CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD MALAYSIA

Facilities Management Training Module – Level 5

FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT - L5
LP07 - Human Resource
Planning
Table of Contents

1.0 MAIN CONTENT ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.3 Occupational Definition .................................................................................................. 2
1.4 Roles & Responsibility..................................................................................................... 2
1.5 Learning Outcome ............................................................................................................. 2
1.6 Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 2
2.0 PREPARE RECRUITMENT AND EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENT .................................... 3
2.1 Manpower Requirement Identified ............................................................................ 3
2.1.1 Newly Created Position................................................................................................. 3
2.1.2 Replacement ...................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Manpower Qualifications and Criteria Compiled Based on Job Profile ......... 4
3.0 IDENTIFY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ......................................................................... 5
3.1 General Information......................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Position Purpose ............................................................................................................... 5
4.0 ATTRACTING A TALENTED DIVERSE APPLICANT POOL ................................................ 7
4.1 Essential Job Functions ................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Minimum Requirements ................................................................................................. 7
4.3 Preferred Qualifications ................................................................................................. 9
5.0 MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS DETAILS SUBMITTED TO HR DEPARTMENT FOR
RECRUITMENT ........................................................................................................................... 10
5.1 Posting Period ................................................................................................................. 10
5.2 Additional Advertising Resources ............................................................................ 10
5.3 Diversity Agencies.......................................................................................................... 11
5.4 Resume Banks ................................................................................................................. 11
5.5 Industrial Training ........................................................................................................ 11
6.0 LIST OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATE EVALUATED FOR INTERVIEW SESSION ........... 12
6.1 Review Applicants and Develop Short List ............................................................ 12
6.2 Joint Interview Session with HR Conducted According to HR Procedures 13
6.2.1 Conduct Interview......................................................................................................... 13
7.0 SELECTED CANDIDATES SUBMITTED TO HR FOR HIRING PROCESS ...................... 16
7.1 Reference Checks ........................................................................................................... 16
8.0 PERFORM TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS (TNA) .................................................................. 17
8.1 Process Involves in Developing TNA ....................................................................... 19
8.2 Staff Skills and Job Requirement Gap Identified According to TNA ............. 22
8.3 Reasons of Gap Existence Analysed According to TNA Methodology .......... 23
8.3.1 Gap Percentage Reduction Plan Proposed Based on TNA Analysis ........... 24
9.0 ESTABLISH TRAINING PLAN .................................................................................................. 27
9.1 Scope of Training ............................................................................................................ 27
9.2 Training Program ........................................................................................................... 28
9.2.1 Designing a Training Program ................................................................................. 28
9.2.2 Training Program Development Model ................................................................ 28
9.3 Training Based on Skills and Competency Gap Identified According to Job
Profile................................................................................................................................. 29
9.4 Learning Objectives ....................................................................................................... 30
9.5 Learning Styles ................................................................................................................ 31
9.6 Delivery Mode.................................................................................................................. 31
9.7 Career Development Programs and Succession Planning ............................... 38
9.7.1 Key Takeaways ............................................................................................................... 41
10.0 TRAINING NEEDS PROPOSED BASED ON COMPETENCY GAP .................................... 42
10.1 Utilizing Competency-Based Training and Assessment Approaches........... 42
10.2 Post Training Assessment Performed According to Work Performance ... 44
10.2.1 Assessment Methods: Advantages and Disadvantages .................................. 47
10.3 Gap Percentage Reduction Status Updated for Record Purposes ................. 48
10.4 Results ................................................................................................................................ 51
11.0 PREPARE STAFF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ................................................................. 52
11.1 Reward and Penalty System Identified According to O&M Activity ............. 53
11.2 Staff Performance Criteria Identified Based on Designation and Role ....... 55
11.3 Staff Self-appraisal and Manager Appraisal Performed Based on HR
Requirement .................................................................................................................... 56
11.4 Why We Hate the Performance Review .................................................................. 58
11.4.1 Performance Review Session Conducted with Staff ........................................ 59
11.4.2 5 Ways to Give Negative Feedback to Employees ............................................ 60
11.4.3 Decision-making ............................................................................................................ 61
 11.4.4 Five (5) Ways to Deal with a Poor Appraisal ...................................................... 62
11.4.5 Five (5) Ways to Discard Tag as Poor Performer ............................................. 62
11.5 Appraisal Result Analyses and Recommendations Prepared for
Improvement................................................................................................................... 63
 Learning
HUMAN
RESOURCE Package

07
PLANNING

1.0 MAIN CONTENT

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this module is to address the need for a competent Facilities Manager where
he/she will provide a total managed solution for all the facilities that may exists in a single
or campus wide buildings.

In this regards, this module will benefit specifically to the Facilities Management company
to equip themselves with the relevant and core competencies knowledge required to run
their business and eventually they can become one of the main players in the Facilities
Management industry.

1.2 Introduction

Human Resource Planning is essentially employees resource or human capital

management. It is a planning of a company workforce which includes outlining recruitment
requirements, training need analysis and training plan. It is also involves implementing
human resource plan to ensure the company’s leadership and culture is in compliance with
the employment and labour laws.

This module will help trainees to learn and obtain knowledge on:-

1. Prepare recruitment and employment requirements

- Related Act such as Employment Act, human resource basic principle, common
workers competencies, requirement in FM such as Chargemen, plumber etc and
interview principle and process.

2. Perform Training Need Analysis (TNA)

- TNA process, staff strength, staff weakness and staff competency gap.

3. Establish training plan

- Training techniques such as on the job training, coaching, lectures etc, training
plan principles and process, training assessment method and process and
training review and improvement process.

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 4. Prepare staff performance appraisal

- Job description and performance criteria, performance appraisal method such as

KPI, Balance Score Card, performance appraisal process, reward and penalty
system.

1.3 Occupational Definition

Level 5 - Facilities Management Manager

Competent in applying a significant range of fundamental principles and complex

techniques across a wide and often unpredictable variety of contexts. Very substantial
personal autonomy and often significant responsibility for the work of others and for the
allocation of substantial resources features strongly, as do personal accountabilities for
analysis, diagnosis, planning, execution and evaluation.

1.4 Roles & Responsibility

The person who is competent shall be able to prepare recruitment and employment
requirements, perform training need analysis (TNA), establish training plan and prepare
staff performance appraisal.

1.5 Learning Outcome

The outcome of this competency is to ensure that human resource, as the most important
asset of any organisations managed, trained and motivated at the highest level of
employee’s expectation and satisfaction.

Upon completion of this competency unit, trainees shall be able to:-

1. Prepare recruitment and employment requirements

2. Perform Training Need Analysis (TNA)

3. Establish training plan

4. Prepare staff performance appraisal

1.6 Assessment

As per attached.

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2.0 PREPARE RECRUITMENT AND EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENT

2.1 Manpower Requirement Identified

Recruitments provide opportunities to departments to align staff skill sets to initiatives and
goals, and for departmental and individual growth. Proper planning and evaluation of the
need will lead to hiring the right person for the role and team.

2.1.1 Newly Created Position

When it is determined a new position is needed, it is important to:

• Understand and take into consideration strategic goals for the organisation
and/or department. Are there any upcoming changes that may impact this role?

• Conduct a quick analysis of Core Competencies. Are there any gaps? What core
skills are missing from the department? Evaluate the core skills required now
and those which may be needed in the future.

• Conduct a Job Analysis if this position will be new to your department. This will
also help to identify gaps.

2.1.2 Replacement

When attrition occurs, replacing the role is typically the logical step to take. Before
obtaining approval to advertise the position, consider the following:

• As with a newly created position, it may be helpful to conduct a Job Analysis in

order to tailor the position to what is currently required and to ensure proper
classification. Your HR Classification Analyst can assist in reviewing and
completing.

• Review the role and decide if there are any changes required as certain tasks
and responsibilities performed by the previous person may not or should not be
performed by the new person.

Carefully evaluate any changes needed for the following:

• Level required performing these tasks; considering the appropriate

classification level. Be aware that changes in the classification of positions from
represented to non-represented will require union notice and agreement

• Tasks carried out by the previous employee

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 • Tasks to be removed or added if any of the work will be transferred within
department

• Supervisory or lead responsibility

• Budget responsibility (if any)

• Work hours

• Is there still a requirement for this role at all?

2.2 Manpower Qualifications and Criteria Compiled Based on Job Profile

A position description is the core of a successful recruitment process. It is used to develop

interview questions, interview evaluations and reference check questions. A well-written
position description:

• Provides a first impression of the organisation to the candidate.

• Clearly articulates responsibilities and qualifications to attract the best suited

candidates.

• Provides an opportunity to clearly articulate the value proposition for the role.

• Serves as documentation to help prevent, or defend against, discrimination

complaints by providing written evidence that employment decisions were
based on rational business needs.

• Improves retention as turnover is highest with newly hired employees.

Employees tend to be dissatisfied when they are performing duties they were
not originally hired to perform.

• Optimizes search engine results by ensuring job postings rank high in candidate
search results when searching on-line.

• Identifies tasks, work flow and accountability, enabling the department to plan
how it will operate and grow.

• Assists in establishing performance objectives.

• Is used for career planning and training by providing clear distinctions between
levels of responsibilities and competencies required.

• Is used as a benchmark to assist in ensuring internal and external equity.

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3.0 IDENTIFY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Prior to developing the job description the hiring manager should identify the following:

3.1 General Information

Basic position and pay information will need to be determined to assist with the
development of the job description and job classification. This information will be different
for each position being recruited:

• Pay Grade/Step

• Working Title — Market titles should be recognizable and common to various

industries as most job seekers search for commonly referred to market titles
when conducting on-line job searches

• Department Name

• Department Head

• Supervisor Name

• Title Codes and Full-Time Equivalent numbers of employees supervised

• Special Requirements and Conditions:

o Specific requirements job seekers must possess or complete in order to be

hired (e.g. background check, valid driver’s license, etc.)

o Contact Staff Employment for assistance with special requirements and

conditions

3.2 Position Purpose

Describes the department’s functions, the unit’s functions, and/or the organisational unit’s
functions. The statement should summarize the position’s essential functions and its role in
relation to supporting, administering, or managing the activities of the department, unit, or
organisational unit.

Posted Position Purpose - The posted Position Purpose will be searchable and viewable
by job seekers. Therefore it is important to ensure it:

• Includes a description of the role and its relation to the department and
organisation.

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• Includes the estimated duration (i.e. Limited 6-9 months or Contract 2.5 years)
for non-Career positions

• Lists the number of openings when there is more than one position being
recruited

• Describes any pre-employment assessments if applicable.

• Is optimized for search engines. Candidates conduct job searches by entering

key words or phrases into search engines.

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4.0 ATTRACTING A TALENTED DIVERSE APPLICANT POOL

Once you have identified the position purpose, essential functions and qualifications, you
will want to go back and review the description. Is it written to attract an individual who is
a top performer? Does it describe the inclusive culture of your organisation?

Marketing the job to a diverse audience is just as important as accurately describing the
role.

4.1 Essential Job Functions

Essential job functions describe the duties and responsibilities of a position. A job function
is considered essential when the performance of the function is the purpose for the
position. Typically, an essential function occupies a significant amount of time of the
employee’s time and requires specialized skills to perform. By accurately describing the
essential functions of the job, job seekers will have a clear understanding of the role and
your expectations for performing them.

When developing essential functions for the position the following should be noted:

• Functions of the job which are critical for the position are arranged by
importance and percentage of time spent

• Complexity level and authority for the role should be described to help attract
the appropriate level of qualified candidates

• Essential tasks listed should be inter-related to the accomplishment of the

essential function. e.g., the essential function of event planning is composed of
several independent tasks including scheduling and securing the venue;
interviewing vendors and executing contracts for service; arranging for food
delivery; supervising event workers and ensuring clean up. Therefore, the
various tasks required to successfully accomplish the essential function should
be identified and described.

4.2 Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements or “basic qualifications” are those qualifications or criteria

which was established in advance and advertised to potential applicants:

• Must be relevant and relate to the duties and responsibilities of the job (e.g.,
should not list driving requirement if not part of responsibilities or duties of the
job).

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• “Soft skills” can be required qualifications (e.g., communication/collaboration)
and will:

o Vary among applicants

o Not be absolutely ascertained in resume

o Be evaluated in interview

• Can be position/department specific (e.g. valid driver’s license)

• Can be assessed by reviewing the resume

• Must be objective, non-comparative and business related:

o Objective

▪ Correct: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration

▪ Incorrect: A business degree from a “good school”

o Non-comparative

▪ Correct: 5 to 7 years of experience designing computer software

programs

▪ Incorrect: Must be one of the top five among the applicants in years
of experience

o Business Related

▪ Correct: 5+ years of experience in accounting

▪ Incorrect: Must have experience with volunteering for Habitat for

Humanity

• The minimum requirements should support the accomplishment of the essential

function. For example, the essential function of event planning could require:

o Organisational skills (to ensure all details are cared for)

o Communication skills (to interact with vendors and guests)

o Prior event planning experience

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Listing too many skills as requirements significantly limits your applicant pool and
selection. It is recommended no more than 3-5 “hard” job skills (e.g., Bachelor’s degree, 5
years accounting experience, experience in accessing and retrieving data from financial
systems using PC based tools and other “technical job skills”) in addition to the “soft skills”
be listed depending upon the level of the position.

4.3 Preferred Qualifications

Preferred qualifications are skills and experience preferred in addition to basic

qualifications and can be used to narrow down the pool of applicants. These preferred
skills, knowledge, abilities and competencies can describe a more proficient level at which
the essential functions can be performed.

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5.0 MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS DETAILS SUBMITTED TO HR
DEPARTMENT FOR RECRUITMENT

Each position requires a documented Recruitment Plan which is approved by the

organisational unit. A carefully structured recruitment plan maps out the strategy for
attracting and hiring the best qualified candidate and helps to ensure an applicant pool
which includes women and underrepresented groups including veterans and individuals
with disabilities. Recruitment plan elements consist of:

5.1 Posting Period

• “Open until filled” is an option for both PSS and MSP positions which allow the
posting to remain open and viewable on the career site until filled. This option is
recommended for all recruitments.

• Continuous Recruitment to be used only for on-going recruitment such as admin

assistants, custodial support, etc.

5.2 Additional Advertising Resources

A variety of recruiting sources (both internally and externally) should be utilised to attract
candidates who reflect the diversity values in its workforce. Every effort should be made to
conduct a thorough search by advertising widely before filling a position.

• Print Advertisement

Local media, national publications (not used as frequently, but may be suitable for
certain positions) and other paper advertisements.

Associations and other member groups which are helpful in targeting candidates with
specific niche skillsets.

• Social Media

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are good alternative recruiting sources.

• Job Fairs

Before the internet, job fairs were considered a popular method for meeting
candidates face-to-face. They were used as a vehicle to promote organisations by
promoting the organisation’s image and brand. Job fairs such as those aimed at
diverse candidates or specific to certain industries, are still considered one of the best
methods for meeting potential candidates in a single event.

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 Walk-In Interview is another popular and widely use methods beside face-to-face
interview. It helps in obtaining and gathering the job applicants’ information. It
would be very helpful in case of to recruit a large numbers of workers and/with
having exigency. This type of interview will not be able to reflect or no assurance on
applicant’s reliability and to predicting his future performances as the session is
being conducted in a limited time. Thus, the first impression is critical for an
applicant to demonstrate during the interview.

5.3 Diversity Agencies

• Agencies which assist women and under-represented groups are another great
source of talent

• Developing relationships and a pipeline of potential candidates with these

agencies allows candidates to have a better understanding of your staffing needs
and the University’s mission and values

5.4 Resume Banks

Resume banks are another good source for identifying qualified candidates. Job seekers
post their resume to these which are then searched by prospective employers.

5.5 Industrial Training

Industrial Training can be assumed as part of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Employer is encouraged to accept students from Institutions to undergo their internship
training.

This would enable them being exposed to the working environment and absorbed the
nature of work that they are about to be engaged once they have completed their studies.

Besides, it would indirectly help promoting the Facility Management industry to the
community through the Institutions.

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6.0 LIST OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATE EVALUATED FOR INTERVIEW
SESSION

To ensure applicants selected for interview and final consideration are evaluated by more
than one individual to minimize the potential for personal bias, a selection committee is
formed. The hiring manager will identify members who will have direct and indirect
interaction with the applicant in the course of their job.

The mix of search committee members should change frequently as well to minimize the
risk of “group think” or collective bias.

• The Hiring Manager will determine the size (no more than 6) and composition of
the committee based on the nature of the position. It is highly recommended the
committee members include:

o At least one individual who has a strong understanding of the role and its
contribution to the department

o A job specialist (technical or functional)

o An individual who will interact closely with the position and/or serves as a
main customer

o HR representative

• Committee members must ensure no conflict of interest in relation to the

applicants under consideration and must never be individuals who may have
interest in the position.

• Each committee member is expected to be well versed in the recruitment and

selection process and have an understanding of laws related to Employment.

• It is recommended the committee communicate prior to the application review

to determine criteria for applicant evaluation.

6.1 Review Applicants and Develop Short List

Once the position has been posted, all applicants must be reviewed and considered.
Candidates who apply after the initial application period will be considered “expressions of
interest” and not viewable by the search committee.

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It is recommended that the committee members review all Applicants to ensure more than
one person assesses their qualifications and that individual opinion or biases are avoided. It
is permissible to have at least two committee members review all Applicants for certain
recruitments in which there are extensive applicant pools to best narrow down the pool.
Alternatively, Human Resources may perform this function. Each committee member may
provide comments to each Applicant’s qualifications as they relate to the minimum
requirements of the position.

An initial screening may be conducted to obtain information such as availability, salary

requirements, special position requirements (e.g. ability to perform shift work), ascertain
minimum requirements and other preliminary information to assist the search committee
with their review. It is possible to screen out an applicant due to information obtained
during this initial screening and therefore it should be properly documented and attended
by at least two search committee members or Human Resources.

Upon the initial review of the applicants, short list of candidates will be proposed. Once the
short list has been determined, it is submitted for approval. If the short list is deemed to
represent a sufficiently diverse applicant pool, the short list will be approved. Once
approved, the applicants can then be contacted for interviews.

6.2 Joint Interview Session with HR Conducted According to HR

Procedures

6.2.1 Conduct Interview

The interview is the single most important step in the selection process. It is the
opportunity for the employer and prospective employee to learn more about each other
and validate information provided by both. By following these interviewing guidelines, you
will ensure you have conducted a thorough interview process and have all necessary data
to properly evaluate skills and abilities.

a. Preparing for the Interview

Once the short list (typically 3-5 identified for interview) is approved, the interview process
can begin. It is important to properly prepare for the interview as this is the opportunity to
evaluate the skills and competencies and validate the information the applicant has
provided in their application and resume. Choose one or two questions from each
minimally required skill and competency to develop your interview questions. Review the
applicant's application or resume and make note of any issues that you need to follow-up
on.

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 The Interviewing Committee should determine the following:

• Format of the interview and order of questions

• Questions to be asked of all applicants and the weight assigned

• Who is going to ask which questions

• Whether a work sample should be submitted

• The optimum start date for the position

• Any other details applicants may need about the role that were not noted in the
position description

b. Panel Interviews

Prior to the panel interview, committee members should ensure they know which
interview questions each will ask.

At the start of the interview, introductions of the panel members, including names and job
titles/roles, are given.

A typical format might be:

• Introductions of each panel member

• A brief description of the role they are being interviewed for

• Description of how the interview panel will conduct the interview (e.g. each
alternates questions and all will take notes)

• The candidate gives an overview of their experience

• Each panel member provides their questions at the conclusion of the interview.

• The interviewee is given time at the end to ask questions

• The interviewee is informed of the next step (e.g. will be contacted either by
phone or in writing of the outcome)

• Thank the candidate for coming and ensure someone shows the candidate out.

c. Virtual Interviews

To reduce travel costs and time associated with interviewing out of area applicants, virtual
interviews can provide an alternative method to in-person interview.

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d. Interview Questions

Questions should be relevant to the position and seek information on specific skills and
abilities to perform the job such as “describe your experience working with non-
cooperative client”. Interview questions not pertaining to the current requirements of the
position are not to be used (e.g. an interview question on supervisory experience if position
will not be supervising employees).

The use of behavioral and/or competency based interview questions is strongly

encouraged as, when properly crafted, they allow the interviewer to obtain more
meaningful data to determine the applicant’s ability to carry out the duties and
responsibilities of the job, as well assess their ability to adhere to the organisation’s core
competencies.

e. After the Interview

Upon completing the interview, panel members will complete one of the following
evaluation tools and forward to the HR along with any interview notes. Candidate
evaluations should be sure to include only those comments which are relevant to the
requirements of the position.

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7.0 SELECTED CANDIDATES SUBMITTED TO HR FOR HIRING
PROCESS

Once the interviews have been completed, the panels will meet to discuss the interviewees.
They will need to assess the extent to which each one met their selection criteria.

As one of the most critical steps in the process, it is important to keep the following in
mind:

• The best candidate for the position was chosen based on qualifications.

• The candidate will help to carry out the organisation and Department’s
missions.

7.1 Reference Checks

The purpose of a reference check is to obtain information about a candidate’s behavior and
work performance from prior employers that could be critical to your decision, regardless
of their skills, knowledge, and abilities. As past performance is the best predictor of future
success, it is recommended references be obtained from current and previous supervisors
who can speak to the candidate’s on the job performance. A hiring mistake is costly in time,
energy, and money.

a. When to Conduct References

Reference checks should be conducted on the finalist(s) prior to making an offer. For
existing employees, in addition to conducting references, a review of the master personnel
file should be completed. All applicants are to be informed (during or after the interview)
should they be a finalist, an offer would be contingent upon a reference from their current
supervisor.

b. References in the Overall Decision Process

Information that is obtained through the reference check process should be considered as
part of the overall decision making and should carry considerable weight. Additionally if
available, obtaining copies of signed past performance reviews is also recommended.
Should a reference from the candidate’s current supervisor not be obtained, it is
recommended Human Resources be contacted to discuss.

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8.0 PERFORM TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS (TNA)

A Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is used to assess an organisation’s training needs. The
root of the TNA is the gap analysis.

This is an assessment of the gap between the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the people
in the organisation currently possess and the knowledge, skills and attitudes that they
require to meet the organisation’s objectives.

The training needs assessment is best conducted up front, before training solutions are
budgeted, designed and delivered. The output of the needs analysis will be a document that
specifies why, what, who, when, where and how. More specifically, the document will need
to answer these questions:

• why do people need the training?

• what skills need imparting?

• who needs the training?

• when will they need the new skills?

• where may the training be conducted? and

• how may the new skills be imparted?

There are so many ways for conducting a Training Needs Analysis, depending on your
situation. One size does not fit all. Is the purpose of the needs assessment to:

• lead in to a design of a specific purpose improvement initiative (e.g., customer

complaint reduction)

• enable the design of the organisation’s training calendar

• identify training and development needs of individual staff during the

performance appraisal cycle

In clarifying the purpose of the TNA, consider the scope of the TNA. Is it to determine
training needs:

• at the organisation level?

• at the project level for a specific project? or

• at the department level for specific employees?

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The answer to these questions will dictate:

• who will conduct the TNA

• how the TNA will be conducted, and

• what data sources will be used

In many organisations, each employee’s manager discusses training and development

needs during the final part of the performance appraisal discussion. This method suits
where training needs are highly varied amongst individual employees.

Typically, the manager constructs an employee Performance Development Plan in

collaboration with the employee being appraised. The Plan takes into consideration:

• the organisation's strategies and plans

• agreed employee goals and targets

• the employee’s performance results

• the employee’s role description

• feedback from internal/external customers and stakeholders, and

• the employee’s stated career aspirations

The employee’s completed Performance Development Plan should document the area that
requires improvement, the actual development activity, resource requirements, expected
outcomes and an agreed time frame in which the development outcome will be achieved.

We may find some commonality amongst individual training and development needs
identified in the various performance appraisals. In this case, it may pay the organisation to
review and classify each of the needs and convert them into appropriate training courses
(or other interventions).

The next step is to prioritize their importance and aggregate the results so that you end up
with a list of courses and participant numbers against each. Then negotiate a delivery
schedule that fits in with managers/supervisors and employees whilst keeping an eye on
the budget.

Most, if not all, improvement projects have some employee training associated with them.
Examples of improvement projects include planned and structured attempts to reduce the
incidence of product defects, increase sales volume and decrease the number of customer
complaints.

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8.1 Process Involves in Developing TNA

Conduct a training needs analysis in 8 steps:

Figure 1: Training Need Analysis Process

Step 1: Determine Desired Outcomes

• Clarify goal of the training and expected business outcomes

• Training goal should correspond to a business objective.

Examples of training goals:

o Improve customer service satisfaction ratings

o Decrease the time it takes to complete service delivery

o Improve employee morale through better supervision by management

o Improve the speed at which orders are filled

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Step 2: Link Desired Outcomes with Employee Behavior

• Identify the competencies (behaviors, skills, qualities and knowledge) that are
linked to desired outcome.

• Collect information and data from subject matter experts to determine which
competencies are critical to achieving the outcomes.

• What skills does one need to achieve this goal?

• What information is necessary to meet this objective?

• Which behavior is critical to completing this task?

Step 3: Identify Trainable Competencies

• Evaluate the critical competencies and determine if they are:

• Abilities one should possess prior to job entry

• Abilities that can be leaned on the job

• List of critical competencies that are either elements that should be considered
in hiring practices or competencies that are amenable to training.

Step 4: Evaluate Competencies and Determine Performance Gaps

• Evaluate current competencies and identify where there are gaps between
current ability and desired ability

o To evaluate current competency level use:

i) Performance evaluations

ii) Tests

iii) Surveys

iv) Self-assessments

v) Interviews

vi) Customer feedback

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Step 5: Prioritize Training Needs

• Identify the percentage of employees who need training on the competencies.

• Consider the importance of the competencies to the business objectives.

• Together, the need and the importance will allow you to identify training
priorities.

Step 6: Determine How to Conduct Training

• Consider adult learning theory and best practices in training on the particular
competencies.

• Training methods can range from:

o On the job training (OJT)

o Mentoring and coaching;

o Classroom/lecture

o Web-based/e-learning

o Reading / books

o Conferences

o Academic programs

Step 7: Conduct a Cost Benefit Analysis

• Consider the costs associated with the training methods, the extent to which the
training will address the performance gap, and the impact on business

• Cost factors include:

o Training time

o Content development time (if designed in-house)

o Training provider evaluation (if purchased from vendor)

o Training content delivery method

o Lost productivity from time spent in training

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 o Travel and logistical expenses

Step 8: Planning for Training Evaluation

• Training is only effective if the information is retained and applied on the job.
Evaluation of training is critical

• Questions to consider in evaluation include:

o How much did the training improve the competencies?

o How did the training improve employees’ job performance?

o How did the training support meeting of business objectives?

With these 8 steps you can make a good and effective training program which can make
different to the corporate business and achieving their objectives.

8.2 Staff Skills and Job Requirement Gap Identified According to TNA

i. Methodology

There's always room for improvement in your business, but you need to identify your
performance gaps if you want to improve upon them. A gap analysis will establish how big
the gap is between your current performance and your desired performance. By
establishing this gap, you can work at closing it and continually improving your business.

ii. Establishing Your Current Performance

To begin with, you need to pick the area of performance that you want to measure. For
instance, if you are concerned about sales performance, you might use your sales in dollars
or in number of units as your performance measure. You need to be able to measure your
performance, so it's important to pick a quantifiable metric. If you choose a less tangible
metric, such as customer satisfaction, there has to be some sort of system for measuring it.
In the case of customer satisfaction, you might use customer surveys with a numerical
scale.

iii. Setting a Desired Performance Level

With your current performance established, you will still need to set a desired performance
level. This is the goal that you want to achieve. Choose a goal using the same metric that you
used to measure your current performance, so you can easily compare the two. For
instance, if you have revenues of $120,000 per year, you might set a goal of increasing them
to $130,000 per year.

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iv. Measuring the Gap

Measuring the gap just requires calculating the difference between your current
performance and your desired performance. It should be a simple matter of arithmetic to
find this difference. Assume, for instance, that you measured your performance based on
your number of customers. You currently have 30,000 customers and want to increase it to
50,000. You just subtract the current performance from the desired performance to get
your gap -- in this case 20,000 customers.

v. Closing the Gap

With a quantifiable gap in performance established, you can start working toward reducing
and eliminating it. Create a plan to close the gap methodically, and regularly measure your
progress. This essentially means performing the gap analysis repeatedly over time to see if
the gap is closing, widening or remaining the same. Graphing the gap gives you a visual way
of tracking progress over time toward your goal.

8.3 Reasons of Gap Existence Analysed According to TNA Methodology

A training analysis is conducted ultimately to identify what areas of knowledge or

behaviors that training needs to accomplish with learners. The analysis considers what
results the organisation needs from the learner, what knowledge and skills the learner
presently has and usually concludes with identifying what knowledge and skills the learner
must gain (the "performance gap").

Usually this phase also includes identifying when training should occur and who should
attend as learners. Ideally, criteria are established for the final evaluation of training to
conclude if training goals were met or not.

Depending on the resources and needs of the organisation, a training analysis can range
from a very detailed inventory of skills to a general review of performance results. The
more complete the training analysis, the more likely that the employee's training will
ultimately contribute results to the organisation.

Note that employees can require training for a variety of reasons, which usually fall into
two categories:

1. Training to fill a "performance gap" as identified during the performance

management process.

2. Training to fill a "growth gap", that is, to be promoted or be able to fill another
open position in the organization.

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8.3.1 Gap Percentage Reduction Plan Proposed Based on TNA Analysis

a. Step 1 - Perform a "Gap" Analysis

The first step is to check the actual performance of our organisations and our people
against existing standards, or to set new standards. There are two parts to this:

• Current Situation

We must determine the current state of skills, knowledge, and abilities of our current
and/or future employees. This analysis also should examine our organisational goals,
climate, and internal and external constraints.

• Desired or Necessary Situation

We must identify the desired or necessary conditions for organisational and personal
success. This analysis focuses on the necessary job tasks/standards, as well as the skills,
knowledge and abilities needed to accomplish these successfully. It is important that we
identify the critical tasks necessary, and not just observe our current practices. We also
must distinguish our actual needs from our perceived needs -- our wants. The “gap”
between the current and the necessary will identify our needs, purposes and objectives.

What are we looking for? Here are some questions to ask to determine where training and
development or even human resource development (HRD) may be useful in providing
solutions:

o Problems or deficits. Are there problems in the organisation which might be solved
by training or other HRD activities?

o Impending change. Are there problems which do not currently exist but are likely
due to changes, such as new processes and equipment, outside competition and/or
changes in staffing?

o Opportunities: Could we gain a competitive edge by taking advantage of new

technologies, training programs consultants or suppliers?

o Strengths: How can we take advantage of our organisational strengths, as opposed

to reacting to our weaknesses? Are there opportunities to apply HRD to these
areas?

o New directions: Could we take a proactive approach, applying HRD to move our
organisations to new levels of performance? For example, could team building and
related activities help improve our productivity?

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 o Mandated training: Are there internal or external forces dictating that training
and/or organisation development will take place? Are there policies or
management decisions which might dictate the implementation of some program?
Are there governmental mandates to which we must comply?

b. Step 2 - Identify Priorities and Importance

The first step should have produced a list of needs for training and development, career
development, organisation development and/or other interventions. Now we must
examine these in view of their importance to our organisational goals, realities and
constraints. We must determine if the identified needs are real, if they are worth
addressing, and specify their importance and urgency in view of our organisational needs
and requirements. For example:

• Cost-effectiveness: How does the cost of the problem compare to the cost of
implementing a solution? In other words, we perform a cost-benefit analysis.

• Legal mandates: Are there laws requiring a solution? (For example; safety or
regulatory compliance.)

• Executive pressure: Does top management expect a solution?

• Population: Are many people or key people involved?

• Customers: What influence is generated by customer specifications and

expectations?

If some of our needs are of relatively low importance, then we would do better to devote
our energies to addressing other human performance problems with greater impact and
greater value.

c. Step 3 - Identify Causes of Performance Problems and/or Opportunities

Now that we have prioritized and focused on critical organisational and personal needs, we
will next identify specific problem areas and opportunities in our organisation. We must
know what our performance requirements are, if appropriate solutions are to be applied.
We should ask two questions for every identified need:

1. Are our people doing their jobs effectively?

2. Do they know how to do their jobs?

This will require detailed investigation and analysis of our people, their jobs and our
organisations both for the current situation and in preparation for the future.

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d. Step 4 - Identify Possible Solutions and Growth Opportunities

If people are doing their jobs effectively, then perhaps we should leave well enough alone.
(“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”) However, some training and/or other interventions might be
called for if it's important enough to move our people and their performance in new
directions.

But if our people ARE NOT doing their jobs effectively, then training may be the solution if
there is indeed a knowledge problem.

Organisation development activities may provide solutions when the problem is not based
on a lack of knowledge and is primarily associated with systematic change. These
interventions might include strategic planning, organisation restructuring, performance
management and/or effective team building.

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9.0 ESTABLISH TRAINING PLAN

9.1 Scope of Training

There are three common scopes/areas that critical to training:

• Technical

In this industry, technical training is always being the top priority as the nature of
business is technical expertise. Even though, the technical employees are technically
qualified and competent, but exposures/experiences differ from one to another
company even within the same industry.

The scope for technical training shall cover all technical employees regardless their rank
or position. The company can set some of the training as a mandatory training either by
level/category of employees or it could be covering all technical personnel. This would
demonstrate consistent understanding on particular technical knowledge/skill.

• Management

The scope shall cover all management or supervisory employees. The focus for this
particular training should be leadership as that would lead to many aspects and skills
for being management personnel.

• Competency - Based

The scope shall cover those identified as high potential or competent person in the
company. The programme can be developed by drawing series of competency trainings
for a high potential or a competent employee to complete and then become a competent
personnel. The programme could be technical specializing or management training.

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9.2 Training Program

The training programmes shall be developed based on the Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
which conducted for individual. Some programmes are planned or designed or customized
to fit the needs of the employees.

Training programmes can be conducted either by in-house trainer or external consultant

depending on the needs. However, it is best the company to set the number of training that
an employee should attend in a year, e.g minimum 2 training days a year.

9.2.1 Designing a Training Program

When developing your training plan, there are a number of considerations. Training is
something that should be planned and developed in advance.

9.2.2 Training Program Development Model

Figure 2: Training Program Development Model

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9.3 Training Based on Skills and Competency Gap Identified According to
Job Profile

The considerations for developing a training program are as follows:

Needs Assessment and Learning Objectives. This part of the framework development
asks you to consider what kind of training is needed in your organisation. Once you have
determined the training needed, you can set learning objectives to measure at the end of
the training.

a. Needs Assessment

The first step in developing a training program is to determine what the organisation
needs in terms of training. There are three levels of training needs
assessment: organisational assessment, occupational (task) assessment,
and individual assessment:

• Organisational Assessment. In this type of needs assessment, we can

determine the skills, knowledge, and abilities a company needs to meet its
strategic objectives. This type of assessment considers things such as
changing demographics and technological trends. Overall, this type of
assessment looks at how the organisation as a whole can handle its
weaknesses while promoting strengths.

• Occupational (task) Assessment. This type of assessment looks at the

specific tasks, skills knowledge, and abilities required to do jobs within the
organisation.

• Individual Assessment. An individual assessment looks at the performance

of an individual employee and determines what training should be
accomplished for that individual.

We can apply each of these to our training plan. First, to perform an organisational
assessment, we can look at future trends and our overall company’s strategic plan to
determine training needs. We can also see how jobs and industries are changing, and
knowing this, we can better determine the occupational and individual assessments.

As you review performance evaluations turned in by your managers, you may see a pattern
developing showing that employees are not meeting expectations. As a result, this may
provide data as to where your training is lacking.

There are also types of training that will likely be required for a job, such as technical
training, safety training, quality training, and professional training. Each of these should be
viewed as separate training programs, requiring an individual framework for each type of

29
training. For example, an employee orientation framework will look entirely different from
an in-house technical training framework.

Training must be tied to job expectations. Any and all training developed should transfer
directly to the skills of that particular employee. Reviewing the HR strategic plan and
various job analyses may help you see what kind of training should be developed for
specific job titles in your organisation.

9.4 Learning Objectives

After you have determined what type of training should occur, learning objectives for the
training should be set. A learning objective is what you want the learner to be able to do,
explain, or demonstrate at the end of the training period. Good learning objectives are
performance based and clear, and the end result of the learning objective can be observable
or measured in some way. Examples of learning objectives might include the following:

• Be able to explain the company policy on sexual harassment and give examples
of sexual harassment.

• Be able to show the proper way to take a customer’s order.

• Perform a variety of customer needs analyses using company software.

• Understand and utilize the new expense-tracking software.

• Explain the safety procedure in handling chemicals.

• Be able to explain the types of communication styles and strategies to effectively

deal with each style.

• Demonstrate ethics when handling customer complaints.

• Be able to effectively delegate to employees.

Once we have set our learning objectives, we can utilize information on learning styles to
then determine the best delivery mode for our training.

Consideration of Learning Styles

Making sure to teach to a variety of learning styles is important to development of training
programs.

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9.5 Learning Styles

Understanding learning styles is an important component to any training program. For our
purposes, we will utilize a widely accepted learning style model. Recent research has shown
that classifying people into learning styles may not be the best way to determine a style,
and most people have a different style depending on the information being taught.

An effective trainer tries to develop training to meet the three different learning styles:

• Visual Learner. A visual learner usually has a clear “picture” of an experience. A

visual learner often says things such as “I can see what you are saying” or “This
looks good.” A visual learner is best reached using graphics, pictures, and
figures.

• Auditory Learner. An auditory learner learns by sound. An auditory learner

might say, “If I hear you right” or “What do you hear about this situation?” The
auditory learner will learn by listening to a lecture or to someone explaining
how to do something.

• Kinesthetic Learner. A kinesthetic learner learns by developing feelings

toward an experience. These types of learners tend to learn by doing rather than
listening or seeing someone else do it. This type of learner will often say things
such as “This feels right.”

Most individuals use more than one type of learning style, depending on what kinds of
information they are processing. For example, in class you might be a visual learner, but
when learning how to change a tire, you might be a kinesthetic learner.

9.6 Delivery Mode

What is the best way to get your message across? Is web-based training more appropriate,
or should mentoring be used? Can vestibule training be used for a portion of the training
while job shadowing is used for some of the training, too? Most training programs will
include a variety of delivery methods.

1. Delivery Mode

Depending on the type of training that needs to be delivered, you will likely choose a
different mode to deliver the training. An orientation might lend itself best to vestibule
training, while sexual harassment training may be better for web-based training. When
choosing a delivery mode, it is important to consider the audience and budget constrictions.

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Types of Training and Delivery

Delivery Method Type of Training Suggested

Technical training

Skills training
On-the-job Coaching
Managerial training

Safety training

Technical training

Skills training
Mentor
Managerial training

Safety training

Quality training

Soft skills training

Brown Bag Lunch
Professional training

Safety training

Technical training

Quality training

Skills training

Web-based Soft skills training

Professional training

Team training

Managerial training

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 Delivery Method Type of Training Suggested

Safety training

Technical training

Quality training
Job Shadowing
Skills training

Safety training

Technical training

Quality training

Skills training

Job Swapping Professional training

Team training

Managerial training

Safety training

Technical training

Quality training

Skills training

Soft skills training

Vestibule Training
Professional training

Team training

Managerial training

Safety training

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2. Budget

How much money do you think the training will cost? The type of training performed will
depend greatly on the budget. If you decide that web-based training is the right delivery
mode, but you don’t have the budget to pay the user fee for the platform, this wouldn’t be
the best option. Besides the actual cost of training, another cost consideration is people’s
time. If employees are in training for two hours, what is the cost to the organisation while
they are not able to perform their job? A spreadsheet should be developed that lists the
actual cost for materials, snacks, and other direct costs, but also the indirect costs, such as
people’s time.

3. Delivery Style

Will the training be self-paced or instructor led? What kinds of discussions and interactivity
can be developed in conjunction with this training?

Taking into consideration the delivery method, what is the best style to deliver this
training? It’s also important to keep in mind that most people don’t learn through “death by
PowerPoint”; they learn in a variety of ways, such as auditory, kinesthetic, or visual.
Considering this, what kinds of ice breakers, breakout discussions, and activities can you
incorporate to make the training as interactive as possible? Role plays and other games can
make the training fun for employees. Many trainers implement online videos, podcasts, and
other interactive media in their training sessions. This ensures different learning styles are
met and also makes the training more interesting.

4. Audience

Who will be part of this training? Do you have a mix of roles, such as accounting people and
marketing people? What are the job responsibilities of these individuals, and how can you
make the training relevant to their individual jobs? Considering your audience is an
important aspect to training. How long have they been with the organisation, or are they
new employees? What departments do they work in? Knowing the answers to these
questions can help you develop a relevant delivery style that makes for better training. For
example, if you know that all the people attending the training are from the accounting
department, examples you provide in the training can be focused on this type of job. If you
have a mixed group, examples and discussions can touch on a variety of disciplines.

5. Content

What needs to be taught? How will you sequence the information?

The content you want to deliver is perhaps one of the most important parts in training and
one of the most time-consuming to develop. Development of learning objectives or those
things you want your learners to know after the training makes for a more focused training.

34
Think of learning objectives as goals what should someone know after completing this
training? Here are some sample learning objectives:

• Be able to define and explain the handling of hazardous materials in the

workplace.

• Be able to utilize the team decision process model.

• Understand the definition of sexual harassment and be able to recognize sexual

harassment in the workplace.

• Understand and be able to explain the company policies and structure.

After you have developed the objectives and goals, you can begin to develop the content of
the training. Consideration of the learning methods you will use, such as discussion and role
playing, will be outlined in your content area.

Development of content usually requires a development of learning objectives and then a

brief outline of the major topics you wish to cover. With that outline, you can “fill in” the
major topics with information. Based on this information, you can develop modules or
PowerPoint slides, activities, discussion questions, and other learning techniques.

6. Timelines

How long will it take to develop the training? Is there a deadline for training to be
completed?

For some types of training, time lines may be required to ensure the training has been done.
This is often the case for safety training; usually the training should be done before the
employee starts. In other words, in what time frame should an employee complete the
training?

Another consideration regarding time lines is how much time you think you need to give
the training. Perhaps one hour will be enough, but sometimes, training may take a day or
even a week. After you have developed your training content, you will likely have a good
idea as to how long it will take to deliver it. Consider the fact that most people do not have a
lot of time for training and keep the training time realistic and concise.

From a long-term approach, it may not be cost effective to offer an orientation each time
someone new is hired. One consideration might be to offer orientation training once per
month so that all employees hired within that month are trained at the same time.

35
Development of a dependable schedule for training might be ideal, as in the following
example:

• Orientation is offered on the first Thursday of every month.

• The second and third Tuesday will consist of vestibule training on management
skills and communication.

• Twice yearly, in August and March, safety and sexual harassment training will be
given to meet the legal company requirements.

Developing a dependable training schedule allows for better communication to your staff,
results in fewer communication issues surrounding training, and allows all employees to
plan ahead to attend training.

7. Communication

How will employees know the training is available to them?

Once you have developed your training, your next consideration is how you will
communicate the available training to employees. In a situation such as an orientation, you
will need to communicate to managers, staff, and anyone involved in the training the timing
and confirm that it fits within their schedule. If it is an informal training, such as a brown
bag lunch on 401(k) plans, this might involve determining the days and times that most
people are in the office and might be able to participate. Because employees use Mondays
and Fridays, respectively, to catch up and finish up work for the week, these days tend to be
the worst for training. Consider utilizing your company’s intranet, e-mail, and even old-
fashioned posters to communicate the training.

8. Measuring Effectiveness of Training

How will you know if your training worked? What ways will you use to measure this?

After we have completed the training, we want to make sure our training objectives were
met. One model to measure effectiveness of training is the Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick,
2006), developed in the 1950s. His model has four levels:

• Reaction: How did the participants react to the training program?

• Learning: To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills?

• Behavior: Did behavior change as a result of the training?

• Results: What benefits to the organisation resulted from the training?

36
Review the performance of the employees who received the training, and if possible review
the performance of those who did not receive the training. For example, in your orientation
training, if one of the learning objectives was to be able to request time off using the
company intranet, and several employees who attended the training come back and ask for
clarification on how to perform this task, it may mean the training didn’t work as well as
you might have thought. In this case, it is important to go back and review the learning
objectives and content of your training to ensure it can be more effective in the future.

Many trainers also ask people to take informal, anonymous surveys after the training to
gauge the training. Another option is to require a quiz at the end of the training to see how
well the employees understand what you were trying to teach them. The quiz should be
developed based on the learning objective you set for the training. For example, if a
learning objective was to be able to follow OSHA standards, then a quiz might be developed
specifically related to those standards. There are a number of online tools, some free, to
develop quizzes and send them to people attending your training. Once developed by the
trainer, the quiz can be e-mailed to each participant and the manager can see how each
trainee did on the final quiz. After you see how participants do on the quiz, you can modify
the training for next time to highlight areas where participants needed improvement.

It can be easy to forget about this step in the training process because usually we are so
involved with the next task: we forget to ask questions about how something went and then
take steps to improve it.

One way to improve effectiveness of a training program is to offer rewards when

employees meet training goals. For example, if budget allows, a person might receive a pay
increase or other reward for each level of training completed.

Once the training framework has been developed, the training content can be developed.
The training plan serves as a starting point for training development.

37
9.7 Career Development Programs and Succession Planning

Another important aspect to training is career development programs. A career

development program is a process developed to help people manage their career, learn
new things, and take steps to improve personally and professionally. Think of it as a
training program of sorts, but for individuals. Sometimes career development programs are
called professional development plans.

Sample Career Development Plan Developed by an Employee and Commented on by Her

Manager

Today’s Date February 15, 2012

Employee Sammie Smith

Current Job Title Clerk, Accounts Payable

• Develop management skills

Goals • Learn accounting standards
• Promoted to Accounts Payable Manager

• Management training
• Peachtree accounting software Advanced training
Estimated Costs • Earn AAAS online degree in accounting
• Take tax certification course
• Communications training

Completion Date Spring of 2014

Manager Notes:
• In-house training offered yearly: “Reading Body Language,” and “Writing
Development,” and “Running an Effective Meeting”
• External Training needed: Peachtree software, AAAS Degree, Tax certification
Training Course
• Assign Sammie to Dorothy Redgur, the CFO for mentorship

38
 • Next steps: Sammie should develop a timeline for when she plans to complete the
seminars.
The budget allows us to pay up to $1,000 per year for external training for all employees.
Talk with Sammie about how to receive reimbursement.

As you can see, the employee developed goals and made suggestions on the types of
training that could help her meet her goals. Based on this data, the manager suggested in-
house training and external training for her to reach her goals within the organisation.

Career development programs are necessary in today’s organisations for a variety of

reasons. First, with a maturing baby-boom population, newer employees must be trained to
take those jobs once baby boomers retire. Second, if an employee knows a particular path
to career development is in place, this can increase motivation. A career development plan
usually includes a list of short- and long-term goals that employees have pertaining to their
current and future jobs and a planned sequence of formal and informal training and
experiences needed to help them reach the goals. As this chapter has discussed, the
organisation can and should be instrumental in defining what types of training, both in-
house and external, can be used to help develop employees.

To help develop this type of program, managers can consider a few components:

1. Talk to employees. Although this may seem obvious, it doesn’t always happen.
Talking with employees about their goals and what they hope to achieve can be a good
first step in developing a formal career development program.

2. Create specific requirements for career development. Allow employees to see that
if they do A, B, and C, they will be eligible for promotion. For example, to become a
supervisor, maybe three years of experience, management training, and
communication training are required. Perhaps an employee might be required to prove
themselves in certain areas, such as “maintain and exceed sales quota for eight
quarters” to be a sales manager. In other words, in career development there should be
a clear process for the employees to develop themselves within the organisation.

3. Use cross-training and job rotation. Cross-training is a method by which employees

can gain management experience, even if for short periods of time. For example, when
a manager is out of the office, putting an employee “in charge” can help the employee
learn skills and abilities needed to perform that function appropriately. Through the
use of job rotation, which involves a systematic movement of employees from job to
job within an organisation, employees can gain a variety of experiences to prepare
them for upward movement in the organisation.

39
4. Utilize mentors. Mentorship can be a great way for employees to understand what it
takes to develop one’s career to the next level. A formal mentorship program in place
with willing mentees can add value to your career development program.

There are many tools on the web, including templates to help employees develop their own
career development plans. Many organisations, in fact, ask employees to develop their own
plans and use those as a starting point for understanding long-term career goals. Then
hopefully the organisation can provide them with the opportunities to meet these career
goals.

Figure 3: Career Development Planning Process

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9.7.1 Key Takeaways

• There are a number of key considerations in developing a training program.

Training should not be handled casually but instead developed specifically to meet
the needs of the organisation. This can be done by a needs assessment consisting of
three levels: organisational, occupational, and individual assessments.

• The first consideration is the delivery mode; depending on the type of training and
other factors, some modes might be better than others.

• Budget is a consideration in developing training. The cost of materials, but also the
cost of time, should be considered.

• The delivery style must take into account people’s individual learning styles. The
amount of lecture, discussion, role plays, and activities are considered part of
delivery style.

• The audience for the training is an important aspect when developing training. This
can allow the training to be better developed to meet the needs and the skills of a
particular group of people.

• The content obviously is an important consideration. Learning objectives and goals

for the training should be developed before content is developed.

• After content is developed, understanding the time constraints is an important

aspect. Will the training take one hour or a day to deliver? What is the time line
consideration in terms of when people should take the training?

• Letting people know when and where the training will take place is part of
communication.

• The final aspect of developing a training framework is to consider how it will be

measured. At the end, how will you know if the trainees learned what they needed
to learn?

• A career development process can help retain good employees. It involves creating
a specific program in which employee goals are identified and new training and
opportunities are identified and created to help the employee in the career
development process.

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10.0 TRAINING NEEDS PROPOSED BASED ON COMPETENCY GAP

10.1 Utilizing Competency-Based Training and Assessment Approaches

Competency-based training helps to bridge the gap between what is taught in training and
what tasks will be performed on the job. Training employees to perform actual job
functions helps to ensure that front-line workers have the skills, knowledge and abilities
required to perform their jobs properly, safely and effectively. In addition to competency-
based training, assessment based on the performance of actual work competencies helps to
ensure that employees are performing their work tasks as safely as possible; that
performance gaps are recognized prior to serious incidents; and that training can be
implemented to improve competency.

• Acquire or develop competency profiles for key occupational groups

Competency profiles outline the skills, knowledge and abilities required for job incumbents
to perform their jobs safely, effectively and properly. Having a competency profile for each
occupational group, job or key area can aid in the identification of training needs.
Competency profiles can then form the basis of other human resource strategies, including
job descriptions, performance assessments, and ultimately training program
development. Competency profiles can be developed in a number of ways; however, one of
the most effective techniques is the DACUM method (Developing a Curriculum). To develop
a competency profile, a group of eight to 10 current job incumbents with a range of
experience gather to come to a consensus (led by a facilitator) regarding the skills,
knowledge and abilities required of competent workers.

• Acquire or develop competency-based training programs

Competency-based training focuses on teaching the skills, knowledge and abilities required
by job incumbents. Emphasis is often placed on the performance of a skill to ensure
mastery prior to the learning of subsequent skills. Competency or Skills Profiles, as
mentioned above, form the foundation for the development of competency-based training
by identifying exactly what a job incumbent will be expected to do once in the field. An
effective competency-based training technique is the development of learning guides or
learning modules that correspond with a specific work task or skill (or cluster of similar
work tasks) identified within the Competency Profile. Learning guides or modules provide
the learner the opportunity to acquire the skills for effective task performance at their own
pace. Modules are typically comprised of information about the task, practice exercises,
practice quizzes and performance assessments. A laddered, prerequisite training module
approach can help to ease the burden on training centres by allowing students to work
through the modules at their own pace, in a more self-directed format.

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• Assess workers’ competence in the performance of work-related tasks

The development of competency profiles for trades and occupational groups provides a
foundation on which competency assessment of field workers can be performed. A
competency assessment program in which trained evaluators (typically experienced field
personnel) assess the performance of current workers or potential hires to assign a
competence rating to specific tasks, particularly tasks that have considerable safety risks
associated with poor performance. Resulting from the evaluation is the identification of
specific areas for which workers require additional training and development. Through the
identification of distinct training needs based on performance assessment, the training
function can be streamlined to ensure that workers are receiving the training that they
require for competent job performance, rather than having a whole group of workers
attend training that perhaps only half of the group truly requires.

• Assess Training Needs

The most effective training is that which meets a performance need or gap within an
organisation. With training being costly in terms of monetary and human resource needs, it
is only logical that organisations would conduct training analyses to identify training needs
prior to investing time and money into developing training programs and materials that are
not reflective of actual need. Effective training analysis processes help an organisation to
answer key questions about their internal training function, including: who requires the
training; what training is needed; when the training is required; where the training will be
conducted; and how the training will be delivered.

Identifying competencies for specific roles and reflecting those competencies in employee
performance assessments helps feed an effective training analysis. Using sound
methodologies and processes to obtain feedback from workers in the field provides direct
insights into perceived performance gaps among workers and to ensure that the training
that is developed for an organisation addresses needs in the field.

It is important to note than an effective training analysis considers not only identified areas
of opportunity in employee development, but also considers the broader organisational
goals and direction. Taking into account the current and future needs of the organisation
and ensuring job competencies are aligned with organisational goals is crucial. It should
also be noted that training is not always the best way to try to close a particular gap
between an organisation’s goals and its actual performance. Those conducting the needs
analysis must get a clear idea of the problem, look at all possible remedies and report on
their findings to management before deciding on the best solution.

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• Prioritize Training Needs

A common mistake that can be made when developing and delivering training is a focus on
quantity, rather than quality; that is, trying to cover as many topic areas of needs as
possible, often at the expense of quality and depth of learning.

The results of training-needs analysis may uncover a number of training gaps and areas
that require attention. However, attempting to immediately address all of the identified
gaps and needs can result in an ineffective use of time and resources that would be better
spent if allocated in a more targeted way. Having a clear indication of the range of training
needs within the organisation informs the foundation of a training strategy. Prioritizing
training needs and gaps to identify which areas require immediate attention allows for a
more effective dedication of training resources and time.

The prioritization of training can be accomplished by convening a training committee

comprised of all organisational stakeholders. To prioritize training needs, various factors
need to be considered, including the effect that poor performance has on the safety of
employees, productivity and efficiency. In other words, determining which needs pose the
most risk to the employees and organisation if not addressed immediately.

10.2 Post Training Assessment Performed According to Work Performance

An assessment process that serves as a diagnostic tool for determining what training needs
to take place. This survey gathers data to determine what training needs to be developed to
help individuals and the organisation accomplish their goals and objectives. This is an
assessment that looks at employee and organisational knowledge, skills, and abilities, to
identify any gaps or areas of need. Once the training needs are identified, then you need to
determine/develop objectives to be accomplished by the training. These objectives will
form criteria for measures of success and utility.

This analysis can be performed by managers who are able to observe their staff and make
recommendations for training based on performance issues or gaps between performance
and objectives. This analysis can also be performed on an organisation-wide level by
Training and Development managers who survey the organisation to identify needs.

1. Why Conduct a Training Needs Assessment/Survey?

A needs assessment/survey helps an organisation achieve its goals. It reduces gaps

between employee skills and the skills required by the job and department. The training
needs assessment survey can also form the basis (benchmark) for determining
effectiveness of the training administered. You can re-administer the training needs survey
after the training was performed to see if there was an increase in performance/skills as

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measured by the survey.

We can use different sources to determine training needs:

• Needs Assessment Questionnaire

• Needs Analysis

• Employee Interviews

• Employee Opinion/Climate Surveys

• Exit Interviews

• Employee Grievances/Complaints

• Customer Returns/Calls

• Accidents & Scrap

• New Equipment / Software

• Changes in Procedures

• Re-organisation

• Job Re-design

• Performance Appraisal Results

• Promotions & Terminations

• Observations

• Assessment Centers

• Employment/Skills Tests

• Focus Groups

2. Gathering Employee Opinions for Training Needs

Schedule a meeting with employees in a particular department or job classification. During

the meeting, gather ideas from the employees about their needs and areas for professional
development. Determine common themes and topics. Ask the employees to review the
information gathered and determine which areas/needs are most important to receive
training. Then determine the desired outcomes from the training to address these needs.

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These outcomes could serve as measures of success (validation) of the training.

3. What are the Steps in a Training Needs Assessment

• Needs Assessment (collecting and analyzing data)

• Design (program objectives, plan, measures of success)

• Testing (prototype the instrument and process)

• Implementation (collection measures and update as needed)

• Analysis & Evaluation (review feedback and data collected)

Figure 4: Steps in a Training Needs Assessment

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10.2.1 Assessment Methods: Advantages and Disadvantages

a. Survey Questionnaires

Web based or printed questionnaires distributed to employees for completion.

Construction of surveys to include multiple/fixed choice questions and free/open-ended
questions for text responses.

Advantages

• Survey a large number of employees at the same time.

• Do not require a lot of time.

• Enable honest and open feedback.

• Gathers quantitative and qualitative data easily.

Disadvantages

• May be difficult to design questionnaires to allow for follow-up or more

elaborate responses.

• Might not identify the specific causes behind employee actions/behaviors.

b. Personal Interviews

Conducted by a trained "interviewer" who follows an interview outline (or set of questions)
to be asked during the interview.

Advantages

• More flexible in the ability to ask various questions.

• Able to immediately follow-up on items mentioned in the interview.

• Is not limited in scope or limited to only a certain set of questions.

Disadvantages

• Time consuming. Especially if only one individual is interviewed at a time.

• Requires the interviewer to document conversations in detail. Any details not

documented are lost or need to be gathered through subsequent interviews.

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c. Personal Observations

An observation of the employee at work. May be structured (i.e., the employee performs
specific tasks) or unstructured (i.e., the observer tries to document the employees work
without influencing what the employee does).

Advantages

• May reduce the amount of interruption of the employee's work.

• May be more realistic observations are made of the employee actually at work.

Disadvantages

• Requires a trained observer.

• Requires the observer to document the work in detail. Any details not documented
are lost or need to be gathered through subsequent observations.

10.3 Gap Percentage Reduction Status Updated for Record Purposes

In a demanding and fast-paced work environment, it is tempting to skip ahead and start
working on training designs to fix business results. For many business managers and
supervisors, training seems like the right response to most problems, but with a little
diligence and research, training delivery can be reserved for opportunities that have real
impact and not wasted on non-training issues. With this in mind, consider putting much
more emphasis into the investigation of core issues prior to building the solutions.

Without a solid understanding of the performance drivers, there is no guarantee that you
are hitting the target or that you are even pointed in the right direction. A key component
for working through performance gaps is collaborating with internal resources to dig into
issues and opportunities.

Once you have the leaders and subject matter experts together, consider working through
the following five primary performance-influencing factors to identify core issues and
opportunities. Ask yourself the following questions to determine performance-influencing
factors:-

a. Is there a knowledge gap?

This factor often is taken for granted, but it is important to determine if the performance
gap is really related to a knowledge issue. Get this out on the table prior to starting a deeper
dive into the other factors that might influence performance. In many situations, knowledge

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gaps can be assessed easily if there has been a recent introduction to a new task or
procedure.

If the performance concept or process is brand new, it is likely that training and
communication strategies can be used to fill the knowledge and performance gaps. The
same would be said for an existing process that has undergone a significant change. If that
is the situation, you can move directly to training, coaching, and communication solutions
to increase performance.

However, if the initial assessment leads you to believe that it is not a knowledge gap, you
will want to keep working on the identification of the real performance-influencing factor.

b. Do employees clearly understand expectations?

Once you have determined that the performance gap is not related to knowledge, you will
want to consider performance expectations. A lack of understanding or confusion
concerning performance expectations can be reflected in performance gaps as well. In that
case, a clear communication strategy built with feedback from employees can help you to
ensure that they know what is expected of them.

For example, if the goal is to manufacture 20 widgets per hour with zero defects, but that
has not been clearly communicated, there should be no surprise when those metrics are not
met. Expectation issues can be less obvious in some cases or even subtle, but a baseline goal
and expectation must be set and understood for employees to achieve them.

If you find that the performance expectation is clear, but there is a lack of understanding
about how to reach them, it's time to develop a step analysis and a potential training
solution, along with coaching and communication.

c. Are performance incentives aligned to organisational goals?

We may assume that employees always want to perform at their best, but if there is no clear
incentive for them, training generally will not change their performance outcomes. In fact,
there may be opposing incentives influencing employees to make decisions about which
task to prioritize.

An example would be setting a call duration expectation for call center employees while
also setting a customer satisfaction goal. Although these goals may not be mutually
exclusive, opposing incentives could push employees to sacrifice one for the other. An
incentive-related performance issue does not require a training solution, but does require
an evaluation of incentives and clarification of performance priorities through a
communication strategy.

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d. Are employees experiencing process breakdowns?

Process breakdowns can affect performance based on the tools and methods for completing
work. It could be a system issue that has been overlooked or something in the process that
increases the potential for errors.

If that is the case, it is important to work with the performers to identify and eliminate
these defects. Often the frontline worker is aware of these issues and will have suggestions
for potential solutions.

Finding and removing barriers can produce instant performance gains and build credibility
with employees. Performing quality checks and observations can identify inefficiencies and
provide insight for changes that will improve performance.

Once the process issues are identified, the solutions developed can be assessed to
determine if they are significant enough to require formal training or additional
communication strategies.

e. Are employees in the correct assignment?

Employee assignment can be one of the most difficult performance issues to work through.
Employees may not have the aptitude or attitude to meet the performance expectations, or
an employee just might not be suited to the job. In some cases, it may be possible to
evaluate the strengths of the employee and move him to a more appropriate job; in other
cases, it may not be an option.

Attitude or engagement can be a major hurdle related to performance as well. The

employee may be bored, disgruntled, or overwhelmed. There are no simple solutions for
solving engagement issues, but you might start with developmental path conversations to
determine if the employee is suited to the role.

Aptitude and attitude generally are not going to be solved with training solutions, but by
investing time and energy in employee development you can help them become more
engaged in their current positions or develop a path to a new role.

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10.4 Results

Training can be an extremely valuable tool and it is critical to continuous organisational

improvement, but it is not always the correct solution. By investigating performance
influencing factors, you will be more apt to increase and influence performance outcomes
that help your organisation reach business goals.

Through the exploration of performance issues and analysis of core gaps, you also will be
able to make better training and non-training recommendations. It takes constant focus to
develop solid performance solutions that have real impact, but with diligence and
collaboration the end result will be worth the time spent getting to the real core issues.

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11.0 PREPARE STAFF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Employee supervision is the role of the front line supervisor in a company or organisation.
Supervisors have direct contact with the employees who they supervise. Supervision helps
establish order in the workplace. Supervisors report to managers in the organisation
hierarchy. Effective supervision is a foundation of a successful organisation.

Effective supervision has these four major benefits:

• Keeps employees longer (retention);

• Defuses conflict (better working environment);

• Improves problem solving (better working relationship); and

• Improves the likelihood that the needs of both the employer and the employee
will be met (empowerment and satisfaction).

Dealing with problems such as tardiness, no call/no shows and negative or uncooperative
attitudes can consume a significant portion of your time and energy. Although blaming
workers for poor performance is tempting, it is helpful to remember that low-wage
workers, particularly those new to the workforce, often have few resources or limited
experience to fall back on when the complexities of caring for their families conflict with the
needs of the workplace.

Given the complexities of many workers’ personal and work lives, individual providers
often need support in developing the communication and problem-solving skills required in
a demanding workplace. Effective supervision in the organisations recognizes these
challenges, but still holds workers accountable to what the supervisor expect them to do.
The supervisor will play a major role in helping the employees to learn and grow personally
and professionally and succeed on the job.

There are five steps of the traditional approach to supervision:

1. Identify issues to be addressed;

2. Explain the rules clearly;

3. Explain the consequences of breaking the rules;

4. Offer possible solutions to the problem; and

5. Request or direct the employee to comply with work rules.

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11.1 Reward and Penalty System Identified According to O&M Activity

There are a number of ways to classify rewards. Three of the more typical dichotomies are:
Intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards, financial versus non-financial rewards, and
performance-based versus membership based rewards. These categories are far from being
mutually exclusive.

o Intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards:

The satisfactions one gets from the job itself are its intrinsic rewards. These satisfactions
are self-initiated rewards, such as having pride in one’s work, having a feeling of
accomplishment, or being part of a team. The techniques of flex time, job enrichment,
shorter work weeks, and job rotation, can offer intrinsic rewards by providing interesting
and challenging jobs and allowing the employee greater freedom.

On the other hand extrinsic rewards include money, promotions, and fringe benefits. Their
common thread is that extrinsic rewards are external to the job and come from an outside
source, mainly, management.

Thus, if an employee experiences feelings of achievement or personal growth from a job, we

would label such rewards as intrinsic. If the employee receives a salary increase or a write
up in the company magazine, we would label those rewards as extrinsic.

While we have stressed the role of extrinsic rewards in motivation, we should point out
that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards may be closely linked.

o Financial versus Non-financial rewards:

Rewards may or may not enhance the employees’ financial well being. If they do they can
do this directly through wages, bonuses, profit sharing, and the like, or indirectly through
supportive benefits such as pension plans, paid vacations, paid sick leaves and purchase
discounts.

Non-financial rewards are potentially at the disposal of the organisation. They do not
increase the employee’s financial position, instead of making the employees life better off
the job, non-financial rewards emphasize making life on the job more attractive.

The old saying “one man’s food is another man’s poison” applies to the entire subject of
rewards, but specifically to the area of non-financial rewards. What one employee views as
something I’ve always wanted, another finds superfluous. Therefore care must be taken in
providing the right non-financial reward for each person, yet where selection has been
done assiduously, the benefits to the organisation should be impressive.

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Some workers are very status conscious. An attractive office, a carpeted floor, a large
executive desk, or a private bathroom may be just the office furnishing that stimulates an
employee towered top impressive job title, their own business cards, their own secretary,
or a well located parking space with their name clearly painted underneath the “Reserved”
sign.

o Performance based versus membership based rewards:

The rewards that the organisation allocates can be said to be based on either performance
criteria for membership criteria. While the managers in most organisations will vigorously
argue that their reward system pays off for performance, you should recognize that this is
almost invariably not the case. Few organisations actually rewards employees based on
performance. However, without question, the dominant basis for reward allocations in
organisation is membership.

Performance based rewards are exemplified by the use of commission, piecework pay
plans, incentive systems, group bonuses, or other forms of merit pay plans. On the other
hand, membership based rewards include cost of living increases, profit sharing, benefits,
and salary increases attributable to labor market conditions, seniority or time in rank,
credentials (such as a college degree or a graduate diploma), or future potential (the recent
M.B.A. from a prestigious university). The demarcation between the two is not always
obvious. For instance company paid membership in a country club or use of company
owned automobiles by executives may be given for membership or performance. If they are
available to say all middle and upper level executives, then they are membership base.
However, if they are made available selectively to certain managers based on their
performance rather than their entitlement, which of course implies they can also be taken
away, we should treat them as performance based rewards for those who might deem them
attractive.

For practical purposes, we need to break membership based rewards into two groups. One
group is made up of benefits and services that go to all employees regardless of their
performance level. All nurses at certain hospital, for instance, get ten days, sick leave, $
200000 worth of life insurance, paid hospitalization coverage, and a host of other benefits
and services regardless of whether they do an outstanding job or a barely acceptable one.
Because benefits and services are explicitly acknowledged to be allocated on the basis of
membership, we will call them explicit membership based rewards. All the other
membership based rewards will be thrown into the second group which we will call
implied. You may wonder why the need to differentiate two groups?

We have separated the membership based rewards into two groups to clarify what is often
confusing in practice. Most organisations treat benefits and services as the only
membership based rewards. All other rewards are traditionally treated as performance
based. This or course, is both incorrect and misleading labeling. In practice, performance is

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only a minor determinant of rewards. This is true despite academic theories holding that
high motivation depends on performance base rewards. In practice, a lot of lip service is
given to the value a good job performance, but the organisations rewards do not closely
parallel employee performance.

In summary, you should recognize that there are performance based rewards; there are
explicit membership based rewards, which we call benefits and services; and there are
implied membership based rewards. Practicing managers often call the latter group
performance based but they are not.

11.2 Staff Performance Criteria Identified Based on Designation and Role

Employee evaluations represent a fundamental tool used by businesses to conduct periodic

appraisals of employee performance. An effective employee evaluation forms the
supporting evidence for promotions and pay increases. These assessments also alert
managers when an employee needs further training or support in his position. Those
evaluating employees must ensure that all the necessary criteria is included in the appraisal
so they can accurately guide the employee toward future success.

a. Organisation and Interpersonal Skills

Criteria, such as an employee’s organisational and interpersonal skills, evaluate how the
employee interacts with others and how well he prioritizes tasks and responsibilities and
manages time. Traits that managers evaluate include commitment to customer satisfaction,
ability to work as a team player, communication skills, continuing improvement and
growth, and time management skills. To gain insight on these areas, managers may include
experiences of customers and those in other departments when working with the
employee.

b. Position Specific Responsibilities

Criteria involve performance assessment of the core elements of an employee’s job the key
duties listed on a job description. Objective assessment of whether the employee
consistently completes duties is often easier than other evaluation areas. For example, if
one of an employee’s duties involves developing monthly marketing plans, the manager can
quite easily determine whether the employee has followed through on a monthly basis as
expected. For this portion of the evaluation, managers should create a checklist of known
and expected duties of the employee. If the appraisal shows that the employee periodically
fails to meet these responsibilities, the manager must give the employee an opportunity to
explain.

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c. Goal Achievement

Employees must set clear and challenging, but achievable, goals for each assessment period
in collaboration with his immediate supervisor. This portion of an employee evaluation
assesses how and if the employee met those goals. Managers can use information gathered
from this portion of the assessment to determine whether to set more challenging goals or
keep them the same. Some employees regularly take on major projects outside of their job
descriptions. Mangers may include these projects in this portion of the assessment along
with recognition for employees going over and above necessary duties.

d. Additional Achievements and Accomplishments

In this area of the job description, managers can include achievements and
accomplishments of the employee. For example, if the employee failed to reach some goals
or meet some responsibilities on occasion, but was attending college at night. Noting his
graduation and achievement in education may attenuate negative marks in other job areas.
Mangers may note career-related training, such as certifications and licensures, the
employee obtained during the evaluation period as these may warrant a pay increase.

11.3 Staff Self-appraisal and Manager Appraisal Performed Based on HR

Requirement

Yearly performance reviews are critical. Organisation's are hard pressed to find good
reasons why they can't dedicate an hour-long meeting once a year to ensure the mutual
needs of the employee and organisation are being met. Performance reviews help
supervisors feel more honest in their relationships with their subordinates and feel better
about themselves in their supervisorial roles. Subordinates are assured clear
understanding of what's expected from them, their own personal strengths and areas for
development and a solid sense of their relationship with their supervisor. Avoiding
performance issues ultimately decreases morale, decreases credibility of management,
decreases the organisation's overall effectiveness and wastes more of management's time
to do what isn't being done properly. Conduct the following activities.

a. Design a legally valid performance review process

Patricia King, in her book, Performance Planning and Appraisal, states that the law requires
that performance appraisals be: job-related and valid; based on a thorough analysis of the
job; standardized for all employees; not biased against any race, color, sex, religion, or
nationality; and performed by people who have adequate knowledge of the person or job.
Be sure to build in the process, a route for recourse if an employee feels he or she has been
dealt with unfairly in an appraisal process, e.g., that the employee can go to his or her
supervisor's supervisor. The process should be clearly described in a personnel policy.

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b. Design a standard form for performance appraisals

Include the name of the employee, date the performance form was completed, dates
specifying the time interval over which the employee is being evaluated, performance
dimensions (include responsibilities from the job description, any assigned goals from the
strategic plan, along with needed skills, such as communications, administration, etc.), a
rating system (e.g., poor, average, good, excellent), space for commentary for each
dimension, a final section for overall commentary, a final section for action plans to address
improvements, and lines for signatures of the supervisor and employee. Signatures may
either specify that the employee accepts the appraisal or has seen it, depending on wording
on the form.

c. Schedule the first performance review for six months after the employee starts
employment

Schedule another review six months later and then every year on the employee's
anniversary date.

d. Initiate the performance review process and upcoming meeting

Tell the employee that you're initiating a scheduled performance review. Remind them of
what's involved in the process. Schedule a meeting about two weeks out.

e. Have the employee suggest any updates to the job description and provide
written input to the appraisal

Have them record their input concurrent to your recording theirs. Have them record their
input on their own sheets (their feedback will be combined on the official form later on in
the process). You and the employee can exchange each of your written feedback in the
upcoming review meeting. (Note that by now, employees should have received the job
descriptions and goals well in advance of the review, i.e., a year before. The employee
should also be familiar with the performance appraisal procedure and form.)

f. Document your input -- reference the job description and performance goals

Be sure you are familiar with the job requirements and have sufficient contact with the
employee to be making valid judgments. Don't comment on the employee's race, sex,
religion, nationality, or a handicap or veteran status. Record major accomplishments,
exhibited strengths and weaknesses according to the dimensions on the appraisal form, and
suggest actions and training or development to improve performance. Use examples of
behaviors wherever you can in the appraisal to help avoid counting on hearsay. Always
address behaviors, not characteristics of personalities. The best way to follow this guideline
is to consider what you saw with your eyes. Be sure to address only the behaviors of that
employee, rather than behaviors of other employees.

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g. Hold the performance appraisal meeting

State the meeting's goals of exchanging feedback and coming to action plans, where
necessary. In the meeting, let the employee speak first and give their input. Respond with
your own input. Then discuss areas where you disagree. Attempt to avoid defensiveness;
admitting how you feel at the present time, helps a great deal. Discuss behaviors, not
personalities. Avoid final terms such as "always," "never," etc. Encourage participation and
be supportive. Come to terms on actions, where possible. Try to end the meeting on a
positive note.

h. Update and finalize the performance appraisal form

Add agreed-to commentary on to the form. Note that if the employee wants to add attach
written input to the final form, he or she should be able to do so. The supervisor signs the
form and asks the employee to sign it. The form and its action plans are reviewed every few
months, usually during one-on-one meetings with the employee.

i. Nothing should be surprising to the employee during the appraisal meeting

Any performance issues should have been addressed as soon as those issues occurred. So
nothing should be a surprise to the employee later on in the actual performance appraisal
meeting. Surprises will appear to the employee as if the supervisor has not been doing
his/her job and/or that the supervisor is not being fair. It is OK to mention the issues in the
meeting, but the employee should have heard about them before.

11.4 Why We Hate the Performance Review

Most employees in companies today are all too familiar with the concept of the
performance review. Just the mention of this often dreaded occurrence of discussion with
one’s supervisor where they get to critique every move you’ve made during the year while
you sit ideally by is sure to send negative feelings throughout the mind’s of employees
everywhere. The performance review generally has a similar effect on managers and
supervisors as well. So why is this performance review so dreaded and loathed by many? A
few of the reasons are listed below.

a. Employees - Why They Hate the Performance Review Process

They have no control in the situation. Managers get to provide ratings and comments on
multiple areas of performance that are most often subjective in nature. If an employee
disagrees, they might get a small “employee comments” area to provide their rebuttal all
the while knowing that if they push too much the person controlling their future still has
control.

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Reviews sheets are completed before the actual discussion occurs. Therefore bringing up
comments has little effect on the actual rating which is most often tied to their annual
increase which is usually only a few cents different from the person with the next highest or
lowest rating.

Employees are often forced to write a self-evaluation prior to the meeting as well.
Unfortunately, these usually only serve as annoyance to employees because the majority of
the time it is ignored by the supervisor any way.

b. Managers - Why They Hate the Performance Review Process

Managers often dread the discussion of the employee performance review assuming the
discussion will turn into a battle with the manager left to convince the employee that their
ratings are accurate. Managers usually assume employees think they perform better than
they actually do.

Managers are busy with tasks and goals of their own. Taking the time to thoroughly review
a whole year’s worth of performance is time consuming. They often rush through the forms
because the HR department has a deadline they are struggling to meet?

The forms are too complicated, long, short or don’t cover what is really important to
success in this department.

11.4.1 Performance Review Session Conducted with Staff

a. Communicating the Standards

Once set, it is the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the
employees of the organisation. The employees should be informed and the standards
should be clearly explained to the employees. This will help them to understand their roles
and to know what exactly is expected from them. The standards should also be
communicated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be
modified at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the
evaluators.

b. Measuring the Actual Performance

The most difficult part of the Performance appraisal process is measuring the actual
performance of the employees that is the work done by the employees during the specified
period of time. It is a continuous process which involves monitoring the performance
throughout the year. This stage requires the careful selection of the appropriate techniques
of measurement, taking care that personal bias does not affect the outcome of the process
and providing assistance rather than interfering in an employees work.

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c. Comparing Actual Performance with Desired Performance

The actual performance is compared with the desired or the standard performance. The
comparison tells the deviations in the performance of the employees from the standards
set. The result can show the actual performance being more than the desired performance
or, the actual performance being less than the desired performance depicting a negative
deviation in the organisational performance. It includes recalling, evaluating and analysis of
data related to the employees’ performance.

d. Discussing Results [Feedback]

The result of the appraisal is communicated and discussed with the employees on one-to-
one basis. The focus of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the
problems and the possible solutions are discussed with the aim of problem solving and
reaching consensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude as this can have
an effect on the employees’ future performance. Performance appraisal feedback by
managers should be in such way helpful to correct mistakes done by the employees and
help them to motivate for better performance but not to de-motivate. Performance
feedback task should be handled very carefully as it may leads to emotional outburst if it is
not handing properly. Sometimes employees should be prepared before giving them
feedback as it may be received positively or negatively depending upon the nature and
attitude of employees.

11.4.2 5 Ways to Give Negative Feedback to Employees

Feedback at work is important for an individual's development. However, some people are
over-sensitive to negative feedback, which makes it crucial for managers and leaders to
understand how to convey it.

1) Combine Negative & Positive

The ideal way of giving feedback to someone who's extremely emotional is to go for the
sandwich method. Sandwich the negative feedback between two layers of positive
feedback.

This helps in softening the impact of the negative feedback. By starting and ending in
positive words, you ensure that the negative feedback has the right impact.

2) Be Objective

It is important that you ensure that the person receiving the feedback knows that the
feedback is not personal vendetta. Such kind of fundamental attribution error the

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employee may have, linking the negative feedback to the person giving it. So, if you ask
someone reporting to you the reason for being late, she/he might interpret that you are a
control freak. Sadly, nearly all the time, the attribution strains the relationship between the
two parties.

3) Don't Use Harsh Words

Rather than telling someone outright that they are bad at something, it is better when you
word it in a less harsh manner, and also provide suggestions and solutions to help them get
better at what they are currently bad at. Sometimes, the most hurtful sentences are
perceived in a way which makes it seem threatening and derogatory. The key is to make the
employee feel safe. Only when s/he feels safe, they will be in a state of mind to understand
and appreciate what you are saying.

4) Importance of Feedback

One should begin by highlighting the importance of feedback both positive as well as
negative in a professional's life. You could then follow that up with an example of how
constructive feedback has helped you or someone you know, or the said employee knows,
positively and made that person a better professional. While doing this, always make sure
that your tone is calm and soft and like that of a mentor, rather than a rude, condescending
or angry one.

5) Give Feedback in Private for Sensitive People

With emotional people, it is also important that you always give feedback in private.
Emotions are a result of a person's sensitivity, and negative or constructive feedback is
usually a very sensitive topic with highly emotional people. Giving feedback to such
people in front of a room full of people can have an adverse impact.

11.4.3 Decision-making

The purpose of conducting employee performance appraisal is for making decisions about
employees without any bias by the HR manager. Decision-making by HR managers about
employees rewarding, promotions, demotions, transfers and sometimes
suspensions/dismissal of employees are depended upon the employee performance
appraisal. The decision taken by HR manager should match exactly with performance
appraisal results of employees to avoid grievance or disturbances in between them, as they
affect overall performance of the organisation.

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11.4.4 Five (5) Ways to Deal with a Poor Appraisal

Bad appraisals, like bad hair days (one of those days when nothing seems to be going right),
happen to the best of us. Quitting is not a solution. Rather, take a good look at your
performance and concentrate on the course ahead.

1) Look Within

The first step in dealing with a bad appraisal is to keep an honest mindset and introspect
about your performance. "First ask yourself the question: 'What is wrong with me?'. Once
you attack that, other things usually fall into place”.

2) Talk to the Boss

Speak to the boss about the performance review. "There is a good chance your boss may
not have remembered critical activities and initiatives you have undertaken,".

3) Take it in your Stride

There is a good chance that your boss' critical evaluation is spot on. "Try never to take these
critiques personally and quit. That may be your biggest mistake. Consider consulting
another senior colleague or a mentor".

4) Plan Ahead

"Be actively involved in setting your targets for the year ahead based on your strengths,".
Also, periodically review your performance with your boss. That way, there will be fewer
unpleasant surprises.

5) Move on Gracefully

At times, reasons not connected with your performance affect the appraisal you deserve.
"You can bring up the issue with your bosses. But if nothing comes of it, it's time to move
on,". But don't make an ugly exit. "You never know when it can come back to haunt you".

11.4.5 Five (5) Ways to Discard Tag as Poor Performer

Nobody wants to be seen as a poor performer. There always a reason why you're being
perceived that way and it is your job to find out the reason.

1) Find the Root Cause

The first step towards shedding the tag is to dig deep and find out where the poor
performance stems from. Is it lack of skill to do the job or is it lack of motivation to
perform? Once you know and accept why you're underperforming, it becomes relatively

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easy to take corrective action.

2) Seek Feedback

Seek constant 360-degree feedback to understand your shortcomings and work on them.
Analysing feedback in a positive manner will help you grow professionally and personally.
Take criticism constructively and learn from past mistakes.

3) Take Initiative & Deliver

If it is lack of ability or skill, you must take the initiative to train yourself on the particular
skill you lack. Have an honest conversation with your manager and let her/him know that
you need training to improve your skills, if that is what you're lacking. When an employee is
proactive, managers are more than happy to help. Once you've been trained, apply your
learning to the task at hand. Delivering consistently helps you come out of the shadow of
being a poor performer.

4) Work with High Performers

While working in teams or on group projects, seek to work with high performing team
members, or those whose work has been responded to positively in the past. This will help
you learn from their experiences, as well as showcase your work in a positive light.

5) Take Small Steps

The label of a poor performer comes when you haven't been delivering over a period of
time. It is not easy to get rid of it. However, the quickest way of doing so is to perform well
at smaller tasks that are more short term in nature. A number of such small wins will help
you be known as a good performer. When you become consistent, it leads to a change in
how people see you.

11.5 Appraisal Result Analyses and Recommendations Prepared for

Improvement

Performance appraisals generally have three primary functions: recognizing employees for
strong performance throughout the evaluation period, connecting the employee’s
performance to her compensation, and addressing employee improvement that's necessary
for the next evaluation period. Based on the premise that there’s always room for
improvement, many performance appraisals focus on activities that encourage employees
to improve their job performance.

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a. Evaluation

Many performance appraisals are an evaluation of quantitative and qualitative

achievements during a one-year period. During this time, measurements related to the
employee’s productivity, functional expertise, core competencies and professional traits
factor into an annual performance evaluation. When these measurements fall short of the
employer’s expectations, it is the supervisor’s obligation to discuss the employee’s
performance and provide guidelines for improvement. For example, an assembly worker
whose production rate slips below the company’s expectations will be counseled by her
supervisor on ways to improve speed, quality and accuracy on the production line.

b. Performance Improvement Plans (PIP)

Performance Improvement Plan or PIP, are common in many organisations. A PIP is a

document that contains very structured guidelines for improvement. Frequent meetings
may be scheduled between the employee and her supervisor to discuss intermediate
improvements as well as milestones that the employee must achieve along the way for
improving her performance. Generally speaking, a PIP is the employer’s last-ditch effort
before terminating an employee due to poor performance.

c. Mentoring

Job shadowing and mentoring are two rather unconventional methods that a supervisor
might use to improve performance. Mentoring may help employees through interacting
regularly with higher level employees who can counsel them on strategic ways to improve
their performance. This could include handing over assignments to employees to test their
skill, aptitude and performance, while coaching them on the right way to perform certain
job tasks. For example, an attorney whose client communication skills fall below the law
firm’s expectations may be assigned to work closely with a senior-level associate or a
partner in a mentor-protégé arrangement. This arrangement gives the attorney
opportunities to observe an experienced attorney’s interaction and relationship-building
skills with clients.

d. Discipline

Many employers erroneously view disciplinary review as a recommended improvement

action in performance appraisals. While employee discipline may be justified in cases of
misconduct and exceedingly poor performance, attendance or violations of company
guidelines, it shouldn’t be delayed until the supervisor conducts the employee’s
performance appraisal.

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e. Training

Employers are obligated to provide their workers with all the tools necessary to do their
jobs, and training and development are essential workplace tools. During the performance
appraisal, when the supervisor reviews an employee’s areas for improvement, offering
opportunities for training are generally well-appreciated by employees who are genuinely
concerned about improving their performance.

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