Unit 23 Human Resource Development Assignment – Sun Court Ltd

Introduction

Human resource development  are the studies and practices which make an individual develop a specific skill set which makes him competent enough to survive and serve a job in an organization, it is a vast field of study which has various applications, Training and development is just a part of it. This Unit 23 Human Resource Development Assignment Sun Court Ltd focuses on various learning theories and styles which are used in training, learning curve and how it helps, the role of government in the lifelong learning and how the steps taken by them helps the private sector, also training and development event was carried out in Sun court Ltd., proper approach to make the event possible is discussed the successful business of the event is evaluated through various methods in the assignment further, the assignment thus talks about pure concepts and their applicability in the real life.

Task 1

1.1 Compare different learning styles.

There are various learning styles when it comes to training:

The most widely used style is Kolb’s learning style and experimenting model.

• Kolb’ defined learning as “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping experience and transforming it. – Kolb”

 

His model is based on four learning stages which are learning styles,

1. Concrete experience (feeling): learning from instances related to people, which may be sensitive to other peoples feeling.
2. Reflective observation (watching): learning by observing and making a judgment about the same, perceiving the environment from various points of views.
3. Abstract conceptualization (thinking): it involves analyzing the situation and people based on the logical ideas and intellectual knowledge.
4. Active experimentation (Doing): it involves the ability of getting the things done by people by influencing them.

Based on their situation the learner at any point may enter learning cycle. (Werner, 2012)

• Another widely used model in UK is Honey and Mumford learning style, it is taken from that of Kolb’s model and align it with the various learning stages.

Honey & Mumford learning styles

The styles are activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist, which align with do, reflect, conclude, and plan stages of Kolb’s model.

• VAK model is the most well-known model of all

1. Visual: learners learn by seeing, they might learn from pictures, videos, observing others etc.
2. Auditory: here they learn by listening to, lectures, recording, past experiences.
3. Kinesthetic: learners learn best by moving and touching, this may include projects, physical movement, field trips etc. (Deb, 2008)

1.2 Explain the role of the learning curve and the importance of transferring learning to the workplace

Learning curve represents the track record of the learners in an organization, learning curve basically says as the experience increases the time taken by an employee to learn keeps on decreasing.

Learning curve is widely used in organizations for resource requirement planning and setting up incentive rate plans

Effect of learning curve: Knowledge transfer is not just the communication of tactical or practical knowledge but also it helps to build the sills which increase the performance level of an employee in the organization, increase in business competency skills enables the employees to participate in decision making process, and effectively choosing the career path for them.

Significance of Knowledge transfer

• Add value to the organization: the prime motive of learning is the increase in the value of the organization as well as its employees without it there is no value addition which in turn is useless.
• Optimum utilization of resources: every activity in the organization requires resources such as finance, human resource, physical resources etc, learning helps n optimizing and using them to the fullest there by reducing the wastage and improving effectiveness and efficiency.
• Overcoming challenges: through various learning styles and methods managers are taught to overcome the problems for which they dint have prior knowledge, case based learning and learning from the experiences of others are such methods, so if learning is transferred it would help the employees to adapt to new environment and situations more quickly and efficiently. (Bratton, and Gold, 2000)

1.3 Assess the contribution of learning styles and theories when planning and designing a learning event

Learning finance theories and styles provides base and framework for the learning objectives of the corporate, not all learning styles suits to all organizations different objectives can be achieved by different learning styles, it depends upon the organization how fast they want the employees to adapt to new situations, so before selecting the events for employee training all the theories must be properly analyzed to look for the perfect fit with the learning objective, this helps in the successful execution of the training event.  (Knowles, Holton, and Swanson, 2005). Let’s understand it with the example of training event at “People R us”

There are 4 types of people a teacher, a doctor, a manger and an engineer.

• I first need to understand about their jobs first the kind of learning they require are different in the current area of working and their potential future career paths.
• Next I need to understand the psychic of the human brain and role of the current knowledge they have about their field of work this will help in understanding the brain functions and psychology of the learning targets.
• Understanding various learning theories and styles will give me an idea of which of them will be perfectly suited to whom, the style fit for the doctor will not fit with that of an engineer or a manager, in the same way which might suit teacher will not suit a doctor so careful understanding is important.
• Based on the selected styles training material and resources should be designed and prepared for the individual kind of employee and  distributed to help facilitate the event in an organization.

In the case above all have different knowledge and different training needs. They may have different work environment and different psychologies. So if I don’t have the proper knowledge of the learning theories and styles designing an effective learning event would be a near impossible task. (Mankin, 2009)

Task 2

2.1 Compare the training needed for staff at different levels in Sun Court Ltd?

Training needs for every organizational level is different, at every level there are different kinds of employees who have different work profiles and roles and so different needs, For a person working in Sales might need training in how to effectively sale a product, whereas for a person in finance department will not need it, he would want to get trained with the new amendments in the law. (Mankin, 2009). Sun court ltd also functions through various levels,

• Finance and accounting department: In various departments the need for managers and subordinates are different, in finance department, the major role of a manager is to keep the costs and revenue in check, there should be minimum budget variance whereas subordinates prepare tenders, write checks, clears the payments, therefore the needs for training are different.HR must take this in consideration. And design the training accordingly.
• Operations Department:  At sun court the major work of operational staff is to manage the rooms in the care house they must be trained to make the room allocation more systematic and less time consuming, effective queue management should be taught so as to decrease the waiting time span. Provide expert guidance to the people there in campus to increase the level of satisfaction.
• Marketing department: Employees in marketing department needs various types of training such as handling clients problems, PR relation management, in a business which deals with people there has to various complaints and handling them is a good training can also have other aspects such as Using IT with marketing, digital marketing or marketing in digital era also requires training, SEO (search engine optimization) requires addition module training so depending upon the need of the employees HR has to look upon the same before making training events. (Honey, and Mumford, 1982)

2.2 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of training methods used in at Sun Court Ltd

Training methods used in Sun court have their own advantages and disadvantages some of them are:

• Performance Appraisal: The main Advantage of this method is that through the process so rigorous the employers come to know about the areas of improvement in employees and thus the kind of training required to overcome the shortcomings can be given. The Disadvantage being that discussing the shortcoming in front of the staff an individual may feel humiliated and become demotivated.
• Lecture method: This method is most frequently used in sun court, large audience can be addressed at the same time which saves time and money for the organization, not major resources are required for this kind of training, these are the advantages.

Disadvantage being lecture method can be used for the purpose of theoretical work or work which happens through processes, for the kind of work profile at sun court this may not prove to be very robust method to train some kind of employees.

• Practical training method: This is just the opposite of lecture method the advantage for that method becomes the disadvantage for this kind of training, this is much more time consuming and requires a dedicated personnel to carry out such training which means huge cost is involved. But on the other hand it gives a practical outlook to real life situations which gives a much required exposure to the employabililty skills of employees which is very necessary at Sun Court Ltd.
• Mixed training method: The main advantage of this method is it combines the different type of training and imparts it to the employees as a whole and not as per the department.

Disadvantage is time consuming and requires effort to combine the different requirements of every individual department. (DeCenzo, and Robbins, 1996)

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

The following chain of events is the systematic approach to the training events which is suitable for the current problems prevailing at Sun Court Ltd.

This method is designed as the mixed method for training as this will require Brainstorming, lectures, exposure to problems using the case study method and practical life solutions to problems.

• The problems will be introduced to the employees by the higher management which in turn become will become the objectives.
• Followed by the Questions and Answers by the employees this will clear all the doubts as to what and why the certain training is needed for solving the problems.
• Findings in the question answers will be discussed by the employers and employees so as to be on the same page to reduce the discrepancies.
• Employees will then be divided into groups so and will be asked to come up with the solutions to the problems to meet the objective, the brainstorming will then be done so as to keep the solution within what is required framework.
• The solutions will then be scrutinized and submissions will be checked for feasibility and practical applicability which is the important part as the teams will have to present their ideas.
• Finally the selected solution will be applied in order to meet the objectives and solve the problems the team will be rewarded accordingly. (Chapman, 2016)

Task 3

3.1 Prepare an evaluation of a training event. 

To evaluate the training event various methods are used the one I am using to evaluate the event at Sun court Ltd. Is the FIVE TIERED APPROACH by Jacobs. This method evaluates the event on the five major parameters and measures the performance with the expected outcome and actual outcome and to find out the reason for the variance in the level of outcome,

The Five parameters are

1. Need assessment: It answers the question what actual problem is? The answer finds out whether the need for the training program was required or not, if not then the training given was not require and was the waste of resources for the organisation.
2. Monitoring and accountability: This level answers for the question, who are the participants and what service we are delivering? AT the time of training certain individuals are selected and assigned with certain responsibilities after the training they are then accessed to find out the effectiveness.
3. Program clarification: It states the evaluation at different need level to answer how more effective the event could be made. If effectiveness could have be increased using certain methods or techniques.
4. Progress: This stage identifies and evaluates the progress of the participant answers the question- how well the participants are making progress? It is then used to measure the progress of the employees at the time of the training, questionnaire are distributed based on the topics for the training to access the understanding.
5. Program impact: It’s an experimental approach that evaluates the long-term impact of the training program after the certain period of the training the participants are asked about it using the tools which ascertain the effectiveness through the amount of material retained the more is the retention greater is the impact of the event. (Milkovich, Boudreau, Milkovich, 1991).

Generally the events which require the extensive participation of the participants are found to be more effective compared to the events which do not require much involvement. (Dessler, 2000)

3.2 Carry out an evaluation of a training event?

The evaluation of the event will be carried out through the following feedbacks from the various stakeholders,

1. Trainer/Trainee feedback: Feedback from the trainer and participants will be taken to know about the event just carried out. What were the expectations of the participants and to what extent they were fulfilled further what are the improvements they think can be incorporated in the session ahead.
2. Knowledge acquisition: company measures the rate of knowledge acquired by the participants and what method among the used they find the best which helped them acquire the same, also what topics they feel may be necessary for the training programmes, this is done either immediately or sometime after the event.
3. Customer comments: the immediate customer or clients of the participants are asked if they find any change in the behaviour of the employee they were dealing with, this is done twice once before the event and after the event in order to find out the effectiveness of the event through the point of view of the customer.
4. Observation: the behaviour of the employees is studied and the impact on the overall functioning of the organization, if the production cost or the cost of acquiring have shown a significant decrease.
5. Comparing the benchmarks: company compares the result of the trading event with that of the industry score and the standard set at the beginning of the event of the benchmark is achieved higher values are the target for future training is not the reasons are found out and then improved In the further sessions. (Garrick, 2002)

3.3 Review the success of the evaluation methods used?

The five methods which were used to evaluate the event were success as because of the following results received from the stake holder, Based on these factors the training program was evaluated how much effective it was.

1. Quality improvement: Whether the quality of product is improved or not is assessed.
2. Customer service: To whether customer service is improved or met the core value of the company.
3. Production efficiency: This training focuses on bringing efficiency and motivation in work place. The change in productivity is measured in the evaluation process.
4. Change in efficiency of room allotment: How much change positive or negative is made through the training program is calculated to identify the effect of the training program.
5. The training was to develop the individuals’ personal skills. It’s directly linked with the acquisition of knowledge. So it should be measured to find a greater picture of the training impact.
6. The main goal was to improvement the business outcome. So the HR manager collected previous data and compared with the new data obtained by observation. It was a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness.

Looking at the feedback we got from the participants, customers, management and other parties on the above mentioned points it can be clearly concluded that the evaluation process was a success as it tapped on the key areas to access the successfulness of the event carried out in at Sun court Ltd. (Hudson,1991)

Task 4

4.1 Explain the role of government in training, development and lifelong learning?

Government plays a vital role in the training and development of the citizens of the nation, the following points explains how:

• Creating public norms: as government is made for the public welfare and can reach out to masses it is their responsibility to initiate public tolls and generate such culture which helps the people to train ad develop in their respective fields and to attain higher level of life.
• Formulating the HR policies: it is the government who regulates the policies and working of the corporates the HR policies of the govt. guide the organizations on how to help the employees develop certain skills trough training which are helpful for their success in life.
• Allocating resources: usually government allocates the resources for the development of the state employees similarly Govt can allocate funds to the small and medium enterprises to train and develop their employees for the private sector certain limit cap be made to spend on the training and development of employees
• Creating a Favourable Work Environment: By providing a favourable work environment the government can help in developing the overall capability of the citizens. It can be done in many ways. One of the ways can be passing a law containing the rights of the employees and punishments for violations.
• Promote Human resources in curriculum: government may take steps to include the human resource policies which inform the citizens about the various ways through which they can train and develop themselves to improve the quality of life.

Thus we can say government plays a vital role as a pioneer in lifelong learning of its citizens. (Gilmore, and Williams, 2009)

4.2 Explain how the development of competency movement has impacted on public & private section?

Competency can be described as the ability to accomplish any given job. This requires some other pre requisites needed to finish a job effectively. The concept of competency can be understood from the following sequence:

1. Novice: Who doesn’t have any past knowledge
2. Experienced beginner: Who got some basic knowledge about the job?
3. Practitioner: Working with basic knowledge for the decent amount of time.
4. Knowledgeable Practitioner: Who has gathered all required knowledge for the job, but yet to reach the level of an expert.
5. An Expert: Who actually becomes proficient in the role and developed an in-built understanding of the subject or job.

A person goes through all these stages from novice to an expert and then becomes competent enough and this affects in real life work places. (Walton, 1999)

Both public and private sector are influenced by the competency movement. Earlier these competencies were not a very crucial thing b=and were not very popular but with Time it became a matter of big discussion and a matter of debate for the experts throughout the world. Especially in the public sector people though thigh level of competency was required to serve the public and hence the entrance for the jobs were became difficult as to as to only competent ones can join and then rigorous training were given in order to enable them do their job perfectly. For maintaining competitive advantages private sector offered heavy pay packages to the people who were competent enough to give organization an edge over others but during the times of economic recession companies w]used it as an excuse to lay off employees who were not competent enough to be on the job and hence exploited the competence ground (Grieves, 2003).

4.3 Assess how contemporary training initiatives introduced by UK government contribute to human resources development for Sun Court Ltd?

UK government took several initiatives, the government institutions which look after in this matter are:

1. Department of Trade and Industry.
2. Department of work and Pension.
3. Department of Education and Skill and
4. Department of Health

The services provided by these agencies to the privately own organizations are as follows-

1. Providing business to the ones who are in need of it.
2. Providing skills for corporates by Sector Skills Council.
3. Free education for over 16’s by the Learning and Skills Council.
4. Creating skilled workforce for the industry by the University Of Industry.
5. Creating standard workforce of specific sector by National Vocational Qualifications.
6. Ensuring good practice of work by the Investors in Peoples Standard. (Matthews, Megginson, and Surtees, 2004)

These are some initiatives taken by the government to provide the industry with workforce who is competent and met the worldwide standard skill set so as to show their level of commitment to the private sector and show they support the development of the private sector business in UK.

Conclusion

We can summarize that Human Resource Development is an important study in today’s world. The subject is elaborated and has vast studies which include many concepts and studies. Understanding the training need, the learning theories and learning styles, ability to design and formulate training events, evaluation process and method, implications of the learning theories and style etc. are some of the few topics covered. Also the role of government in development of training and development is a significant. Government of UK is playing a vital role in the development of training and lifelong learning of individuals by many of its publicly funded agencies and some public-private combined funded institutions which probe=vide world class workforce to the private sector.

References

Bratton, J., and Gold, J., (2000), Human resource management, [Textbook], Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, [Accessed 10^th July 2016]
Chapman, A., (2016), ETHICAL WORK AND LIFE LEARNING, [Article], Available: http://www.businessballs.com/index.htm, [Accessed 10^th July 2016]
Deb, T., (2008), HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT- THEORIES AND PRACTICE, [Textbook], Ane’s Student Edition, [Assessed 9^th July 2016]
DeCenzo, D., and Robbins, S., (1996), Human resource management, [Textbook], New York: Wiley, [Accessed 10^th July 2016]
Dessler, G., (2000), Human resource management, [Text Book], Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, [Accessed 4th July 2016]
Garrick, J., (2002), Informal learning in the workplace, [Textbook], London: Routledge, [Accessed 7th July 2016]
Gilmore, S., and Williams, S., (2009), Human resource management, [Textbook], Oxford University Press, [Accessed 2nd July 2016]
Grieves, J., (2003), Strategic human resource development, [Textbook], London: Sage Publications, [Accessed 9^th July 2016]
Honey, P., and Mumford, A., (1982), Manual of Learning Styles London, [Article], http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/training/eresources/teaching/theories/honey-mumford [Accessed 1 July 2016]
Hudson, N., (1991), A study of the reasons for success or failure of soil conservation projects, [Article], Available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0487e/t0487e04.htm, [Accessed 4^th July 2016]

This Unit 23 Human Resource Development Assignment Sun Court Ltd focuses on various learning theories and styles which are used in training, learning curve and how it helps, the role of government in the lifelong learning, We are posting Locus units solutions so scholars can explore the our Assignment Help in UK and get review the quality of our work.