Analysis of Sources
It is important for human resources and firms operating in different cultural background to engage in training to enable them have a competitive edge over others because training helps employee to appreciate and respect the cultural values of other people (Coget 2011, p.85). This stands out as the key message in Coget’s article “Does National Culture Affect Firm Investment in Training and Development?”
Coget is an associate professor of management in the Orfalae College of business and California polytechnic state university. The methodology used in gathering this information on the study area involved surveys carried out by Hilla Perezet from Ort Braude college, Israel.
An approximate of 6000 firms was surveyed in 21 different countries. The study’s findings indicated that cultural differences influence whether the firm invests in training or not.
Firms in countries with low power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, and higher future orientation invest more in training of their employees compared to those operating or embracing higher power distance, low future orientation, and low uncertainty avoidance. Power degrees is the degree to which member of a certain group expect that power should be distributed equally.
Written by Shiryan, Shee, and Stewart, the article ‘Employee Training Effectiveness in Saudi Arabian SME Performance’ is a must-read composition that finds out the relationship between employee training and organisation’s performance. The three authors are based in the school of management and information systems faculty of business and law in Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
They affirm that employee training is critical if an organisation aspires to achieve its objectives. They based their study in Saudi Arabia where they collected data through surveys. 500 questionnaires were sent to managers and staffs of various SMEs. An estimate of 264 questionnaires was returned for analysis.
The findings showed that most of the firms and SME managers in Saudi Arabia in the firms lack skills on training (Shiryan, Shee, & Stewart 2012, p.52). They do not understand the essence of training. Management training is essential in staff training since good leadership and change management can enable an organisation to achieve its set goals.
As Chidambaram and Ramachandran point out in the article ‘A study on efficacy of employee training review of literature’, any successful organisation should invest in its human capital (2012, p.275). Above all, human resources are the most important parts of an organisation while assets are just a supplementary portion of the organisation. Without efficient human capital, organisations cannot achieve their objectives or goals.
Training of human capital is important as it helps employees to cope with both the internal and external forces within their operations. Through training, individual and organisational needs are attained thus helping the organisation to meet its objectives. The author summarises the literature review on the aspects of employee training.
He suggests that, organisations should not relent in developing their employees in order to achieve their goals. Management therefore has the responsibility of ensuring that adequate programs are in place to allow its staff to acquire more skills and knowledge to be abreast with the ever-changing markets.
Grossman and Salas’ ‘The Transfer of Training: What really Matters’ is a well researched piece that looks at the transfer problem in the training of employees. Even though many organisations have invested their funds in noble training course, many of the employees trained do not transmit such skills at their work place (Grossman & Salas 2011, p.105).
This stands out as a problem that many organisations continue to grapple with, which needs quick remedy. The authors employ Bald and Ford’s model of transfer in arguing their case. Factors that relate to skill transfers investigated include self-efficacy, cognitive ability, motivation, perceived utility of training, and training design among others.
Therefore, it is recommended that human resource managers in charge of training programs should first evaluate the kind of training that is appropriate before using or recommending it to employees. Firms may lose huge sums of money in these training programs thus ending up not reaping any value from the same.
Zeutinoglu et al. are all professors in human resource management areas in DeGroote School of Business, Mc Master University. As they point out, the training of low job workers in Canada is beyond the recommended standards (Zeutinoglu et al. 2008, p.5). As per the Statistics Canada Workplace and employee survey of 2001, few low-job employees received low wages on the job training compared to those in high jobs.
It is therefore important that organisation train their employees to enable them earn decent life, perform well on their jobs, and to contribute in productivity at the workplace, as well as in the economy. Government needs to support on job training for these low-job employees in a bid to achieve this goal.
In his article ‘Line manager involvement in learning and development: Small beer or big deal’, Gibbs argues that line managers should be involved in learning and development at their work (2003, p.282). This step is aimed at ensuring a positive relationship between human resource managers and the line managers.
They should be involved in this program at work to help them trigger positive relationship besides increasing productivity in the organisation. Organisations are changing. Therefore, to be part of the change, such critical changes in these areas should be supported and encouraged.
Even though line managers should be included in the learning and development, there are various disadvantages in this issue. One of the disadvantages is that they may not be able to carry out their duties well because they are trained to be better skilled developers as opposed to being specialists in learning and development initiatives at work.
HRM Practices
Human resource management is aimed at formulating strategies and policies that can best drive the objectives and goals of an organisation forward. The department aims at ensuring that human capital is well taken care to ensure that staff work towards the realisation of the organisational goals and objectives.
Various HRM practices are worth adapting in a bid to drive individual and organisational performance to achieve the intended goals and objectives. The three approaches will include, regular coaching, training and developing of staff’s competencies, ensuring greater employee autonomy and discretion, and developing teamwork.
Regular coaching and developing of staff on the job is one of the approaches that I believe will help in promoting individuals’ self-confidence besides ensuring that performance of the organisation improves (Grossman, & Salas 2011, p. 103). Employees’ training and coaching initiatives will also center on the best ways of managing people through performance management system.
This system is conducive as it aligns individual objectives to those of the organisation. Identifying the potential and the areas of interest of employees is important in staging training and coaching program to trigger positive change in an organisation. Employees are very important components in an organisation.
Therefore, to ensure that they remain in the organisation to improve in their skills and knowledge, training should always be carried out. There are different type of training and coaching that an organisation can use. One is on-the-job training where employees are trained directly by interacting or performing certain tasks. This type of training is less expensive. Most organisations prefer this because it is not expensive.
Besides, it does not require a lot of time. The other type of training is off-the-job training, which is normally attained through special duration programs in learning and technical institutions. Some organisations sponsor their employees to attain skills and knowledge in specific areas. This has turned to be a burden to the organisation. Training is an expensive venture.
Because of its importance, organisations have no alternative apart from practicing it. Many organisations that have embraced training are competitive in terms of development of salient skills in management, leadership, and the general operation or functioning of an institution.
Another human resource management approach that I intend to encourage is greater discretion and autonomy on the workplace. Employees feel part of the organisation if they are well treated and appreciated for what they do (Shiryan, Shee, & Stewart 2012, p. 49).
The environment of working should be conducive to allow employees a space to express their views besides share their opinions with other employees to present their problems to the management. Free communication in an organisation helps in nurturing the spirit of teamwork and unity. Furthermore, this will trigger innovation and creativity as employees will have the opportunity to invent and innovate at their discretion.
For the organisation to achieve good performance, it should be able to innovate and come up with ideas that are able to add value to the organisation. Therefore, greater autonomy is the best way that employees will have a sense of belonging to trigger their self-esteem thus enabling them to influence the organisation’s objectives positively.
Teamwork is yet another human resource practice that will be encouraged in the organisation. This will help employees to share and learn new knowledge as they work together to achieve the overall organisation’s goals. Teamwork is also preferred because it enables a group to work together to assist one another in achieving similar objectives (Shiryan, Shee, & Stewart 2012, p. 46).
The teams will be made up of people with different levels of training and experience. The teams will be rotated in a bid to eliminate boredom besides building the spirit of teamwork and unity. Organisations that have strong teams face their challenges without fear.
They usually ensure that they find the best solutions to their problems. Teams are also one way of creating or enhancing cohesion. They are made up of people from different cultural backgrounds, which is a benefit in creating or establishing a brand.
Conclusion
In conclusion, human resource management has the responsibility to ensure that organisations embrace changes besides recruiting employees who are able to stir ahead the goals and objectives of the organisation. One of the important duties of HRM in this current world is to implement training programs that are able to acquaint employees with skills and knowledge to trigger increased production.
The training should be tailored to the objectives of the organisation. Other HRM approaches that are equally important in improving individual and organisational performance are ensuring that there is a greater autonomy among employees and teamwork.
References
Chidambaram, V, & Ramachandran, A 2012, ‘A study on efficacy of employee training review of literature’, Business Theory & Practice, vol. 13 no. 3, pp. 275-282.
Coget, J 2011, ‘Does National Culture Affect Firm Investment in Training and Development?’, Academy of Management Perspectives, vol. 25 no. 4, pp. 85-87.
Gibbs, S 2003, ‘Line manager involvement in learning and development: Small beer or big deal?’, Employee Relations, vol. 25 no. 3, pp. 281-293.
Grossman, R, & Salas, E 2011, ‘The transfer of training: what really matters’, International Journal of Training & Development, vol. 15 no. 2, pp. 103-120.
Shiryan, S, Shee, H, & Stewart, D 2012, ‘Employee Training Effectiveness in Saudi Arabian SME Performance’, International Journal of Business & Social Science, vol. 3 no. 14, pp. 46-52.
Zeutinoglu, I, Cooke, G, Karlene, H, & Chowhan, J 2008, ‘Low-Paid Workers and On-the-Job Training in Canada’, Relations Industrielles (Québec, Québec)/Industrial Relation, vol. 63 no. 1, pp. 5-29.