W8: Learning, Development and Retention Flashcards
Differentiate between training and development
Training:
- Short term
- Formal or semi formal
- A method of transferring basic knowledge and skills to employees
Development:
- Long term process
- Focus on the acquisition of more complex and deeper competencies
- May be both formal training programs and on the job practical experience, mentoring and coaching
Triggers to employee development
Regulatory requirements
Staff retention - crucial
New products
Changes in manufacturing process or management systems
Improving quality of existing services/products
Refocusing strategy - organisational culture change
Compliance requirement
Human resource development (HRD)
A set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organisation to provide its members with the opportunities to learn necessary skills to meet current and future job demands
Learning organisation
Enable a continual focus on learning, knowledge transfer, improving and evaluation of all individuals
Increase everyone’s capacity to produce results that serve to achieve their shares vision
Characterisics of learning organisation
- Cultivates open feedback, e.g. 360 reviews, customer feedback
- Understand the root cause of problems
- Employees try to achive personal mastery –> People create their own benchmarks for personal success
- Cultivate a common vision:
- Learning from others
- Experimentation. Systematic search for new knowledge and continuos improvement –> e.g. trial and error until improvement
Benefits of learning organisation
- Agility –> ability to respond to competition or external pressure
- Systematic problem solving
- Employees are more resourceful, which can lead to innovation
- Knowledge can be transferred quickly and efficiently through the organisation ( via secondment)
- Aid employee retention
- People will be able to learn faster
Enablers to create a learning organisation
- Increased participation of individuals in decision/policy making
- Empowerment of individuals
- Strong leadership support
- Enhanced dialogue and collaboration between individuals
- Effective change and renewal of organisational culture
Barriers to create/becoming a learning organisation
- Insufficient buy in from employees –> due to mistrust in others and management
- Size of organisation can be an inhibitor –> more people, more complicated communication process –> employees connectivity can decreased
- Organisational structure –> traditional hierarchical structures can impeded sharing of knowledge
- The environment/culture needs to tolerate/encourage failure
Benefits of induction and orientation
- Workplace safety
- Increases operation efficiency
- Deepen psychological contract
- Educates new employees around the organisation’s culture, people, products/services, systems and goals
- Create a feeling of belonging
- Reduces new employee’s anxiety in the intergration process
- Create a channel of communication between employee/their leader and possible HR
Didactic learning method vs Experiential learning method
Didactic learning
* School-like learning method
* Teach centred, content oriented, minimal interaction between students and teachers
* Doesn’t satisfy the learning preferences of all studdent
* One direction communication style can be ineffective and tedious
Experiential learning:
* Developed by David Kolb
* Focuses on learning process for the individual
* Invovled experimentation, learning firsthand, reflecting afterwards
* Can be an effective/motivating way to learn
* However requires self initative, and reflection ability on their experience and problem solving skills
Learning styles - developed by who, includes how many learning styles
Honey & Mumford’s Typology
Includes 4 learning styles:
* Activists - learn by doing, like to be challenge
* Reflector: observing and thinking back on the experience
* Theorist: theory and background information, prefer logical, rational structure and aims
* Pragmatists: practicality is prioritised
Pre-requisites of learning
Preconditions for learning
Employee readiness (maturity and experience, background knowledge and skills)
Employee motivation (continuing desire to learn and improve)
On the job training
- Best way to develop new skills
- Instructions is given to employees by superviors and senior employees
- E.g. coaching, mentoring, shadow executive, staff meetings
Off the job training
- Provides employees with development opportunities in settings away from their usualy work
- E.g. university, tafe, conference, workshops, outdoor learning and adventure training
On the job training pros and cons
Pros:
* Ease of organising and adminstering training
* Lower costs associated with training
* Hands on experince –> acquiring work related skills
* Builds and strengthen workplace relationship
Cons:
* Can lack formal structure
* Poor training skills can impede effectiveness
