HR Manager's Role In An Essay Firm: Addressing Quality Issues.

Training Needs Analysis

Question:

Discuss about the Workplace Learning Environment for Hypothetical Company.

This paper is concerned with my role as a Human Resource Manager in an Eduvia (a hypothetical company) which is an academic writing firm. I have identified that the current skill gap and problem with the employees is related to their decrease in quality. Therefore, this paper is concerned the different ways I am going to deal with the issue that includes adoption of task analysis or work analysis, skill analysis, learning plan and long-term learning plan, developing an effective learning environment, structured and work-based learning and collecting feedback. Through the analysis of the specific problem related to the academic firm it can be understood the ways in which different tools of workplace environmental learning can be used by an HR manager. 

According to Berman, Bowman, West and Van Wart (2012), the term Training Needs Analysis (TNA) refers to the process in which the company recognizes the training and development required by the company for the development of the employees. This is done with the aim to ensure that the employees able to do their job with efficiency. It entails a thorough analysis of the training needs that are imperative for the different levels of the organization (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). As a Human Resource (HR) manager of an academic firm, I decided that task analysis is required for the academic writing firm. In a training needs analysis the first step is the development of a workforce profile. This includes the vital information required to capture the demographics of the audience, literacy level and education. 

The method chosen for the training needs analysis is task analysis or work analysis. Task analysis refers to the analysis of job to specify the central duties and the essential skills for the job (Beetham and Sharpe 2013). This facilitates training that would include pertinent links for the content of the task. The reason behind choosing task or work analysis is that for a long period of the company has been facing customer feedback in terms of quality issues and inability of the academic researchers to understand the thrust of assignments. Therefore, engaging in task analysis would be the most appropriate method as it would me to identify the present issues and improve on them to lead to better productivity for the customers

As has been discussed above the task analysis would include a systematic breakdown of the requirements for the job and would enable me to train the train the employees in a proper manner (Ferreira and Abbad 2013). I would have to find out first about the training period with the academic researchers and the course of content. This would enable me to understand whether the trainer is accurately proofreading the content, looking into the plagiarism issue, emphasizing on the structuration of sentences and whether the performance of the employees are continuously monitored and evaluated (Bryman and Bell 2015). Keeping a tab on the activities of the trainer would enable me to identify the gaps and skills

Task Analysis as a Solution

Feedback can be derived through weekly tests that evaluate the performance of the students and also through focussed group discussions that would enable each of the trainees to showcase their abilities and based on which decisions can be made about their abilities and limitations, strength and weakness.

I would collect feedback about the performance of the team members through quality and control trainer and English Language trainer and the subject head of different subjects who would be responsible for assessing the employee’s understanding of the subject.

Based on the scores received by the trainees in the virtual tests I would be able to understand their performance. The focussed group discussion would allow me to assess the learning outcome of the trainees, their confidence and their ability to work under pressure.

It has been identified that during the peak season due to the onerous nature of tasks the employees (academic researchers) feel cumbersome and fatigued. This stress affects their quality and leads them to deliver poor performance (Sutton and Booth 2012). They tend to make mistakes and receive poor customer feedback. Therefore, a work analysis especially during the peak season is the need of the hour

As the HR manager of the academic writing firm based on the identified problems in PART A, I have identified three skill gaps that needs to be developed are leadership skills, organizational skills and communication skills. I need to recruit and manage academic researchers efficiently. I need to motivate the trainees and ensure that once they join the team as an academic researcher, they are equally motivated about their work and do not lose the focus. They should feel responsible towards the job and as the leader, it would be my responsibility to look after their need (Balleer and Van Rens 2013). In terms of communication, skills it has been identified that the trainees need to conduct themselves in the professional environment and can take cues from non-verbal communication. Another skill that needs to be taken into account is organizational skills that take into account time management. It has been found that the some academic researchers are unable to complete their task within the specified deadline or their quality is compromised in their attempt to write within the specified deadline.

The long-term learning plan would be to screen employees properly during the period of the interview (Katal, Wazid and Goudar 2013). I feel the level of the tests need to become more advanced that would enable me to select employees who have the temperament to work in the academic writing firm. Apart from monitoring the trainees and academic researchers, I will also keep a tab on the performance and abilities of the trainers so that it reflects on the performance of the trainees. The employees should also be motivated with rewards, promotion and bonus so that they will feel inspired to maintain the quality of their tasks.

In my case the learner is a trainee who whom I would interview and evaluate whether the person is suitable for surviving in the academic industry. During my role-play as an HR manager I enquired from the aspiring academic researcher whether she is genuinely interested to be a part of the academic writing firm (Savery 2015). I will create an evaluation test that would consist of basic English, logical reasoning and essay writing tasks. The reason behind the implementation of these in the evaluation test is to assess the Basic English abilities of the trainees and the abilities of the trainee to write an argumentative essay using the proper reference, formatting and coherently articulating the core argument. Being an HR it would be my responsibility to attract the right kind of talent to the organization (Jackson and Chapman 2012). I need to attract the maximum potential candidate for the position of academic researcher and evaluate their suitable incumbents. There would be emphasis on on-job training for the trainee. During this phase I will be able to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the trainee and find suitable methods to train her with the right kind of attitude. Once the training period is over, I will grade the trainee on the aspects of language, ability to understand quality and work speed. Another alternative would be to have a pre-processed training prior to on-job training. This pre-processed training would enable me to orient the employees about the requirements of the job and at the same time give me an opportunity to communicate the mission and vision of the company to the trainee (Ferdous and Razzak 2012). During this period the trainee can be provided with basic assignments based on her subject area. After this, the level of difficulty in assignments will be increased to understand whether the trainee is able to cope with the pressure and yet write efficiently in a plagiarism-free and quality English.

Skill Gaps to be Addressed

Assist the learner in identifying and applying the chosen learning strategies

The trainee will informed about the long-term learning plan to increase the efficiency of the trainees and academic researchers and make her compatible for the academic firm.

All the trainees who will be selected in the company would be given a resourceful training with the most efficient trainer to enable the trainees to deliver their best performance. During the training period, I will encourage the trainees to assess their strength and weakness. There will be regular evaluation sessions where the trainees will identify the areas they need to work on and thereby improve. The virtual tests and the marks secured from the tests would enable them to understand their progress. Another option would be to encourage the trainees to assess the work of their colleagues through a blind-fold system and identify the highlights and limitations of their writing. This assessment will not only encourage the trainees to proofread and identify structuration that is core to academic writing but also enable them to identify the requirements for an academic researcher.

The additional work that would be required is to interview the potential candidates properly so that the most efficient candidates can be chosen for the job.

There will be the provision of continuous feedback to assess the learning outcome of the trainees. Another strategy would be collect feedback from the trainees about their views about the work and gauge their abilities so as understand their capabilities of accomplishing the work within the stipulated time. I would also be interested to understand whether they feel pressurized and if so seek means that would reduce their stress level and records will be be maintained about the learning progress

According to Nikolova, Van Ruysseveldt, De Witte and Syroit (2014), performance development plan happens at the outset of the performance cycle or in the beginning of new role.

• Identification- This stage would involve identification of the problem in the academic writing firm. In this case, it would be my responsibility to identify the problem with the firm that is enhancing the quality and efficiency of the academic researchers.
• Staff consultation and communication- This new emphasis would be communicated to each of the parties in the firm who would be responsible for heading the academic researchers (Cascio 2018). In this case, the team leaders, the assistant team leaders and the quality control leaders would be communicated that they need to ensure that the trainees are doing their work. I would discuss this with the HR executives who would be working under me.
• Problem identification and resolution- Once the problem has been identified, then there will an effort for resolution of the program through providing the adequate support to the trainees.
• Improvement strategies- The improvement strategies would be evaluation tests, conducting exams with difficulty level and choosing the right candidate for the position of academic researcher.
• Record keeping process- Routine records will be maintained about the performance of each of the trainees during the OJT and assessment will be made of the current academic researchers to assess whether they are maintaining quality in their tenure.
• Monitoring and reviewing workplace learning- This would be done through sharing the feedback about the achievements made by the academic researchers. Secondly, there will be performance appraisals for the academic researchers based on a review of their three-month performance.
• Balance of both work-based and structured learning – Work-based learning is designed with the aim of enhancing the learning skills and the required workplace knowledge. This would be done through appropriate training of the aspiring academic researchers. This would be done through enhancing the skill development and assessment of the units of competency. Structured learning refers to the communication of information in a structured manner. This would include me outlining a structure that would comprise of strategies in a systematic manner to enhance the efficiency of the academic researchers. This would be done through the slides, documents and videos that would ensure the efficient training of the trainees.

An effective learning environment in the academic workplace would be created through encouraging the academic researchers to seek queries about their issues, employing a variety of models during the training period and although conducting assessment in a fair, transparent and authentic manner. It should be emphasised that training should be executed keeping in mind the individual needs of the academic researchers. 

Conclusion

Based on the above report it can be found that being an HR manger in the academic industry involves a range of responsibilities. These responsibilities include recruiting the right kind of academic researchers for the firm who would have the quality and skills to survive in the academic writing firm. It was identified that task analysis would serve the best method as it would enable to identify the problem with the quality of work. I would collect feedback from the customers that would enable to understand their issues about the problems of the students (our clients) and thereby improve the service. I would monitor and assess the trainees and put them through a rigorous academic writing training program in the form of pre-processing training and on-job training. I would keep a track of the problems and the development of the trainees and formulate strategies based on that need. I would make an effort to create an effective learning environment for the trainees and enable their growth in the organization through rewards, bonus and performance appraisal. Different kinds of assessment and evaluation programs will be conducted that would enable the trainees to understand their strength and weakness. 

References

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