Develop Teams and Individuals
Section 1
“People skills aren’t important, are they?”
a.) Identify and briefly describe what you see as the core problem(s) which is affecting the performance of the team.
Team management and people skills are very vital in any organization, especially if it concerns a senior officer and his colleagues. After reading and analyzing the case, I have found out that the core problem is Jarrod’s lack of people skills. Though his technical skills and abilities should be taken into account, his lack of people skills should not be overlooked too. His lack of these skills is thoroughly affecting the team and is starting to shred the team into pieces.
(b) Briefly describe what you see as the longer term impact the core problem(s) will have on the customer service team.
As was mentioned, Jarrod’s lack of people management skills is affecting the team. The team is slowly losing their drive to continue working. If this continues, sooner or later, the entire customer service operations of the company would be affected. Furthermore, due to lack of management training, he may be giving biased appraisals, thus pulling his colleagues down. Again, if this were to continue the company is likely to suffer. People skills should also be included in the selection of junior and senior officers. This is because people skills are also vital in keeping a harmonious existence in the company.
(c) Recommend a course of action to address the identified core problem(s). In your suggested actions you need to address the following issues:
First and foremost, before any action is taken, one must identify the core problems in the company. In this situation, we can point out Jarrod as the major problem. However, we can also include the manager due to the fact that he doesn’t have enough courage to face his junior. Furthermore, the company should also change their recruitment techniques. They should also consider other factors such as the management skills of the aspiring applicant.
Business success increasingly hinges on an organization’s ability to use employee expertise as a factor in the shaping of business strategy. As a primary means of sustaining an organization’s competitive edge, HRD serves a strategic role by assuring the competence of employees to meet the organization’s present performance demands.
Training and other initiatives associated with total quality management have been critical in transforming marginal manufacturing plants into successful facilities (1994). The company should make a competent HRD staff who would continue to be a primary vehicle for assuring mandated levels of employee competence and public safety in highly regulated sectors like the bank industry (1994).
Organizations in market leadership positions realize sooner or later that human resources are ultimately the only business resource with the creativity and adaptive power to sustain and renew an organization’s success despite changing market conditions (1993). The development of employee expertise and employee people skills provide a potentially inexhaustible source of ideas for further innovation and increased productivity because the most basic output of the highly competent employee knowledge is not used up in the process of producing it ( 1989). Investments in employee education and training increasingly fund the development of an organization to support the sustainable competitive advantage that a highly-trained workforce provides. Developing employee expertise at all levels of the organization and using knowledge as a catalyst for growth and competitive advantage represents a major frontier in organizational performance (1994; 1995).
The company’s HRD staff’s first task is to discover the source of a deficit or the root cause which is actually the most difficult and consequential task. Three computer-linked diagnostic tools that are designed and adapted are particularly useful to the HRD business consultant trying to ferret out the roots of a client’s performance problem:
PART B:
‘Educating Kylie’
In the area of management, certain skills are required in order to be successful. Not anyone can be a manager. Managers, by inclination and necessity, are people of action. While they may experience periods of vision and contemplation, the urgencies of the jobs they perform continually keep their attention focused on the practical and on the demand for results ( 2000).
Six fundamental skills are needed to become a manager: writing, public speaking, interviewing, relating to others, personal computing, and information searching. These are tied together with an emphasis on learning as a lifetime endeavor. However, these skills are also requisites in other career paths. Unfortunately, the tendency to ignore these basic skills is commonplace. They may seem so fundamental that they are taken for granted and no attention is given to them or no special effort is made to improve them ( 1991).
One of the most critical requirements of successful managers is they possess the skill of being insightful. “Insight” means the ability to see into both persons and situations. In this sense, insight is synonymous with understanding and discernment. Yet, astute persons frequently have blurred understanding or fail to use insights available to them. Some mediocre managers, on the other hand, have sharp or intuitive discernments (2000).
The approach to individual development, Kylie in particular, will concentrate on the core competencies that are integral to effective job performance. Six categories of knowledge have been identified that constitute the basic core of learning required of people throughout the organization. Depending on the requirements of their specific jobs, employees must have varying levels of knowledge of these categories:
Ø The company’s products
Ø Finance
Ø The administrative operations
Ø The electronic database systems used throughout the company
Ø Leadership and management
Professional capabilities are measured by Open Organization Profile , including skills in planning, problem solving, communicating, influencing others and innovating. Furthermore, the Profile assesses job proficiency, the quality of work produced, the degree of customer focus, adaptability to change, willingness to assume accountability, and teamwork skills.
The competency assessment will give a 360-degree profile of the job holder. It includes a self-assessment as well as evaluations by the individual’s manager, co-workers and subordinates. The data is compared to a profile developed for the particular position which specifies the attributes and skills needed to perform optimally in the job. Most important, this assessment serves as the foundation for a customized action plan to deal with the employee’s unique developmental needs.
Performance-based development for individuals will integrate classroom training, self-study and computer-based instruction. It will be built around the core business interests of the company who include product knowledge, sales, customer service and the service delivery system. To help ensure cost-effective delivery of core training, Kylie will have access to these programs through her desktop computers.
It must also be noted that an organization means that management endeavors to achieve its objectives by directing the efforts of the people under its supervision. This procedure is a necessity whether it is a large or a small company. This should be taken seriously by the Kylie. While the success of her stay in the company may be attributed to many other causes, the skill with which the she directs and manages the organization is one of the major factors in the positive end result. Therefore, she must be more responsive to her employees and what her company needs most.
Probably the most foremost responsibility of management at all levels, but especially top management –is the making of decisions. In many, if not most, instances, the decisions that Kylie makes involve the making of choices between two or more alternative courses of action. The company therefore rests on whether Kylie, a senior will choose the right decision or not.
Furthermore, as a senior officer, Kylie must learn to select personnel who are fit for the job. it is advantageous to select personnel who fit the team profile whenever possible and to optimize the synergy among the participants by matching complementary skills. Another consideration for the manager to keep in mind in evaluating potential contributors is to select for attitude and to train for skills (1996). Proper follow-up of performance is required to ensure success for the project. The manager is well advised to give freedom to the people to be themselves, but to deal with wrong selection decisions promptly to avoid additional negative side effects on other participants. It is also a good practice not to ignore exemplary nor bad behaviors; these provide opportunities for the project manager to illustrate what is desirable for the success of the project and what is to be avoided (1999).
Section 2
Compulearn
CompuLearn is based in the United Kingdom, which is a private sector provider of teaching and learning programmes to a growing international market. The company provides IT based learning packages in business and management, and works in partnership with UK universities, which help validate its programmes, for students to obtain a recognized, UK based qualification on the successful completion of their study.
Based in Preston, Lancashire, it employs 50 staffs, with the majority working in the Preston Headquarters office. Several functions include Programme Development, Customer Service, Human Resource, Marketing, Finance, Sales, IT support, and Quality Assurance. Offices are also present in main trading areas, including in Nairobi, Mumbai, and Dubai. Its main market is in the Middle-East, Asia and Africa, and operates through and with 200 education centers in 30 countries.
The company’s mission is to be the market leader in e-learning delivery of university-validated programmes, and to become the foremost learning company in the world.
Its newly identified business strategy is to extend this education to 500 education centers in 60 countries within three years.
Strategies are the vehicle that will take a company from its current position to where it wants to be, and short-term key performance areas will support each of the strategic areas to be discussed. These five strategic areas include leadership, people, policy, partnership, and resources ( 2003).
Leadership – The problem with leadership lies on the fact that CompuLearn’s Managing Director lacks the skills in devising long-term plans for the management of people within the company. Due to this incapability, the whole Human Resource team is also affected. With this problem, several proposals can be given for the improvement of the skills and knowledge of the company’s Managing Director.
- The company must ensure that their Human Resource leaders have the skills, knowledge, confidence and support to fulfill their responsibilities
- The company must ensure that leaders develop and deploy the organization’s corporate objectives thru departmental plans and engage in a process for measurement, review and improvement of performance at an organizational, team and individual level, to encourage leaders to review and improve the effectiveness of their own leadership.
- Promote effective communication between members, managers and employees with opportunities to challenge in both directions, and to communicate and consult with leaders on issues that affect them.
- Research and promote best management practice and to ensure that this is reflected in all policies and procedures.
People – Problem with the employees of the company lies on the fact that they lack training and knowledge on their job, including their unpleasant attitude towards their managers. Strategies of the company must include:
- Achieving access to training and development opportunities for all employees to help them meet their targets identified as part of their key issue exchange
- Develop, achieve and maintain quality systems incorporated into performance management within the departments and other organizations
- Encourage greater flexibility to meet the service demands through rewards and incentives and frameworks for career and personal development
Policy – The overall policies of CompuLearn must be improved and must encompass several aspects, including training and development of employees and managers, allocation of training budget, and employing and recruiting of the Human Resource team.
- It must ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all employees through a clear policy framework based upon legislative requirements, guidance and promotion of best practice.
- Ensure that all policies, procedures and guidelines are communicated clearly, understood, and followed at all levels of the organization.
- Monitor and review the effectiveness of all policies and procedures to ensure that they support the delivery of quality and efficient services to the community and the achievement of national and local performance targets.
Partnership – This includes establishing a pleasant and effective relationship and communication with the company’s suppliers and partners. This includes:
- Developing and maintaining the company’s employment policies and report on the resultant findings and implications.
- Supporting departmental and corporate initiatives intended to improve access to services and employment by members of disadvantaged and minority groups.
- Developing a clear policy to balance the changing needs of a diverse workforce with service priorities including a commitment to review work-life balance initiatives
Resources – CompuLearn must be able to allocate their resources effectively and adequately, in accordance to the needs of each of its internal organization. This includes strategies such as:
- Identifying the requirements and priorities for all functions in line with corporate objectives, the corporate plan and the departmental service plans of all departments
- Establishing qualitative and quantitative performance targets and indicators to continually improve standards.
- Promoting the role and continuously developing the employees engaged in service delivery, supporting and enabling them to deliver quality and cost effective services
- To work with trade unions and to seek to maintain effective employee relations and in doing so produce a clear statement of shared values between the management and the representatives of the workforce
Furthermore, in response to CompuLearn’s new business strategy, which is to extend this education to 500 education centers in 60 countries within three years, several long-term plans must also be made. Long-term strategies must include:
- Implementation of new information systems
- Identify service or product innovations and resultant change
- Development of multi-skilled, multi-disciplined employees
- Provide technology-oriented skills upgrading
- Provide counseling and employee assistance to address issues, complaints and concerns
- Promote healthy living both on and off the job
- Translate desired culture into specific employee behavior
- Examine alternate scenarios, long-term projections and future staffing by watching demographic shifts and economic trends
- Provide information in newsletters, emails, coffee breaks and meetings
- Knowing several languages (incorporation in curriculum)
- Improvement, development and innovation of infrastructure of all education centers
The company can strategically implement the enumerated short-term and long-term plans through specific goals and objectives. By identifying all the possible problems arising in the company, a Human Resource Manager can think of some solutions and in turn boost the morale of their employees to regain their trust for the company, and therefore, maintain the company’s good reputation. An employee’s motivation serves as the key when it comes to his or her performance in a certain business firm or company. Thus, it is involved in the willingness of an employee to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals and outcomes, where this effort gives a positive or a negative impact by the effort’s capacity to satisfy individual needs and life interests, and the person’s ability to make the effort and achieve the outcome (2006). The productivity of an employee depends on his or her motivation, which in turn depends on the leader’s efforts in giving the employees direction and training. It involves the ability of the employee, his or her values and life interests, which affects his or her work and attitude towards his or her performance. To improve the motivation of the employees of CompuLearn including their managers, the Human Resource team must be able to conceptualize and implement incentives and rewards, which would help motivate them. In addition, the team must have effective employee appraisals to help gauge the work performance of the employees. Knowing their problems and dilemmas regarding their work would be easier for the company to develop, improve and delegate work for their employees. This is possible thru the effective and efficient mediation of the Human Resource Management team. Moreover, the HRM team can also implement and schedule employee trainings and development to help them know more about the nature of their job and better understand their responsibilities.
Moreover, with proper motivation, the HRM team can effectively implement other projects and plans for the development of the whole company. With motivation, the Human Resource team can improve better communication within all internal organizations of CompuLearn, including the staffs from other international offices. In this way, it is easier for the team to initiate leadership trainings and employee development sessions.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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