Unit 18 Human Resources Management Assignment – Next Plc

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 18 Human Resources Management
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Human resource development refers to the development of personal and organisational skills, knowledge and ability by improving their operational efficiency for achieving the objectives of the business. The Unit18 Human resources management assignment – Next Plc defines about the training plan to increase the skills and knowledge of the employees to meet the standards. It will compare the different learning styles and its role in the Next Plc workplace. The Next Plc is the leading store in retail clothing and fashion accessories for providing excellent services to the customer for which proper training and development plans will be prepared and monitored through the different evaluation methods. And the requirement for documenting the same has been emphasized for filling the gap of actual and standard operations. At the end, report will show the role of government in training and lifelong learning for the eligible candidates and the Next Plc would be benefited by this initiative taken by the government. Next Plc would be benefited by this initiative taken by the government.

Task 1

1.1 Comparison of different learning styles

Learning is the set of basic knowledge, skills, understanding, behaviour etc. Every individual has different way of adapting the style of learning which vary from individual to individual depending upon their needs. The most commonly known learning theories:

Kolb’s learning style-

                    ;               Figure 1 Kolb's learning style

This theory includes four stages cycle for learning. The cycle starts with assimilating learning style where the individual emphasis on concepts rather than anything else and the conclusion are based on logics. The next stage is accommodating learning style base on the personal perceptions of the individual employees and their decision are not based on the logical knowledge. The third cycle is converging learning style is based on reality and thus is effective in solving practical problems. And the last is divergent learning style where individuals first analysis and then performs rather than straight performing (Kolb and Kolb, 2012). Moreover, Next Plc can make use of this learning style in their employees by providing training and development sessions.

Honey and Mumford’s learning style-

                                        Figure 2 Honey and Mumford's learning style

This learning style also includes four phases. The first phase is pragmatics learning style in which people adopt new ideas and preferences for solving the unstructured problems. The second is theorists learning style in this individual make new concepts and theories based on their researches. The third phase is reflector learning style in this individual collects information through primary and secondary sources. And the last phase is activist learning style the individuals who are demonstrative towards new ideas and ready to face the consequences (Mumford, 2013)

1.2 Role of learning curve along with the importance of transferring the learning to workplace

• Role of learning curve: Learning curve refers to measurement of effectiveness and efficiency of the employees through training them. In Next Plc the effectiveness of the work means the training that is provided to employee in an every sector which is assigned to them (Argote, 2012).
• Importance of transferring knowledge to work: transfer is done for improving the quality and efficiency of the work. It is important that the information flow is clearly passed in the training otherwise the whole learning would turn to be useless. Next Plc has conducted the training and development sessions for the recruitment of employees to increase the knowledge and transfer the learning at the workplace. Another way of transferring the knowledge at workplace is the organisation culture or environment. In this method employees are motivated to collect the information for understanding of the task (Marsick and Watkins, 2015).

1.3 Contribution of learning styles in the induction programme of Next Plc

Learning style help the management of Next Plc about knowing the environmental and organisational factors. The learning styles contribute toward the selection of the substance and how that substance should be delivered to employees for day to day activities. The learning style and theories is contributing towards the decisions that are to be made for the selection and recruitment of the employees. The style adopted should fulfil the organisation mission, learning event strategy and activities for conducting the several training and development workshops. Planning and designing the learning event depends on the style which is adopted for learning. The design is based on the event should be easy so that regular training session, induction program and other exercise that are conducted by top management is suitable for the employees to meet the objectives (Nadler and Nadler, 2012). For example: In Next plc the employment is stable and most of the employees are family members which is beneficial for the organisation to adopt the most easiest and suitable learning style because more the family member more they would be connected to business objectives.

Task 2

2.1 Comparison of the needs of training of staff at various levels of Next Plc

At every level, training is required in the organisation. Training fills the gaps between the current skills and future knowledge. The following points to be considered at different levels:

• Management level: In Next Plc, the top management is the most important level where all  human resources  are managed and controlled. The training is required at this level because well qualified and experienced staffs are generally expected for planning and implementing the plan to achieve the competitive advantages.
• Customer level: The training required at this level is to improve the communication of the employee for better interaction with the customer. Management must know how to solve the customer needs in Next Plc ( Kerzner, 2013).
• Operation level: Training at this level is required for the improvement of the quality at the operational level. The most of the services provided at Next Plc is operational level. The proper training and development workshop must be maintained by the professional trainers which improve the productivity and efficiency of the employees.

2.2 Advantage and disadvantage of training method in the workshop

The key training methods with their advantages and disadvantages:

• On the job training- In this method, the training is provided during the course of job performance. The advantage is that employees are learning and doing practically which helps in  decision making.  The disadvantage would be it consumes lot of time and money resources of the organisation. And employees get de-motivated at the training workshops.
• Job rotation- In this method the employees work in the rotation which make them exited in doing the new work. The advantage is that the performance would be improved and the disadvantage is that it affects the workings of the employees which lead to conflict of interest within the Next Plc (Kucherov and Zavyalova, 2012).
• Job Mentoring- In this training, senior staff provides training and direction to lower staff so that objectives could be achieved.  The advantage is that employees are getting the attention of the upper management which build their morale and helps in achieving their productivity. The disadvantage is that the usually managers are not much free and they don’t provide proper training to the staff which lead to lack of practical knowledge.

2.3 Systematic approach to a training and development plan

For training and development the following plan should be framed for increasing the performance of the employees:

Table 1 Training and development plan

Skills required	Deficient areas	Development action	Time period
Communication skills	Improper communication between the management and with customers.	Communication skills can be increased by building confidence and interaction skills should be focused.	1 month
Management of time	Incomplete task with the allotted time	Time scheduling with proper planning.	2 month
Team work	Shortage of resources	Proper planning for the resources with considering the earlier period techniques.	3 months

Development and execution of above plan should be done by systematic approach. The sequence is:

• Different options of training- Next Plc should consider every alternative of training so that cost is minimised and other available resources to be used is maximum. With this every alternative fulfil the need of the employee’s improvement in training sessions and to achieve their growth (Phillips and Phillips, 2016).
• Evaluation of training- In this phase, the HR manager evaluates and checks the performance of the trainee’s staff to improve the areas where the organisation is lacking behind. Evaluation can be done through benchmarking, problem solving techniques, Questionnaires etc.
• Competency level- After evaluation, the gap is identified according to benchmarking standards and what could be done to improve and upgrade the competency of the employees. Next Plc can follow this systematic approach by keeping in mind the development plan.

Task 3

3.1 Evaluation using a suitable technique

Questionnaire is the most suitable form for evaluation of development and training plan.

Evaluation form for development training plan is as follows:

TRAINING EVALUATION FORM Training type Date: Time:  Trainer’s name: Activities to be undertaken for training: A. Are the activities and process used in training are effective- Y- N B. Is the sufficient time is given for each task- Y- N C. Is the information and the guidance is provided properly-Y- N D. Suggestions for improvement: 1. 2. Regarding the trainer: A. Is the trainer had provided correct explanation -Y-N B. Is the trainer is answering all your problems Y – N C. Is the trainer giving  good communication and knowledge-  Y- N

The above questionnaire has been formed and analysed to improve the basics for Next Plc for training and development. Service improvement is necessary because the modern young customers required high quality services which would be possible through effective training. Increment in efficiency could be done through proper benchmarking standards to meet the objectives of development plan. Customer satisfaction is the top priority for Next Plc which could be achieved through following the standard and properly implementing towards the feedbacks of the customer for improving the quality performance (Delahaye, 2015).

3.2 Assessment of workshop for training and development using the document

The documents are the most important tool used for the assessment of performance of various department of the Next Plc. The feedbacks that are received by the employees play important role for the improvement and measurement in the training program for future training sessions. Through this reviews management would know about the training culture and training programs operated correctly in the organisation. The assessment can also be done through comparing the efficiency before and after the training and development programs (Basarab Sr and Root, 2012).

This program has given the positive impacts on the staff members. Management skills would be improved in decision making. In the dynamic world it is important for the Next Plc to change according to the  marketing management  conditions and to overcome their weaknesses by exploring their strengths. And this could be done through proper training and development workshop. The due consideration would be received by employees by getting their job satisfaction because of trainings.

3.3 Review success of evaluation method based on response

The Next Plc would able to achieve the success points if proper evaluation of the training and development sessions has been done. The success would not only defined in financial profits but also would be in terms of decision making, proper communication, meeting the standards of customers satisfaction. The questionnaire evaluation method used by the Next Plc would raise the working standard of the trainee’s by which they would achieve the core competencies in the working environment. Due to this more and more customers prefer the products and services of the organisation (Rao, 2014).

The organisation is using the questionnaire form but it can also use the feedback form for evaluating the success of the training programs. Both the method fulfils the same criteria i.e. it generates the ideas of the employees on the development sessions. Systematic techniques were used for the staff to give them upgrade technological knowledge. The overall stamina of the employees is tested in the trainings whether they can adapt the diverse changes that the management is hoping to take to achieve the customer satisfaction objectives. The healthy working is implemented through giving latest trainings to meet the benchmarking standards.

Task 4

4.1 Role of government in training and development and lifelong learning

Government plays a vital role in an organization’s development and key strategies as it is the highest authority of a country. It helps the common citizens by attaining large control on powers. It has a big role in development, training and lifelong learning of common people. Next PLC is a retail chain which deals mainly in men’s collection, kids and home appliances which is supervised by government authorities in its development. The most important part by the government in the training and development of the employees of Next PLC are given below:-

• Providing the required capital: By giving a huge sum of money for the HR department of the organization the government could help in developing and growing the same in a efficient manner. With these funds the organization could develop Human resource development and give training to the employees in a better manner (Robinson et.al. 2013).
• Building positive work environment: Now a day people are attracted towards a positive and healthy culture. Strict rules and regulations could be taken by UK government against any offence of disobedience at the workplace. This would give rights to the employees and would make them fight against any corrupt act inside the organization.

However, there are lots of ways by which the UK government could help in human resource development in the organization and make it easy to improve further.

• Endorse HRD studies: Endorsing the HRD in the studies as a segment in syllabus would increase the knowledge of the students and would help the students in making the basic understanding.
• Common HR policy: By applying a common HR policy for organization the UK government could increase the capabilities and uniformity would build up in all business operations (Murphy and Garavan, 2016).          

4.2 Impact of development of competency movement on the public and private sectors

Competency movement is mainly concerned with the increasing competition among the organization in both the sectors. To maintain a sustainable competency level, the organization has to focus on performance improvements in order to tackle market competition. For acquiring sufficient amount of knowledge the privately owned organizations had invested lot of money and time in it. For the accomplishment of given task competencies are required which are basically capabilities. Competencies play an extremely important role in serving the people in a better manner. The organization in private sector gives the candidates higher packages in order to require competent candidates for its business operations; on the other hand public sector has also started increasing packages to attract more and more candidates (Van Dooren et.al. 2015) Competency movement had made important impact on both private and public sectors. Competent candidate is eligible for the types duties assigned to him. It also attracts the investments in their field and business grows up by achieving the targets.

4.3 Assessment of the contribution by UK government in development of human resource through training and development.

With lots of developmental and training programs UK government made an initiative which is helpful for organization. It has helped human resources to increase the growth of economy by developing the skills and knowledge of people and had made lots of contribution in HRD. Institutes like department of work and pension, department of education and skill development, department of trade industries etc, are providing help to human resource department. These institutes helps in developing skilled workforce for new industries, funding and planning for the committee, ensuring fair and legal practices at workplace, etc. UK government had assisted lots of ways for acquiring high quality manpower and it helps the private industries. The UK government had also helped Next PLC to a very large extent for establishing best performances and attains lots of profit (Zibarras and Coan, 2015).

Conclusion

From the above study, it has cleared that the organisation talks about the different learning styles and its importance that involves the customer satisfaction, operational and managerial performances. The report brief about the development stages in training and measuring the performance of the employees through evaluation methods and assessment of the workshop through proper documentation of the training programs that fills the gap of the actual with standard performances. Further it concludes about the role of government initiatives taken for the improvement in human resource development for training and lifelong learning and how it has helped or contributed their hands in Next Plc.

References

Books and Journals

 Argote, L., 2012. Organizational learning: Creating, retaining and transferring knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media.
Basarab Sr, D.J. and Root, D.K., 2012. The training evaluation process: A practical approach to evaluating corporate training programs (Vol. 33). Springer Science & Business Media.
Delahaye, B., 2015. Human resource development. Tilde Publishing.
Kerzner, H.R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kolb, A. and Kolb, D.A., 2012. Kolb’s learning styles. In Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1698-1703). Springer US.
Kucherov, D. and Zavyalova, E., 2012. HRD practices and talent management in the companies with the employer brand. European Journal of Training and Development, 36(1), pp.86-104.
Marsick, V.J. and Watkins, K., 2015. Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Mumford, A., 2013. Four approaches to learning from experience. Employee Councelling Today..
Murphy, A.C. and Garavan, T., 2016. The adoption of a national human resource development standard: the role of internal and external pressures.
Nadler, Z. and Nadler, L., 2012. Designing training programs. Routledge.
Phillips, J.J. and Phillips, P.P., 2016. Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods. Routledge.
Rao, T.V., 2014. HRD audit: Evaluating the human resource function for business improvement. SAGE Publications India.
Robinson, P.A., Rice, D., Stoddart, D. and Alfred, M.V., 2013. Lifelong learning in Jamaica: Coherent pathways to higher education. International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity,(15), 1, pp.1-11.
Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J., 2015. Performance management in the public sector. Routledge.
Zibarras, L.D. and Coan, P., 2015. HRM practices used to promote pro-environmental behavior: a UK survey. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(16), pp.2121-2142.