Unit 21 HRM Concepts Assignment help

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 21 HRM Concepts
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

This Unit 21 HRM concepts assignment focuses on different concepts of human resource management. It starts with the discussion of the training needs of the organisational staff at different levels. Methods of providing training have also been discussed along with the explanation of their advantages and disadvantages. Learners will learn about planning the training event by this unit as it focuses on various factors that have to be considered while planning for a training event. Evaluation of the event has also been discussed as an important factor for the organisation. Further, this unit throws light on different evaluation methods and the success of that evaluation method in identifying the effectiveness of the training event.

Last part of the unit considers the involvement of UK government in training and development function of HR. Description of many initiatives by UK government has shown the interest and dedication of the government towards development of the employees in UK.

Task 2

2.1 Compare the training needs for staff at different levels in an organisation.

The act of teaching any skills to the people in order to develop them is called training. In the organisations, training needs to be provided to the employees so that they can efficiently contribute to attain the organisational objectives. Training can be provided during the overall employment duration of the employees according to the need and the type of training. Any change in the culture, structure or working made the management to train employees accordingly.  Before providing training to the employees, management perform the action of training need analysis. In this analysis, the managers identify the training needs at different kevel of the organisations. (Askegren, 2005)

Organisational level:	As the name suggests, organisational level training needs are related to the strategies and the objectives of the organisation as a whole. At this level, training needs can be identified by analysing the vision and mission of the company. This level training deals with developing the skills of the management as well as the employees that helps in achieving the organisational ultimate goals.
Operational  level:	Training needs at this level deals with development of the skills and knowledge of the employees in order to complete the task delegated to them. Analysis of the training needs has been done by observing the gap between the required skills and the preset skills of the employees. (CoulsonThomas, 2012)
Individual level:	This is the level that concentrates only on the individual development. These needs may not contribute into the organisational goals achievement but focuses on developing the individual. Personal meetings with the employees help the management to find out the personal needs of the employees to learn something.

2.2 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of training methods used in an organisation.

Training is of various types and thus different methods have been required to provide different types of training. Training methods depends on the trainer, the trainee and on the purpose of the training. Training methods mainly classified on two bases:

• On the job training methods: The methods that falls under this category are use to provide training to the employees during their employment duration.
• Off the job training: It involves the methods that provides training to the employees keeping the employees separated from the job environment. Study material has been provided to the people in order to focus only on the learning perspective. (Dr. R. Hemanalini, 2011)

On the job training methods:

Training method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Mentoring: Mentoring is the type of on the job training in which the trainers focuses o developing the attitude of the employees. Mentors are generally the senior members of the team and this training has been given to the employees at managerial level.	The advantage of this training method is that it helps building the relationship between the trainee and the trainer.	More of the informal relation can hamper the training process and learning.
Job rotation: Job rotation is method of providing training to the employees by rotating their jobs from one to another.   (Laird, Naquin and Holton, 2003)	The main advantage of this method is that the employees have the exposure to all the roles and responsibilities of different jobs. This provides the, versatile knowledge.	The method can become disadvantaged when the jobs of the employees are rotated illogically. The rotation should be among the relevant job profiles.

Off the job training methods:

Training method	Advantage	Disadvantage
Lectures and conferences: This method deals with provision of the training by verbal presentation of the topic. This method is used to train large number of employees with the general subject.	The advantage of this method is that it covers the large number of trainees.	The main disadvantage associated with this training method is that, it may fails to create motivation and interest among the employees.
Simulation: It is the method that focuses on creating the artificial job environment and trains the people accordingly. Case study, management games and role-play are some of the techniques of simulation method.	This method provides an artificial job environment to the employees that facilitate them to learn practically. (Mazenod, 2013)	Sometimes, the environment created is very different from the actual environment.

2.3 Use a systematic approach to plan training and development for a training event.

A systematic approach has been used to plan something. marketing planning itself means a systematic process to conduct certain activity on filed. As far as the training event is considered, it is very necessary to follow the series of steps to conduct an event. (Mondy, Noe and Gowan, 2005) Much information needs to be extracted before planning a training event in order to find out the objective behind the training. Some of the steps have been discussed below that needs to be followed:

• Training needs analysis: This step is very important because the training event is based on the needs that has been analysed before conducting the event. At this step, the analyst analyse the different departments of the organisation and tries to find out the areas in which training needs to be given to the employees. Different methods have been used to analyse the training need at different level of organisation.
• Defining learning requirement: This step focuses on the requirements of the learning in the training needs that have been identified. This step provides the idea about the type of the training and the subject o which training needs to be given.
• Set objectives: After assessing the learning requirement, objectives have been decided. These objectives are set according to the purpose of the training. After the completion of the training event, the level of achievement of the objectives determines the effectiveness of the training event. (Noe, 2007)
• Implementation: Implementation of the plan refers to make the plan into action o n the field. It involves the series wise implementation of the steps to conduct the whole event.
• Evaluation and monitoring: Evaluation and monitoring of the training event is very important. Monitoring of the event is done in order to keep all the activities on the place and evaluation is done to find out the effectiveness of the training event.

Conduction of a training event is a difficult task as it involves so many issues. Some of the planning issues have been discussed below:

• Number: The number of the trainees needs to be decided before conducting an event. It is necessary to define the number in the training plan so that further decisions can be taken.
• Trainer: Trainer refers to the one who conduct the training. IT is necessary to take decision on which type of trainer is required to provide a particular training.
• Content: Some of the content has been required by the trainer that needs to be addressed in front of the trainees. It is also an issue because the content should be related to the subject of the training. (Piskurich, 2009)
• Location: Location of the training needs to be decided.
• Training budget: All the activities that need to be conducted under a training event should be under the budget of training that has been decided by the management.

Training plan:

Training need development:	Human resource management
Learning required:	Computer skills
Set objectives:	Speeding up of report formation Access to social network for recruitments
Number of trainees :
Trainer :	External
Location:	Common computer lab of the office
Training method:	Lectures and conferences andpractical training

Task 3:

3.1 Prepare an evaluation using suitable techniques.

Evaluation is the process of assessment that is used to judge a particular process. Training event can be evaluated by matching the objectives with the results of the training. The more is the gap between the two, the less is the effectiveness of the training. Evaluation of the training event requires a systematic approach to be followed. It also needs different methods to evaluate the event. Training can be evaluated by assessing the needs of the training. This provides the answer to why the training has been conducted. After that, the progress of the training has been assessed.

Evaluation can also be done by assessing the long-term impact of the training on the performance of the employees. (Twomey, 2006)

Evaluation techniques:

Various techniques can be used to evaluate the training method. Some of them have been discussed below:

• Questionnaire: It is the set of questions that has been asked to the participants in order to check the improvement in their skills as well as to determine the usefulness of the training to them.
• Feedback: This method is used to make corrective actions. The feedback from trainer and the trainees provide the errors in the training method or the event that can be corrected in future. (Williams and Nasukho, 2015)

Documentation:

Training program questionnaire:

Name:
Department:                               
Questions:

• How was the training session?

It was good:
It was OK:
It was not worth:

• What is the best part of the training session?

Training content:
Trainer’s attitude:

• What are the methods that can be used as alternatives?

Vestibule training:
Coaching:

• What should be the appropriate time duration for the training?

2-3 hours:
1 hour:
More than 3 hours:

Does the training session meet your individual needs?

To some extent:

Feedback form:

Name: Training subject: Training date: Criteria Rating from 0-5 Training was relevant   The content provided was helpful   Duration of the training was sufficient   The training method was appropriate   Language of the trainer was perfect and understandable   Presentation was good   Instructions were clear

3.2 Carry out an evaluation of a training event.

Carrying out the evaluation of the training event is very critical, as different factors need to be considered in order to assess the effectiveness of the training event. Evaluation of the training event results in identification of limitations of the same. This helps in making the event more effective and improved in future. Reaction, learning and behaviour of the people during the training session help in evaluating the event. (Willingham, Hughes and Dobolyi, 2015)

Evaluation of the above training workshop:

Results of the questionnaire:

• How was the training session?

It was good: 7
It was OK: 1
It was not worth: 0

• What is the best part of the training session?

Training content: 5
Trainer’s attitude: 2

• What are the methods that can be used as alternatives?

Simulation: 0
Vestibule training: 7
Coaching: 1

• What should be the appropriate time duration for the training?

2-3 hours: 8
1 hour: 0
More than 3 hours: 0

• Does the training session meet your individual needs?

Yes: 5
No: 0
To some extent: 3

The numbers in front of the answers determines the number of trainees that opt for that answer. The number is out of 8.

Rating of overall training session	90%
Best part of the training	Training content
Alternative method	Vestibule training
Best time duration	2-3 hours
Training session meet individual needs	Yes

Feedback results:

Feedback statements	Most frequent rating
Training was relevant	4
Content was useful	5
Sufficient duration of training	5
Training method was appropriate	3
Understandable language of trainer	2
Presentation was good	2
Instruction was clear	3

3.3 Review the success of the evaluation methods used.

Review of success of evaluation method: Success of the evaluation methods that have been used in the evaluation process of the training event can be judged by matching the objectives with the results of the training event. The methods that have been used in the above case are feedback and questionnaire. The trainees have filled both in order to get the relevant information of the effectiveness of the training. (Askegren, 2005) As far as the above methods are considered, questionnaire provides the clear results that the training event was very successful, as 90% of the trainees have said that the overall session was good and useful for them. The questions asked in the questionnaire have provided a clear picture of the reaction of the trainees towards the training event. Feedback is another method that has been used to evaluate the training workshop conducted in the above case. Feedback is used to identify the ratings of the training event in different context. It results in determining the probability of using the same methods to provide training. The feedback in the above case concludes that the content and the duration of the training was near to perfect as most of the people has given highest rating to the subjects whereas, the presentation part have the scope of improvement as most of the people has given lowest ratings to the presentation part.

The overall conclusion is that both the methods that have been used to evaluate the training event were appropriate because they have given the clear picture of the effectiveness of the training event. Both the methods are also proved successful in identifying the areas with scope of improvement. (Mazenod, 2013)

Task 4:

4.1 Explain the role of Government in training, development and lifelong learning.

UK government plays a very important role in providing training to the employees in UK. The main aim of the government in UK behind the provision of training is the development of the skills of every employee to the minimum standard level. UK government came up with many policies and programs to support the employers in providing training to their employees. The support from the government side motivates the employers to do the same. Government support the public as well as private organisations by conducting programs that motivates them towards training and development and tries to change the perspective of the employers towards importance of training their employees. Government also used to fund some of the organisations in order to support them to initiate such programs. The major example is the National Apprenticeship services that provide assistance and funds to the employers who want to start with the apprenticeship program in their organisation. (Gov.uk, 2016)

Lifelong learning is another concept that draws attention of the UK government. Lifelong learning involves skill development of the people in all the ages. It is about being taught and coached at any point of the employment. According to EU, lifelong learning is about learning throughout the life in order to gain information knowledge and skills related to all the perspectives like social, civic and employment. Lifelong learning programs aims at creating a well being and feeling of confidence in the employees with skills and knowledge development. In economic sense, lifelong learning helps in improving the economy. Skilled workers provide more productivity and hence contribute more in improving the economy of the country. (Xperthr.co.uk, 2016)

4.2 Explain how the development of the competency movement has affected the public and private sectors.

Competency movement in UK deals with attaining the competitive advantage by the companies over other competitors. This movement aims at creating competitive environment among the industries so that the organisation s tries to improve the productivity to withstand the competition in the market. The main aim of the competency movement is to attain the advantage by the skilled workers. UK government wants the organisations to be competitive in human resource perspective. The effect of the movement has been observed on private companies first. Most of the private companies in UK encourages by the movement and try to incorporate training and development programs in their organisation so that they can attain the competitive advantage by human resource. ‘Georgia Armani’ was one of the fashion company based at UK that focuses on serving their customers in best way. For this purpose, the organisation made efforts to implement training and development programs for their employees to develop their skills. The incorporated performance appraisal programs for the employees that motivates the employees to work. The organisation also focuses on maintaining the personal & professional friendly working environment to encourage the employees. (CIPD, 2016)

Most of the public companies also showed their interest in the same. They strongly tried to improve their human resources to keep pace in the development processes. The public company like ‘East Coast Trains’ in UK tries to made efforts on providing training to their employees for improved performances. Higher success rates of the never-ending development process drive the companies to incorporate the same in their functions.

4.3 Assess how contemporary training initiatives introduced by the UK Government contribute to human resources development for an organisation.

UK government has shown their interest in training and development of the employees by introducing so many programs and opening many service providers to support the employers for the same purpose. Some of the initiatives have been discussed below:

• Investors in People: The organisation provides the standard related to the best practices for the people management. The organisation launched the sixth generation standard in September 2015 in order to pace up with the new and current practices. It also provides accreditation to the organisation that follows the standards. (Gov.uk, 2016)
• Sector Skill Council: It is the organisation led by the employees. It covers some of the industries in UK and focuses on supporting the employers in developing and managing apprenticeship programs. This council also aims at improving the productivity by reduction of the skills gap among the employees. They try to boost the skills of their sector and involves in improving the learning supply to the employees.
• National Apprenticeship services: They provide support and funds to the organisation who wants to introduce apprenticeship programs. The main aim of the services is to increase the number of number of apprentices in UK business and help the people who are looking for the apprentice opportunities. (Gov.uk, 2016)

Conclusion:

Training and development requires a systematic and planned approach. Organisations need to plan the training event by making many decisions like choice of training methods, identification of training needs etc. These training events need to be evaluated by different techniques in order to find out their effectiveness as well as the errors that can be corrected further. Initiatives by UK government encourage many employers of UK to achieve a competitive advantage by developing the skills of their employees. The initiative by government proves to be very beneficial for the organisation in public as well as in private sector.