ford EDAP, which evolved from a trade union initiative, the vast majority of schemes were management initiatives, with common characteristics being: Multinational companies, experiencing difficulty in recruiting professional and technical staff, conscious of the need for new skills, had discussions with trade unions, links with Higher Education institutions and links with Colleges of Further Education. Crucially, such schemes are seen to encourage participation in learning. Whilst, initially, this participation is often not work-related, it may subsequently lead to greater participation in, and commitment to, work-related training. The personal development of the individual is a key factor in these schemes. Bridge and Salt (1992) clearly differentiate between these types of schemes and work-based learning which tends to be vocational and job-specific. They also point to the emergence of learning contracts, which are agreed between employer, employees, and academic institutions and focus on a work-based learning programme for the employee (Dearden, 1989)
CURRENT TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
According to some observers, the industrial era's successor--the information age, in which white-collar jobs exceeded blue-collar jobs and entire industries arose just to help companies manage and process information--is already at or past the midpoint of its life cycle. The ever-declining cost of processing information has made it universally available. Indeed, information has become a commodity that is readily bought and sold. As a result, it is no longer enough to define competitive advantage. Gone are the days, for example, when banks could compete exclusively on the basis of which had the fastest information technology or which could slice and dice their account information in more ways than anyone else. Hence, the rapidly growing interest in knowledge as the "new" source of competitive advantage and the realization that we have now entered a new era--the knowledge era. In many ways, this is nothing new at all. A firm's knowledge--the brains of its employees, their know-how, the processes and customer knowledge that they create--has always been a source of competitive advantage. And by extension, so too has been knowledge management--the processes by which a firm creates and leverages knowledge. What is unique about the knowledge era is that knowledge is becoming the primary source of competitive advantage within a growing number of industries. Organizations from industrial-era industries, such as automobile manufacturing, to information-age industries such as consulting are recognizing that they each have a unique storehouse of knowledge, and that the future belongs to those that can grow their knowledge fastest and then apply and use it best. Firms which train a lot may also share one or more other characteristics which make them relatively successful. This could be something which is actually inherently impossible or difficult to observe, such as ‘management style’, which may well affect both the amount of training provided and the measure of company performance (Green, 1997). Or it may be something (such as technical innovation) which is simply not included in the data set, though it could, in principle, be measured. There may also be reverse causation: for example, firms with poor productivity may be especially inclined to engage in lots of training in an effort to improve their performance, which will again suggest a negative link between training and performance which does not actually exist.
The preferred approach to analysing training effects is, for these reasons, to collect data on the same sample of firms at two or more points in time. This is known as panel data, and panel estimation techniques can then be applied. If panel data are available it is possible to look at changes in company performance over time, and their association with changes in the amount of training provided. Such panel studies have some problems of their own – for example, measurement error is likely to be exacerbated by focusing on changes rather than levels (Huselid and Becker, 1996) but it is probably safe to say that panel studies are generally to be preferred to cross-sectional estimates of the links between training and organisational outcomes (and their results given correspondingly greater weight). Exactly the same issue of endogeneity arises in the context of studies which look at the returns to individuals of differing skill levels. Rewards – such as higher wages, or lower chances of unemployment – may appear to be linked to the skills or qualifications an individual possesses, when they are actually, in whole or in part, the result of other unobserved characteristics, such as innate ability. This also applies to studies of individuals within companies: the individuals who receive training may not be a random sample of the population but may be selected in certain ways, for example from the more able or more highly educated workers, or from those already earmarked for possible promotion. This problem is very well recognized: again, the use of panel studies, and a focus on the results of changes in skill levels is highly desirable. Given these issues, how well can we deal with them? The answer is: less well in the case of studies of training effects than in studies of individuals and skill acquisition, and not perfectly in either. We have very good UK panel data for individuals but even here, the data sets are not large enough to provide detailed information on the results of improving one’s basic skills during adult life. Studies of the direct impact of training on company performance have only been conducted in the last ten years or so: good datasets containing information on organisational outcome measures and training have, for the most part, only been collected fairly recently. This applies even more strongly to panel datasets which are still rare. Typically, even they cover only relatively short periods of time, perhaps two or three years, while the effects of training may last longer than that (Lengerman, 1999). Moreover, datasets on firms and training often do not contain all the information we might ideally wish to have. Training comes in a variety of different forms – informal and formal, on-the-job and off-the-job, induction training versus the training of experienced workers and so on. Datasets do not usually tell us about all of these, and the information may just be the number of days of training per worker per year on average, or perhaps training expenditure as a share of the wage bill. Training can also be broken down by type – for example, health and safety training, computer training, managerial training – and evidence is accumulating that the type of training matters in estimating how high the returns to training might be (Groot, 1995; Black and Lynch, 1996; Barrett and O’Connell, 2000). Most large-scale datasets which cover training (such as WERS) do not include basic skills training among their training measures. Those few studies which look specifically at basic skills training and its effects in organisations often suffer from small and/or unrepresentative datasets.
Some studies also suggest that the inter-relationships between training and other practices of the firm may be important in assessing the likely effects of training in the workplace. Several studies have found that training may exert its influence on company performance in association with several other human resource practices of the firm (Black and Lynch, 1996; Ichniowski, 1997; but see Bartel, 1995 for some contrary findings). In such studies, training forms part of a bundle of HR practices (Guest et al. 2000a, b), which may include team working, family-friendly policies, performance appraisals, profit-related pay etc. and it is the bundle as a whole which influences performance. The advancement of technology has created high wages for some employees and strong profits for some companies, but it has also changed the employment scene. Blue-collar jobs had consistent requirements for many years, and several have made a shift to requiring an understanding of computers and automated systems (Cunniff, 2000). This change is forcing employees to evaluate their career competencies in order to maintain employment. Many employees have changed their mindset from looking to get promoted within their current companies to working to grow out of their companies (Feldman, 2000). Whereas people used to have 10-year plans for their futures, they are lucky if they can envision a two-year plan with the constant change in knowledge and information (Wilson, 2000). This shift in mentality forces companies to find ways to keep their talented workers. Tires Plus offers its workers paid training to advance to a different career with the company, which includes at least 80 hours of training for a supervisor to prepare to become a store manager (Dobbs, 2000). I-Cube, an information technology consulting Services Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers an employee development program called I-Altitude to prepare new employees for their jobs. Once employees complete I-Altitude, they can choose to take more course to help them develop the skills to be promoted within the company (Fenn, 1999). People realize that training can lead to greater responsibilities and a larger paycheck (Fenn, 1999). In addition to helping people develop career competencies that will help them survive in the future, employee development programs are also excellent vehicles for job satisfaction Organizations can use employee development efforts to help them stand out to employees, perspective employees, and customers. Tires Plus utilizes TPU to ensure that they are not the same as other tire shops because they do more to connect with customers (Dobbs, 2000). GSD&M’s Idea U helps employees understand their roles, and they have found that it has made people greater contributors to the business as a whole (Petrecca, 2000). DDB University keeps employees on the cutting edge and helps them to better serve clients (Petrecca, 2000). Finally, companies can use employee development programs to help their image as an employer. It shows to perspective employees that they want the best employees possible and are willing to invest to create a competitive advantage (Meister, 1998) An employee’s satisfaction with training and the effectiveness of that training are very dependent on the method in which the material is presented. More than half the respondents to the Gallup study indicated that they learn best via on-the-job training. Although it may not be exactly the same on-the-job training that the Gallup respondents prefer, the EPPs in the ASTD/SHRM study deliver over three times as much self-paced training in comparison to the Benchmarking Service organizations. Additionally, the EPPs tend to use more outside resources for training, but spend less on these resources as
a percentage of total training expenditures. The cost discrepancy is probably due to the size of these organizations, since they average 62,000 employees. companies put the responsibility for development on the individual employees, then go to great lengths to support these efforts. Support comes from managers, leaders, coaches, mentors, and teams because they believe that worker knowledge is significant to business success. The EPPs thrive on creative ideas and ingenious ways of doing things, therefore, they must have employees who are constantly looking to learn and grow professionally. Not only are employees expected to develop in their current jobs, but the EPPs work with their people to create individual career paths and action plans to meet the subsequent goals. The EPPs invest a lot of money to ensure that their employees have a variety of development opportunities; however, this is not the case among many other companies. Although the Gallup study revealed that many companies offer a fair amount of training, the respondents indicated that they are involved in the decision to be trained less than ten percent of the time. Seven times out of ten someone in a superior position makes that decision. Once the decision is made that the employee will receive training, about half of the respondents indicated that they help make the decision about they type of training they will receive. Those employees who are given some voice in their training also show a higher level of satisfaction with the training. This correlation shows the intrinsic value of empowering employees in their own development. The Gallup study also showed that this empowerment is a waste without a culture to enable such development. Twenty percent of the respondents had turned down some sort of training in the past year. About half of those people turned it down due to lack of time, while another 25 percent of them declined training because they did not see the relevance of the material. Additionally, many of the respondents question the usefulness of the training they receive. About 66 percent indicate that their training has helped them improve in their current positions. However, a majority of respondents said training was either marginal or irrelevant in preparing them for higher-level jobs, and 20 percent stated it was not at all useful.
NEED ANALYSIS
The starting point in any need analysis is a desire to effect a change. Given this, we must know how the people who will experience change perceive it. In the absence of a needs analysis, we may find employees resistant to change and reluctant to training. They may be unable to transfer their newly acquired skills to their jobs because of the organizational constraints. Our desire change is, "Improve communication skills through applying direct communication, active listening, and responsive body language." Our analysis will cover theses three criteria i.e. Performance problems, Anticipated introduction of new system, task or technology and A desire by the organization to benefit from a perceived opportunity. Our candidates for training come from these three groups: New hires, Veteran employees and Trainees currently in the training pipeline (currently in the training program)
New Hires
Addition of new employees creates high and low peaks in placing new persons into the training program. This problem will be solved by a program where progression is made in different sequences. It will eliminate a jam that will occur if all phases of the program
must be taken in a definite sequence. The new employees are normally of somewhat different backgrounds. Being new, they are not familiar with their new employers. As a result, the earliest phases of the training must concentrate on company orientation. During these phases, the organization, organization policies and administrative details should be covered. It is also a suitable time to acquaint the trainees with what will be expected of him, and how he will be evaluated throughout the phase of training.
Retaining & Upgrading Veteran Employees
The people in this category offer a real challenge to the training department. There- fore, the number and amount of training required by this category is carefully considered. Often the retraining and upgrading of former employees can be very rewarding for training instructors and therefore will be practiced. At least two schools of thought exist as to how these employees will be rekindled. There are advantages in keeping this group intact and tailoring the program to their needs. On the other hand, this category of employees can also make significant contribution to training if they are co-mingled with the new hires.
Pipeline Employee Requirements
A good training program will normally have participants in various phases of completion. An awareness of completion dates and how the potential employee will be employed will be the concern of the training staff and also the employee’s supervisor. Every trainee will have a challenge in all phases of his training. All these challenges will not be confined to those phases where the pipeline employee is sitting in a classroom. Therefore, interim test-work will be given to pipeline employees in periods between formal classes. This may take the form of solidifying what he learned in the prior phase and serve as preparation for the coming phases.
Techniques for Determining Specific Training Needs
There are numbers of practical training techniques but the those we used are:
Observation
In this approach, an employee’s performance itself is you source of information. We evaluate a worker’s performance through first-hand observation and analysis. This is best accomplished by watching the worker and playing the role of non-participating observer. This means that we watch and listen and evaluate what you see and hear, but do not get involved in his work process in any way. Our observation revealed that there is a communication gap/noise that exist between the new hire and the existing senior employees .the existing employee considered the new hire more technically updated that’s why reluctant to orientate them about the organization on a one to one level. The new hire getting better remuneration packages considered themselves superior our there colleagues who were not new to organization. The trainee group had complaints regarding the time period of the whole training program as it acceded the one which was mentioned earlier.
Job Descriptions
Before establishing a job description, a job analysis must be made. This job analysis involves a thorough study of all responsibilities of the relevant job because job description is a key to successful system. HSBC is a company wide in scope and should be detailed to such a degree that those conducting the training can use the job analysis as a yardstick for their course content. After the job analysis phase has been completed, the writing of job description and needs
analysis is a relatively simple task. When an employee’s job description has been defined, the trainer can easily tailor his training curriculum to a very close proximity of what will be expected of the employees. It was found that the description needed to be more specific regarding the reporting hierarchies, required skills, career path, job evaluation standards and mutual relationships with in departments. The veteran employees were discouraged by restructuring the organizational technical needs because they felt skill less in front of the new employee lot and argued that these technologies were never part of there job descriptions.
EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PLAN/SCHEME
Every organization has a culture, in order to adopt that culture employee need to be trained. With the change in technological methods and techniques employees need to be trained as well. In order to meet the set standards every organization design such plans which help them develop their employees in all aspects. Successful realization of behavior changes or skill improvement requires not only solid coaching and communication, but a clear plan to make the necessary behavior changes or skill improvement come to fruition. A Development Action Plan can be formal or informal, but it is always recommended to be in a documented format. This ensures that while focusing on employee development, both the coach and the employee have a reference tool and a guide to improvement.
PROPOSED PLAN
We have choose to design a four step employee development plan.
1- Preparing the employee
To get the employee thinking about their own development and the areas where development can occur, this series of questions we will ask the employee. a) What are the skills needed to do your job? How well do you perform them? b) What aspects of your job do you like least/best? c) What major accomplishments have you achieved since your last performance appraisal? d) In what ways, can your supervisor and/or the organization help you to do a better job? e) What changes would you like to see in your current job? f) What are your job goals for this next year? g) Where do you see yourself in five years? h) What have you been doing to prepare yourself to move ahead in your career? i) What activities would help you develop yourself? j) Are you satisfied with the current training practices in your organization? As an excellent time to begin the developmental process is during the performance appraisal. We will get the questions to the employee well in advance of the appraisal interview to give them time to prepare. Their answers will help guide the discussion.
2- Provide Development opportunities
There is a vast array of things we can do to help the employee develop and every employee is different. Here is a list of some developmental approaches we are considering.
Training Training is obviously first on the list. Often training needs are simply defined by looking at the employee’s performance or by understanding their experience or lack of experience with the specific job tasks.
Peer Coaching
Employees coach other individuals on their jobs. The benefits are two-fold. First, the employees develop skills in other areas and can fill in for their counterpart if that person is on vacation or out sick. Also, by in the process of teaching another person, the teacher themselves becomes more proficient. This technique can be really help full in over coming the communication gap between the new, veteran and trainee employees.
Job Design Changes
Here, the employee defines all aspects of their job and makes suggestions as to how the job might be redesigned to enhance proficiency. We may be surprise by their creativity and superior ideas. Even though we may not be able to totally revamp a job, the employee understands the job better and you begin to recognize some of their concerns. This is an excellent technique to be used on the old hand employees where they are reluctant towards the use of new technologies.
Representing the Department
Have the employee represent you, the team, or the department at an important meeting. Have them report back the proceedings to you and/or the team. In the process, the employee has a better understanding of how the team, the department, they will feel important , their efficiency will improve which benefits the over all organization, help retain employee by reducing turn over rate and their job fit into the big picture of the organization.
Delegate Special Projects
Make certain the project challenges the employee. The project must be seen as meaningful. Also, make sure the employee views the project as a reward for good work in other areas of their job. In doing so, the assignment becomes a motivating experience not just more work, the trainee and new employees will see this as a chance to show there maximum potential.
Assist the Boss
Assign an employee to assist your boss or another executive on a special assignment where the employee will be exposed to new business perspectives of the organization’s business.
2- Monitor Progress
Observe how the employee is doing. Schedule to meet at least once per quarter to discuss how things are going. Ask questions; review any quantity and quality measures that are relevant. Give ongoing feedback on what the individual is doing well and what they need to be doing differently. Feedback is critical to the success of the developmental process. If we do not follow up with them, we are essentially telling the employee the developmental process is not all that important to us. If it is not important to us, how can we expect the employee to take it seriously?
3- Create Confidence
Let them know you are always available. Give the employee the encouragement and support needed to feel confident in his or her ability to succeed. When things do not go
as well as planned, focus on what went right. We are asking the person to go beyond their current level, take it one step at a time. Sometimes we must take smaller steps to ensure a successful outcome. The ultimate success in developing the employee depends on the employee themselves. However, the success of the developmental process depends on the manager.
Implementing & evaluating the plan
To implement our plan or put it in action Once we have prepared a draft of your development plan we will first Review your plan with your supervisor for his or her input and approval this will make our plan more authenticated and well approved of after that we should take the initiative to start working on our plan hire the speakers required for training sessions, make the concerned trainers familiar with the training schedules, we should timely and at every phase of training evaluate our progress and make adjustments as necessary only then we will get a chance to celebrate the success of our plan. A vital aspect of any sort of evaluation is its effect on the person being evaluated. Feedback is essential for people to know how they are progressing, and also, evaluation is crucial to the learner's confidence too. And since people's commitment to learning relies so heavily on confidence and a belief that the learning is achievable, the way that tests and assessments are designed and managed, and results presented back to the learners, is a very important part of the learning and development process. This is the case with our development plan the plan is based mainly on strengthening the communication and employee involvement which is easily achievable with a little effort.
ARGUMENT FOR PROPOSED EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
I have chosen the above explained plan as it is simple to under stand and can be easily implemented. An employee who is new to the organization can understand the culture of organization through this plan i.e. this plan is like mini orientation of the organization. One of the reasons I chosen this plan is that it includes all levels of management in it therefore none of the management level will feel ignored or burden with extra involvement. The plan is a three steep process based on practice transfer on feed back, procedures are adopted at one level of management transferred to another level and feed back is received over the work done. The proposed plan will work at HSBC because it fulfills the values that HSBC promises to fulfill, one of the company’s value says to exceed customer expectations in service quality which is possible only when the employees are trained enough to do so and they get a chance to represent the department they are working in wit a positive gesture of responsibility. HSBC promises to be a pioneer in the implementation of technologies those create distinction for its customers, employees and shareholders, which is achievable only when the job designs are changed with the emergence and introduction of new technologies in the market. HSBC wishes and try to respect meritocracy during hiring processes, improving knowledge and skills of its employees, creating the mostly preferred work environment; which is also the essence of our proposed plan i.e. to create a suitable working environment through peer grouping, employee involvement etc.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR
Critical success factor (CSF) is the term for an element that is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. It is a critical factor or activity required for
ensuring the success of a company or an organization. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology(IT) project is user involvement "Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or an organization, and, therefore, they represent those managerial or enterprise area, that must be given special and continual attention to bring about high performance. CSFs include issues vital to an organization's current operating activities and to its future success." The critical success factor(s) of our plan is developing the opportunities if at any stage of our plan we fail to develop the opportunities; like employee involvement, job redesign, assistance from boss, our plan will be of no use and eventually will fail. For example if all the things go in accordance with our plan accept for the responsibility of representing the department the employee will not be taking the responsibility oh his work and so there will be no learning at work from the plan in other words our plan failed.
CONCLUSION
For every employee to perform well especially Supervisors and Managers, there is need for constant training and development. The right employee training, development and education provides big payoffs for the employer in increased productivity, knowledge, loyalty, and contribution to general growth of the firm. In most cases external trainings for instance provide participants with the avenue to meet new set of people in the same field and network. The meeting will give them the chance to compare issues and find out what is obtainable in each other's environment. This for sure will introduce positive changes where necessary. The reasons behind employee training and development cannot be overemphasize. Now we can easily deduce reasons behind firms engaging in training and developing their staff are when needs arise as a result of findings from the outcome of performance appraisal, as part of professional development plan as part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organization to imbibe and inculcate a new technology in the system or because of the dynamic nature of the business world and changing technologies.
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