And exposure and visibilityb psychosocial support
This chapter details development planning and different types of development activities, including assessment, formal courses and programs, experiences, and interpersonal relationships involving mentoring and coaching. It also provides you with examples of companies’ development systems. The chapter explains the process of development planning is described in terms of steps and the responsibilities of the employee and the company (or manager) at each step. It also breaks employee development into four broad areas for discussion: 1.) Formal education; 2.) Assessment; 3.) Job experiences; and 4.) Interpersonal relationships. In the realm of formal education, examples of courses and activities are highlighted. In terms of assessment, the chapter describes a major instrument, i.e., the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It also explains the assessment center, the types of exercises employed, and performance appraisal for developmental purposes, including upward feedback and the currently popular 360-degree feedback. Vehicles for development in the realm of job experiences that the chapter addresses include job enlargement, job rotation, transfers, promotions, and downward moves. The section on interpersonal relationships focuses largely on mentoring and also on coaching. The chapter concludes with a discussion on succession planning, nine-box grid, and onboarding. The theme throughout the chapter is that the company should provide the employee with opportunities for development, but that the employee must take responsibility for and initiate the planning process. This is important material for the training and development of a student.
2. Explain the employees’ and company’s responsibilities in planning development.
3. Discuss current trends in using formal education for development.
8. Design an effective on-boarding process.
1. It helps high-potential managers understand their strengths, weaknesses, and interests.
2. It shows managers how new jobs and expanded job responsibilities are available to them to meet their personal growth needs.
1. showing employees that the company is interested in their skill development.
2. developing managers who can create a positive work environment that motivates employees.
A. Development refers to activities and experiences, such as formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessments that help employees to grow and prepare for the future.
B. It involves voluntary learning that is not tied directly to the employee’s current job. Training, on the other hand, is related to current job performance and is often required of the employee.
Development and Careers
A. Careers have been described as a sequence of positions held within an occupation.
F. Psychological success is self-determined rather than solely determined through signals the employee receives from the company (like salary increase and promotion).
C. The emphasis on continuous learning has altered the direction and frequency of movement within careers.
D. These new career patterns mean that developing employees:
Development Planning System
Companies’ development planning systems vary in the level of sophistication and the emphasis they place on different components of the process.
A. Self-assessment refers to the use of information by employees to determine their career interests, values, aptitudes, and behavioral tendencies.
Reality Check
Reality check refers to the information employees receive about how the company evaluates their skills and knowledge and where they fit into the company’s plans (potential promotion opportunities, lateral moves). Usually, this information is provided by the employee’s manager as part of the performance appraisal.
Action Planning
An action plan is a written strategy that employees use to determine how they will achieve their short- and long-term career goals.
IV. Approaches to Employee Development
A. Formal education programs are on-site or off-site programs tailored specifically for a company’s employees, short courses offered by consultants or academic institutions, executive MBA programs, and on-campus university programs. These programs may involve lectures by business experts, business games and simulations, adventure learning, and meetings with customers.
B. Most formal education programs actively involve the employees in learning. Separate programs are usually offered for supervisors, middle managers, and executives. Special programs for particular jobs (such as engineer) are also available.
C. Managers visit campus for face-to-face instruction and, between sessions, work online on assignments such as team projects, cases, or reading assignments.
D. In addition to blended learning, business schools or other educational institutions have begun offering companies in-house, customized programs to help managers gain real-world skills and study problems in real-world environments—without requiring the managers to disrupt their work by requiring them to travel to campus. These programs supplement formal courses from consultants or university faculty with other types of development activities.
B. Enrollment in executive education programs or MBA programs may be limited to managers or employees identified to have management potential. As a result, many companies also provide tuition reimbursement as a benefit for all employees to encourage them to develop on their own.
C. These courses include face-to-face classroom instruction, online learning, and blended learning.
B. The employees, their peers, managers, and customers may provide information.
C. Assessments are used for several reasons:
E. Many companies use employee performance evaluations.
F. Companies with sophisticated development systems use psychological tests to measure employees’ skills, interests, personality types, and communication styles.
A. Tests are used to determine if employees have the personality characteristics necessary to be successful in specific managerial jobs or jobs involving international assignments. They are used to help employees gain self-awareness of how they respond to conflict, what motivates them, how they solve problems, and how they react to stress.
B. Some personality tests such as the NEO Personality Inventory (or the NEO-PRI) measure openness to new experiences, conscientiousness or dependability, emotional stability, assertiveness, and the ability to get along with other people.
A. MBTI is used for team building and leadership development that identifies employees’ preferences for energy, information gathering, decision making, and lifestyle.
B. The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) determines which one of sixteen personality types fits best. The sixteen unique personality types are based on preferences for introversion (I) or extraversion (E), sensing (S) or intuition (N), thinking (T) or feeling (F), and judging (J) or perceiving (P).
B. An assessment center is usually an off-site location such as a conference center.
C. Assessment centers are primarily used to identify if employees have the personality characteristics, administrative skills, and interpersonal skills needed for managerial jobs.
3. An in-basket is a simulation of the administrative tasks of the manager’s job. The exercise includes a variety of documents that may appear in the in-basket, e-mail, or on a manager’s desk.
4. Role plays refer to the participant taking the part or role of a manager or other employee.
A. Performance appraisal is the process of measuring employees’ performance. Performance appraisal information can be useful for employee development under certain conditions.
B. This includes providing a clear understanding of the differences between current performance and expected performance, identifying causes of the performance discrepancy, and developing action plans to improve performance.
3. Type of activities involved in using 360-degree feedback for development:
a. Understand strengths and weaknesses
a. Gathering multiple perspectives of performance, allowing the employee to compare his/her self-evaluation with the evaluation of others.
b. Formalizing communications between the employee and both internal and external customers.
d. Companies’ failure to provide opportunities for employees to act on the information they receive.
Job Rotation
A. Job rotation involves moving employees through various job assignments in various functional areas, within one functional area of the company or within a work team. One’s title and level of compensation is maintained throughout the rotation
C. Potential problems with job rotation include:
1. It may create a short-term perspective on problems and solutions.
2. Employees understand specific skills that will be developed by rotation.
3. It is used for all levels and types of employees.
Transfers, Promotions, and Downward Moves
A. A transfer refers to reassigning an employee to a different job in a different area of the company, most likely a lateral move. Job responsibilities and compensation are not necessarily increased.
2. Promotions are most available when the company is profitable and growing.
C. A downward move involves giving an employee a position with less responsibility and authority. The primary types include:
1. Provide information about the content, challenges and potential benefits of the new job and, perhaps, location.
2. Involve the employee in the decision by sending him/her to preview the new location or job, giving them information about the location, etc.
7. Provide an orientation program.
8. Show the employee how the new job experiences fit with the employee’s career plans.
Temporary Assignments, Projects, Volunteer Work, and Sabbaticals
A. Temporary assignment with other organizations may emerge from two companies agreeing to exchange employees in order for the companies to better understand each other.
A. Job experiences are used for development in companies of all sizes, but their type and availability vary.
B. Large companies have the ability to provide high-potential employees with many different kinds of developmental experiences.
Employees can also develop skills and increase their knowledge about the company and its customers by interacting with a more experienced organization member. Mentoring and coaching are two types of interpersonal relationships that are used to develop employees.
2. Participants can be informed of what is expected of them.
C. Limitations of formalized mentoring include that the relationship may not “stick” if it has been “artificially” created.
4. Mentor-protégé matching based on how the mentor’s skills can help meet the protégé’s needs
5. Stating the purpose of the program clearly as well as the roles and expectations of both the mentor and the protégé
10. Evaluating the program, e.g., interviewing or surveying mentors and protégés for feedback.
11. Rewarding employee development, which signals managers that mentoring and other development activities are worth their time and effort.
c. Skill development
d. Higher rates of promotion
b. Increased self-esteem and sense of worth to the company
c. Access to new knowledge in their field
4. Sharing information
G. In a group mentoring program, one mentor is paired with four to six protégés, allowing protégés to learn from each other as well as from the mentor and requiring fewer mentors than traditional one-on-one arrangements.
2. Helping the employee learn for him/herself, e.g., pointing him/her to appropriate resources
3. Providing resources, e.g., mentors, courses, or experiences, to which the employee might not otherwise have access
4. Managers may feel they don’t have time to coach effectively
2. It helps ensure that the company runs smoothly when key employees and managers leave, and creates opportunities for development and promotion.
3. It provides a set of development experiences that managers must complete to be considered for top management positions
2. One axis of the matrix is based on an assessment of job performance. The other axes are typically labeled “potential” or “promotability.”
3. High-potential employees—with high performance are found in the top-right corner of the matrix. These are employees who should be developed for leadership positions in the company.
A. A number of studies have identified managerial behaviors that can cause an otherwise competent manager to be a “toxic” or ineffective manager. These behaviors include insensitivity to others, inability to be a team player, arrogance, poor conflict-management skills, inability to meet business objectives, and inability to change or adapt during a transition.
B. Onboarding or socialization refers to the process of helping new hires adjust to social and performance aspects of their new jobs. Effective onboarding includes understanding mundane tasks, such as completing tax forms and knowing how to complete time sheets or travel reimbursement forms.
4. Debasing or embarrassing new employees is avoided.
5. Employees learn about the company culture, history, language, products, services, and customers.
The chapter begins with a description of the steps of the development planning process, and highlighting the responsibilities of both the employee and the company at each step. The framework of the chapter provided the student with an interesting discussion of employee development. Four major approaches to development were addressed. First, formal education programs were highlighted. Second, assessment for developmental purposes was discussed, including much information on the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instruments for measuring key factors in being a manager. Other assessment activities described in the chapter were the assessment center and performance appraisals. The currently popular appraisal method called 360-degree feedback was detailed. Third, job experiences for development were discussed, with focus on job rotation and transfers. Fourth, interpersonal relationships were addressed, with the focus being on mentoring. Benefits and limitations of the various development vehicles were discussed. Finally, the chapter concluded with discussion on succession planning. This chapter provides the student a very current look at the activities and events through which employees can intentionally develop. The key is for both the employee and the company to plan for development and to very intentionally engage in activities that are developmental.
The chapter highlights some current issues in the training and development arena. This is an important body of information for the student taking an overview course in training and development. First the chapter covers sector partnerships, school-to-work programs, and joint union-management programs. It also includes legal issues, where it is critical to know the major pieces of legislation, including the Civil Rights Act (1964, 1991), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the major requirements they define for employers. Further, the categories of legally dangerous situations, e.g., an employee being injured during a training activity, are described. Next, the chapter addresses the management of a diverse workforce and the characteristics of successful diversity initiatives. This is invaluable information in today’s global culture. Thereafter, cross-cultural preparation is addressed, bringing to light the various types of expatriates; dimensions of cultural differences; steps in the preparation, including the predeparture phase, the on-site phase, and the repatriation phase. The chapter also talks about work-life balance practices, dual career path system, and finally concludes with early retirement programs.
2. Discuss the potential legal issues that relate to training.
3. Develop a program for effectively managing diversity.
8. Explain the value of phase retirement programs for older employees.
A. Training and development should help companies achieve their business goals, resulting in profits and positive returns to stockholders.
B. Companies have a social responsibility to help improve the communities where they are located by protecting the environment, supporting cultural activities, and helping to reduce poverty and unemployment.
B. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act is designed to assist the states in building school-to-work systems that prepare students for high-skill, high-wage jobs or future education. The act encourages partnerships between educational institutions, employers, and labor unions.
C. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 created a comprehensive workforce investment system. The reformed system is intended to be customer-focused, help Americans manage their careers through information and high-quality services, and help U.S. companies find skilled workers. The cornerstone of the system is One-Stop service delivery, which unifies numerous training, education, and employment programs into a single, customer friendly system in each community.
Joint Union-Management Programs
Joint union-management training programs provide a wide range of services designed to help employees learn skills that are directly related to their jobs and also develop skills that are “portable”—that is, valuable to employers in other companies or industries.
Legal Issues
A. Employers may be required to provide certain types of training or a certain number of hours of training for employees in certain industries.
F. The use of videos, manuals, handouts or any copyrighted material in training without the owner’s permission is illegal.
G. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) makes it illegal to make employment decisions on the bases of race, color, religion, gender or national origin.
L. All state Insurance has been the focus of several religious discrimination lawsuits brought by insurance agents. Some agents charged that the principles emphasized in training programs were based on Scientology were offensive and counter to their religious beliefs.
M. Notes taken during a diversity training program at a supermarket chain were used as evidence of discrimination.
O. Companies can often deduct the cost of training provided to employees as a business expense.
P. Employees may be able to deduct work related educational expenses as itemized deductions on their income taxes. To be deductible, the expenses must be for training only.
Melting the Glass Ceiling
A major development issue facing companies today is how to get women and minorities into upper-level management positions—how to break the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling refers to a barrier to advancement to higher-level jobs in the company that adversely affects women and minorities.
Steps In Cross-Cultural Preparation
4. motivated for success, able to enjoy the challenges of a different culture, and willing to learn about the host country’s culture, language and customs.
5. supported by their families.
D. The on-site phase, when the expatriate and family are in the host country, should involve continued orientation to the host country through formal training or mentoring.
E. The repatriation phase is the time during which the expatriate prepares to return to the parent company and country.
Career Challenges Facing a Multigenerational Workforce
A. Employees’ careers involve four stages: exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline.
B. It is important to recognize that there are likely generational differences in what employees want in their career. As a result, to attract, motivate, and retain a talented multigenerational workforce companies need to understand and manage career challenges and help employees deal with career issues.
D. Flextime refers to giving employees the option of choosing when to work during the workday, workweek, or work year.
E. Job sharing refers to having two employees divide the hours, the responsibilities, and the benefits of a full-time job.
Dual Career Path
3. The individual contributor career path is not used to satisfy poor performers who have no managerial potential. The career path is for employees with outstanding technical skills.
4. Individual contributors are given the opportunity to choose their career path.
B. Recycling is not just limited to older employees who are nearing retirement. Many companies that face a serious shortage of qualified employees are developing retraining programs in hopes of filling labor shortages with employees from other fields.
C. Companies are using these training programs to help recycle employees into new jobs and careers.
B. For companies, job hopping results in a loss of talent and productivity that results from turnover, retraining, and recruitment costs. Also, job hopping makes it difficult to create and sustain a culture that supports relationships between employees or continuity in employee-customer relationships.
C. Job hopping does provide companies with the opportunity to hire employees who have a variety of experiences in different companies, which can allow the company to understand and implement best practices.
VI. Coping with Career Breaks
VII. Coping with Job Loss
3. Assessment of skills and interests
4. Job seeking services, such as résumé-writing assistance and interview training
A. Older employees are as productive and customer-savvy as younger employees, and they have valuable experience.
4. Fourth, assessment and counseling are necessary to help older employees recycle to new jobs or careers, or transition to less secure positions whose responsibilities are not as clearly defined.
5. Fifth, it is important to recognize that as older employees’ physical and mental abilities decline, they can rely on experience and motivation to avoid poor performance.
1. Psychological aspects of retirement, such as developing personal interests and activities
2. Housing, including a consideration of transportation, living costs, and proximity to medical care
7. The collection of benefits from company pension plans and Social Security
B. Preretirement socialization or retirement planning can help employees avoid being forced to return to work because of poor financial planning.
Retirement
A Retirement involves leaving a job and a work role and making a transition into life without work.
3. Third, companies must be careful that early retirement programs do not unfairly discriminate against older employees.
2. The company can justify age-related distinctions for eligibility for early retirement.
3. Employees are allowed to choose early retirement voluntarily.
This chapter is filled with valuable information about various issues that currently surround the training and development function. Legal issues were addressed, as were the preparation of expatriates for overseas assignments and the management of a diverse workforce. School-to-work initiatives were also described, as were training the hard-core unemployed, and overcoming the glass ceiling. Joint union-management training initiatives were discussed, along with cross-culture preparation, and dual career path system. Finally, areas such as planned retirement, and meeting the needs of older workers were addressed. This variety of issues helps the student to see the many factors that come into play for the training function. A basic understanding of these issues is essential.