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Students: Chapter 8

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Quizzes

Self-test Questions

  1. What are the four stages in the learning cycle, according to Honey and Mumford?
  2. What are the main roles of a mentor?
  3. Give five features commonly associated with the learning organisation.
  4. What is a PDP?
  5. Name four situations where an employee’s training needs can be identified.
  6. What is blended learning?
  7. Marchington and Wilkinson have placed learning theories into four groups. What are they?
  8. Name two advantages and two disadvantages of on-the-job training.
  9. What is virtual classroom technology?
  10. The main purpose of outdoor training is to develop team building. True or false?
Answers

1.

  • Having an experience
  • Reviewing the experience
  • Drawing conclusions from the experience
  • Planning the next steps

2. To generally give advice and encouragement when required, to provide a cultural map of the organisation, to help the employee through bottlenecks in their career and to develop the employee’s own self-development skills.

3. Select five from:

  • The ability to approach problem-solving in a systematic way by encouraging employees to learn statistical and questioning techniques
  • A willingness to search for new ideas and to use them, especially when they come from employees through a ‘Kaizen’ scheme or similar
  • A desire to openly evaluate past successes and failures and to learn from both
  • To continually look outside the organisation for ‘best practice’, and analysing if and how it can be transferred to the organisation successfully
  • To establish a culture where employees can question existing rules and procedures and take part in decision-making processes from which they can learn
  • The acceptance that mistakes will be made and that this is part of the learning process
  • A recognition that learning is open to all employees, not just managers or supervisors and that self-development is as important as development planned by management
  • To implement systems that can be accessed by a wide group of users, not just experts

4. A personal development plan drawn up by the employee with their manager to develop their skills and competencies and to develop their career and widen their role options.

5. Select four from:

  • When an employee starts a new job
  • At the time of the annual appraisal process
  • Where a specific incident occurs demonstrating a major gap
  • Through a development centre
  • Through an exit interview

6. A style of learning which refers to a range of methods being used in order to create a comprehensive learning experience. The term is frequently heard in connection with using e-learning alongside another method such as facilitation, but can also include coaching and mentoring. However, it is not an add-on to something already existing but a learning event that is designed with several methods interwoven into it.

7.

  • Learning by association
  • Cognitive learning
  • Cybernetics
  • Social learning

8. Select two from each:

Advantages:

  • Provides instant entry to the job
  • Trainees work, learn and develop expertise at the same time
  • They can see the practical results of their actions
  • They can be supervised as they are learning.

Disadvantages:

  • Training quality depends heavily on ability and time available of supervisor
  • Trainee may pick up bad habits and short cuts
  • Training and information may be haphazard
  • Trainees may not be exposed to some of the difficult work due to the fear of costly mistakes

9. Virtual classroom technology allows learners to be able to follow a facilitated course that requires demonstration of techniques in remote locations to the extent that the tutor may be in a room on their own delivering the learning to a worldwide audience.

10. True.

Annotated Further Reading Guide

Canduela, J., Dutton, M. and Johnson, S. (2012) Ageing, Skills and Participation in Work-related Training in Britain. Work, Employment and Society, February, 26(1): 42–60.

A theoretical analysis with practical implications.

Haneberg, L. (2011) Training for Agility: Building the Skills Employees Need to Zig and Zag, T+D, September, 65(9): 51–56.

Agility is the capacity to be consistently adaptable without having to change. There are different types of agility: focus, resources and performance, and they can be enhanced with appropriate learning programmes. Advice on building agile work practices.

Kirkpatrick, J. and Kirkpatrick, W. (2011) Creating ROE (return on investment): The End is the Beginning, T+D, November, 65(11): 60–64.

Distinguishes between return on investment and return on expectations as measures of training success.

Talbot, J. (2011) Training in Organisations: A Cost-benefit Analysis. Gower.

Van Roolj, S. (2012) Training Older Workers. Human Resource Management, 51(2): 281–298.

Advice for HR professionals charged with developing and implementing effective talent management strategies for multigenerational workforces.

General

Beevers, K. and Rea, A. (2010) Learning and Development Practice. CIPD.

Harrison, R. (2009) Learning and Development, 5th ed. CIPD.

Mayo, A. (2004) Creating a Training and Development Strategy. CIPD.

Stewart, J. and Rigg, C. (2011) Learning and Talent Development. CIPD.

Management development

Gold, J., Thorpe, R. and Mumford, A. (2010) Leadership and Management Development, 5th ed. CIPD.

For a further example of a company-wide adult learning programme, see:

Hougham, J., Thomas, J. and Sisson, K. (1991) Ford’s Employment Development and Assistance Programme (EDAP): A Roundtable Discussion. Human Resource Management Journal, 1(3): 77–91.

Coaching and mentoring

Clutterbuck, D. (2004). Everybody Needs a Mentor. CIPD.

Johnson, W.B. and Ridley, C.R. (2008) The Elements of Mentoring. Palgrave Macmillan.

Whitmore, J. (2009) Coaching for Performance. Nicholas Brealey.

Induction

Acas have a comprehensive induction guide at www.acas.co.uk

Investors in People

Investors in People have a full guide to their standards at www.investorsinpeople.co.uk

Talent management

CIPD (2010) The Talent Perspective: What It’s Like to be Talent Managed. Report. London: CIPD.

Skills strategy

Leitch Review of Skills (2006) Prosperity for All in the Global Economy: World Class Skills. Final Report. London: The Stationery Office.

Extra Case Studies

Case 1

How Microsoft approaches mentoring using sophisticated software

Microsoft’s learning and development chief has halved turnover of talented employees by matching them to experienced mentors using ‘dating agency’ software. At the CMI management and leadership development forum, Gary Gilligan, learning and development director at Microsoft UK, said management programmes for ‘high potentials’ had been so ineffective 18 months ago that more than 40 per cent of the skilled staff were leaving each year.

‘People used to joke that if you wanted to get rid of someone, you got them in on the high-potential scheme,’ Gilligan told Personnel Today. Part of the solution was to introduce measures to match up high potentials with more experienced employees using matchmaking software.

‘We now have a dating agency type of software that asks our senior professionals to input information that they know well and are passionate about, while high-potentials put in what they’re looking for and the software matches them up,’ said Gilligan. ‘It’s used for all of our high-potential staff, which is about 4% of our workforce, and they can determine the frequency of the “dates” that they meet to troubleshoot career and role-specific problems.’

‘It’s been working for around 18 months now, and from a general level up to the most senior levels, we’ve seen an improvement in the quality of leadership, and a drop in high-potential turnover of about half,’ said Gilligan. He added that internal research found nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of those involved in the scheme also believed it was effective.

Source: Baker, K. (2009) Microsoft Uses Dating Software to Retain High-flyers. Personnel Today, 31 March.