The effect of government policies
Government legislations can affect the labour market a numerous ways. The government provides incentives to organisations to employ and train people. Where such incentives are available, they will reduce the costs of labour and therefore have implications for human resources planning. By giving organisation incentives to recruit young people and the unemployed, the government has given the economy a high increase in supply of labour.
However the Human Resources planning in Westminster Kingsway College attempt to anticipate demand for staff and to match this to the supply. It important to get this right because if the organisation has too many staff it will be inefficient, if it has too few it will not be effective.
Analyses of How Labour Market Trends Within WKC’s and its External Labour Market
When Westminster College merge with Kingsway College in 2000, statistics illustrate that the demand for full time lecturers has increased dramatically and it is expected to rise further in the next five years. This is also possible due to the learning opportunities that the government have created and the rapid growth in the business world and the economy it self.
Many students are now studying business and IT courses because this are the fastest growing sectors in the economy, even teachers are also quitting their jobs to move into other working environment. This cause concern for Westminster Kingsway College and the government requiring the college to protect what they have and try to recruit more skilled workers by running an effective Management Strategy that will meet the needs of their employees so that the college needs can be met. Which is why price competition for labour is important to encourage more lecturers or young employees to do training courses.
The Work Force Profile of Teachers
The work strength profile of Lecturers illustrate that 25% of lecturers only stay for 2-4 years and 29% stays for 5-6 year. It also shows that the age of leavers with the highest percentages of leave rate is 33-44 years old, reason for leaving may be: other carers opportunity etc. Due to the fact that the college recruit few amount of teachers between the age group of 25-35 years olds, their percentages is 26%, this can be because they have less skills and are very likely to leave between 2-4 years or less than that.
The Stage of Human Resources Planning
Supply side Demand side
The human resources manger of Westminster Kingsway College needs to understand concerning the labour market and the effects that it could have. The external labour market for any organisation is made up of potential employees, locally, regionally or nationally; whom have the skills and qualifications required at that time.
Westminster Kingsway College needs to know the figures of supply trends for past, present and the future. The figures of supply are important as they show an understanding to the local or national supply conditions. Local wage rate and income are also important to employers too, in order for businesses to attract the right employees.
There are a number of different factors that affect the size and nature of the labour market. There are four factors, which need to be taken into a lot of consideration by the human resources manager:
Local employment trends: The local unemployment figures are very important to the college; these figures of the unemployment give us the indication of the general labour availability and whether it would be difficult or not to recruit new staff. Looking at the local unemployment is also a good factor to look at because you are able to see which organisations have been laying off workers.
This can be seen as an advantage to some firms, having the choice of people who have been made redundant, as they may have the right skills, or even have skills that are occupational or that can be transferable towards similar work within the business. The study of local trends can show whether there is a demand for a particular type of job or not.
Local skills shortages: No mater what area of the world you are in there is always a decline in a particular area of a job, because skills for that particular job are becoming redundant. At the same time as that there are new skills and capabilities that are emerging, and the demand for these skills will be rising faster than supply.
Due to this factor, skills shortages occur and this can cause a considerable frustration for local employers. Where a local shortage occurs, employers will often seek to advertise and recruit in other area, regions and even counties.
Availability of employees : The amount of labour in an area depends on the number of people who are able to work. Modern transport system make it easy for users to travel to and from work, but many organisation may need to make it much easier for an individual to carry out the journey. The availability of labour will depend on factors such as age distribution of the local population and attitude to women working.
Competition for employees: Many organisation will be concerned to know whether their competitors are growing and therefore causing an increase in demand for labour, or whether local redundancies mean labour is more readily obtained.
RECRUITING AND SELECTION
Recruitment process can be very costly; it takes a great deal of time to set up an effective recruitment process. This involves deciding on what the jobs that are to be recruited for will entail, advertising, shifting through applications, checking which applications best meet the criteria set down for the post, interviewing candidates and finally selecting the best candidate for the post.
Waste and inefficiency can be very costly to any organisation. For Westminster Kingsway College to advertise a vacancy and manage to get 20 applicants, by shifting through the application forms they may be in danger of choosing the wrong employee. The personnel of Westminster Kingsway College would probably cut the 20 applicant forms down to 10 by eliminating, from their point of view, the most unsuitable employees for the job.
But by doing this they could eliminate the best applicant, therefore, it is possible that the personnel may have to do the whole process all over again if that the applicant they do choose for the job is unsuitable.
Reason for Westminster Kingsway College to recruit more staff;
- The college may be expanding and more branches could be on the agenda in a new location.
- One part of the college may be in need of new workers – employees may be leaving because of retirement, dismissal or resignation making way for more jobs.
- Westminster Kingsway College may need to be restructured or reorganised which will create many jobs for more people.
Advertising Vacancy in Westminster Kingsway College
Wherever possible, all vacancies will be advertised simultaneously internally and externally.
Steps will be taken to ensure that knowledge of vacancies reaches underrepresented group internally and externally
Vacancies can sometimes be notified to job centres as well as to appropriate press/media and community organisations.
All vacancies advertisement will include an appropriate short statement o the College’s approach to equality.
In Westminster Kingsway College selection criteria (job descriptions and person specifications) are kept under constant review to ensure that they are justifiable on non-discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job.
All job applicants receive an Equality statement with the job information package. And the college will monitor all staff appointments in terms of Equality.
The college seeks so far as the law permits, to reflect more closely the ethnic composition of the diverse local community in its encouragement of applications for all posts. It also recognises and values the skill s and experience, which members of ethnic minorities can bring to the college.
We need to understand how recruitment interviews are planned, carried out and evaluated. To also understand the legal and ethical responsibilities relating to equal opportunities, and know the key implications for recruitment of the following legislation:
- Equal Pay Act 1970: the main point of the EPA was to ensure that women carry out the same or similar works as a man would receive the same pay and that they are also given the same benefit as men; whose work is the same, equal value and same employment.
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975:this when an employee is treated less favourably than others because of the sex; when a person discriminate against a woman on the ground of sex, he treats her less favourable than he treat men and vise- versa.
- Race relations Act 1976: this also is when an employee is treated less favourably than the others because of his/her race; A person that is being discriminated on racial ground, he/she is being treated less favourable than the other
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995: this law protect employees who are classified as disable, this law says it is unlawful to discriminate a person who is disable in relation to the following:
-The recruitment process
-Promotional opportunities
-Dismissal
And also to identify:
- The appropriate use of different methods of assessment, such as psychometric and aptitude testing
- Good interview techniques
- Criteria for evaluating the recruitment process.
Understanding the importance of recruiting and maintaining a flexible workforce if a business is to remain competitive and to know about the different bases for recruiting people for a flexible workforce, including:
- Different modes of employment
- Different terms and conditions
- Core employees
- Part-time, temporary and contract labour.
RECRUITNG FOR VACANCY
We should understand that the recruitment process could be costly in terms of resources devoted, to the process and cost associated with recruiting poor-performing staff. Therefore, it is important to select people accurately for interview. Businesses need to be very clear about the recruitments of the job and about the kind of person they are looking for. We also need to understand the ways in which they do this through:
- Preparing job descriptions and person specifications
- Carefully planning how and when to advertise
- Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of job applications, curricula vitae and letters of application
- Short-listing candidate.
- Interview
- Checks- Criminal Record Bureau
- Confirmation letter
The following are the key recruiting documents in filling in a vacancy:
Letter of application; the title pretty much speaks for itself when describing what a letter of application is. Basically, a letter of application is a letter that an applicant would send to an organisation when interested in a job on offer. In this case, the applicants for the college would send their letters to Westminster Kingsway College after seeing the advert for the job.
Curriculum Vitae: this document shows a person's achievements, hobbies, interests and past-times. A CV is a vital ingredient to recruiting the best employee.
Once Westminster Kingsway HRM have evaluated the letter of application of the applicant they can decide whether or not he/she is suitable for the job. If they are then a letter of an invitation to an interview will be sent to him. If he/she is not then the college HRM sends a letter of consolation.
Interview; Interviews are the most vital stage of the recruitment process for the college and the potential employee. This short time of contact with Westminster Kingsway College can give the college representatives a lot of information about how the potential employee looks, behaves, talks and basically how well he or she comes across as a person. That's why it is so important for the potential employee to dress appropriately and talk with confidence when answering any questions set to him/her by the interviewer(s).
Carrying out the interview
There are a number of factors, which would be taken into account when carrying out the interview. The interview should be conducted around a simple plan and be based on a number of questions against which all candidates will be assessed. It is also considered good practice to prepare suitable place for the interview, such as a warm, quiet, ventilated room. The interviewer should also ensure that the candidates have a friendly reception and are informed of what is expected of them.
The average interview usually takes around thirty minutes. The interview plan organises the time to cover the important aspects in assessing applicants. The plan must be flexible enough to allow the interviewer to explore areas that may come up during the interview.
Westminster Kingsway College can follow a simple strategy of what the interviewer should do and what the interviewer should not do before and during the interview. The interviewer should always try and make the applicant comfortable during the interview session.
The vacancies can be filled with either by the internal candidate or by the external candidate as long as the candidate is appropriately skilled and qualified for the particular post/vacancy.
The college might decide that it already has the eight people with the right skills to do the job, particularly if its training and development programme has been effective.
Internal vacancies: the organisation may already have the right number of people with the right skills to do the job, particularly if the training and development programme has been effective. In this case they may appoint the internally. This may of course leave a vacancy elsewhere.
Vacancies can be advertise within the organisation by putting advertisement on:
- Staff notice boards Intranets
- Intranets
- In the house magazines/ newsletters
- Staff meetings
There are various advantages and disadvantages for internal candidates:
Advantages
- An organisation like Westminster Kingsway College with a reputation for internal advancement will find it easier to motivate staff, whereas in an organisation where internal advancement is rare, staff will be less committed to the work and may be preoccupied with external job application.
- Due to the internal vacancies in Westminster Kingsway, the college attract better candidate in achieving their aims.
- The college does not need to rely on external references when choosing from internal application –accurate information will be available from department heads and other colleagues.
- The internal candidate already knows what will be expected of them in the college and therefore will be effective in the new job very quickly.
Disadvantages
- A person promoted internally may be expected to pick up the new job in an unreasonable short space of time.
- Filling a vacancy internally will leave another vacancy to fill
External vacancies: it is usually necessary to make an external appointment in Westminster Kingsway, so the college is compelled to advertise all post externally. The college will want to be sure that it attract the right sort of people for the job.
There are a number of ways of looking for staff outside the organisation:
- Job Centre
- School Career Services
- Employment Agencies
- University Career Services
- Recruitment Consultants and Executives
There are various advantages and disadvantages of external candidates:
Advantages
- There will a much wider range of people from which to choose
- Newcomers to the organisation will bring new ideas
- Since newcomers are not associated with the old college policies for this reason it will be a good idea to bring people from outside if a change in the college is planned.
- They may be likely to be more mobile than existing staff and in a multi-site college this can be very useful for the organisation.
- New skills and management techniques may also be obtain from the new staff, which the organisation may adopt.
Disadvantages
- It very expensive than recruiting internally
- It takes time for the new staff to get used to their new jobs, therefore they will not be performing effectively for the initial period
Job analysis
This is the first stage of recruiting an employee. The College management may gather information by questioning the job - holder or observing the job – holder at work. The information gathered is carefully recorded and analysed. Further information might be obtained through discussions with the job – holder’s supervisor. The job analyst complies a description of the main responsibility of the job by asking:
- What are the main tasks of the job and how often do they need to be completed
- Are any specialist technological skills required to do the job
- What mental processes are require to do the job
- Is the job holder required to take decision and use initiative
- What are the limits of the job holder’s authority
- Is the output from the job a part or a whole
- Does the job holder have to work with others, or control the work of others
- What are the required performance standards and how are they measured?
The management of a business or organisation need to determine what work needs to be done. Job analysis is a key part of this need. It concentrates on what jobholders are expected to do. Also provides the basis for the job description, which in turn influences decisions taken on recruitment, training, performance appraisal and reward system.
Job description
When the job analyst has gathered all the information from the job analysis then he/she can put it into a summary report setting out what the job entail. The summary report is usually known as a job description. It contains two types of information: it describes the tasks of the job and the behaviour necessary to actually do these tasks satisfactorily.
This is written after a thorough job analysis has been undertaken. In the job analysis it is the job that and not the person that is being analysed, and it is the future and not the present job for which a description is needed. The aim is to ensure that the job fits the needs of the organisation.
Each job within the organisation will have a written job description that can be referred to if there is any dispute about an employee’s responsibilities. It is likely that the nature of the job will change over time so that the job description will need to be reviewed and updated periodically.
A job description usually consists of:
- General information job title; position within the organisation and the job summary
- Job content information tasks involved; purpose of tasks, method involve, other duties and responsibilities
- Working conditions physical environment; social environment and economic environment
- Performance information criteria for measuring performance
The job description has several users:
- It helps Westminster Kingsway College tell candidates what is expected of them in the job
- It helps personnel officers to decide on the qualities the successful candidate must have
- Once the candidate has been appointed, it can be used to gauge whatever an employee is doing his/her job properly
- Dispute about the work an employee have to do can also be settled by reference to the job description
The job description allows the person interested know what is expected from him/her and allows the person to know whether he/she fits the criteria.
Person specification
The person specification shows the skills, qualification, aptitudes and abilities that a person will require to successful perform a particular job in an organisation. It will list those features that are essential and may additionally list other qualities that are desirable although not absolutely necessary. For example in Westminster Kingsway College mission to require a key skills lecturer, the HRM would need to specify clearly in the person specification whether or not the employee had to have special ACT qualification in order to teach the students. Therefore in the person specification will include:
-The purpose of a person specification is to outline the type of applicant the college is looking for.
-The person specification also gives potential applicants the chance to match themselves against the specification.
-The college needs to know the type of person they are looking for this can be set out in the person specification.
-The person specification sets out the mental and physical attributes, which will be needed for the job.
-A person specification is used so the prospective candidates know what qualities they should have and what is expected from them.
-It can also be called upon in an interview situation where the employer can match the candidate to the person specification and the position. Advertisement
Job advertisements are an important aspect to the recruitment process.
Job descriptions and person specifications do not always follow the same rigid format, it depends on the type of job in question. On some occasion an employer will send out information to a job applicant that is a combination of the two documents.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Training
Training includes all forms of planned learning experiences and activities designed to make positive change s to performances and other behaviour
Development
Development approaches the individual and their motivation from a different angle from that of training. Development is more personal and enables individuals to develop themselves in the best way that suits their individual needs. By this they will be more inclined and able to contribute to helping the organisation meets its objectives.
Therefore training and development is very important to an organisation, which will encourage staff in their work and to do their best ability. This is commonly practice in Westminster Kingsway College to achieve their goals.
This department’s role is to link training and organisational development activities to the strategic aims and operational objectives of the college. These are detailed in the strategic plan, which is reviewed, and update on a regular basis. The department is responsible for the following, for all staff directly employed by the college:
- Professional development
- Leadership development
- Management development
- Qualification training
- Investor in People
- Culture development
The department is funded both from a central college allocation for Training and Development as well as with money from the learning Skills Council, known as the Standards Fund. This fund is streamed and prescriptive and varies in amount every year. The main focus for utilizing standards Fund money is to improve the quality of teaching and learning; hence the target client groups are teachers and learning support staff. The central budget is generally used to meet the needs of the college support staff.
The department team consists of three staff: Peter Armah – Head of Personal and Organisation Development; Tahmina Maula – Professional Development Manager; Vashti Marshall – Training Coordinator and Helen Awel - Training Assistant.
Head of personnel and Organisational Development
This role involves managing the organisational development function ensuring that the activities support the college’s aims and objectives. A crucial aspect of this role is to working and devise and implement human resource solution s to enhance performance.
Professional Development Manager
This role involves helping to devise programmes for training, negotiating, funding and rise with departments and staff to discuss training and development needs. Working with the rest of the team, she will commission, procure, design and deliver programmes for all staff in the college. The PDM is happy to discuss and advise provision with anyone.
Training Coordinator
This role is crucial to the day- to- day operations of the department. Vashti makes events happen and maintains the database for training and development and expenditure against the budget. When attending a course it is important to complete the necessary paperwork for approval and funding.
Training Assistant
Helen Awel assists Vashti in reinforcing the smooth running of the department. The service we offer enables any member of staff to attend training once approved by their line manager. Westminster Kingsway college training centre is currently at Battersea, located in the training room is a TV with video, data projector, OHP, white board, flip chart, meeting table and chairs. As well as this Westminster Kingsway College is building a bank of resources to help staff development individually. There are two types of training in the college: on-the-job training and off-the-job training.
BENEFITS TO WESTMINSTER KINGSWAY’S TRAINING PROGRAMME TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS
Both sides recognise and value the contribution of training and development for employees in the college as a mean of facilitating the deployment of employees’ knowledge, skills and experience in their personal and the college’s development and to help achieve personal organisational objectives.
In particular, it is recognise that an effective training and development policy can be a crucial factor in addressing inequalities in employment and to this ends the training and development plan will be open, transparent and applied in a fair way.
Westminster Kingsway College Training and Development Programme and the performance of the business
Westminster Kingsway College train and develop staff to ensure that they work to the best of their ability and this will help the college to meets its objectives. Training within the organisation will also help the college to perform more effectively and to benefit from the employees abilities.
The training and development programme is important to the performance of the business, if the employees are not train to do their job effectively, this might affect the objectives of the business and will eventually ruin the reputation of the organisation. In the case of Westminster Kingsway College it can affect the grade of the student.
There are many different training programmes that are offered by Westminster Kingsway College and for every type of position within the organisation.
Types of Training in Westminster Kingsway College
Induction: this is the process of introducing the new employees to the organisation, it provides information the candidate needs to start their job and help them adjust to the environment. Inductions mostly take place immediately after recruitment and selection, as well as dealing with the initial knowledge and skills they need for their job. The new candidates are often given induction packs that introduce them to the organisation.
Mentoring: this involves a trainee being paired up with a more experienced employee, the experience employee becomes the mentor. The trainee carries out the job but uses the ‘mentor’ to discuss problems that may occur and how best to solve them.
Coaching: involve providing an individual with personal coaches in the workplace. The coach and individual being coach will identify development opportunities that they can work on together. This coach will then provide a feedback on the performances of the individual and how it is progressing.
On-the-job training: this type of training occur where the job takes place, for example in Westminster Kingsway College, an existing teaching staff may ask to take a class with a new employees and watch them teach. A benefit of on-the-job training is that the new employee receives directly relevant experience. Productive work can also take place at the same time.
The new recruit may have the key skills needed to perform the job, but not the exact knowledge required. In this case the job will need to be explained and demonstrated in the workplace.
Off-the-job training: this takes place inside the firm but away from the main place of work. In this case a teacher may be sent to a one-day course in using a particular type of software such as spreadsheet. A benefit for the employer is that it usually works out cheaper than if the firm organise the training itself. The training can either be external training or in house training:
External training: this is where the employees are sent to one-day residential courses outside the organisation. These may be held at the training agency’s own premises. External training is normally used where training is of a general nature. For instance, employees may be sent on course to learn IT packages, Sage accounting or Microsoft Access, or to learn new management techniques.
In house training: in the case the organisation may employ their own trainers to train their staff, fir instance the GNVQ awarding bodies will visit the college to run staff training session. In the house training normally occur when the training involves a significant number of employees and it will be tailored to the exact need of the organisation.
The training methods include:
- Traditional method such as lecturers, video and demonstrations
- Case studies involving role-play or discussion
- Interactive video where the trainee, rather than passively watching will be require to respond, depending upon the response the video will follow different sequence.
Sometimes the purpose of training is to update knowledge. In this case an organisation may use ‘cascade’. These involve training a small number of employees who will then ‘cascade’ their knowledge to other employees. This idea is to save cost and to avoid the practise problem of releasing a large number of staff at the same time.
The important of training and development to the performance of the business
The training and development programme is important to the performance of the business because if employees are not trained to do their job correctly, then this will not enable the organisation to meet its objectives properly. The training and development programme also affects the performance of the business because if employees are not developed, they might not be able to do their job properly to the best work possible.
Possible areas of Conflict between the Human Resources Functions
Within an organisation like Westminster Kingsway College, there are usually conflicts; this can be overcome as long as the organisation works together as a team.
There are lots of conflicts in an organisation between the human resources functions, although not all organisations will admit to the problems. The conflicts are mostly between the recruitment and selection, human resources planning, training and development and performance management.
Performance management and Human resources management; Performance management identifies issues with someone’s performance to their job description; the job description is not the one they were appointed to or changes were made by Recruitment and Selection at appointment and no other section of Human Resources was informed.
Human Resources Planning and Training and Development; conflict can occur between these two department in the sense that the training and development might want to train staff in a certain way but the training and development will be unsatisfied because it expensive to train staff; especially when it involve student missing out and finding a replacement.
Human resources planning and Recruitment and Selection; the human recourses planning might want to recruit a certain quality of candidate but the recruitment and selection department might not be able to recruit quality of people due to the external labour market pressure.
Recruitment and Selection and training and development; the recruitment and selection department might want to recruit employees that are already trained to save money but the training and development may not agree to this because they want to train the employees themselves to their own satisfactory.
Human Resources department and Finance Department; the human resources department may want to develop employees and train them further but the finance department might think they do not have enough money to spend on developing and training employees further. The human resources department may need to recruit more employees but the finance department may refuse the idea saying they don’t have enough money so do so.
An evaluation of the Potential Conflicts between different Human Resources Management activities within the college
Conflict at work can be stressful and counterproductive for everyone involved. Any human resource function would normally confront the other team and resolve the situation rather than it cause the organisation’s atmosphere any harm.
The Human resources department of Westminster Kingsway college may feel that the college does not need as many staff as they have so they will want to make some staff redundant. A conflict of interest may arise between the human resources planning and the recruitment and selection because some jobs roles are not being filled so there is lack of productivity in certain areas but reducing staff means that other workers will be under pressure to fill in. This conflict can be solve by different area of the human resources coming together to discuss what role have to be filled and which staff is not being productive enough.
Westminster Kingsway College Training and Development Policy objectives
- All employees should have the right of access to training and development support provided by the college. Employee’s shall not be treated less favourably and denied access to training and development as a result of their terms of their contract of employment or by any act, or deliberate failure to act, of the employer.
- The college will produce a training and development plan on an annual basis, the aim of which shall be to empower all employees to carry out their roles to the highest standards, and deliver high quality services to students.
- In these guidelines, training and development are broadly defined as those activities aimed at raising the standards of employee practice and thus lifting the quality of the employees’ and students’ learning and college experiences.
- All training and development activities shall be focussed towards the effectiveness of the above activities; which shall be evaluated in accordance with personal and organisational goals identified via employees’ performance review and staff development.
Training and Development Goals
The type of training and development goals identified will depend on the personal and organisational objectives identified through the strategic planning process and the agreed performance review and staff development procedures.
Consultation
Consultation will take place with recognised trade unions annually on the evaluation of training and development activities undertaken in the preceding year and in respect of proposed training and development activities for forthcoming twelve-month period. Individual employees of the college will also be encourage to participate in consultation on the proposals for the provision of training and development activities for the forthcoming year.
TYPES OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
- All employees shall have access to the staff development programme in place in the college. They shall also have the opportunities to attend courses and conferences to develop their professional expertise and access to appropriate development activities.
- Employees may apply for training and development opportunities using the attached form, and will be given clear reasons for the acceptance or rejection of their applications.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
- The training and development programme for each year should, wherever reasonably practicable, be schedule flexible to accommodate the working patterns of all employees, to allow them to undertake activities during their normal contracted working hours whilst minimising the impacts on students.
- A review of each individual employee’s training and development activities will be carried out annually via the college’s agreed performance and staff development procedure.
- The college’s professional and occupational training and development activities for their employees should be mapped against relevant standard. The standards should inform the performance review and staff development scheme, providing criteria against which employees can analyse their skills and strength, and their learning and training needs in relation to their professional and occupational responsibilities and goals.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The effectiveness of the employment policies and practise of the college will be monitored by qualitative analysis. In particular, records of the gender, age, ethnic origin and disability of employees and job applicants should be kept. Any monitoring will be in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
A summary of the analysis will be presented to the most appropriate committee of the corporation and published to the staff on an annual basis.
If the monitoring process indicates possible areas where discrimination, harassment, victimisation may be occurring, appropriate action will be taken.
The implementation of the college’s training and development plan will be monitored and evaluated. The evaluation report will be available to all staff and recognised trade unions and will inform the subsequent training and development planning cycles.
The fairness of the application of this policy will be included n the monitoring and evaluation process.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
People are employed in order for the organisation to produce its goods or services. The efforts of human resource managers are directed at improving the performances of employees and thereby enabling the organisation to achieve its objectives.
Performance management refers to the practise of setting targets, measuring performance against these and suggesting course of action. It is forward looking and reflects a world in which organisation are constantly trying to improve. A number of methods may be used to check performances; the choice will depend upon the organisation in question.
Performance Management is something that is important to all organisations not just in Westminster Kingsway College. It allows the management to see if staffs are working at a sufficient level. The performance of an employee will improve through many different motivation methods:
Appraisals
These are used to highlight the effectiveness of an employee to the business they work for. Appraisal are likely to take place after the first few weeks of the employees contract to see how they are setting in and how they are developing. Objectives can be set for the employee as well to ensure they are always striving to improve their performance in all areas. Westminster Kingsway College employees may be set targets after appraisals such as making service quicker and making sure that the high standard of teaching quality are maintained.
Self and Peer Evaluation
This takes place by a more experience employed that works on the same level as the person being evaluated. It is another type of appraisal but someone who is in close contact working relationship does it. This allows a more accurate evaluation to be drawn up.
Targeting Setting
Setting an employee targets and reviewing those targets set will probably occur on a yearly basis. It allows managements to make sure employee do not become complacent and are always striving to improve their performance. The target set must require effort for them to be achieved.
The ability to motivate employees is central to the role of Westminster Kingsway management. This is needed for both individual member of staff and more frequent, for team in the current working environment where team activities play an important part in departmental operations. The ability to motivate people comes from a greater awareness and understanding of individual behaviour patterns. It is also aided or hindered by the style of management used within Westminster Kingsway College as well as the structural parameters designed by the organisation management.
The Motivational theory
Motivational theory take a significant role in performance management, employees must be well motivated in order for the organisation to run smoothly and to reach its set target. Poor motivated employee will mean that the many important area of the organisation will suffer.
Business approaches to performance management may be influence by the following motivational theory.
Marslow’s Theory
Self
Actualisation
Esteem
Love
Safety and Security
Basic needs
Abraham Maslow believed that all motivation comes from meeting unsatisfied need. He stated that there are series of need that must be met in the correct order, Maslow arrange these needs in a form of pyramid, the need at the bottom being the most self important need. Once an employee has been motivated to one level the next level than needs to be motivated.
Basic needs are for reasonable standard of food, shelter and clothing in order to survive. This level of need will typically be met at the workplaces by receipt of money in exchange of work done.
Safety and Security needs are also concern with physical survival. In the workplace this security need could include physical safety, security of employment, adequate holiday leave and pension and sick schemes.
Love needs are for people who want to belong in a group; they are concern with individual love and affection. As an organisation grow, individual can loose their identity, by becoming one of the crowd. Organisation can therefore find a way of building individual into groups and teams.
Self -Esteem needs are based on an individual’s desire for self-respect and to respect others. Employees have the need to be recognised as individuals and to feel important. This is where giving status to individuals and recognising their achievement is important.
Self – Actualisation needs are concern with personal development and individual creativity to achieve one’s full potential. In order to meet this need at work, individuals need to be provided with the opportunity to use their creative talents and abilities to the full.
Douglas McGregor’s ‘theory X and Theory Y’
The motivation of employees is always the responsibility of the manager. The manager makes an assumption about the employee’s basic needs when deciding on a suitable motivation method. Douglas theory suggests that two type of employee exist, each possessing different needs. McGregor also argue that the type of employee a person becomes is influenced by management style.
Theory X conveys a negative view of human nature, it portrays employee as lazy, unambitious people who dislike work and need to be controlled through punishment. McGregor state that if employees are treated a if they are naturally inclined to be idle and disinterested and believes that they do not want responsibility, then they will fulfil their role.
Theory Y argues that employees are not money motivated but gain reward from the job they do. This theory presents employee as self-discipline, work appreciative people who crave responsibility and creative fulfilment. Theory Y is significant because it suggest that given the right condition and management style employees can be motivated to work efficiently and productively.
Both theories will react in contracting ways to different management attempt to increase motivation. The management role is to determine which approach and style should be adopted in order to satisfy the need of the employees. Foe example theory x employee is likely to respond to financial inducement while the theory Y employee will be stimulated by job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation and quality control circles.
Westminster Kingsway management offers pay and working conditions which are both highly competitive and above average. The college is committed to an open and honest management style, which enables employees to be well informed and to understand issues affecting the organisation. Westminster Kingsway College has a progressive and competitive policy on performance and reward, design to recruit, motivate, develop, and to retain high qualified staff.
