7 – Training, Development and Career Management

Introduction

Training develops, modifies, and moulds an employee’s knowledge, skill, behaviour, aptitude, and attitude toward the job and the organization’s requirements. After an employee has been hired, placed, and introduced into a company, he or she must be given training to help them acclimate to their new position.

7.1 Definitions

According to Flippo, training is the process of improving an employee’s knowledge and skills so that they can perform a specific job.

A planned programme aimed at improving performance and bringing about measurable improvements in employees’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and social behaviour is known as training. Training seeks to impart and develop particular abilities for a specific purpose. Training is the process of learning a series of pre-programmed behaviours. The designed behaviour is related to a particular occurrence, namely a job. Training is the process of improving an employee’s ability to do a particular job.

7.1.1 Characteristics of Training

1. Increases job-related knowledge and skills.

2. Fills the gap between job requirements and employee knowledge, abilities, and behaviour.

3. A process that is job-oriented and vocational.

4. A short-term activity aimed primarily at operatives.

7.1.2 Training vs. Development:

Aspect	Training	Development
Definition	Process of teaching specific skills and behaviours.	Comprehensive term focused on management personnel.
Target Audience	Primarily for individuals needing specific skills.	They are mainly directed at managerial and leadership roles.
Goal	Enhance specific job-related skills.	Educate for non-technical organizational tasks.
Duration	Short-term process.	Long-term educational process.
Focus	Behavioural skills and practical knowledge.	Conceptual and theoretical knowledge.
Audience	Non-managerial individuals.	Managerial personnel.
Objective	Improve specific job-related skills.	Enhance overall personality and leadership skills.
Nature	Reactive activity.	Proactive, continual process.
Motivation Source	External motivation.	Internal motivation.
Time Frame	One-time event.	Continuous, ongoing process.
Future Demands	Addresses present job requirements.	Aims to meet future individual and job demands.

7.1.3 Difference between education and training

Aspect	Education	Training
Focus	Broader theoretical knowledge.	Specific practical skills.
Purpose	Develops understanding and concepts.	Enhances job-related skills.
Audience	All employees, irrespective of roles.	It is tailored to specific job roles.
Time Frame	Long-term investment.	Short-term, immediate impact.
Content	Theoretical and conceptual.	Practical and job-specific.
Scope	Covers general knowledge applicable in various domains.	Specific to job requirements and tasks.
Delivery	Formal academic settings (e.g., degree programs).	On-the-job, workshops, and hands-on experiences.
Goal	Overall personal development and career growth.	Immediate application on the job.
Initiation	Typically before entering the workforce.	Ongoing, as per job demands and changes.
Flexibility	Less adaptable to immediate job changes.	Adaptable and responsive to changing needs.
Approach	Theoretical and research-oriented.	Practical, skill-oriented, and task-specific.

7.1.4 Types and Methods of Training

Types and Methods

Training can be done in various ways. We’ll concentrate on the training forms routinely used in today’s businesses.

1. Organizational Skills Training: This is the most prevalent sort of training. The procedure is straightforward. The assessment identifies the requirement for fundamental skills training (such as reading, writing, computing, speaking, listening, problem-solving, controlling oneself, learning, working as part of a team, and leading others). Specific training goals are established, and training content is created to meet those goals. In today’s organisations, there are a variety of approaches for imparting these fundamental abilities.
2. Refresher Training: Due to rapid technological advancements, companies may be forced to undergo this type of training. The organisation may keep its personnel up to speed and ready to tackle future difficulties by organising short-term courses incorporating the latest advancements in a particular industry. It is carried out regularly with outside consultants specialising in a specific area.
3. Cross-functional Training: Cross-functional training teaches employees how to undertake tasks unrelated to their primary employment. Cross-functional training can be done in various ways. Job rotation can provide a manager with a broader perspective in one functional area than he would otherwise have. Departments can swap staff for a set length of time so that each employee better understands how the other departments work. High-performing employees might serve as peer trainers, assisting others in developing skills in different areas of the business.
4. Team Training: There are two types of team training: content tasks and group processes. The team’s goals, such as cost control and problem solutions, are specified in content tasks. Group procedures show how individuals work together as a team, such as engaging with one another, resolving conflicts, and contributing. Companies are spending a lot of money on teaching new staff to listen and cooperate. They use outdoor experiential training strategies to help their staff improve teamwork and spirit (such as scaling a mountain, preparing recipes for colleagues at a restaurant, sailing through uncharted waters, crossing a jungle, etc.).
5. Creativity Training: When it comes to creativity training, educators frequently emphasise three things:

(a) Breaking free: The trainee is required to

(i) Identify the prevalent concepts impacting his thinking,

(ii) set the parameters within which he is working,

(iii) bring the assumptions into the open and dispute everything to break free from restrictions.

(b) Come up with new ideas: To come up with new ideas, the trainee should keep an open mind, look at the problem from all perspectives, and list as many different ways as possible. The trainee should allow his mind to wander freely over alternatives, expose himself to new influences (people, articles, books, situations), switch from one perspective to another, arrange cross-fertilization of ideas with other people, and use analogies to spark off ideas.

(c) Delaying judgement: To foster creative thinking, the trainee should refrain from dismissing ideas too fast; instead, he should wait until he has generated as many as possible. He should give his ideas some room to develop. Brainstorming (gathering many ideas from a group of individuals quickly) is frequently used to generate as many ideas as possible without stopping to assess them. It aids in the release of ideas, the overcoming of inhibitions, the cross-fertilization of ideas, and the escape from stereotyped thinking.

Companies like Mudra Communications, Titan Industries, and Wipro push their staff to think outside the box, break the norms, take chances, and generate novel ideas.

6. Diversity Training: When constructing a training programme, diversity training includes all of the varied characteristics in the workplace – colour, gender, age, disabilities, lifestyles, culture, education, views, and backgrounds. Its goal is to improve cross-cultural awareness to develop more peaceful and productive working relationships among a company’s personnel. The program focuses on two areas: (i) raising employee awareness of the primary benefits of diversity and (ii) providing employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to engage with people from other backgrounds.
7. Literacy Training: The inability to write, communicate, and collaborate effectively with others might obstruct the performance of duties, especially at lower levels. Workers in such conditions are more likely to misunderstand safety warnings, underestimate the importance of following rules, and make mistakes that could have been avoided. Functional illiteracy (lacking ability in a specific content area) can hinder a company’s production and competitiveness. Functional literacy programmes concentrate on the fundamental skills needed to do a job well and take advantage of most workers’ need for assistance in a specific area. Tutorial programmes, home assignments, reading and writing exercises, easy mathematical assessments, and other techniques are commonly employed in all company-sponsored literacy improvement programmes.
8. Orientation Training: During orientation training, new employees learn about the company’s values, how work is done, and how to get along with co-workers. In other words, ‘they learn the ropes,’ or the right ways of doing things. This initial training is especially vital in helping new employees acclimatise when they come from a foreign nation and culture.

Techniques of Training

The location of instruction is generally used to classify training approaches. Workers receive on-the-job training when they are taught relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities at their workplace; off-the-job training, on the other hand, requires trainees to learn elsewhere. The following are some of the most commonly utilised training methods.

Methods of On-the-Job Training

1. JIT (Job Instruction Training): The JIT method is a four-step educational procedure that includes preparation, presentation, performance tryout, and follow-up. It was established during World War II. It is mainly used to teach employees how to perform their current duties. Coaches can be trainers, bosses, or coworkers. The four steps of the JIT methodologies are as follows:
   1. Present Overview: The trainee is given a general overview of the job, its purpose, and expected outcomes, with a strong emphasis on the importance of training.
   2. Show and Demonstrate the Way: The trainer does the task to provide the employee with a model to follow. The instructor demonstrates how to do things correctly.
   3. Copy and Handle the Job Independently: After that, the employee can follow in the trainer’s footsteps. The trainer’s demonstrations and the trainee’s practice are repeated until the learner understands how to do the task correctly.
   4. Follow-up: After the trainee completes the training programme, the trainer monitors the trainee’s job regularly to ensure that no poor work habits develop.
2. Coaching: Coaching is a type of daily instruction and feedback immediate managers provide to employees. It entails a never-ending cycle of doing and learning. It can be defined as an unplanned, informal training and development activity delivered by peers and supervisors. The supervisor explains things and answers questions; he explains why things are done the way they are; he provides a model for trainees to follow; he holds numerous decision-making meetings with trainees; procedures are agreed upon, and the trainee is given enough authority to make divisions and even make mistakes. On the other hand, coaching can be challenging if the coach can guide the student systematically. It is sometimes more essential to complete a full day’s work than to get the student back on track.
3. Mentoring: Mentoring is a relationship in which a top executive in an organisation takes on the role of nurturing a junior employee. In such a connection, the more experienced person usually imparts technical, interpersonal, and political abilities. A mentor is a teacher, spouse, counsellor, skill and intellect development, host, guide, exemplar, and, most significantly, supporter and facilitator in realising the young person’s (protégé’s) vision for the kind of adult life he wants. Mentoring’s primary goal is to assist an employee in achieving psychological maturity and effectiveness and integrating into the organisation. Mentoring can occur at official and informal levels in the workplace, depending on the prevalent work culture and top management’s commitment. Formal mentorship can be pretty beneficial if management invests time and money in relationship-building exercises.

Mentoring in India is founded on the time-honoured guru-shishya connection, in which the guru does everything possible to help the shishya develop his or her personality by providing emotional support and direction. When young people are overwhelmed with opposing views on how various experts should do things, it can be challenging to move forward confidently. Mentoring can be successful if (i) top management provides genuine support and dedication, (ii) mentors take their jobs seriously and impart ideas, skills, and experiences methodically, and (iii) mentees believe in the process and carry it out properly.

4. Job Rotation: In this type of training, trainees are moved from one job to another. This aids him in gaining a broad understanding of the organization’s operations. Job rotation gives trainees a more comprehensive view of the organisation, a better understanding of various functional areas, and a better sense of their professional goals and interests. Aside from alleviating boredom, job rotation allows trainees to form relationships with diverse people inside the organisation, promoting future collaboration within departments. When transfers, promotions, or replacements are unavoidable, cross-trained individuals provide great flexibility for organisations.

Job rotation can cause several issues, particularly when trainees are rotated through multiple jobs at regular intervals. In this situation, trainees are unlikely to spend enough time in any aspect of the operation to gain a high level of proficiency. There isn’t much room for slow learners to integrate resources fully. When trainees are exposed to various managers with varying management styles, they can become perplexed. The directives of another management could replace those of today’s boss!

Furthermore, job rotation might be costly. When trainees move positions, much managerial time is lost since they must become acquainted with new people and practices in each area. Moving a trainee onto a new position when his efficiency levels at the previous employment improve can increase development expenses and lower productivity. Inexperienced learners may struggle to complete new jobs effectively. On the other hand, intelligent and aggressive trainees may find the system tedious as they continue to execute more or less similar tasks without being stretched, pulled, or challenged. To receive the best outcomes from the system, it should be personalised to the individual trainee’s needs, interests, and talents rather than being a set sequence that all trainees go through.

Job rotation allows the manager to take on a variety of responsibilities and gain a better understanding of the difficulties that arise. This type of training is required for anyone who aspires to be a corporate leader. According to a recent study, the variety of experiences in different departments, business units, locations, and nations is the most critical element that contributes to leadership success.

5. Official Apprenticeship Programs: Most trade employees, such as plumbers and carpenters, receive formal apprenticeship training. Apprentices are trainees who work with an experienced guide, coach, or trainer for a set period. Apprenticeships and assistantships are similar in that they both need a high level of participation from the learner. An internship is a type of on-the-job training that usually includes on-the-job training and classroom education at trade schools, colleges, or universities. As previously said, coaching is comparable to apprenticeship in that the coach tries to create a model for the trainee to follow. The constant period of training provided to learners is a significant disadvantage of apprenticeship arrangements. Various people have different capacities and learn at different speeds. Those who learn quickly may become frustrated and abandon the programme. Additional training time may be required for slow learners. Old talents are likewise likely to become obsolete soon in rapid technological progress. Trainees who spend years learning certain abilities may discover that the skills they learned are no longer applicable once their programmes are completed.
6. Committee Assignments: In this manner, trainees are given a real-world problem to solve. The trainees must collaborate and come up with a solution to the challenge. Assigning exceptional employees to crucial committees can provide them with valuable experience while also assisting them in better understanding the people, issues, and processes that govern the organisation. It aids in developing team spirit and the collaborative pursuit of common goals. Managers, on the other hand, should be aware that committee tasks can quickly turn into time-consuming duties.

On-the-job methods like the ones listed above are cost-effective. Workers can produce while learning. They encourage trainees to watch and learn how to do things properly because fast feedback is available.

Methods of Off-the-Job Training

With this training style, the learner is removed from the job setting, and his concentration is concentrated on studying content relevant to his future job performance. Because the trainee is not distracted by job requirements, he may devote all of his attention to learning the task rather than performing it. The trainees get the opportunity to express themselves freely. The following are some examples of off-the-job training:

1. Vestibule Instruction: This strategy reproduces actual work conditions in a classroom. Material, files, and equipment—all of which are employed in actual work performance—are also used in training. Personnel for clerical and semi-skilled jobs are frequently trained using this method. This training can last anything from a few days to a few weeks. In this way, theory and practice can be linked.
2. Role-playing: Role-playing is a way of human connection that involves realistic behaviour in fictitious scenarios. This training style involves acting, doing, and practising. Production managers, mechanical engineers, superintendents, maintenance engineers, quality control inspectors, foremen, employees, and others are among the characters played by the participants. This technique is mostly used to improve interpersonal interactions and relationships.
3. Lecture Technique: The lecture is a time-honoured and straightforward method of instruction. The instructor organises the information and presents it to a group of students in a lecture style. The lecture must motivate and pique the trainees’ attention to be effective. The lecture technique has the advantage of being direct and adaptable to many students. As a result, the associated expenses and time are decreased. The lecture method’s most significant flaw is not successfully transferring knowledge.
4. Conference/discussion Approach: In this method, the trainer gives a lecture and then engages the trainee in a discussion to clear up any questions the trainee may have about the work. When large organisations adopt this strategy, the trainer uses audio-visual aids like blackboards, mock-ups, and slides, and the lectures are sometimes recorded or audio-taped. Even the trainee’s presentation might be recorded for self-reflection and self-evaluation. The conference is thus a group-centred strategy in which ideas are clarified, and procedures and standards are communicated to the learners. Individuals with a general educational background and the necessary abilities – such as typing, shorthand, office equipment operation, filing, indexing, recording, and so on – may be given explicit instructions on how to do their jobs.
5. Programmed Instruction: This method has gained popularity in recent years. The material to be learned is organized into a series of well-structured sequential sections. These units are organized into levels of training ranging from basic to advanced. The learner completes these units by answering questions or filling in the spaces. As a result, this procedure is both costly and time-consuming.
6. E-learning: This method allows students to increase their skills and knowledge at their speed. The student takes an active role and can promptly improve his or her abilities. Of course, e-training necessitates top-level management support, constant internet connectivity, and investments in learning portals, and it is not ideal for teaching trainees behavioural skills. The efficiency of e-learning will be limited and hampered by technological limitations such as bandwidth. For a long time, learning efficacy may never match a classroom’s.
7. Emotionally and Behaviourally Focused Training: Some training programmes emphasise emotional and behavioural learning. Employees can learn about behaviour by participating in role plays in which they strive to act their part in a case as they would in a real-life situation. Business games, instances, incidents, group debates, and brief tasks are also used in behaviourally-experienced learning approaches. Sensitivity training, often known as laboratory training, is one way for emotional learning. Experiential approaches aim to gain a deeper understanding of oneself and others through group procedures. In the section on Executive Development Programs, these are covered in detail.

7.2 Objectives of Training and Development

1. Increasing Efficiency:

Training aims to enhance employees’ skills, knowledge, and capabilities. Employees can acquire the necessary competencies to perform their tasks more efficiently by providing targeted training programs. This, in turn, contributes to increased productivity and operational efficiency within the organization.

2. Increasing Employee Morale:

Training and development activities can boost employees’ confidence and job satisfaction. Employees feeling equipped to handle their responsibilities competently positively impacts their morale. Improved morale leads to a more engaged and motivated workforce, fostering a positive work environment.

3. Improving Human Relations:

Training often includes components that address interpersonal skills and teamwork. By promoting effective communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork, training programs contribute to better human relations within the organization. Improved relationships among employees create a harmonious workplace culture.

4. Reducing Supervision:

Well-trained employees can perform their tasks with minimal supervision. Training equips employees with the skills and knowledge needed to execute their roles independently, reducing the need for constant supervision and allowing supervisors to focus on strategic and higher-level tasks.

5. Increasing Organizational Viability and Flexibility:

In a dynamic business environment, organizations need to adapt to changes swiftly. Training helps develop an adaptable workforce capable of embracing new technologies, processes, and challenges. This increased flexibility enhances the overall viability of the organization in the face of evolving market conditions.

7.3 Requirements of Training

1. To do their jobs efficiently, newly hired staff require training. Instruction, assistance, and coaching assist individuals in handling jobs professionally and efficiently.
2. Existing personnel require training to prepare them for higher-level positions (promotion).
3. Refresher training is required for existing personnel to stay up with the most recent changes in job operations.
4. Training is required when moving from one employment to another (transfer).
5. Employees must be trained to be mobile and versatile. Depending on the organisation’s demands, they can be assigned to a variety of duties.
6. Training is required to bridge the gap between the employee’s skills and the job’s requirements.

7.4 The Importance of Education

7.4.1 Regarding the Organization

1. Improves decision-making and problem-solving skills.
2. Increase employee morale.
3. Assists people in determining the organization’s goal.
4. Assists in developing leadership abilities, motivation, loyalty, and a positive attitude.
5. Assists in increasing productivity and job quality.
6. Assists in the comprehension and implementation of organisational policies.
7. Assists in the development of an organisation.
8. Establishes an environment conducive to growth and communication.
9. Assists staff in adapting to change.

7.4.2 Addressed to Employees

1. Improves job satisfaction and acknowledgement.
2. Helps a person achieve personal goals while also strengthening their interpersonal abilities.
3. Assists in overcoming the fear of trying new things.
4. Provides an opportunity for the learner to advance.
5. Through training and development, motivational variables such as recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility, and advancement are absorbed and operationalized.
6. Offers advice on how to improve leadership, communication, and attitude.
7. Assists in the management of stress, tension, irritation, and conflict.

7.4.3 Human Resources and Human Relationships

1. Increases interpersonal skills
2. Increases morale
3. Increases group cohesiveness
4. Makes the organisation a better place to work and live
5. Provides information on various government laws and administrative rules

7.5 Inputs of Training and Development

Inputs in a training and development programme allow participants to build skills, learn theoretical concepts, and form a vision for the future. The following are the training and development inputs:

Employees’ talents are imparted through training. A worker must have the necessary abilities to operate machinery and use other equipment with the least amount of damage and scrap. This is a set of fundamental skills that the operator cannot perform without.

There is also a requirement for motor skills, often known as psychomotor skills, which refer to the ability to do specific physical activities. These abilities entail learning to move various body parts in response to external and internal inputs. Supervisors and executives mainly require interpersonal abilities, sometimes called people skills. These abilities aid in a person’s greater understanding of themselves and others and their ability to act appropriately. Listening is an example of interpersonal skills—persuasion and demonstrating empathy for others’ feelings.

Education aims to educate students on theoretical topics while also developing their thinking and judgment. The HR professional understands that any training and development programme must include an educational component. Managers and executives place a higher value on education than lower-level employees.

Development: Development is another part of a training and development programme, which focuses on knowledge rather than skills. Knowledge of the business environment, management principles and practices, human relations, specific industry analyses, and the like is beneficial for improved corporate management.

A development programme should assist an employee in becoming a self-starter, developing a sense of dedication and motivation, and becoming self-generating. It should help them be more efficient and productive by making their performance more result-oriented. It should also assist in making the employee aware of his or her surroundings, both at work and outdoors. This programme should make the employee aware of his strengths and weaknesses. Assist him in seeing himself through the eyes of others and accepting his self-image as a starting point for transformation. It aids in developing an individual’s ability to communicate without filters and to see and experience diverse points of view than their own. It also aids them in comprehending their influence and, as a result, developing leadership styles that inspire and motivate others.

Ethics: A training and development programme should incorporate a stronger ethical emphasis. There is no denying that ethics are mostly overlooked in the commercial world. They are less visible and discussed in the personnel department, but that does not free the HR manager of responsibility. The HR manager is to blame if manufacturing, finance, or marketing employees engage in unethical behaviour. It is his or her responsibility to educate all personnel in the organisation about the importance of ethical behaviour.

Attitudinal Changes changes refer to an individual’s feelings and views towards others. Motivation, job happiness, and job commitment are all influenced by attitudes. Negative attitudes must be transformed into positive ones. It’s tough to change wrong attitudes because:

1. Employees are adamant about not changing.
2. They have pre-existing commitments, and
3. Information alone may not be sufficient to change opinions.

The employee’s attitude must be modified to feel devoted to the organisation and perform better.

Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Skills: Decision-making and problem-solving skills concern the strategies and procedures used to make organisational decisions and solve work-related issues. Decision-making and problem-solving skills training aims to increase trainees’ abilities to define and structure problems, collect and analyse data, and produce alternatives. This form of training is generally given to aspiring managers, supervisors, and professionals.

7.6 Gaps in Training

The training gap is the disparity between your employees’ job abilities and the skills they will require shortly to keep your business competitive.

Training gaps can be identified through a training needs assessment. The following are the requirements:

1. Trustworthy: A Training Needs Assessment that produces reliable, internally consistent outcomes, with assessed reliability printed on every report.
2. Valid: A Training Needs Assessment of your organization’s skills rather than a list of generic or broad skills that apply to all jobs.
3. Prioritized Training: A Training Needs Assessment that identifies the most critical skills and gaps that must be filled.

7.7 Career Development and Training Process

7.7.1 Career Guidance

Career planning determines one’s career objectives and the path to achieving them. Career planning primarily aims to help employees find a better match between their ambitions and the chances available within the company. Career development programmes should not solely focus on prospects for advancement. Practically speaking, there may not be enough high-level posts to allow many people to advance. As a result, career planning efforts should focus on identifying and emphasising those areas that provide psychological success rather than vertical progress.

Career planning is constantly developing human resources to achieve optimum performance. However, it should be highlighted that individual and organizational careers are not mutually exclusive. If he has a choice, a person who cannot put his career goal into effect within the organisation will most likely resign. As a result, employers should assist employees in career planning so that they can meet each other’s needs.

7.7.2 The Importance of Career Planning

Every employee aspires to improve and reach new heights at work constantly. He can follow his job ambitions and fully utilise his potential if he has enough opportunity. He is highly driven when the organisation provides him with a clear path to achieving his goals while pursuing business objectives. Unfortunately, as John Leach points out, organisations do not pay enough attention to this component in practice for various reasons. Employee demands are not matched with organisational needs, and no effort is made to demonstrate how employees can grow within certain boundaries; what happens to an employee five years down the road if he performs well, whether the organisation is attempting to offer merely jobs or long-term careers, and so on. When meritorious achievement is not recognised on time, and employees are unsure whether they are ‘in’ with a chance to progress, they opt for greener pastures outside. When key leaders leave in dissatisfaction, the company suffers greatly. Any recruitment effort undertaken in haste to fill vacancies would be ineffective. As a result, the lack of a career plan will significantly impact both people and the organisation. Employees who do not receive appropriate breaks at appropriate times will have low morale and constantly look for methods to escape.

High employee turnover is not advantageous to businesses. New personnel incur additional hiring and training costs. Short-term replacements will not suffice to close productivity disparities. As a result, companies aim to implement career plans and educate employees about internal prospects for outstanding people. Organizations that do not have a progressive mindset will fail.

7.7.3 Objectives

Career planning aims to achieve the following goals:

1. Offer careers, not jobs, to attract and retain talent.
2. Increase production by properly utilising human resources.
3. Cut down on employee turnover.
4. Boost staff enthusiasm and morale.
5. Meet the organization’s immediate and long-term human resource demands on time.

7.7.4 Career Planning Process

The following are the steps in the career planning process:

1. Determining Individual Needs and Goals: Most people lack a clear understanding of their job aims, moorings, and objectives. Human resource specialists must consequently assist an employee by offering as much information as possible about the kind of jobs that would best suit the person’s abilities, experience, and aptitude.
2. Examining Career Opportunities: Once the organisation has identified its employees’ career needs and goals, it must create career paths for each role. Career routes demonstrate the various options for advancement and show the many positions a person could take over time if they perform successfully.
3. Aligning Needs and Options: Once employees have defined their needs and realized that career opportunities are available, the final issue is alignment. This procedure has two steps: first, identify employee potential, and second, implement career development programmes to fit individual requirements with organizational opportunities.
4. Periodic Review and Action Plans: The matching procedure would reveal any gaps. Individual professional development efforts and organization-supported initiatives must be used to bridge these gaps from time to time. Following the implementation of these procedures, it is vital to examine the entire process periodically.

7.8 Planning for Succession

An organization’s growth possibilities might be severely hampered without a succession plan. Consider the dire repercussions if there is an unexpected void at the top. No one is in charge of steering the ship. Plans that require quick action are postponed. For a period, the organisation is without a leader and a plan. Internally, suitable candidates may not be available because no one has been nurtured in the past with such a scenario in mind. Bringing in outsiders may momentarily alleviate the issue, but the long-term consequences are almost inevitably detrimental. Internal factors may instigate a rebellion and produce frustrating tug-of-war situations regularly.

“The process of ensuring a suitable supply of successors for current and future senior or key jobs arising from business strategy, so that individual careers can be planned and managed to optimise the organisations’ needs and the individuals’ aspirations,” according to the definition of succession planning.

Succession planning aims to identify and nurture people who will take over critical jobs from present employees. Companies consistently supply internal talent to fill crucial openings through succession planning. Succession planning emphasises ‘hiring from within,’ resulting in a healthy work environment where people are given opportunities rather than just jobs. It assists in spotting human resource and talent shortages before openings. Following that, grooming qualified candidates for future opportunities becomes much more accessible. As a result, the organisation can count on operational stability and better-qualified employees.

Preparing a succession plan is crucial to a company’s performance, especially at the highest level. Disruption and dislocation are minimised when the baton changes over time. A gradual transition is desirable when a new CEO is expected to build on previous accomplishments. Outsiders can be considered for opportunities if qualified applicants are unavailable within the company. Complete reliance on internal or external succession is undesirable. When internal candidates succeed, they need a pat on the back. External candidates are required to inject physical blood into the company.

7.8.1 Charts of Replacements

In the event of retirement, voluntary retirement, dismissal, or sickness, a succession plan identifies who is currently in charge and who is available and qualified to take over. A typical succession chart includes information about senior leaders and brief references to potential successors.

The replacement chart visualizes who will take over whenever a position becomes available. The replacement summary lists potential job replacements and their relative strengths and disadvantages. This can be prepared in great detail to make it easier to choose a candidate in the event of future openings.

7.8.2 Succession Planning vs. Career Planning

The terms ‘career planning’ and ‘succession planning’ are not interchangeable, but they are closely related. Succession planning is usually required for critical roles at higher levels, although career planning is necessary for executives of all levels, including highly skilled personnel and operatives. By definition, succession planning is included in career planning. Executive career routes have been identified. It’s also mentioned how individuals can develop vertically. A succession chart supports the career plan if a vacancy arises at any level. Both are thus mutually beneficial and interdependent.

7.9 Career Development System Steps

Personal efforts to attain a career strategy are referred to as career development. Employees’ long-term career effectiveness is examined in career development. Career development actions can be initiated by either the individual or the organisation. Individual activities play a significant role in career advancement and development. Some significant steps that may assist an individual in overcoming obstacles on the route ‘up’ include:

1. Performance: Your ability to advance in your career is primarily determined by your ability to perform. Even modest career goals can’t be met if the performance isn’t up to par.
2. Exposure: Exposure is getting known by those who make decisions about promotions, transfers, and other career chances. You must take steps to draw the attention of the most influential people in the organisation.
3. Networking: Networking entails making professional and personal contacts that might help you land good deals outside your company (e.g., lucrative job offers, business deals, etc.). Men have used private clubs, professional associations, old-boy networks, and other methods to acquire visibility and fulfil their job goals for years.
4. Leveraging: Leveraging is the act of resigning to further one’s career with another company. When the chance is too good to pass up, the only option is to quit your current job and take a new one (opportunity in terms of better pay, a new title, a new learning experience, etc.). However, job-hopping (moving from one job to the next) may not be a viable professional strategy in the long run.
5. Career Loyalty: Professionals and young college graduates typically change jobs when they first start. They believe staying with the same company for a long time will help them achieve their career goals. To address this issue, organisations such as Infosys, NIIT, and WIPRO (all information technology firms with high turnover ratios) have introduced lucrative, innovative compensation packages and employee stock option schemes for individuals who stay with the firm for a set period.
6. Mentors and sponsors are two types of people that can help you succeed. Generally, a mentor is an experienced person in a management position who provides informal career guidance to a junior employee. Mentors take on junior employees as protégés and provide them with advice and guidance on how to succeed in the organisation.
7. Key Subordinates: Qualified and knowledgeable subordinates frequently assist their employers, allowing them to advance. When the bosses cross the bridge, they are accompanied by their key subordinates. The subordinate must discover that winning horse on which he can wager in his self-interest.
8. Develop Ability: Career-minded employees should make a series of proactive efforts to prepare for future changes that may arise both internally and externally (e.g., attending a training programme, acquiring a degree, updating skills in an area, etc.).

7.10 Methodology of Training

It is most effective when training is planned, implemented, and assessed systematically. Training activities that are unplanned, unorganised, and haphazard drastically diminish the amount of learning that may be expected. The steps in a training procedure are as follows:

7.10.1 Establishing Objectives

The first step is to determine the company’s goals. This step establishes the direction in which the organisation must proceed. As a result, the business plan outlines the activities that will be carried out to attain the stated goals.

7.10.2 Identifying Training Requirements

Training activities must seek to address both the organization’s (long-term) and individual employees’ (short-term) needs. The following analyses can be used to determine training requirements.

1. Organizational Analysis: This entails examining the entire organisation’s goals and resources, how they are used to achieve stated goals, and its interaction pattern with the environment. The following are some of the key factors that are studied in this context:

(i) Objectives Analysis: This is a study of short—and long-term objectives and the techniques used to achieve them at various levels.

(ii) Resource Utilization Analysis: This study focuses on how various organizational resources (human, physical, and financial) are used. It generates efficiency indices for each unit and analyses the contributions of other departments to determine labour expenses and whether a unit is understaffed.

(iii) Environmental Scanning: This step examines the organization’s economic, political, sociocultural, and technological surroundings.

(iv) Organizational Climate Analysis: An organization’s climate refers to its members’ attitudes regarding work, corporate regulations, supervisors, etc. Employee attitudes are often reflected in absenteeism and turnover ratios. These can be used to determine whether or not training activities have improved the company’s general climate.

2. Task or Role Analysis: This is a thorough evaluation of a task, its components, procedures, and the circumstances in which it must be completed. The emphasis is on an individual’s roles and the training required to fulfil those tasks. Following the collection of data, an appropriate training programme can be established, taking into account (i) the performance standards expected of employees, (ii) the tasks they must complete, (iii) the methods they will use on the job, and (iv) how they learnt such skills, among other things.
3. Assessing the Individual: The individual in a specific position is the focus here. Through personnel analysis, three difficulties will be resolved. First, we try to determine whether or not performance is sufficient and whether or not additional training is required. Second, whether or not the person can be trained, as well as the exact areas in which training is required; finally, we must decide whether poor performers on the job (who can improve with the proper training) should be replaced by those who can.

7.10.3 Determine Training Goals

Once the training needs have been determined, goals should be developed to satisfy them.

7.10.4 Determining Training Content and Schedule

The nature of the instruction determines the contents and timetable of training. In general, training is divided into two categories: technical and behavioural. Facilities, instructors, and aids are chosen based on the needs of the training participants.

7.10.5 Training Program Coordination

The HR department frequently coordinates the training programme. It entails gathering information such as participation lists, schedules, and programmes and arranging faculty and support services such as refreshments, training aids, and programme documentation.

7.10.6 Evaluating the Training Program

It is used to determine whether a training programme has met its objectives. To measure the success of training, a variety of evaluation approaches can be utilised.

Companies are now establishing career programmes to increase employee productivity, prevent employment “burnout” and obsolescence, and improve the quality of their workers’ lives. People, too, are expected to learn new and improved personal skills of self-assessment and career planning due to the LPG age (liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation), especially as firms do not have the means to plan individuals’ careers entirely. Effective career planning should become an unavoidable part of corporate life since it helps organisations fulfil internal staffing demands and reduce turnover while assisting people in meeting their needs for challenges and achieving career goals.