staff development approaches, skills and issues

Staff DevelopmentApproaches, Skills and Issues

Training, Education and Development

Training Skills, knowledge, the "affective" – attitudes, values and beliefs.

Education Institutional process includes qualifications up to & incl. degrees. Major contributor to personal development. Direct & indirect enhancement of knowledge, ability, character, culture, aspiration & achievement.

DevelopmentPrimary process - positive or negative. Individual (& organisation?) adaptation to achieve potential. Become more complex, elaborate, settled, aware, differentiated & autonomous

What training?

Operational competence aggregate of knowledge, understanding, skill & personal orientation in a situation at a standard or level of performance.

Product, service, procedural and system know-how

Task and situation specific Reduced, double-sided and stapled photocopying Return of goods procedure Advanced Powerpoint Skills Recruitment interviewing Gall-stone removal Desert survival Aircraft emergency landing New policy on patient care

Open and closed competencies + pre- and co-requisites

Open and closed competencies + pre- and co-requisites

Education?

Open capacities – may include task specific?

knowledge, wisdom, skill (physical, conceptual, procedural, social) & personal orientation

analysis + problem solving bridging concept and practice

standards/level of performance?

levels of product, service, procedural and system know-how?

Scientific/philosophical rigourCritical evaluationComplex synthesis

Analytical explanationTechnical application

Contextual understandingDescriptive knowledge

and categorisation

3Rs and access to learning

3Rs and access to learning

What education - 2

National curriculum and school/university quality

Education for citizenship

occupational success

personal development and life

School, college, university, community/adult

Life long learning

Public attitudes about the value of education

Government, employer and individual responsibility for education

Training policy & programmes

recruitment,

redundancies

redeployment

Mission

Staffing plan

Skills audit

Performance review

Development action

Demand for skills

Data for audit

Data to integrate individual & organisational needs

Know-how for competitive advantage & performance

Skill gaps

Developmentneeds

Current performance

Improved capability, competence + motivation

Training, seminars, delegation, coaching, private study, day release, learning company, IIP

Business Strategy & Training

Business Training development

Programme and task focused learning

Developmental needs of employees (group + individual)

Technical and management development

Self-managed learning & career management

Learning organisations/knowledge management

Culture and its role in organisations – HRM levers for change, in particular, shifts in attitudes and beliefs (as well as behaviour)

Programmes & Interventions

New recruits induction to firm & job, familiarisation comprehensive job training

Develop & up-date know-how for “live” situations. Technical: product, procedure & specialism training

Social skills e.g. handling demanding situations

Corporate training for all e.g. for ISO9000 or new policy

Supervisory & management training from leadership to corporate analysis, change & Action learning

Sales training

Customer, dealer & supplier training

Face-to-face vs. package training - from manuals to CBL

Corporate education e.g. to counter institutional racism?

Company University - Ford, McDonalds, LotusU?

Organisational Expectations

FE & HE preparation to enable new technology & empower

adapt & learn new skills, continuous occupational development

Learning for CQI, flexibility, multi-skilling & shifts in management style

Empowerment Flatter project/team structures.

less supervision, set own objectives, self monitoring and corrective action

Manage interfaces & delight customers - external & internal

Disappointment with “Training Services and Schemes”

Much talk, expenditure & effort in training

Many initiatives and events

Evidence of outcomes and value for money: from training events, coaching, secondments, learning from experience (success & failure) & role models.

Yet, T&D strategies often disappoint. Why?

What determines & influences training effectiveness?

How do training needs become apparent?

What factors hinder/help investment in T&D?

Training as a strategic issue?

Whose is served?

The individual

Well placed (job demands + aspirations) to evaluate development needs (SWOT)? But is time & effort invested? Perception of“market” gaps, demands, relevance, support & learning opportunities?

Training Sponsors

Top managers (“lack of know-how is jeopardising performance”)? Line Managers? HRD specialists who speak for T&D activity? Employer attitudes to training. Voluntarism.

Institutional and Market factors? Civic, intellectual & cultural factors. Workforce competencies &

international comparisons. Industrial re-structuring.

Staff Development Strategies

• Laissez-faire - little or no training, buy-in.

• Training for workforce maintenance: induction, product,

policy/procedure

• Off-the-job training vs. on-the-job

• Staff appraisal, coaching & mentoring

• Central training vs. devolved

• Recognising, valuing & accrediting “competencies” (NVQs)

• Learning Company model. Investors in People

• Supported self-organised learning, Life-Long Learning & CPD

Apply Legge‘s critical analysis framework to HRD.

Karen Legge: HRM Rhetorics & Realities 1995

Forecast, plan, organise, direct & control.

Strategic analysis, choice and implementation of programmes

Maintainer-Instructor

Reactive + provider of T&D within existing brief, structure & culture

Change Agent (Facilitator)

Proactive + consultancy. Define problems.

Facilitate organisational & individual learning, innovation & cultural change.

Role in transition?

from provider to change agent

in-house or outsourced

Training Manager - Service provider or change agent?

Analysing training needs?

Blanket/Comprehensive or Selective Who does it?

Define needs, objectives, frequency, difficulty, performance standards & measurements

Brief/train all according to level.

Job curriculums - ALL or SOME job facets: skills, knowledge & attitudes for tasks/situations

New legislation, strategy/policy drive.

Identify key tasks and problems/difficulties competencies to handle it. learner involvement + individual & group needs best learning approach, training media & methods

Is a training solution vital for performance?

Self-organised learning: opportunity or cop-out?

Competence, Experience & the Job

a composite of knowledge & behaviour/skill comprising ability to do something to a defined level in a performance situation

Existing staff may be competent or less than competent.

Perceived gaps in mastery of performance.

The organisation may urge enhanced competence.

Can the organisation reward enhanced competence?

Pre-requisite (Foundation) competencies

For

A trainee airline cabin crew member?

midwife?

bought ledger clerk?

marketing assistant manning a stand at the Ideal Homes Exhibition?

new CEO for Rail-Track?

General Model for Training Interventions

Learningneeds &

outcomes- individual

& group

TrainingContent

Methods of delivery,

learning opps & materials

Programmeand

implementation

Learnerson

completion

Assessment & test criteria - validity, reliability & utility

Organisational & trainee feedback

Environment of changeLearning for knowledge, competence & creativity

•Return to job•Transfer of learning to performance•Has training solved the problem?

SymptomsLearning Contract

How do we measure learning - degree of behaviour change?

Compare - performance & progress between individuals

Against established norms or standard levels of performance/progress for specific applications

Assess/test- individual progress & performance

Generic, Core/Key Skills (Open capacities )

transferable across jobs/or tasks awareness, investigation, observation/reflection, analysis & learning

decision-making/problem-solving, creativity & evaluation

communication & social skills, interacting/working with others, influencing

numerical & information oriented skills plus IT abilities

Critical success factor competences

Occupational competencies (NVQ)

Boyatzis : threshold competencies & clusters for management

Kolb : learning to learn and the experiential learning cycle

Boyatsis - Seven Threshold Competencies

Use of unilateral power - forms of influence to gain compliance

Accurate self-assessment - realistic/grounded view of self, strengths & weaknesses/limitations

Positive regard - basic belief/optimistic in others

Spontaneity - free/easy self-expression.

Logical thought - orderly, sequential, systematic

Specialised knowledge - usable facts, frameworks, models

Developing others - helping, coach, feedback skills, facilitating, supporting

(1982, The Competent Manager, Wiley)(1982, The Competent Manager, Wiley)

Boyatzis - Clusters of Mgt Competence

Goal & action management cluster concern with impact, diagnostic use of concepts, efficiency orientation, proactivity

Leadership conceptualisation, self-confidence, oral presentation

HRM use of socialised power, managing group processes

Focus on other clusters perceptual objectivity, self control, stamina & adaptability

Directing subordinates Threshold competencies - developing others, spontaneity, use of

unilateral power

Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle

ConcreteExperience(Activist)

ReflectiveObservation(Reflector)

AbstractConceptualisation

(Theorist)

Active Experimentation

(Pragmatist)

LEARNINGCYCLE

D Kolb, Rubin & McIntyreOrganisational Psychology, Addison Wesley

A useful model forpersonal awareness and development

A useful model forpersonal awareness and development

Successes/Failures of Training & Educational Interventions

Pre 1964. Collapse of apprenticeships

1964 Industrial Training Act and ITBs

CATs and Polytechnics

BTEC and City and Guilds

From 1972 onwards – the marginalisation of ITBs. Abolished 1982

Manpower Services Commission. YOPs and TOPs

Training Services Agency

National Curriculum

Local management of schools

Expansion of university education – from Polys to Universities

National Vocational Qualifications

Investors in People

Fees for Higher Education, education loans and training credits

Investors in People: National voluntarism

top level, commitment to develop all employees to achieve business objectives

regular review of T&D needs of all staff

action to train & develop individuals on recruitment + throughout employment

evaluate T&D to assess achievement & improve future effectiveness

•written plan: business goals/targets, how employees will contribute, assess needs etc. Identify T&D resources

• agree T&D needs with each employee. Link to NVQ if poss. Action: train new recruits & improve skills of existing staff

•Review investment, competence & commitment of employees & skills learnt against business plan + at all levels

•T&D effectiveness reviewed by top level renewed commitment & targets

accreditation to promote Er-led, quality, effective staff developmentaccreditation to promote Er-led, quality, effective staff development

National Vocational Qualifications

1986: desire for a skilled, flexible workforce ›› ›› NCVQ + NVQs based on

National Occupational Standards = performance standards developed by employer-led NTOs

what competent people in the occupation are expected to be able to do

main aspects of an occupation

best practice & ability to adapt

knowledge-base underpinning competent performance.

GNVQs in schools (but A Level "gold standard")

1997 NCVQ merged with the School Curriculum & Assessment Authority (SCAA) ›› ›› Qualifications & Curriculum Authority (QCA).

Remit: pre-school learning, national curriculum and tests, GCSEs, A-levels, GNVQs, NVQs, higher level vocational qualifications.

Underpinning principles - NVQ Approach

Open access. No artificial barriers to training

Focus on what people CAN DO > learning for qualifications (process & time) + APL

uniform standards (devised by industry lead bodies) - no rival qualifications.

flexibility & modularisation + a learning contract

assessment principles - portfolio & work-based (demos at work or simulations).

Time to complete. Criteria = “currency”.

assessment by qualified (NVQ’d) assessor

Differing Views on NVQs

“Enormous potential for the health of the nation & the creation of a learning society”.

Sue Slipman, a lead body representative, 1995

“A disaster of epic proportion”Prof. Ian Smithers, Brunel University,

Channel 4 documentary, 1993

Tesco Implementation of NVQs

flatter, lean, flexible organisation

line managers as assessors. Store managers internal verifiers

every line manager is responsible for structured training & assessment + involved with NVQs

improved performance through pay links

integration of needs of individual with needs of organisation

staff development through accreditation of higher competence

Tesco NVQ Policy - Perceived Benefits

ideal training for a retail organisation?

training assessed internally by line managers & at store level

high performances from staff?

less absenteeism, increased motivation & improved general staff moral

reduced labour turnover

career progression for staff - helps with selection of core staff

customers benefit from improved quality standards & services

IIP kite mark

Criticisms of National NVQ Strategy

Not market-led - under-represented in mgt, professions, financial, technical & international

Shift from “learning” to assessment (laborious process)

Bureaucracy, evidence portfolio, charting, assessment of each unit/element

Employers want local tailored NVQs ---> challenges validity of “national model” & generality of standards

Assessment standard depends on assessor supply/quality. Institutional HE antipathy to “training agenda”“technically equipped but intellectually incapable (underpinning ideas)”

Low take-up. Growth at Levels 1/2, none at Level 3, fall at Levels 4/5. Traditional vocational awards outstrip NVQs by wide margin esp. at higher levels.

TEC funding linked to NVQ take-up. TECs disappear.

HRM and ingredients of a “Learning Organisation”

• Adopt a Learning Approach to Strategy

• Participative Policy Making

• Informating (Information Systems)

• Formative accounting

• Internal Exchange (Client-Server relationships)

• Reward Flexibility

• Roles and flexible, matrix structures

• Boundary workers as intelligence agents

• Company-to-company learning

• Learning climate

• Self-development opportunities for all

Pedler et alThe Learning Company

SengeThe Fifth Discipline

Pedler et alThe Learning Company

SengeThe Fifth Discipline

Training & Rewards - Issues

Best practice in a learning organisation

Integration with “appraisal and rewards strategy”.

Locals + cosmopolitans (Gouldner) & market mobility

Investors in People Good training …more pay, less pay? Increments for qualifications?

Certification as a job requirement.

Selling job competence. Strong CV. Career progression, job change, employee independence & life long learning

Who pays? Should the leaver reimburse the employer who has just paid £2500 for their training?

CPD stress - compulsory, evidence-based continuous “professional” up-dating

Reading

Buchanan and Huczynski - Chapters 5: Learning 17: Organisational Development

Mabey and Salaman Chapters 10: Learning Organisations 11: Promoting Learning in Organisations 12: Managing the Process of Training and Development

BOLA:

http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/bola/training/