Developing employees through the implementation of training and development opportunities is a primary function of human resource management (HRM). Performance measurement and appraisals are one way to determine what type of additional training is needed to ensure employee success.
Imagine that you have been hired as the human resource manager at an organization where you have previously worked or are currently working. Your first task is to assess areas for improving training and development and the performance appraisal system within the organization. Write an essay on your analysis of these two areas. Address the questions below in your assignment. Use headers to organize your paper and show what you are covering in your assignment.
Training and Development Analysis
What are the steps of the new hire training process? Are there any steps missing that you would add?
As the human resource manager, how would you evaluate the training needs of your staff?
How can you ensure that the training you would provide is effective? What data might be used to make your conclusion?
What considerations would you make for employee learning styles?
How would future training and development be impacted through human resource planning?
Do you have a plan to shape employee behavior within your organization? Why, or why not?
Performance Appraisal Analysis
As the human resource manager, what are two best practices you would follow when planning for employee performance appraisals?
What performance methods would you choose over other methods?
What are two of the common problems with appraisals? How would you avoid them in your organization?
What components do you think are required for effective human resource planning?
Developing employees through the implementation of training and development opportunities
As the human resource manager, how would you evaluate the training needs of your staff? Developing a new employee training (or revitalizing an old one) is a big endeavor, but one that is often doomed to fail right out of the gate. Why? Companies that skip the crucial first step, which is a training needs analysis, may find their training ineffective on every level. A training needs analysis looks at the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees to determine what types of training they need to move the company towards its objectives. Steps to evaluate the training needs of your staff include: decide what you are trying to achieve; identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to meet your objectives; figure out what employees know; talk to employees; decide on the data points that are valuable to your team; evaluate your current training resources; and match your training to your needs.
Thirdly, the characters involved are a key feature to any story. “In order to get personally involved with a story, we, as readers or listeners, must be able to identify with the characters” (Fog, 2004:41). The use of characters helps to create the emotional connection to the consumer as spoken about previously. The way it does this is because as a consumer, we may be able to see part of our self in one of the characters. This makes a relation between the consumer and the character. The reason for this is because if we can identify with the characters, we can fully embrace and understand the story. The last point is the plot is something that is divided into three parts, the beginning, middle and end. At the very beginning of the story, the scene is set and “the progression of change creates conflict and sets the parameters for the rest of the story. The conflict escalates but is finally resolved, marking the end of the story” (Fog, 2004:44). The reason the plot and flow of the story is so important, is because “it is vital to the consumer’s experience” (Fog, 2004:44). The plot is something that can be developed over time to create a more immersive experience, or can be done cleverly in 30 second advertisements to catch the consumers attention. Now the four ‘checkpoints’ have been outlined and explained, it’s time to work out how brands apply this to their marketing and advertisement strategies. Once it is understood how these brands apply storytelling, it will become visible how they can “create identification, engagement and relevance” (Fog, 2004:164) with their consumers. Brands use storytelling as a sales promotion tool, and “More and more companies are looking to create a story universe surrounding their products and services. In doing so, their story becomes the driving force behind their brand values” (Fog, 2004:164). When companies can tell an immersive story through their marketing and advertisements over a long period, Klaus Fog refers to brands being able to create a “story universe surrounding their products and services” (Fog, 2004:164). The fact that Fog identifies the stories that brands tell as a fictional universe, allows the consumer to get fully immersed in the story. This is where the story becomes “the driving force behind their brand values” (Fog, 2004:164). By creating this other ‘universe’ revolved completely around the brand, they can strengthen their image, and make an even stronger emotional connection to the consumer, which separates them from other brands. Storytelling can be applied to many different marketing techniques, including adver