Items Description of Module

Subject Name Human resource management

Paper Name Training and Development

Module Title Forces influencing working and Learning : Context of Training and Development

Module Id Module -3

Pre- Requisites Understanding of working, learning and Training and development

Objectives To study the forces influencing working and learning in T & D context

Keywords Work, Learning, Training and Development

 QUADRANT-I

1. Module 3: Forces influencing working and Learning

2. Learning Outcome
3. Factors Influencing Working & Learning
4. Summary

1. Module 3: Forces influencing working and Learning

2. Learning outcomes:
After completing this module students will be able to :

 Understand main forces influencing working and learning

3. Factors Influencing Working & Learning:

As competition for employees increases, attracting and retaining employees has become a
challenge. An important part of job quality is the opportunities that employers provide for
professional development. All these changes point to how vital it is to invest in the learning,
training and development of your current employees. The forces that are influencing working
and learning are as follows:

A. Competition for skilled employees

There is huge competition for skilled employees and this competition will increase as the baby
boomer generation will start to retire. As the occupational structure of the U.S. economy
has shifted, skill requirements have changed. The demand for specific skills has being
replaced by a need for cognitive skills-mathematical and verbal reasoning ability-and
interpersonal skills concerned with working in teams or to interact with “customers” in
a service economy (e.g., patients, students, vendors, suppliers). Interpersonal skills are
important because in the service-oriented economy employees must take responsibility
for the final product or service. Variety and customization require employees to be
creative and good problem solvers. Continuous innovation requires the ability to learn.
 Source: http://www.dataconversionjobs.com

B. Attracting and retaining employees becomes a challenge

As competition is increasing for employees, attracting and retaining employees has become a
challenge. To ensure that your organization remains a desirable place to work, it is important
that employers provide learning opportunities and environment to employees. Another
important fact for development is that one should be able to use one’s own skills and abilities
on the job. This will help individuals in promotion and career advancement.

Today attracting and retaining an employee is a challenge as each sector has specific
requirement for example child care workforce is critical to providing high quality child care that
benefits children’s early development and learning. The challenge for the sector is to increase
the skills and education of the child care workforce to improve the quality of early learning and
care that children experience

Source: https://cio-asia.com

C. Funding for employee training and development is a concern

Even today adequate funding for training and development is a concern. Though the need to
provide training and development to employee has increased, the resources to do so may not be
available. In fact, funding for training and development is eliminated in times of financial
uncertainty.

D. Less job security

Employees in general have less job security today. People constantly hear that they can expect
to have many different employers and even different careers during their work life. Today
employees are looking for employers who will provide them with opportunities to develop
transferable skills.
 Source: https://conservative-daily.com

E. Limited opportunities for advancement

Most organizations generally have a flat organizational structure. This means that there is little
room for promotion. Employees and organizations need to embrace the idea that moving 'up' is
not the only way to be satisfied with one's work. An alternative is to create challenges for
employees in their current position or a similar position.
Staff can learn from their colleagues. For example, less experienced employees can learn from
more experienced employees; a few employees can participate in external workshops and, upon
their return, provide training to their colleagues. A “skills inventory” can be created and
employees recognized as they work their way through the inventory.

Source: http://www.outstandingproductivity.com/

F. Talent Management

Talent management means attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating skilled employees
Talent management is becoming important area because of changes in demand for jobs, skill
requirements, the anticipated retirement of the baby boomer generation, and the need to develop
managerial talent with leadership skills.

The results of surveys suggest that opportunities for career growth, learning, and development,
and the performance of exciting and challenging work are some of the most important factors in
determining employees’ engagement and commitment to their present job/employer.
 Source: https://www.123rf.com

It is important to identify employees who are willing to develop their skills and seek
promotions. For example, Sales managers are encouraged to spend more time in operations
where they can learn about product flow, delivery, and other technical processes. This helps
sales managers to become better trained for managerial position.

Source: http://talentsnapshot.com/comprehensive-talent-management/

G. New Technology
The Internet: The Internet is a global collection of computer networks that allow users to
exchange data and information.

Source: www.niftynotcool.cool
 a) Commerce: The Internet has created a new business model—e-commerce, in which business
transactions and relationships can be conducted electronically.

b) Reduced costs: Advances in sophisticated technology along with reduced costs for the
technology are changing the delivery of training, making training more realistic, and giving
employees the opportunity to choose where and when they will work.

c) Alternative Work Arrangements: Technology also allows companies greater use of

alternative work arrangements. A key training issue which arises with alternative work
arrangements is to prepare employees and managers to coordinate their efforts so that we can
achieve results planned whether service or product.

H. High Performance Models of work Systems

New technology has brought changes in skill requirements and work roles. For example, we use
robots and computers to automate the manufacturing process. Today the technology allows the
production of different products simply by reprogramming the computer. As a result, labourer,
material handler, operator/assembler, and maintenance jobs may be merged into one position.
Technology based manufacturing requires employees to monitor equipment and troubleshoot
problems with sophisticated equipment, share information with other employees, and understand the
relationships among all components of the manufacturing process. Through technology, the
information needed to improve customer service and product quality becomes more accessible to
employees. This means that employees are expected to take more responsibility for satisfying the
customer and determining how they perform their jobs. Thus

i Work teams incorporates employees with different skills who interact to assemble a product
or provide a service.

ii Cross-training refers to training of employees in a numbers of skills so that they can take up
any of the roles needed to be performed in the team.

iii Use of new technology and work designs needs to be supported by specific human resource
management practices.

iv Virtual teams refers to a group of individuals who work together from different geographic
locations and depend upon communication technology such as email, fax, voice conferencing services
in order to collaborate

I. Changing Demographics & Diversity of the Work Force

The aging population means that companies are employing a growing share of older workers who are
playing their second innings. Older people want to work, and they plan a working retirement. Despite
myths to the contrary, worker performance and learning in most jobs is not adversely affected by
aging. Older employees are willing and able to learn new technology. An emerging trend is for
qualified older employees to ask to work part-time or for only a few months at a time as a means to
transition to retirement. Employees and companies are redefining what it means to be retired to
include second careers as well as part-time and temporary work assignments.
 http://workforcediverse.blogspot.in/

Another source of work force diversity is greater access to the workplace for people with disabilities.
Because of this diversity, it is unlikely that all employees will hold similar work values. Research
suggests that to maximize employees' motivation and commitment to company goals, employees
should be given the opportunity to develop their skills, meet their interests, and balance work and
non-work activities.

Table: - How Managing Cultural Diversity Can Provide Competitive Advantage

Argument Rationale
a) Cost As organisation become more diverse, the cost of a poor job in
integrating workers will increase. Companies that handle this well
will create cost advantages over those that don’t.
b) Employees Attraction Companies develop reputation on favourability as prospective
and Retention employers for women and ethnic minorities. Those with the best
reputations for managing diversity will be the most attractive
employers for women and other minority groups. As the labour
pool shrinks and changes composition, this edge will become
increasingly important.
c) Market Share For multinational organisations, the insight and cultural sensitivity
that members with roots in other countries bring to the marketing
effort should improve these efforts in important ways. The same
rationale applies to marketing to subpopulations within domestic
operations.
d) Creativity Diversity of perspectives and less emphasis on conformity to
norms of the past (which characterize the modern approach to
management of diversity) should improve the level of creativity.
e) Problem-solving Heterogeneity in decisions and problem-solving groups potentially
produces better decisions through a wider range of perspectives
and more thorough critical analysis of issues.
f) Flexibility Greater adaptability in a rapidly changing market.

Source: - T. H. Cox and S. Blake, “Managing Cultural Diversity: Implications for Organizational
Competitiveness”, Academy of Management Executive 5 (1991): 47; N. Lockwood, Workplace
Diversity: Leveraging the Power of Difference for Competitive Advantage (Alexandria, VA:
Society for Human Resource Management, 2005).

J. Increased Value Placed on Intangible Assets and Human Capital

i Human capital refers to the sum of the attributes, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness,
energy, and enthusiasm that the company’s employees invest in their work.
ii Intellectual capital refers to the codified knowledge that exists in a company.

iii Social capital refers to relationships in the company.

iv Customer capital refers to the value of relationships with persons or other organizations
outside the company for accomplishing the goals of the company.

v The value of intangible assets and human capital has three important implications:

a. A focus on knowledge worker

b. Employee engagement

c. An increased emphasis on adapting to change and continuous learning

vi Knowledge workers are employees who contribute to the company not through manual labour
but through what they know, perhaps about customers or a specialized body of knowledge.

Vii Employee engagement refers to the degree to which employees are involved in their work and the
strength of their commitment to their job and to the company.

Viii Change refers to the adoption of a new idea or behaviour by a company.

ix A learning organization has a culture of lifelong learning, enabling all employees to

continually acquire and share knowledge.

K. Globalization Issue:

Every business must be prepared to deal with the global economy. Global business expansion
has been made easier by technology. The Internet allows the data

 Companies provide cross-cultural training to their global employees and their

family which prepares them to understand the culture and norms of the country to
which they are being relocated and assists in their return to their home country
after the assignment.
 Some companies develop a leadership team to learn about the needs and the
culture of the foreign countries while at the same time providing valuable
community service.
 Few companies provide extensive coaching and assessment of managerial
potential and provide regular feedback to keep employees focused on the things
they need to do to reach their career goals.
 Globalization also means that U.S. companies may move jobs overseas; off
shoring refers to the process of moving jobs from the country to other locations in
the world.
 Globalization is not limited to any particular sector of the economy, product
market, or company size. Companies without international operations may buy or
use goods that have been produced overseas, hire employees with diverse
backgrounds, or compete with foreign-owned companies operating within the
country.
 Source: http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/

L. Generational differences

To successfully manage the diverse work force i.e. managers and employees must be trained in a new
set of skills, including:

i Communicating effectively with employees from a wide variety of backgrounds

ii Providing training coaching to employees of different age group, educational

backgrounds, and races.

iii Providing feedback on performance which is free of values and stereotypes based on
gender, ethnicity, etc

iv Training managers to recognize, understand and respond to generational differences

v Creating a working environment which promotes employees of all backgrounds to be

creative and innovative

M. Economic cycles

The poor economy means more companies are downsizing their work force, delaying plans for new
operations and growth, and revisiting training and development and human resource budgets to cut
unnecessary programs and costs. For example, just in January 2009 more than 70,000 job cuts were
announced, impacting employees from Pfizer, Texas Instruments, Home Depot, General Motors,
Boeing, Alcoa, Andersen, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Employees are delaying retirement
and newly retired employees are returning to work out of necessity because of losses affecting their
retirement assets.

One estimate is that companies plan to cut their training budgets over 10 percent at the time of
economic crisis. However, such economic times also provide an opportunity for companies to take a
closer look at training and development to identify those activities that are critical for supporting the
business strategy as well as those mandated by law (such as safety training or sexual harassment
training).

Provide an opportunity for companies to take a closer look at training and development to identify
those activities that are critical for supporting the business strategy as well as those mandated by law.

N. Focus on Links to Business Strategy

Managers are beginning to align training and development as a means to support a company’s
business strategy. Understanding the important role that intangible assets and human capital play in a
company’s competitiveness, managers are laying on the importance of training and development as a
means to support a company’s objectives that is, its plans for meeting broad goals such as
profitability, market share, and quality. Managers expect training and development professionals to
design and develop learning activities that will help the company successfully implement its strategy
and achieve business goals.

O. Customer Service and Quality Emphasis

i Total Quality Management (TQM) is a companywide effort to continuously

improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work.

ii The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9000:2000 quality
standards were established to emphasize and recognize high quality and to
publicize strategies and expectations for quality.

iii The ISO 9000:2000 Standards were developed by the International Organization
for Standardization. These standards have been adopted as the national quality
standards in nearly 100 countries. These are used in manufacturing, processing,
servicing, printing, forestry, electronics, steel, computing, legal services, and
financial services.

Source: https://pathable.com

iv Many companies are also using the Six Sigma process for monitoring and
improving quality. Six Sigma is a process of measuring, analyzing, improving,
and then controlling processes once they have been brought within the narrow Six
Sigma quality tolerances or standards. Training is an important component of the
process.

v Lean thinking involves doing more with less effort, equipment, space, and time,
but providing customers with what they need and want.

vi ISO 10015 is a quality management tool designed to ensure that training is linked
to company needs and performance

P. Employee Engagement

To benefit from employee’s knowledge requires a management style that focuses on engaging
employees. Employee engagement refers to the degree to which employees are fully involved in their
work and the strength of their commitment to their job and the company. Employees who are engaged
in their work and committed to their companies give those companies a competitive advantage,
including higher productivity, better customer service, and lower turnover. Although the types of
questions asked on these surveys vary from company to company, research suggests the questions
generally measure themes such as pride in the company, satisfaction with the job, prospects for future
growth with the company, and opportunity to perform challenging work. As you probably realize,
employees’ engagement is influenced by most human resource management practices, including
training and development.

Source: https://www.google.co.in

A survey of senior level human resource and learning professionals conducted by ASTD found that
over 50 percent reported engagement was affected by the frequency, quality, and number of
workplace learning opportunities, Training and development gives employees an opportunity for
personal growth .

Companies measure employee’s engagement levels with attitude or opinion surveys. Using training
delivery methods that provide employees with the flexibility to manage their personal learning while
balancing other work and non-work responsibilities, such as online learning, helps build employee
commitment to the company.

Q. Change and Continuous Learning

Apart from acquiring and retaining knowledge workers, companies should be able to adapt to change.
Change refers to the adoption of a new idea or behaviour by a company. Technological advancement,
changes in the work force, government regulations, globalization, and new competitors are the factors
that require companies to change. Change is inevitable in companies as products, companies, and
entire industries experience shorter life cycles.

A changing environment means that all employees follow the philosophy ·of learning. A learning
organization incorporates the culture of lifelong learning, enabling all employees to continuously
acquire and share knowledge. Managers take an active role in identifying training needs and helping
to ensure that employees use training in their work. Employees are encouraged to share knowledge
information with other employees and peers across the company using e-mail and the Internet. For a
learning organization to be successful, teams of employees must collaborate to meet customer needs.
Managers need to empower employees to make decisions. This allows the company to continuously
experiment and improve.

As more companies become knowledge-based, it’s important that they promote and capture learning
at the employee, team, and company levels. Buckman Laboratories is known for its knowledge
management practices. Buckman Laboratories develops and-markets specialty chemicals. Buckman’s
CEO, Robert Buckman, has developed an organizational culture, technology, and work processes that
encourage the sharing of knowledge. Employees use laptop computers and technology so as to share
information anywhere and anytime using the Internet. The company rewards innovation and
knowledge creation and exchange by including the sales of new products as part of employees’
performance evaluations.
4. Summary:

Training creates a platform to develop the knowledge base of all employees, but many employers
observe the development opportunities as an expense. Employees are absent from work while
attending training sessions, which may delay the completion of assignments or projects. Training and
development provides both the company and the individual employees with benefits that make the
cost and time a worthwhile investment.

An employee who receives the necessary training is able to perform her job in a better manner. The
employee becomes more aware of safety practices and proper procedures for performing the basic
tasks. The training may also build the employee's confidence because now he will have stronger
understanding of the industry and the responsibilities of his job. This confidence will help him to do
better and think of new ideas that can help to excel. Continuous training keeps employees on the
cutting edge of industry developments.

Employees with access to training and development programs have the advantage over employees in
other companies who are left untrained. The investment in training that a company makes shows the
employees they are valued. The training creates a supportive workplace.