TNT
TNT is the European market leader in global express distribution, logistics and international mail. Wherever a company operates TNT will make sure that their documents, consignments and business mail are delivered safely and on time using their integrated air and road networks. Their international operations are focused on the key areas of world trade in Europe, Asia, North and South America. They also have strong domestic networks in Australia and Europe.
Their operational networks are supported by sophisticated technology which as well as ensuring service reliability provides real-time, on-line information on the status of the consignment.
Their central philosophy is to put the customer at the heart of their business. They aim to be companies' business partner devising solutions for all their customers' distribution needs by combining their core capabilities to create new products and services.
The HRM of TNT empower employees to provide the fastest and most reliable service which involves upholding the quality principles for the benefit of all stakeholders involved with the organisation thereby enabling them to achieve the vision.
The quality principles of TNT are: customer care, leadership, people, communication, resources, suppliers, processes and the impact on society.
For each of this principles the HRM makes sure and show how its needs to be carried out:
* Customer Care: Always listening to and building first class relationships with their customers to help TNT provide excellent standards of service and client satisfaction.
* Leadership: Inspiring all members of the TNT team to be outstanding achievers and building on their make it happen policy through clear direction, support and accountability.
* People: Recognising individual and team achievements, promoting from within wherever possible and encouraging everyone to enjoy rewarding careers that provide security and job satisfaction.
* Communication: Working hard at all times to encourage clear and honest two-way communications which foster teamwork, they must get through attitude and staff involvement through an open management style.
* Resources: Employing the best people in a first class working environment and supporting them with ongoing training, reliable equipment and up to date systems that are better than those provided by opposition carriers.
* Suppliers: Sharing their plans with suppliers to help the company obtain best value from bought in goods and services through long lasting relationships which are beneficial for both parties.
* Processes: Continuously identifying better ways of working through innovation and the involvement of everyone in the ongoing measurement, review and improvement of all activities undertaken in the company.
* Impact on society: Earning recognition as a good neighbour, minimising pollution, reducing waste and helping the community through relevant youth and charitable initiatives.
E1
The responsibilities of HRM function in TNT
The function and responsibilities of Human Resource Management at TNT are:
Planning the workforce: This is the activity of management that is aimed at coordinating the requirements for and the availability of different types of employees'.
There are four main reasons for Human Resources Planning:
. It encourages employers to develop clear links between their business plans and their HR plans so that they can integrate the two more effectively, for all concerned.
2. Organisations can control staff costs and numbers employed far more effectively.
3. Employers can build up a skill profile for each of their employees. This makes it easier to give them work where they are most value to the organisation.
4. It creates a profile of staff (related to gender, race, disability) which is necessary for the operation of an Equal Opportunities policy.
Recruitment and selection: One of the most important jobs of HR management of TNT is recruiting and selecting new employees. Without the right employees TNT will be unable to operate efficiently or serve its customers properly or make any profits. With the proper recruitment and selection techniques, TNT can make as sure as possible that they can achieve these objectives.
Developing and assessing employees: TNT makes sure that their employees are trained to do several jobs rather than just one.
This is important to TNT because so the employees are more motivated because doing several jobs is usually more interesting than doing just one; where an employee is able to do several jobs it increases their value to the organisation and makes them feel more appreciated and more secure. And because TNT has multi-skills employees the number of employees can be cut down.
Why this responsibilities are important to TNT:
The responsibility of planning the workforce is important to TNT because, if HR planning works successfully the following of this success will be:
* Staff employees are fully utilised to the benefit of TNT.
* Staffs do challenging work that motivates and stimulates them.
* Overtime is only done when vitally necessary.
* Staffs are properly qualified to do the job allotted to them.
The responsibility of recruitment and selection is important to TNT because the most important reasons for the success of an organisation include: business growth, resignations, retirements, dismissals and changes in job roles.
The responsibility of developing and assessing employees is important to TNT because training and development are vitally important for the overall efficiency and competitiveness of an organisation.
This responsibilities are also important to TNT because they need to provide their customers, society and stakeholders the fastest and most reliable service, TNT do this by:
Their Stakeholders: People they employ are capable enthusiastic people that provide services to their clients with the necessary resources, training, rewards and recognition to maximise their own potential and individual contributions to the success of the business.
Society: They benefit society by operating safely, caring for the environment, helping appropriate voluntary organisations and promoting business excellence.
Customers: They provide the fastest and most reliable express delivery services, which are continually developed in partnership with their customers to satisfy the ever-changing needs of the market.
E2
Interpretation and use of 'internal staffing' information and external labour market information to plan human resources within TNT
a) Internal staffing information from TNT
An organisation with a reputation for internal advancement such as TNT will find it easier to motivate staff, whereas in organisations where internal advancement is rare.
TNT has expanded at a phenomenal rate and this growth is thanks to the commitment of a creative, talented and diverse workforce. The internal staffs are passionate about what they do and passionate about the service they provide too.
Each employee contributes to the overall success of TNT and TNT encourages the personal responsibility, commitment and cooperation - for the benefit of the company and the customers.
The employees have the opportunity to continually expand their skills thanks to the support provided by a large worldwide company. They develop, change and take on new challenges on a national or an international basis.
Internal candidates of TNT know the business and what will be expected of them, and because of this they can become effective for TNT.
TNT makes sure that the internal staffing has the right quality and quantity of employees to achieve their objectives and goals such as:
Providing the fastest and most reliable express delivery services.
* Secure outstanding levels of customer satisfaction.
* Equip employees to fully satisfy customer needs.
* Save time by adopting a 'right-first-time' approach in every part of the business.
* Expand the company-owned network of depots to offer later collection and earlier delivery times.
* Improve line haul connections to achieve shorter transit times.
* Develop leading-edge support technologies that provide added value for customers.
The internal staffs of TNT has a list of their do's and don'ts that they must take in practice on their daily work:
DO
* Consider all reputable international mail service providers, whether private companies, foreign or domestic postal authorities.
* Consider their reputation: Can they stand behind their service quality, do they ...
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* Expand the company-owned network of depots to offer later collection and earlier delivery times.
* Improve line haul connections to achieve shorter transit times.
* Develop leading-edge support technologies that provide added value for customers.
The internal staffs of TNT has a list of their do's and don'ts that they must take in practice on their daily work:
DO
* Consider all reputable international mail service providers, whether private companies, foreign or domestic postal authorities.
* Consider their reputation: Can they stand behind their service quality, do they have a loyal following of customers, can they provide transit studies, are they recognized by trade organizations & other industry sources.
* Consider their knowledge: Do they understand the unique requirements of the industry, business or specific mailing? Do they recommend alternative methods? Do they discuss the handling of undeliverable mail? Are they well informed of foreign postal regulations & matters that can affect delivery, such as foreign address formats/hygiene.
Don'ts
* Rely solely on the domestic postal authority as your only source for international mail services.
* Consider a service provider who is limited in their service options, flexibility, staffing, geographical coverage & posting points.
* Consider a company who does not ask probing questions about the business objectives & expected results, does not request sample mail pieces or inquire about foreign address sources and return mail requirements.
b) External labour market information for TNT
External labour market information for TNT can be found at:
Schools Careers Services: this provides school leavers for a wide range of jobs and traineeships such as the government-financed 'new deal'.
Job Centres: these provide a wide range of jobs but chiefly semi-skilled, unskilled and clerical workers.
University Careers Services: These provides graduates and postgraduates (eg people with further degrees).
Employment Agencies: They will find applicants in virtually all areas of work although their busiest areas are clerical, secretarial and unskilled manual employees.
Recruitment Consultants and Executives Search Agencies: These are the 'head hunters' for people to fill senior management and professional jobs.
C) How the above information is used to plan HRM within TNT
Thanks to the External labour market it is easier for TNT to plan HRM because:
* There is a much wider range of people that can be chosen.
* Newcomers to TNT can bring new ideas.
* Newcomers are not associated with the old policies of the organisation - for this reason it is always a good idea to bring in people from outside if a change in the organisational culture is planned.
* Newcomers are likely to be more mobile than existing staff and in a multisided business this can be very useful to TNT.
* Newcomers may bring skills and management techniques from their former employers that the organisation might also adopt.
E3
Identification of the features of key recruitment documents and description of the factors to be considered in planning to fill a vacancy and carrying out interviews.
a) Key features of recruitment documents
The three main key features and recruitment document are:
The letter of application; this is simply a letter asking for the job and explaining why the writer is suitable for it. The letter will be structured in any way the writer thinks is appropriate, and this very fact makes it a useful selection method. If the letter is badly structured, poorly expressed and full of spelling mistakes, it could indicate that the candidate is not suitable clerical or administrative job which requires neat well structured work and a 'tidy mind'.
Human Resources department staff may have to read hundreds of application letters so it is in a writer's interests to pay attention to doing it properly. Key points for the writer o bear in mind include:
-Check the letter brief.
-Check grammar, punctuation and spelling.
-It should be handwriting, unless the handwriting is hard to read.
The curriculum vitae; it means the `course of your life' - the story so far.
It is usually known as a CV, this gives the career and educational background of a job seeker.
The written curriculum vitae (the CV) is a formal description of an applicant's life and achievements.
It will normally accompany a letter of application as an alternative t the application form when the advert asks 'please apply in writing'.
In the CV goes:
-Name and address
-Telephone number (some people may miss this out for security reasons.
-E-mail address (if there is one)
-Date of birth
-Marital status
-Education & qualifications
-Training (where appropriate)
-Employment history (school and college leavers should include part-time employment
-Hobbies and interests
-References
The application form; this is a far more commonly used method of selection.
Consultants devote hours to designing new and better forms which will extract even more accurate information from people. A typical form will require details on addresses, next of kin education, training, qualifications, work experience, non-work interests and the names of referees from whom the organisation can collect personal recommendation.
The forms can act, as a framework for the interviewer to use should the applicant get short-listed.
The organisation can keep all the forms for the short listed candidates for the vacancy and draw on them again if another vacancy arises.
b) Factors to be considered in filling a vacancy /conducting an interview.
Human Resource Management departments are under constant pressure to justify the filling of a vacancy because it will save the organisation money if they do not. There are several alternatives to filling a vacancy:
-Overtime by the remaining employees.
-Restructuring of the work.
-Employing part-time staff.
-More use of machinery/technology.
For most jobs it is usual for the prospective employer to take up references provided by the job applicant. There are several types of references:
Testimonial: a letter, usually from a former employer or a teacher that will say very positive and kind things about the applicant.
Reference letters: requested by the prospective employer - this is the most usual type of reference.
References forms: some organisations, the Civil Service being a good example, use a structured form that asks specific questions about the applicant. These include assessment of effort and ability, and opinions about their honesty health.
Telephone references: some organisations telephone the people given as referees. The main benefit is that the recruiter can assess the tone of voice of the referee, and this can often say far more about an applicant tan a letter can.
Medical references: most employers will carry out some kind of medical check up even if it is only the completion of a form asking a few simple questions about health problems in the past.
The final stage in the process will be an interview, an - increasingly common these days - some form of test or assessment. Interviewers are arranged for almost every kind of job. The process of sifting through forms and letters and the examination of references will mean that only a few of the applicants for the job will be interviewed.
As a general rule the 'talking split' in a job interview should be around 20% for the interviewer and 80% for the interviewee. The interviewer learns far more from the applicant if he/she listens than if he/she talks! However, 'listening' is not just 'not talking' - listening is the art of conveying to the applicant that the interviewer is interested in what they are saying, together with an ability to make the occasional comment which encourages them to say a lot more.
The interview should always begin with a few friendly questions to put the candidate at ease - ones about the journey or the weather - before asking more detailed questions. Most interviewers will ask a mixture of questions. Some will be about the application form itself, e.g. asking for more details about work experience or about qualifications. It is usual to follow up with deeper questions such as how the candidate might handle a difficult situation at work.
Finally, there should be a question asking the candidate if they have any questions.
E4
Identification of the key aspects of the training and developing program of TNT and the importance of T&D to the performance of TNT and its employees
TNT is constantly looking at new training and development initiatives to ensure that their people get the best development opportunities and in turn, that customers get the best service. They have always believed that their success can be attributed to its people and culture and that through continuous commitment to ongoing training and measurement of its effectiveness, they can continue to be the brand leader in the industry.
TNT supports continuous development of all staff through investment in training, social programmes and working environment. Continuous job opportunities are provided to allow mobility of their staff within the company.
Personal Development Planning reviews are held twice a year and are used to develop an individual's potential and plan career progression.
The training operation of TNT is as follow divided:
Orientation Is based on a winning orientation program and on explaining the services TNT provides.
Operations training this are based on courier induction, shipment security, scanner operation, truck driving, fleet orientation and defensive driving.
Sales training this are based on sales induction, managing sales & people and impact.
Customer service training this is based on the customer service representative induction, I make the difference belief subject and I make the difference belief subject - phase 2.
Management & supervisory skills training this are based on the new supervisor workshop, going beyond a supervisor, outdoors developing program, recruitment interview skills workshop and the performance appraisal workshop.
Personal development training this is based on effective management time, communication skills, stress management, training skills and language courses.
Computer skills this are based on Netscape Communicator, windows, MS Words, MS Excel, MS access and MS PowerPoint.
Job knowledge this is based on a logistic overview and an introduction to logistic.
Because TNT is committed to supporting the development of their employees, top management can describe strategies that they have put in place to support the development of their employees in order to improve the organisation's performance.
The organisation makes sure that managers have the knowledge and skills they need to develop their employees.
Managers at all levels understand what they need to do to support the development of their employees.
Managers can describe specific actions that they have taken and are currently taking to support the development of their employees.
Employees can confirm that the specific strategies and actions described by top management and managers take place.
Employees of TNT believe the organisation is genuinely committed to supporting development.
At TNT the employees are encourage to improve there own and other employees performance. A way of doing this is by letting the employees give examples of how they have been encourage to improve their own performance and by letting them also give examples of how they have been encourage to improve other employee's performance.
Because of those strategies the employees can describe how their contribution to the organisation is recognised and they'll receive appropriate and constructive feedback on a timely and regular basis.
The strategies that top management of TNT have put are to ensure quality of opportunity in the development of their employees and the organisation.
Employees confirm that the specific strategies and actions described by top management and managers take place and recognise the needs of all internal and external stakeholders.
E5
Identification of any possible areas of conflict between the Human Resources functions.
The areas of the Human Resource function helps to examine the way the organisation decide on the size and structure of the workforce, it makes sure that the organisation has the right type of employees needed to make the organisation work efficiently and it makes sure that the training and development of all the employees of the organisation is vital to the competitiveness of the organisation.
The four areas of Human Resource functions are:
Planning
Recruitment
Training &Development
Performance management
Between those functions exist different types of conflicts. Here are some examples of the conflicts that those functions can have:
Recruitment vs. Training & Development
Training & Development department could have some conflict with the Recruitment department by for example; if the Recruitment department doesn't hire the necessary or the right type of employees with the intelligence that is needed to understand and follow the training courses that the Training & Development Department give.
Solution: there must be better communication and understanding between this two function to have the necessary and the right type of employees that the organisation needs for the growth and development of the organisation itself.
Recruitment vs. Planning
The Recruitment department could have some conflict with the Planning department if for example; it can happen that the Planning department suddenly realise that the organisation needs in short time some extra employees to achieve their objective of the success of their planning, for the recruitment department it will be hard to recruit the necessary employees that is needed if they don't have the right time to find and hire those employees.
Solution: the Planning department must tell the Recruitment department about the employees that are needed for the success of the organisation on time.
Training and Development vs. Performance management and Recruitment
The training and Development department can have some conflict with the Performance Management by for example: if the Performance Management in a large sized company such as TNT during the appraisals that they have made with all the employees of the company makes out that the majority of the employees all at the same time needs extra training then the Training and Development department will have a hard time to train all of them at the same time and this will make that the Training and Development department also make conflict with the Recruitment department because they will need more trainers to give the Performance Management what they're asking for.
Solution: to stop such a conflict from happening the Performance Management must held their appraisals better and on time to give the Training and Development department the time that they need to train the employees well and on time.
E6
The purpose of the performance management and description of how TNT is influenced by the different motivational theories.
a) The purpose of the performance manager
The purpose of the performance manager is to develop the organisation and employees of TNT by studying the employee's potentials and abilities.
The most important technique that the performance manager uses is to appraise the employees; this is a way to develop the skills of the employees and to develop the TNT's performance for a better future for the organisation.
He does this by first writing an appraisal reports this reports consist of:
* An examination of the strength of the employee.
* An examination of the weaknesses of the employee.
* The advice given to the employee in relation to future performance this should include: - Praise for strength
- Helpful criticisms for the weaknesses the manager has identified.
* An action plan for the next few months until the next appraisal; this will list the key objectives which the employee will be expected to have achieved by then.
Secondly the report and the objectives that where expected from the employee is discussed is discussed at an interview.
There are three different type of interview that can be held.
* The open appraisal this is where the employee can discuss the appraisal with the manager as the interview takes place.
* The two-way appraisal this is where the performance manager ask the employee to do an appraisal of himself/herself - this means that they fill in an identical form to that filled in by the performance manager - the forms are then compared and where there are clear differences there must be more discussion between them.
* 360-degree appraisal this one is sometimes called 'peer appraisal'. Here is when the employee is appraised by most of the people they deal with and at the interview is this discussed.
Another technique that the performance manager use to achieve his/her purpose is:
The performance review this technique consist of that the performance manager should every year or six month have an interview with his/her employee and review their pay. The managers must examine the individual's performance by reference to performance benchmarks (ie what the typical employee can be expected to achieve). This will then enable them to see how far above or below that benchmark an employee is performing. This then determines the pay rise the individual will get.
b) TNT's approach to performance manager
TNT performance management is CorVu, this is an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) which helps organisations reach greater levels of performance by integrating and aligning key management processes, such as strategic planning and development, risk management, corporate governance, and budgeting.
CorVu Corporation is a global provider of enterprise performance management solutions, offering information analysis capabilities that empower their customers to achieve strategic objectives and improve performance. CorVu provides comprehensive business intelligence, balanced scorecard, risk performance management, corporate governance, and budgeting solutions, which are employed by over 4,000 customers, including leading suppliers in aerospace, banking, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, manufacturing, mining, the public sector, telecommunications, and transportation.
Business intelligence Helps organizations employ strategic information assets to capitalize on market opportunity. Providing a complete business intelligence environment, CorBusiness offers graphical analytics, data mining, production and end-user reporting, executive key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards, and forecasting. Robust business intelligence options are key to a well-informed, high-performance organization. Leveraging the information from enterprise resource planning (ERP), other transactional systems, and data warehouses, CorBusiness offers analytic applications that help companies understand their business and quickly adjust strategies to ensure success. Seamlessly integrated with CorStrategy, CorBusiness offers organizations an easy growth path to world-class Enterprise Performance Management.
Balanced scorecard CorStrategy.Scorecard provides the latest innovation in scorecard automation, enabling TNT to translate their strategy into action. TNT organization is empowered to bring daily decisions in line with strategic objectives.
CorStrategy.Scorecard allows users to monitor performance by company, business unit, and department, or users can explore performance by Balanced Scorecard components such as perspectives, objectives, and owners. CorStrategy.Scorecard can visually depict how well TNT activities are aligned with strategy, enabling companies to bring in to line their budgeting and project management activities. Additionally, CorStrategy.Scorecard helps to keep users abreast of the status of all initiatives and their subordinate tasks so that they may monitor how effectively activities are being accomplished, which will lead to successful attainment of strategy.
Risk performance management Executives must effectively manage risks that may prevent the effective execution of strategy. CorStrategy.Risk allows managers to go beyond pure compliance, to focus on safeguarding company assets, enhancing shareholder value, ensuring best practices in corporate governance, and performance optimization. CorStrategy.Risk allows companies to monitor, manage and mitigate risk, ensure regulatory compliance and enforce corporate governance. As a result, risk initiatives are elevated from reactive firefighting to proactive assessment and control.
Budgeting solutions CorStrategy.Finance allows TNT to strategically align budgets and centralize the financial reporting process. Since budget managers are often dispersed throughout the organization, CorStrategy.Finance makes is easy to provide custom and secure centralized control of budget reports and scorecards in a 100% web-based environment.
c) How this approach is influenced by different motivational theory
This approach is influenced by the following different motivational theories: Theory Y of Douglas McGregor, the two-factor theory of Frederick Herzberg, equity employee, goal theory and reactance theory.
Theory Y of Douglas McGregor: The approach of the performance manager is influenced by this theory because TNT beliefs that their employees are interested in their work and want to be asked for their opinions on how to improve things. They want to be given more responsibility and will naturally work hard without having to be told what to do all the time. They are also prepare to accept change because they understand it is in everyone's best interests to move with the times.
This theory can be found on the techniques that the performance management uses, for example; appraisals:
* An examination of the strength of the employee.
* An examination of the weaknesses of the employee.
The advice given to the employee in relation to future performance this should include:
- Praise for strength
- Helpful criticisms for the weaknesses the manager has identified.
The performance manager also makes an action plan for the next few months until the next appraisal; this will list the key objectives that the employee will be expected to have achieved by then.
The employee can discuss the appraisal with the manager as an interview takes place.
The performance manager ask the employee to do an appraisal of himself/herself - this means that they fill in an identical form to that filled in by the performance manager - the forms are then compared and where there are clear differences there must be more discussion between them.
The employee is also appraised by most of the people they deal with and at the interview is this discussed.
The two-factor theory of Frederick Herzberg: The approach of the performance manager is influenced by this theory because this theory is based on two groups of factors that affect employee motivation. Both groups of factors consist of certain element that motivates the employees to work harder.
The elements of the first group are the so-called satisfiers this includes: achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and personal growth and the actual work itself.
The elements of the second group are the so called hygiene factors, the key point of this elements is that this factors do not motivate the employees to work harder, this elements includes: pay and condition, status in the organisation, job security, benefits (pensions, company, cars etc), relationship with fellow employees, the quality of the organisation's managers.
The equity theory: This influences the approach of the performance management because employees of TNT are better motivated if they feel they are fairly treated by their bosses and on a par with other employees, which is the case of the organisation TNT.
The goal theory: This influences the approach of the performance management because the managers of TNT set to their employees specific goals that motivate them effectively to do their job. If their goals are achieved they get money or a promotion
The reactance theory: This influences the approach of the performance management because the employees are motivated by what they think they have achieved.
E7
Explanation of one HRM function in depth with clear examples of how the work is carried out and how it is evaluated in terms of its contribution to the activities of TNT.
a) Development
This function is based on the following elements:
* Training
* Career planning & Career development
* Performance appraisal
Training: Designed to provide the knowledge and skills needed for a particular job.
For most people it is now assumed that they will change their jobs several times in a lifetime, often switching to completely different types of work. The significance of this is that training is much more central to peoples' lives as an ongoing process rather than just something they do at they do at the start of their careers.
Most larger organizations employ professional training programmes for employees, even in small businesses several types of training will still be necessary.
Training can be divided into two main categories: 'on the job' training or 'off the job' training.
'On the job' training means that the employee acquires their training or development in the workplace itself. The employee enjoys the direct link with their job and can see more clearly how relevant the training or development is to the performance of that job.
'Off the job' training means attending courses that may be in a college or a training centre away from the workplace, this type of training is important to an employee's career development as well as being an integral part of the training.
There are different types of training some of them are:
The induction training for new employees: Induction is the process of introducing new employees to the organisation and it's the way of life and 'culture'.
An induction program will most involve:
* A tour of the building to show newcomer all the important areas - the sick room, the canteen, the pay office, toilets, car parking, etc - and to introduce them to the important staff such as the pay and personnel clerks and the person in charge of First
Aid.
* An introduction to their new workplace - the specific office or factory area or shop department - where they will be working.
* Showing them some background detail about the organisation - mostly this is done by showing them a video.
The initial training for new employees: this is to ensure that the job is done competently and safely. All new employees must be given training immediately after the induction procedures have been carried out.
The updating training: with this training is when employees are required to learn new skills in place of skills that are becoming redundant. Most importantly of this is that there is now a 'culture' of training in which employees are increasingly expected to update knowledge and skills on a regular basis.
The multi-skilling training: this means that employees are trained to do several jobs rather than just one.
Employees gain by this because:
* An employee can do the work of somebody who is absent through illness or holidays.
* Employees are more motivated because doing several jobs is usually more interesting than doing just one; where an employee is able to do several jobs it increases their value to the organisation and makes them feel more appreciated and more secure.
* The flexibility gained from multi-skilling means that the total number of employees can be cut down.
Open training centres: Here is when the employee can study a range of topics in their free time. These can be work-linked topics such as time management or business communications or general interest topics such as 'foreign languages for holidays'. The aim is to get the employees to realise the importance of keeping up-to-date with new developments in industry and in their own particular areas of work.
Career planning & Career development: A course of action designed to enable the individual to realise his or her potential for growth in the organisation, it is also a formal approach used by the organization to ensure that people with the proper qualifications and experiences are available when needed. The employer mostly does nit just train people for now, but for the future, a good employer like TNT will has a system of identifying career potential in an employee. If there is no system to do this, the result will be that the employees stay in 'dead end' jobs, which may make them frustrated and bitter. Often they leave for a better job where their potential is more likely to be recognised. This means that the employer will lose people who could have been a very great asset to the organisation, had their potential been realised.
Several techniques can be used to help promising employees to develop their abilities and give management a better idea of exactly where the employees' future may lie:
Job rotation: giving people a range of jobs in rotation widens their experiences and increases their skills.
Job enlargement: giving people extra tasks to do gives management a better idea of the employee's true capacity, ability and stamina.
Job enrichment: adding more interesting and more difficult tasks to the job. This might be done with a person of very great potential to see how capable he or she really is.
Understudying: this means that an employee will be attached to a very senior manager to act as an assistant. This gives the employee insight into what senior managers have to do, and is often used to groom very able people to move rapidly into a top job.
Mentoring: this means that an experienced senior manager is allocated to a young employee in order to help them to structure their career development within the organisation. The mentor passes on the benefits of their experience, insight and wisdom. They will advice the young employee how to deal with a wide variety of managerial problems but hey are not there to help them to improve specific skills.
Performance appraisal: Employees and teams are evaluated to determine how well they are performing their assigned tasks. This task is carried out by the performance manager or by the job holder's superior.
The performance appraisal gives the managers the chance to reward employees and to thank them for doing a good job.
Appraisal normally takes place once or twice a year. In some organisations it happens every month every three months. The more often it is done the better.
At TNT appraisals happens every six months.
The benefits of performance appraisal for the organisation are:
* It helps employees to identify training needs.
* It may reveal other problems - for example, there may be workplace difficulties with other staff (eg it might be caused by sexual or racial harassment).
* It may untap useful new skills.
* It improves communications between employees and managers - a few words of encouragement and praise for doing a good job are often highly motivating.
* It provides disciplinary documentation - if the employer needs to dismiss somebody, the existence of through appraisal records, which identify the person's inabilities, or lack of effort will be very useful.
* It helps to fix pay rises - increasingly people get performance related pay which is based upon the appraisal interview.
For more information about the performance manager and its appraisal please see 'purpose of the performance manager' at page, 9.
