Staffing defined, страница 7

It is an informal, one-on-one teaching relationship between the manager and the employee. It has two main goals: to identify and encourage positive performance and to identify and remove barriers to negative performance.

Regardless of the type, training should be realistic. It should duplicate the actual means, materials, and environment the trainee should expect. Where possible, training programs and experiences should be designed with the trainee in mind. The ideal program would allow for constant feedback between trainee and trainer. It would allow people to progress at their own pace, accommodating individual differences. It also would allow one-on-one contacts between trainee and trainer. Finally, it should be conducted by people who know the material to be taught, know how to train, and want to conduct the training.

Training Options. Organizations can provide training through their own facilities or locate outside sources. Some companies have developed In-house, or company, schools that hold courses of varying length at company-owned or -sponsored facilities. Firms such as Xerox. IBM. and General Motors all have their own training schools.

Another option is to develop cooperative training relationships that consist of courses offered by colleges, universities, and private organizations in response to the needs of the firm. General Motors has developed cooperative training relationships with community colleges to supplement its own in-house schools. Automotive technicians receive classroom theory, laboratory instruction, and actual on-the-job training while enrolled in the program.

v Development: Purposes and Techniques

Development, according to R. S. Schuler. "means preparing an employee for a future, but fairly well-defined job at a higher level." Development programs get people ready for their and the organization's futures. Although training is often conducted in-house by organization employees development usually takes place outside the immediate company environment and is often conducted by outside professionals. Development programs may send a person to a management seminar or workshop conducted by a university, a government agency, or an industry or a trade association. If the company offers a tuition refund for such a program, it encourages individuals to seek higher levels of formal education.

Development exposes people to skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will be helpful to them in higher positions. Efforts toward development often depend on an individual's personal drive and ambition and are not limited to company inventories of necessary skills or persons possessing them. Development activities such as management training programs may or may not be voluntary for individual workers, but in any case, they help participants prepare for the move into management or upgrade existing management skills. In most companies, there are more opportunities for development programs the higher one goes in management. Some companies offer their executives one year away, with pay to earn their master's degree in business administration (MBA). Others, such as Xerox and Motorola, operate their own training and development centers, staffed in part with visiting professors and company managers.

In addition to seminars, workshops, college tuition refund programs, and leaves of absence for pursuit of advanced degrees, companies offer other development programs. Job rotation provides the opportunity for an employee to work on a variety of jobs in a work unit or in the organization. The rotation results in the person's developing an understanding of the interrelationship of activities and an overview of the work unit or organization. Internships, apprenticeships, or assistantships allow the 3 individual to observe the work, ask questions, and imitate the practices I of the incumbents.

Training and development programs attempt to meet the organization's demands for people. Both improve performances of individuals and-of organizations. They reward ambition and act as incentives for greater loyalty and commitment to the enterprise that offers them. They do so because they offer the means to gain greater security, to reach a higher level of job satisfaction, and to increase confidence and self-esteem. Companies that spend the time, money, and effort to develop and sponsor (оr conduct) training and development programs are rewarded with a growing pool of talent capable of greater achievements and available for greater responsibilities.