My Personal Reflections

In the workforce today, skills have become very important for employee to maintain in order to have a decent position in the organization.  Indeed, the skills that you have possessed depend on the employment systems that the organization offers.  Under the employment systems, there are two approaches that the national level come across are voluntarist and regulated.  Voluntarist known as more liberal or as market based and regulated are more educational base.  These approaches are the principal assumption that the systems of the organization operates more effectively when loose by regulation.  The regulation under these approaches assumes that the vocational education and training is a public good to keep long-term interests of having highly skilled workforce.  This will focused on the consensus and the recognition of national apprenticeship system that the employment systems are more institutionalized.

            The employment system provides a systematic and provision that simply supply high quality of training.  This training is highly structures in a way that social supports would be implemented in order for the work to be reorganized and be more effective.  However, this systematic still encompassed with implication and difficulty.  In a market economy the problem that they face severely is the lack of skills development.  Employee normally take advantage of a provision that already highly educated and most likely they would receive employer funded training.  On the other hand, the corporatist tends to avoid conflict and contradiction toward the skill of market economy. 

            While Grugulis discussed about the skill in the employment systems, he also mention about the management and the leadership development.  In any working environment there will be a management department where they would takes different roles to perform their tasks.  As a managerial role, interpersonal, informational, and decisional role must encounter in the management department.  There are five different types of manager that has a distinction in their performance.  Emissaries were the organizational ambassadors, the writers spent more time with office works, discussers spent more time with their colleagues, trouble-shooters deal with crisis, and committee men spent more time contacting people. 

            While Noe discussed more on the special issues in training and employee development.  In this section, I realize that Noe has emphasized the major pressure that companies face from the external to internal environments.  In external environment, they face a lot of pressure that mainly came from legal compliance, globalization, or lack of skills in the labor market.  As an internal issue, he addresses the potential problems that companies face such as relating to prepare company’s current work force for the future development.  Indeed, training is the best solution that help the company reduce the issue but training cannot overcome broader societal problem that resulted in welfare system. 

            Noe also try to figure out a special ways to challenge the career management.  The challenge will include new employee orientation, socialization, and retirement plan.  These challenges also include special practices for companies to learn from once they encountered such difficulties.  These practices help the companies to be successfully dealt with these issues because most of these issues already happen in other organization therefore, using these practices did help a lot to the company that come across this problem. 

            Grugulis mention a lot about the management role and the skills in the employment systems that using training program to possess particular outcomes, however, Noe also mention quite a lot about the issue and challenge problem that the organization face but both greatly depend on the training program to help reduce or improve certain problems. 

Strategic training is a common training that helps organization to gain a competitive advantage by developing a business goal and objective.  The train emphasized on how changes affect in the workforce, organizational factors, and the training that influence on the amount of training function of a company.  The strategic training and development process has several functions that show how the process begins by identifying the business strategy.  For the business strategy, mission, values, and goals are important roles for business industry to develop.  As for the strategic training and development initiatives, improve customer service and capture and share knowledge is the main function.  Training and Development Activities will go through the web base training and increase amount of customer service training.  On the other hand, metrics that show value of training helps increase performance improvement, reduce customer complaints, and reduce turnover.

            Strategic training also list the implications of staffing includes external labor market, supply flow, and internal labor market.  Staffing strategy help the company to find employees, determine their skills and statuses, and their performance.  Training develop different strategies in the business industry includes concentration, internal growth, external growth, and disinvestment.  There are different models has been used in the training department to ensure the improvement of the organization such as faculty model, customer model, matrix model, corporate university model, and business-embedded model.

            Meanwhile, the Grugulis text mentions a lot about emotion in the workforce, managing culture, and knowledge about the workforce.  In the work environment, workers feel that in order to produce specific and desirable reactions in others, the individuals must develop some kind of emotion toward their job.  For example, when a person satisfies a customer and gets recognition toward his/her hard work, then that person feels very happy and emotional about the job they have done.  On the other hand, managing culture is also important to an organization because culture is constantly changing and it was an ongoing process that no one can actually control it.  Management also involve in this process in order to reconstruct the way that people understands their organization and the people who work with them.  Lastly, Grugulis mentions is knowledgeable about the workers, this chapter discuss the phenomenon of ways to determine what knowledge is.  There are different type of knowledge includes tacit knowledge versus explicit knowledge.

            Overall, these chapters have given me a great overview of what managing cultural, knowledge, and emotion in the workforce is.  The chapters make me feels that when working in organization knowledge, culture, and emotion are come in hand.  No matter which organization we are working for, these features are always there and we always apply that in our learning and training process.

Most people believe that evaluation is a helpful tool to help them evaluate the performance of each individual however, now we figure out that evaluation also has resistance as well.  Evaluation resistance has identified as human behavior intending to maintain the status quo.  Most often, negative attitudes would bring resistance toward evaluation.  It also mentions that personal characteristics have significant impact on the use of evaluation results.  In order for them to maintain their status quo, they need to accept the changes that may occur and willing to risk failure when attempting to make changes base on individual or organizational values and goals.  Even power also bring great impact to an individual because evaluation always involves power differences and different interest among stakeholders.  Reactance is another impact that affects on an individual freedom. 

Learning theory is another individual’s behavior that helps acquired, maintained, and changed through the interaction of the reinforcers and punishment.  Evaluations are based on individual prior experiences with evaluation or change processes.  The concept of evaluation can be identified as “a study designed and conducted to assist some audience to assess an object’s merit and worth, stated by Hansen.” 

Evaluation was so important it is also become a body part of a literature in the field that focuses on assessments of programs that has been implemented.  The evaluation is so relevant where academic traditions has discussed about the evaluation design itself. 

Hansen also discussed the typology of evaluation in order to find the answer to particular criteria for assessment.  Both literature and organizational effectiveness provide several typologies models including: goal-attainment, effects, explanatory process, system, and economic model.  However, throughout his methodological perspective, he also provides three different types of logic.  The three types of logic are the purpose of evaluation should determine, characteristics of the evaluand should determine design, and the problem to be solved by the evaluated object should determine design.

Evaluation has been around for so long that we don’t realize their existence.  To us, evaluation is very common and universal but using evaluation in a useful way is very difficult.  Most organization includes university, business, and politic are using evaluation to improve their practice, plan, or learning process.  Today’s organization greatly depends on the role of the evaluation to help them find ways to maximize programs’ effectiveness.  We tend to believe that evaluation can collectively identify information needs, data, and acknowledging the decision making of an action.

According to the passage, the process of evaluation has been around for so long that it’s gone through several centuries.  In the modern day, evaluation has been used quite often especially to test students’ effort in public school.  Even business organization also used evaluation to determine how well employee performs.  Up until now, evaluation has become the main focused on educational assessment and programs help to improve education, reduce unemployment, and urban deterioration.  The expectation of the evaluation is to help eliminate the causes of social problems and be clearer on the educational ground. 

In order to increase the number of evaluation that has been conducted, evaluators and program staff needs to evaluated other than making judgment. The transformation of the evaluation also leads to the profession that has been conducted broadly in the
US.  Even today, the
United States government tries to conduct the evaluation to improve its program effectiveness, enhance organizational learning, and make resources allocation decisions in both public and private organizations. 

There are different types of evaluation models and approaches that underlie today’s evaluation practice which help researchers and theories to define, design, and implement in the part of the evaluation.  The first model is behavioral objectives approach which concerns on specifying on the program’s goals and objectives have been attained.  On the other hand, responsive evaluation did a great job at talking with clients, identifying programs scope and activities.  Goal free evaluation is another approach that helps the program objectives and goals to identify the unknown so it wouldn’t influence the evaluator’s observations.  There are a few evaluations that taking place in this approach such as consumer-oriented, adversary approaches, expertise/expertise, utilization-focused evaluation, participatory/collaborative, and empowerment.

The evaluation process has been very helpful to most organization.  This provides an option for determining the focus of the evaluation, the level of involvement from the employees.  Each role of the evaluation is greatly helpful to every situation such as school or workplace.  I believe that evaluation process is one of the area that help people find a better decision.

Training in an organization is so important that no one can ignore even in big or small organization.  Training is so broad that not every organization can sit down and go through steps-by-steps process.  However, having some kind of training can make a big different to the organization.  According to the traditional training methods, there are three categories that discuss in the text such as presentation methods, hands-on methods, and group building methods. 

Presentation methods are types of training method that trainees receive information.  This information includes facts, processes, and problem-solving methods.  Lectures and audiovisual techniques are presentation methods.  Lecture is one of the least expensive methods for organization to use because they consume less time and easily employed with large groups of trainees.  On the other hand, audiovisual technique can improve communication skills, interviewing skills, and customer service skills because this technique provides overheads, slides, and videos.

Hands on methods require trainee to be actively involved in the learning process.  This includes on the job training, self-directed learning, apprenticeship, stimulations, case study, business games, role plays, and behavior modeling.  Group building methods also had different used to the training method but the goals are the same as the other method.  Group building designed to improve team or group effectiveness.  Experiential learning, adventure learning, team training, cross training, and action learning are some of the group building characteristics.

Even though there are on-site training program in an organization but you can not totally ignore online training program.  Today, technology had brought great influence to training and learning.  New technologies have made it possible to reduce the costs associated to deliver training to employees.  Multimedia training and computer-based training are types of technology training that have been used in big organization today.  There are advantages and disadvantages associated with multimedia training.  The advantage of multimedia are it is self-paced, interactive, consistency of content, offer unlimited accessibility, and provides privacy.  On the other hand, the disadvantage of multimedia is expensive to develop, ineffective for certain training content, difficult to update, and lead to a lack of agreement on effectiveness.  Computer-based training is an interactive training experience that provides the learning stimulus and feedback to the trainee.  Computer based training includes interactive video, CD-ROM, internet, and online learning.   The effective ways for online learning is to develop needs assessment, design and method, and evaluation. 

Technology training methods can be effective especially when everyone has the accessibility to go online to do their training at their own location but the cost is too high.  That is why most organization decides not to have online training program because they afraid that the training is not very effective but in the mean time they also losing money. 

Two articles that I have read are very interesting because both articles are doing some kind experimental to see which method is best for training.  The article about microeconomic is quite interesting when the researcher trying to do an experiment on student different major.   They try to find out which teaching method would work on students and adult learning.  The three teaching method that they experimental with are discussion, lecture, and combination of both.  The experiment shows that discussion had the best affect on teaching.  On the other hand, this article discussed the four different type of learning styles that influence on the teaching method are converger, accommodator, diverger, and assimilator. 

Diverger having good imaginative abilities, open-minded, good listeners, and perform well with brainstorming.  Assimilator well-developed with thinking skills, good at organizing information, design testing and experiment. Converger prefer deductive reasoning, decision-making, and practical application of ideas.  Accommodator tends to solve problems, trial and error manner, and adaptable to change.  The results show that each learning styles prefer the traditional approach to learning, face-to-face classroom delivery, regardless of how effective the learning style are. 

Last week case study was interested when the engineer department and the floor department are having conflict toward each other especially they having problem with environmental communication.  This case study shows that the upper management did not any concern on whether if the employee perform well in their department and they refuse to share information to the employee because they afraid that employee knows too much that they might transfer to another job once they have enough experience.  Darrah also mention four types of theories that can imply in any organization.  These theories are behaviorist, cognitivist, social, and humanist.  I think that this issue also happens in real life experience as well.  I currently work in this organization where everything is well train but the management strategy between the managers and the employees are weak. The manager did not share any information or tasks to the employees.  Employees seem confuse about their roles and duties because the manager only specify what employee needs to perform.  By the time, problem arise, employee will takes all the blame because employee are unable to answer customers question and concern about particular event or tasks.   

The issue in this organization can also reflect to this week reading in Noe text.  In Noe’s text, he mentions a strategy called self-management.  Self management according to his definition is refers to a person’s attempt to control certain aspects of decision making and behavior.  Self management involves in many characteristics including setting goals, applying learned capabilities, and engaging self-reinforcement. 

Self management is important because sometimes management also encountered several difficulties that inhibited the training in the organization.  This inhibit consists of lacking of support from peers and managers, factors related to the work itself, restructuring, downsizing, and cost-cutting in the organization.   The obstacles lead to lapses which take place when trainee uses what they learn before, less effective capabilities instead of trying to apply the capability emphasized in the training program. 

Climate for transfer is also important in the transfer of training because trainee have wide perceptions about several characteristics of work environment in an organization that can facilitate the use of training program.  Manager support is a great influential to employee because as a manager, they can bring great support to the employee during the training session.  Teaching program, practice skills, reinforcement, participation, encouragement, and acceptance is the levels of management support for training program in order for the employee to achieve the highest level of support from the manager. 

I believe that manager and peer support will bring great influence on the employee performance during training program.  In order for the employee to achieve the highest performance in their training, been supportive is greatly helped.  Not every organization is having such a supportive environment in their organization.  However, having some support from the managers and peers will help them have positive attitude toward their performance because they notice that their boss and their coworkers show some care and concern about them. 

Although different organization used different method of training program but the main purpose of their training is the same, they try to help employees learn so they can successfully perform their job.  Even though, training is fully performed but certain conditions must be present in order for the learning to occur.  These include by providing an opportunity for employees to receive feedback, offering meaningful training content, and allow them to learn through observing and experiencing (Noe, 125).  There are five types of learning outcome that Noe mention in the text which is verbal information, intellectual skills, motor skills, attitudes, and cognitive strategies.  These learning outcomes require different set of conditions for learning to occur. 

But according to Darrah text, there is a few implication of how training class failed to meet its goal to provide skills and knowledge to employees because of an inadequate notion of their work (Darrah, 15).  On the yearly basis, layoffs are typical because employers want to remove all unwanted employees in their organization.  Formal instructions toward new workers have been lessen because the management assumes that they already possess the necessary skills.  Employer assumes that new employee already have necessary skill to perform their duties with limited training then this is a mistake that the company make because training is imitative and trainers are usually uncertified therefore poor practices can easily spread throughout the organization.  Since formal training is not the top priority in the organization, the working class believe that even though they takes initiative in preparing the training for their co-worker they think that their efforts have been waste and unrewarded.  Therefore, workers became more discouraged of working diligently in the organization since no one cares about their performance anyway.

According to what Darrah stated in his text, he says that workers only been told what to do and what is necessary for them to do from their managers but they are unaware about various duties that they hold responsible for.  Learning in the workplace has been a major issue in the management process.  In order to reduce the problem in the organization, an initial, week long training class should developed by the team leader because this way they can receive feedback from both side from the co-workers and the managers of what need to improve and what need to revised.  Another resolution to this issue is having an oriented training classes and management to work with other departments to improve the production process (Darrah, 24).   

Overall, I believe that in a training program, manager should pay more attention to the employee performance and their progress.  It is important to know what is been expected out of the employees rather than telling them what to do without having proper training or proper instruction.  Sometimes, employees can make mistake that they didn’t even realize of and it is the management responsibility to eliminate this from happening in the future. 

Why needs assessment is important and why skill is required in the workplace?  These questions have been one of the main topics that most organization is looking forward to find the answer. In our society’s today, most organization are lacking of effective training practice.  They even used wrong method to train their employees and it turned out that they created a huge mess in their organization.  The implications that the organization might have used during their training process are wrong content, objectives, or they do not have the basic skills or deliver the expected learning behavior that the company expects.  Sometimes, company used money on training programs that are unnecessary because the training is not related to the company’s business strategy (Noe, 91).

But why needs assessment necessary?  Needs assessment is necessary because this involved on the process used to determine whether training is necessary in an organization.  Training is necessary when employer feels that their employee needs training includes the tasks in which they need to be trained, the knowledge, skill, behavior, or other job requirements.  Needs assessment helps determine whether the company needs proper training or not. 

I feel that proper training is necessary in most organization because I believe that the main goal of needs assessment is to help the company to achieve its strategic goals.  Since upper management require needs assessment to identify the role of training and provide them with the information that they need to manage, enlarge, and support the training.  The methods that might used to conduct needs assessment are observing employees performing the job, utilizing online technology, reading technical manuals and other documentations. However, we still not sure whether or not proper training is the best solution for the company.  In order to determine whether training is needed, managers should analyze the characteristics of each performer, input and output, consequences, and feedback (Noe, 92). 

To me, needs assessment is not necessary to have if that person does not have proper skill in the working environment.  The organization concentrated more on customer or concern more on the quality to be achieved through the workers where skills are required.  Skills are important in hiring decisions because if one person have higher qualification than the other, then that person most likely to have the job.  But not all skilled are necessary in the working environment because looking at women, they’re not fairly rated compare to men.   Women can not treated at the same level like men even when women have the same qualification and skill just like men.  Even though, women are treated unequally according to Gruglis stated in the text, I still believe that without skill it is hard for the organization to have proper performance and productivity.  For a person that is highly skill, they need to be competence, desirable personal attributes, and combination of quality that a person can perform.

So according to your opinion, why needs assessment and skills are necessary in a working environment? 

In today’s society, there are questions about which employee should received proper training in the work environment.  This question has been a common topic that occurred in the workplace and in our readings.  Training is very important in many aspects that the company required in order to become successful in the workplace.  This allows the company to facilitate employee’s learning of job-related competencies, to attract and retain talented employees.  However, throughout the readings, not many companies are using the right training in a proper way in the work environment. 

Companies only focusing on a person that already have experienced and skilled but for the working class, they did not pay much attention to.  This is one of the main factors that affect the company success.   Companies even spend thousands and millions of dollar just to hire an experience and educated employees from foreign countries. Instead, they can spend fewer amounts of time and money in training the working class employees.  The company only show more concerned with the impact practices have on profitability and share price rather than the outcome of the employee’s performance and productivity. 

 It’s also important for the employer and managers to show supportive and concern toward employees.  Managers need to be self-aware and be able to build cooperative teams, and interact and manage employees from diverse cultural backgrounds.  Effective manager’s help employees develop, and work collaboratively with employees (Noe, Raymond). 

Another aspect that affects the company success is skill.  Education, training, and qualification all focus on developing and maintaining skill.  But company used as a wrong method in the working environment.  The company intended to increase work rates and replace skilled workers with unskilled.  The workers are not expected to know about the product they are producing or make decisions on how they might best work or judge on the quality of their work.   But to some aspect, the company should focus on skilled workers because skill levels can grow faster as individuals gain more knowledge of the organizations they work in, experience problems been solved successfully, and see ways the systems operate (Noe, Raymond). 

But why skill requirements are needed in the workplace?  There are four principles of skill requirements are mention in the reading.  The first one is priori that facilitating comparison between different jobs or occupations.  The second principle is that skilled identified as an implication if they were lacking the work would not get done.  Third, isolates workers and jobs from the larger context in which they are push in.  Fourth, skills are theoretically irreducible to people or jobs (Darrah, Charles).

After going through the readings, I realized what the purpose of training, why it is important, and who receiving training.   This reading has provided me with a broad perspective of training.  It is interesting of how company used different method in the training process just to produce the quality of work. 

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