Building Employee Capabilities

A Presentation by

Mr. Indranil Mutsuddi

Stages of Learning Experiences encountered in work careers…

While moving up in the hierarchy in the organization.

Moving laterally across various subfields of an occupation or functional group.

Moving towards the center of influence & leadership in the organization.

Learning Experiences encountered in work careers… T&D experiences can have a major impact on

what type of career movements are possible for an individual.

Individuals can recognize that their KSAs need to be continually updated to remain current with the present job.

From the organizational perspective, ongoing employee development is a necessary component to improve quality, meeting global challenges & adopting to new technologies.

Employee Orientation:It can be described as a planned & systematic attempt by the organization to introduce new employees to job duties, organizational expectations, policies & procedures & the culture of the organization.

Objectives of Employee Orientation Provide information about the job & the

organization Teach essential safety & job skills Discuss the necessary attitudes that the

employee must acquire. Help the new employee get off to a good start

by developing an understanding of how things get accomplished.

Make clear what the roles of the supervisor & other employees are in the workgroup.

Employee Orientation…Key Issues Development of individuals must focus on an

integrated approach that includes multiple learning events & multiple learning methods that occur over time.

In addition to formal training methods, organizations are actively creating structured learning experiences, methods, organizations are actively creating structured learning experiences.

Employee Orientation…Key Issues

Importance of the need to immediately inculcate the values & norms of organizational citizenship among the new employees.

Role of supervisors to provide structured meetings with co-workers so as to discuss organizational values & customer satisfaction issues.

Employee orientation should be a planned process

Employee orientation should emphasize on broader goals for new comers, planned learning activities should support the retention of the same.

Providing a realistic view of what to expect from the organization.

Decrease the possibility of “reality shocks” for the new comers.

Removing un-realistic expectations & attitudes related to successful performance.

Employee Orientation…Key Issues

Newcomer Socialization

Organizational socialization is the formal & often informal process by which a person learns the values, norms and required behaviors that permit the individual to participate as a member of the organization.

Newcomer Socialization: It can take place formally through both formal

methods such as “new employee orientation programs” & informal methods such as advice from co-workers, observation & trial & error method.

Socialization could also take place through “multiple socialization processes”: which includes interactions b/w learning and the actual work tasks & all other types of learning that new employees experience.

Factors influencing Newcomer Socialization Having accurate knowledge of what is expected

and clarity of the individual’s role in the organization.

Having the KSAs necessary to perform the job. Organization’s philosophy on innovation, risk

taking & on the importance of continuous learning.

Dimensions of Newcomer Socialization

Performance Proficiency: It focuses on the extent to which individuals learn to perform the required jobs.

People Skills: It focuses on establishing successful & satisfying work relationships with the established employees.

Politics Concerns: It involves the individual’s success in gaining information about the power structure within the organization.

Language proficiency: Proficiency in terms of acquiring the technical job-specific languages as well as organizational jargons.

Organizational Goals & Values

The issue of history focusing on the appreciation for the organization’s traditions, customs, myths and rituals that drive actions & provide explanations for why certain things occur in the organization.

Dimensions of Newcomer Socialization

Stages in Newcomer Socialization process

Stage1: Confronting & accepting organizational reality

Confirmation/disconfirmation of expectations Conflicts b/w personal values & needs Discovering which aspects of oneself that are

reinforced.

Stages in Newcomer Socialization process

Stage2: Achieving Role Clarity

Being initiated to the tasks in the new job. Defining the “interpersonal roles” (a) w.r.t.

peers (b) w.r.t. the boss. Learning to cope with the resistance to change Congruence b/w one’s own evaluation of

performance & that of the organization. Learning how to work within the given degree

of structure & ambiguity.

Stages in Newcomer Socialization process

Stage3: Locating Oneself in the Organizational Context

Learning which modes of one’s own behavior are congruent with those of the organization.

Resolution of conflicts at work & b/w outside interests & work.

Commitment to the work & to the organization stimulated by 1st year job challenges.

The establishment of an altered self-image, new interpersonal relationships & the adoption of new values.

Stages in Newcomer Socialization process

Stage4: Detecting Sign posts of Successful Socialization

Achievement of organizational dependability & commitment.

High satisfaction. Feelings of mutual acceptance. Job involvement & internal work motivation. The sending of “signals” b/w newcomers the

organization to indicate mutual acceptance.

Building Employee capabilities through… On-the-Job-training (OJT) Apprenticeships Embedded Training Performance Support Systems Enterprise Training

Embedded Training It involves the combination of the use of new

technology & equipment & structured learning experiences on the job.

It consists of instruction that is an integral part of the equipment itself.

The exercises in ET are developed:- To provide employees with opportunities to practice skills in a variety of common situations to build automaticity.- To allow for practice of skills relevant to situations

that might not occur very often.

Performance Support Systems They involve the standalone tools that provide

information to specific users to help them to perform specific jobs.

The performance support tools are presented in the form of checklists, diagrams, flow charts & decisions making aids for the users.

Sophisticated embedded Performance Support Systems can be created alongwith software application capabilities

Enterprise Training Enterprise training is a new term coined for a variety of

programs of self-directed career management (eg: IBM, HP, Intel, Motorola).

The objective of this is to build a career-resilient work-force; which means that employees are willing to continually update their KSAs & manage their careers to enhance their employability.

It includes self-assessments of current career states, descriptions of career plans & interests & the development of career planning goals & action plans.

It tries to inculcate the idea that individuals must take on more personal responsibility for career management & direction.