The organization’s learning and development practices
Business in the contemporary times is characterized by stiff competition as each firm seeks to acquire a considerable market share in the local and the international market. Various factors have contributed to the stiffening competition including the desire to increase profitability and the evolution of the global market (Owoyemi et al. 2011). In that regard, firms have embarked in recruiting and retaining the best workers to achieve competitive advantage through increased quality of products or services produced by a competent workforce. Firms are today recruiting the best-qualified workers and paying them competitive salaries to retain them.
Some business analysts have however argued that hiring qualified employees and paying them competitive salaries is not the only way to motivate them. Employees need to be trained to handle new challenges in the changing business environment (Batool & Batool 2012). In that regard, most companies have introduced a set of training programs that aim at imparting skills to the workforce to enable them to handle their responsibilities more efficiently. The training programs so far adopted by major businesses target new employees through orientation programs. Most organizations tend to overlook the need to ensure continuous training of the workforce in their respective companies. Most managers are of the view that training should only apply to new staffs as opposed to the existing employees. The view is misguided since the current employees also need to be trained continuously if a firm is to achieve efficiency.
The orientation is important since it equips employees with the relevant information before the commencement of the work. Training of new employees in 5Ways Foodservices is poorly administered since it involves manual orientation from the experienced workers. New employees are assigned to experienced workers who take them through the orientation process. The employees are not advised of their roles in the organization before assignment of tasks. The orientation process takes long due to lack of a well-coordinated orientation programs. The wastage of time in the orientation stage translates into losses for the firm. The right orientation leads to increased efficiency since employees since every employee has adequate knowledge of their roles. Duplication of resources is avoided since the scope of each employee’s task is defined.
Training instills a sense of job security among workers since it enhances their dignity and job qualification. The feeling of job security instilled upon workers through training translates into high morale among the employees leading to achievement of the set goals (Puhakainen & Siponen 2010). Additionally, training reduces staff turnover in the sense that employees feel secure working in a firm that cares about their development needs. In 5Ways Foodservices, employees are poorly motivated due to lack of development opportunities leading to high staff turnover. The high staff turnover rate amongst the hotel’s workers has increased the operation cost owing to the high cost of recruiting new employees. Moreover, the quality of services in the hotel has been compromised since the firm loses its best employees to competitors. The competitors in the industry have training programs that attract workers with high skills. The rivals have continuous training programs that enhance a sense of job security among employees. The competitors absorb the high-skilled workers from 5Ways Foodservices hence heightening the competition.
The organization’s learning and development needs
Competition in the food service industry has stiffened in the past few decades prompting the need for training of the employees. In 5Ways Foodservices, employees’ training is overlooked, and only new staffs are trained on the basic of the organization culture when joining the firm. The new employee-training program is poorly managed, and it does not achieve the educational needs of the employees. The program centers on the orientation of the employees, and it is limited to the introduction of the employees to their new roles. No training is afforded to the employees after joining the firm, thus leading to reluctance from the employees in accepting changes. The evolution of the new technology has sparked the need to train employees continuously to prepare them to take new challenges. In 5Ways Foodservices, no such training is afforded to the employees leading to resistance to accepting changes in the organization.
The company’s mission is to provide the best quality services in the food and service industry. Therefore, to achieve this objective, employees need to be trained continuously to increase their efficiency. The training program should target both new and existing employees. The training program for the existing employees should focus on
- Changes in the company’s strategies
- New technologies
- Good customer service
Employees who undergo the training should be highly remunerated or even promoted to higher positions in the firm. Better remuneration coupled with promotions will act as incentives to push employees to undergo such training. The training shall increase the efficiency of the firm and reduce staff turnover rates. Research indicates that firms that have continuous training programs in place are more efficient and profitable than firms that do not have such programs (Puhakainen & Siponen 2010). Such training will not only increase the firm’s efficiency, but it will also allow the employees to be innovative. It will also increase employees’ morale since it will impart a sense of job security among them.
An organization needs to have well-defined vision and missions for it to be successful against the backdrop of the stiffening competition among firms operating in the food service industry. Employees need to be involved in major decisions of a firm. Involving employees in the decision-making process of a firm not only motivates them but also instills a sense of ownership in them. Employees tend to work hard to achieve targets they have set for themselves. In 5Ways Foodservice, decision-making is an exclusive role of the management and employees’ inputs are not allowed. Communication is top-down whereby the top managers communicate decisions to the staff. Little training is done to the employees regarding the decisions coupled with how to implement them in the organization. This aspect leads to mistakes during implementation causing inefficiencies and losses.
The orientation of workers is an important process of the recruitment process and involves defining the scope of work for the employee. New employees need to be introduced to the new work environment. The company should develop a new staff-training program that will consider the learning needs of the new employees. Under the program, the new workers should be trained in the following areas:
- Definition of the scope of work
- Introduction to the company’s cooperate culture
- Introduction to the company’s mission and vision
- Definition of the standards of performance
A gap and practice that could be improved
A performance management system refers to the strategic approach adopted by a firm to increase the efficiency of its workers and improve the achievement of the set goals. Performance appraisals are important since they guide promotional decisions. The best performing employees are promoted to higher positions in the firm. Promotions based on merit increase the workers morale and encourage the other workers to work hard to obtain such promotions (Ferreira & Otley 2009).
The 5Ways Foodservices’ performance appraisal system is below average since workers’ performance is measured manually. Organizations need to have sound job performance appraisal systems to assess the work of every individual worker. In 5Ways Foodservices, the importance of job performance appraisal is overlooked with individual worker’s performance being measured manually. The managers utilize observation to assess the performance of the worker. Lack of job performance measuring tools leads to low motivation among the workforce. In companies with sound job performance appraisal systems, each worker’s performance is measured against the targets set (Folan & Browne 2005). The best performing workers are acknowledged in some cases publicized. In such organizations, promotions are done through merit whereby the best performing workers hold powerful positions in the organization. Promoting employees based on merit increases morale and it encourages them to work hard to achieve the set targets. 5Ways Foodservices lacks a formal job performance appraisal system, and the employees performance is only based on the managers’ view of a certain employee. Managers may be biased when making such assessments leading to promotion of the inappropriate employees. This aspect may contribute to low morale among the workforce and increase staff turnover.
Due to the adverse effects caused by lack of a formal performance appraisal system, this paper shall propose a performance appraisal system for the 5Ways Foodservices hotel to improve performance. Currently, the company lacks a formal performance management system to measure the performance of workers. In 5Ways Foodservices, the supervisors assess the workers’ performance and the performance reports are based on the supervisor’s opinion. Managers may be biased when making such assessments leading to promotion of the inappropriate workers. This aspect may adversely affect the morale of the workers affecting the achievement of the set objectives.
Performance appraisals are important to an organization since it allows the management to assess the performance of the individual workers. It also allows managers to set achievable targets for individual employees based on their ability and skills. The set targets are reviewed at different stages of achievement and deviations from the set standards are explained. This aspect leads to the high performance of the firm since the targets must be achieved at all cost. For a firm to achieve its missions it has to set its targets in advance and communicate the same to the employees. The achievement of the targets depends on the performance appraisal system adopted by the firm.
Performance management and turnover rate
Lack of a proper performance measurement system is closely linked to high staff turnover in most organizations. The absence of a performance appraisal system leads to low morale among employees leading to poor achievement of the firm’s objectives. Employees tend to be more concerned about their job security as compared to other aspects. Since low motivation among employees leads to poor performance by the firm, workers tend to seek jobs in rival companies to be assured of job security.
Employees need to be assured of their job security to motivate them to perform their duties effectively. Employees tend to prefer working in a well-performing firm to a poorly performing one (Ferreira & Otley 2009. In that regard, employees of 5Ways Foodservices tend to leave the firm to be absorbed by the competitors who are performing better as compared to the firm in question. This aspect leads to a high turnover rate for the firm. The profitability of the firm is affected by such high turnover rates since recruiting new employees increases the operating costs.
Performance management and motivation
The performance management system should be devised in such a way that it integrates various incentives to motivate employees to work industriously towards achieving the set targets. The incentives should come in the form of promotions for the best-performing employees, publicity for god performance, bonuses. The system should be accommodative so that employees are involved in setting the targets. The system should be designed in such a way that it allows for the assessment of both individual and group performances. This aspect will encourage teamwork, and it will facilitate the achievement of the set goals. Employees tend to be more motivated working on goals they have set for themselves than when such targets are imposed by the management (Folan & Browne 2005). The incentives should be structured to fit both individual and groups within the organization. This move will boost the workers morale leading to the achievement of the set goals. Currently, the organization has no incentives in place to boost the morale of the employees. The work of an individual worker cannot be differentiated from group work, thus leading to low morale among the employees.
Reference List
Batool, A & Batool, B 2012, ‘Effects of employees training on the organizational Competitive advantage: Empirical study of Private Sector of Islamabad, Pakistan,’ Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 59-72.
Ferreira, A & Otley, D 2009, ‘The design and use of performance management systems: An extended framework for analysis,’ Management Accounting Research, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 263-282.
Folan, P & Browne, J 2005, ‘A review of performance measurement: Towards performance management,’ Computers in Industry, vol. 56, no. 7, pp. 663-680.
Owoyemi, A, Oyelere, M, Elegbede, T & Gbajumo-Sheriff, M 2011, ‘Enhancing employees’ commitment to organization through training,’ International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 280-91.
Puhakainen, P & Siponen, M 2010, ‘Improving employees’ compliance through information systems security training: an action research study,’ MIS Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 757-778.