Training methods and applications

Training

The three stages in Feldman's model of organizational socialization are anticipatory socialization, accommodation and role management. The first stage comes before an employee actually occupies one of the positions in an organization and involves any socialization before that occurs, as well as any prior actions of getting the future employee prepared for the organizational culture he will working in.

The second stage is the accommodation stage, which generally may start with a confrontational state, in which the new employee is confronted with both the other employees (with higher experience in the work place) and the actual organizational culture. Usually, the adjustment period follows the conflict period and it is a period when the new employee is already settling in his new work environment.

The third stage is the role management stage, when the new employee is actually creating new attitudes and values in the organization and acts as a change agent.

The first recommendation could involve the anticipatory socialization stage, in which employees currently working at the cereal products manufacturer can socialize with the future employee in an informal environment. This could help the new employee meet some of his future colleagues and develop the first social ties with them.

The second recommendation can use a mentor for the first weeks that the new employee is with the company. The mentor can act as an interface between the new employee and the rest of the organization and can help him tackle some of the second stage accommodation problems that may arise at that point.

2) Since this is a basic skills training program, the theoretical part of the program should only aim to cover some of the main issues that the course deals with. This would include introductory notions and applicative parts that the employees can use in their day-to-day activity. The program should also contain basic notions on organizational culture and mission and values of the company, as well as on how the company has set about in achieving this. On the other hand, I think it would also be a good idea to have employees who have taken the course before present the way they are using the notions learned in practice and this could give the theoretical notions a more practical reflection.

In terms of evaluation, I think the effectiveness of the program can only be measured against the objectives of the program that were set in the first place. Is the program aiming at giving an overall view of the organization and the means by which the company can achieve its goals? Then a likely evaluation of the effectiveness of the program will, in fact, be an evaluation of the effectiveness with which the employees themselves are performing their duties in the company.

3) One of the important reasons is that many managers do not see coaching as being on the list of their job attributes; they don't believe they were hired to coach other people, but rather to lead, organize and plan. From this perspective, they are likely to divide their time between activities for which they believe they are remunerated and leave out anything that they deem unimportant or that they believe that there are other specialized departments in the organization that can deal with that, such as coaching, for example.

Another reason they might find coaching difficult to do or are reluctant to do it is that, in a period of increased employee mobility, within the organization and outside of it, managers don't believe it is a good investment of their time, since that employee could join another team in the company or even move to a different company. They would simply be left with all this time spent coaching, time that will not benefit them in any way with a coached employee.

I think the first problem we have identified can be solved or at least improved with an organizational culture that encourages coaching and encourages managers to go ahead and form employees as well, even rewarding them for improving the overall level of the human resource. This can be done by examples from higher manager that can you use some of their time coaching (Jack Welch, for example, would sometimes participate in the training seminars that were held at General Electrics and provide examples from his own experience).

The second obstacle can't really be identified, but it can probably be tolerated. The manager will need to understand that, even if an employee does not stay with his team or with his company for a long period of time, he will still be a better asset if he is coached and trained than if not.

4) I think, first of all, that it would be important to assure a proper framework in which this discussion can take place. Something less formal than the supervisor's office, like maybe the company's cafeteria over a cup of coffee, can likely ensure from the beginning a constructive, rather than a conflicting discussion.

Second of all, this could presented as an evaluation of the employee, in which the quality service and relationship with the customer is an important part. This would give the supervisor the opportunity of pointing out the good activities that the employee has accomplished and turn over to some of the areas where he is underperforming, including the relationship with customers and the poor quality of the customer service he is providing. He can be asked about the reasons for this, which can be objectively discussed during the meeting.

If the causes for this include others than a simple lack of knowledge towards customer service, then those should be approached and discussed as well. It may be the case, for example, that the employee is psychologically stressed because of the long hours he is putting into some days, which means that one could re-discuss the employee's schedule as well, as a potential cause of the poor quality of customer service he is offering.

Finally, in terms of exact coaching, I think that a short training program on customer relations could be very helpful for the employee, especially since the extra research and the nine steps for coaching analysis showed that it is potentially likely that the employee may simply not know how he needs to behave with the customers and how to treat them.

One of the important sources of alcohol abuse relies in stress associated with work and many employee see this as their number one stressor in life. An EAP can help promote a less stressful work environment that can eventually direct the employee away from stress and away from his alcohol problem. The employee will also most likely feel more integrated into the organizational community and less susceptible of falling pray to stressful events in the company.

The EAP also encourage the idea that that respective employer cares about him as a worker and for his family. This will help foster the idea of a paternal organization, again, turning the employee away from the stressful factors that have made him abuse alcohol. The EAP will also most likely promote a safer and healthier working environment, one that will also encourage employee retention.

The main disadvantage, I think, is that the EAP will need to be in touch with the community resource and be able to direct the employee with the problem towards the right entities that can solve his problem. Additionally, the EAPs will need to be extremely focused on each employee in part and be attentive to immediately sense the problems that the employee has and prevent it in the earlier development stages.

6) it really depends on how changing organization attributes are likely to affect organizational goals and, in the end, the organization's mission and values. Further more, one would also need to analyze what changing these attributes implies and how it will affect the company as a whole. Sometimes, it is much easier for an individual or a couple of individuals to change rather than for an entire organization to do so.

A good example in this sense can come from the software industry. In this industry, it is often the case that stress usually intervenes in the days or weeks previous to the release of a new version of the application. The client may come up with newer requirements by that point or can ask for more from the application, without allowing for more time. This stress can actually be eliminated by better planning work along a longer period of time or by improving the relationship with the final customer and getting the input from his organization at an earlier time.

However, if we refer to attributes such as management style, again, it is easier to give up on an individual rather than on a group of individuals. In this sense, it is simpler and more efficient to give up on the manager than ask the whole team to cope with this situation, especially since the type of management used is not encouraging the full potential for productivity from the members of the team. I think this is an issue that should be judged through the actual cost efficiency viability of each of the solutions proposed.

7) I think that career management and development is a concept that should be discussed in correlation with issues such as training the employees and commitment to improving their quality as employees. Career management and development can probably ensure a higher degree of employee retention within the organization, because the respective employee will most likely have a fixed career development plan in front of him, something he can relate to and something that can assure that he is likely to stay with the company for a longer period of time, because he knows he has discussed with upper management the way he will move ahead in the company.

The advantage for the company is two-fold in this case. First of all, it has made sure that one of its quality employees will stay with the company or, at least, that the chances of this being so have greatly increased. On the other hand, it has also made a first step towards creating the right premises that will ensure that the quality of that employee can now be increased with additional training and coaching sessions. I don't believe that the argument with the tight market stands: an employee will immediately leave for another company if this opportunity arises and, despite the "tight market," all companies will be out looking for new employees that can provide additional value to the company through their knowledge, skills and capacity.

So, I think that the career management and development concept will help increase customer retention and prepare the framework for a better prepared, better qualified team of employees, that can overall increase the value of the organization and its competitiveness.

There are two parts in the coaching phase and both need to be approached in the same amount. First of all, that respective employee will need to understand what he is doing wrong and, in doing that, an informal discussion is again in order, one in which both sides can express their points-of-view and where potential causes of his acts can be determined. If there are other causes than the employee's character, then those would need to be addressed as well, especially since his reaction may come as an answer to something he perceives as wrongdoing to his person in the organization (salary, management attitude, prospects for developing his career etc.) and these can be solved and help the overall situation.

The coaching itself should start with explaining to the employee the framework in which the company evolves and the organizational culture that determines its means of actions. This would probably include a positive environment in the workplace, an environment that fosters cooperation between employees and teamwork as the best means of pushing the company agenda forward an achieving the appropriate results that could benefit all of the employees.

Along the positive lines of this coaching process, we should also point out the exact measures that the employee needs to undertake in order to be able to fit the current organizational framework and culture. The coaching process can also involve some of the other employees, who can actually interact with him throughout the coaching session.

On the other hand, I think that the coaching process should also contain a negative perspective that can probably get down to the negative consequences that will finally come about if the attitude does not change. This will include no financial incentives, isolation among the employees and management and spreading the word in the industry about his acts.