Training and Development

Severalyears ago, a plant managercontacteda consultant for assistance.The manager'sproblem seemedto be the inadequateperformance of his supervisors. A visit to the plant and discussion with several people revealed the following situation: There were six foremen on the day shift and two on the night shift. The foremen were rather young; two were nineteen, four were between twenty and twenty four. However, two were around fifty. They were quite shy-almost introverts. One had a high school education, the others had completed no more than the tenth grade. The median age of the work force was around twenty-four or twenty-five. The firm was located in a small farming community about 30 miles from a large metropolitan area. The firm had beenstarted by local people aboutthree years prior to this time, but it had gone ~ankrupt and ultimately was bought by an easternfirm and reopened a few months before the consultant's visit. The plant manager had decided that an outsider should be brought in to conduct some training on its own but had not beensuccessful. Books had beenpurchased for the foremen, but they had not readthem. The general foreman was not happy about bringing an outsider. The other foremen were neither or nor against the idea. Only two had worked as foremen before. The others had been appointed foremen within the last several months. The latter group had very little experience in working in industry as operative.,employers, much less as foremen. Somepeople use TRAINING to refer to the effort to increasethe ability of operative employees (otherwise called workers) and DEVELOPMENT to refer to increasingthe abilities of managers. Training refers to the organization's efforts to improve a person's ability to perform a job or organizational role. In the case of a new employee or an employee placed on a new job, this meansthe act of providing the person with the knowledge and skill required to perform the job. Training may involve showing a lathe operator how to produce a new part, teaching a foreman how to handle grievances from his men, or improving a plant manager's ability to negotiate a contract with the union. Each of these examples refers to a skill or ability which is related to the person's job duties, or is job-oriented. Thus, training can be thought of as job-oriented, and it should result in an observable change in the behavior of the trainee in that his ability to perform his job is increased. The attitude of the employee is also important in influencing job performance; however, this factor will not be discussedhere.

Developmentrefers to the organization's efforts (and the person'sown efforts) to increasea person'sability to advance in his organizationor to performadditionaljob duties. One reason development has been commonly used to refer to management developmentis that most managers have been in developmentprograms in preparation for high-level positions.

.Preparedby Professor ZhangYang,Collegeof InternationalIndustryand Commerce, Hohai University, Nanjing, China 178

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Development can also be thought of as increasing a person'sgeneral knowledge related to his job and his ability to adapt to change. There are some relations among training, development and education. Training is narrow in scopeand is mostly concerned with the acquisition of skills. Development is still job-related but it is much broader in scope; education involves the acquisition of knowledge of general nature. In this material, we will discuss the Training, Development and Employee in a generalized meanIng.

Human Resources Planning and Assessment of Training Needs

2.1 Human Resources Planning
Human resourcesplanning (HRP) is the process of anticipating and making provision for the movement of people into, within, and out of the organization. Its purpose is to optimize the utilization of theseresourcesand to have available the required number of people with the needed qualifications to fill position opening where and when these opening occur.

Planningis anessential process of management. Because management entailsaccomplishment results with and throughpeople,the planning processmust include the organization's human resources. HRP provides the foundation for establishingan effective human resources management (HRM) functionsbeingperformedwithin it. Severalintangible costs may result from inadequate HRP or the lack of HRP. For example, inadequate HRPresultsin vacancies remainingunseated. Theresultingloss in efficiencycanbe costly, particularlywhenleadtime is requiredto train replacements. Situationsalso may occur in which employees are being laid off in one department while applicantsare being hired for similar jobs in another department.This maycause overhiringandresultingthe needto layoff thosepersonswho were recentlyhired. Finally lack of HRPmakesit difficulty employees to make plans for effective careeror personaldevelopment. As a result, some of the more competent andambitiousonesmay seekotheremployment wheretheir career opportunities can be more clearlyidentified.
organizationsplan for their future, HR managersmust be concerned with meshing HRP withstrategic business planning. Strategic planning is the process of setting major organizationobjectives and developing comprehensiveplans to achievetheseobjectives. It involves deciding on the primary direction of the organization including its structure, process, and the interrelationship of human resources. Part of the strategicplanning processinvolves determiningif people are available, internally or externally, to implement the strategic organization plan.James Walker suggestsfive steps for integrating HRP with strategic businessplanning. Theseare:
J

1. Define the corporate philosophy. 2. Scanthe environmental conditions. 3. Evaluatethe organization's strengths andweaknesses.

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Developobjectivesand goals. 5. Developstrategies.

Two organizations, IBM and GE, have beenforerunners in human resourcesstrategic planning. At IBM, this processtakes place at three levels--plant, division, and corporate. Each year IBM's HR department develops a five-year HR strategic plan and a two-year tactical plan based on tentative business goals. These goals are formulated only after IBM conducts an internal and external analysis of the company's $trengthand weaknesses. Major business are not approved until the vice-president of HR concurs with the businessplan. In theory, HRP requires an open-systems concept that relates each HRP function with the environment. As the IBM example illustrates, the HRP process will be integrated with the strategic planning processthrough environmental scanning. This procedure is necessarybecause any strategic developed must be consistent with those environmental trends and contemporary issues that may have an impact on the organization. HRP, in turn must anticipate the possible impact of these strategic upon HRP. The growing body of employee law must be closely integrated with HRP goals and functions. Another environmental influence--demographic changesin population--also must be monitored asa part ofHRP. Suchchangescan affect the composition and the performance of organization's work force. These changes are important because EEO/ AA plans must take into account the demographic composition of the population in the areawhere the organization is located: Further more, with a "maturing" work force in somecountries, HRP must considerthe many implications of aging employees on recruitment and replacementpolicies. Other areasrequiring consideration are compensation and employee benefits, training, and flexible employment options'(part-time, flextime, job sharing, phasedretirement, etc.) HR managers employ a systematic process when undertaking HRP. The three key elements of the processare making forecasts,performing supply analysis, and balancing supply and demand considerations. Careful attention to each factor will assist either top managersor supervisors to meet their staffing requirements. Employment forecasting is a key component of HRP. It is the HR activity of estimating in advance the number and type of people needed to meet organizational objectives. When concentrating on resource needs, forecasting is primarily quantitative in nature, and in large organizations it is accomplished by highly trained specialists. Quantitative approaches to forecasting can employ sophisticatedanalytical models, although forecasting may be as informal as having one individual anticipate future HR requirements. Organizational demands will ultimately determine the technique used. However, regardless of the method employed. Forecasting should not be neglected even in relatively small organizations. Forecasting is frequently more an art than a science,providing approximations ratherthan absoluteresults. The ever changing environment in which an organization operatescontributes to this problem. For example, estimating product or service demand is a basic forecasting concern as is anticipating the changes in national economy. A hospital anticipating internal changes in technology, organization, or administration must factor these improvements into staffing needs. Likewise, forecasting efforts must be in line with the organization's financial resources.

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are two approachesto HR forecasting: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative, ortop-down, approachto forecasting involves the use of statistical or mathematical techniques. Itis the approachused by theoreticians and professional planners. One example is trend analysis, which forecasts employment requirements based upon a study of past HR growth. If, forexample, 10 new employees were hired, on average, every month for eachof the past 10 years, then 120 employees would be required for the forthcoming year. Indexation, or ratio analysis,is forecasting by determining employment growth based on some organizational index. A ratioof employees to sales is a common indexing technique. Another more sophisticated statisticalplanning method is simulation, which usescomputersto forecastfuture employment needsbased upon past patterns. The qualitative, or bottom-up, approachto forecasting is less statistical and attempts to reconcile the interests, abilities, and aspirations of individual employees with the current and futur,e staffing needsof an organization. HR practitioners experienced in training, consulting, managementdevelopment techniques use this approach. One focus of this method is an evaluation of employee performance and pro.motability, as well as managementand career development. In both large an small organizations, HR planners may rely on expert forecasts to anticipate staffing requirements. Expert forecastsare the opinions (judgments) of supervisors, department managers, or others knowledgeable about future employment needs. Two variations of this forecasting method, the Delphi Technique and the Nominal Group Technique (NGT), attempt to decreasethe subjectivity of individually based forecasts by soliciting and summarizing thejudgments of a preselectedgroup of experts. While both the Delphi techniqueand the NGT have beenused effectively to predict staffing levels, the Delphi method is more successfully used to make predictions, whereas, the NGT mainly functions to generate lists of ideas for further discussion. Ideally, HRP should include the use of both the quantitative and the 'qualitative approaches. In combination, the two approachesserve to complement each other and provide a more complete planning coverage. The contributions of both the theoreticians and the practitioners are brought together in the process. Once an organization has forecastits future requirements for employees, it must then determine if the numbers and types of employeesneededare available to staff anticipated openings. Supply analysis will encompasstwo sources--internal and external. The process normally starts with an evaluation of the existing supply of employees in the organization. If current employees are not available to fill new openings, then the enterprise will evaluate the external supply of human

resources.

An internal supply analysis may begin with the preparation of staffing tables. Staffing tables area pictorial representation of all organizational jobs along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future (monthly or yearly) employment requirements.Additionally and in conjunction with staffing tables, skills inventories are prepared on hourlyemployees that list each individual's education, past work experience, vocational interests,specific abilities and skills, compensationhistory, and job tenure. Well-prepared and up-to-dateskills inventories allow an organization to quickly match forthcoming job openings withemployee backgrounds. When data are gathered on managementemployees, these inventoriesare called management inventories. Both skills and management inventories can be used to develop employee replacementcharts. These charts list currentjobholders and identify possiblereplacemen should openings occur. Notice that thesechartsprovide information on the current

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performance and promotability of possible replacement. Replacementcharts are very usefulplanning tools for locating hard-to find employees or key managementpersonnel. When an organization lacks an internal supply of employees for promotions, or when staffing entry-level positions, it must considerthe external supply of labor. Many factors influence labor supply, including demographic changes in population, national and regional economics, educationlevel of the work force, demand for specific employee skills, population mobility, and governmentpolicies. Regional unemployment rates are often considered a general barometerof labor supply. Fortunately, labor market analysis is aided by various published documents. HRP should strive for a proper balance not only between forecasting techniques and their application, but betweenthe emphasisplaced upon demand considerations as opposedto supply considerations. Demand considerations are based upon the forecast and projection of trends in business activity. The supply consideration involve the determination of where and how candidates with the required qualifications are to be obtained to staff job vacancies. Due to the difficulty in obtaining applicants for the increasing number of jobs that require advancedtraining, this phase of planning is receiving greater attention. Greater planning effort is also needed in recruiting members of protected cJassesfor managerial jobs and technical jobs that require advancedlevels of education.

When an organization experiences a demand for workers, several staffing possibilities exist. Hiring full-time employees, recalling those laid off, using temporary employees, or having employees work overtime are options. Apple Computer, Inc., and LyphoMed, Inc. (a smallpharmaceut company), rely heavily on part-time employees to satisfy employment needs. However, when HRP shows a surplus of jobholders, organizations may use terminations, work sharing, layoffs, demotions, attritions (a gradual reduction of employees)to achieve work forcebalance. Early retirements are a viable meansto reduce excesssupply. Private organizations must consider HRP becausethey typically have to cope with a large number of internal and external variables. Government agencies,educational institutions, hospitals, and other nonprofit organizations also are concerned with HRP because they operate within establishedbudgets. Many of them also experiencelong-term, aswell as short-term, changesand fluctuations in the demand for their services. Changes and shifts in population, international tensions and conflicts, political pressures, and fluctuations in business cycle can affect the services that a public agency or institution is required to provide, as well as the budget on which it must operate. These factors in turn determine the number and types of positions that must be staffed for any particular period.

planning techniques and tools are appropriatefor use in either private-sector or public-sectororganization

2.2 The Relationship betweenTraining and Job Performance

Employee training is most frequently associatedwith human resources development (HRD). It should produce immediate changes in job performance so that supervisors and trainees themselvesare able to seethe difference betweenjob performance before and after training. Its effects are thus more immediate than development or education.
,'~

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According to Leonard Nadler (1984), "training is defined as learning related to the presentjob". It narrows the gap between what individuals know or can do and what they should know or do. As a short-term change effort for improving presentjob performance, the traditional approach to training is unlike employee education, which prepares individuals for future jobs, and employee development, which contributes to organizational learning by cultivating the collective skills of individuals in group settings.
Performance is defined as the result of a pattern of actions carried out to satisfy an objective according to some standard. It is not the same a behavior, which is observable action. Appropriate job behavior may-or may not-result in good job performance. Performance is equated with results; behavior is equated only with actions taken. Job performance c.onsists of three interrelated elements': individual (who); the activity (what); and the context (where). Individual performance is influenced by ability (what are the individual's capacities to perform?) and motivation (how much does the person feel inclined to perform?). To improve job performance, change must occur for the individual, the activity, the context, or some combination of the three. Training can improve job performance by improving individual abilities, stimulating motivation, matching individual ability to activity requirements, and/or matching the individual to contextual requirements. However, it cannot change job activities or work context. It changes individuals by furnishing them with new knowledge and skills pertaining to the work.

Training contributes to the realization of organizational strategy for HRD, HRP, and strategic business plans. To formulate organizational strategy for HRD, managersand employees must have a firm grasp of present strengths and weaknessesin job performance. The re.ason is thatplanning should begin with information about present conditions. Training needs assessmentprovides detailed information about present conditions. One way to narrow a gap between present labor supply and future labor demand is to improve the present productivity of job incumbents. In this sense, then, training helps implement HR plans by improving the productivity of people already employed in the firm. In short, training makes better use of existing employee talent. Training contributes to the realization of strategic businessplans intwo ways. First, it furnishes people involved in formulating plans with skills necessaryto do it. Second, it provides new knowledge and skills to employees at eachorganizational level, so they can go about their jobs in ways leading to the realization of long-term plans.

2.3 Problems with the Traditional Model of Training

The model of training design and delivery described in many books about HR management assumes that job performance is always improved by analyzing how a job is presently beingperformed, assessinghow well individuals are carrying out the job, and designing instruction to encourageindividuals to conform to presentways of performing the job. The assumption is that individuals must perform in ways consistent with traditional practices and historical jobrequiremen In this sense,training thus serves as a maintenance system. It preserves all existing system by teaching people how to conform to policies, procedures,methods, and rules. At best, it fosters consistency by obtaining uniform behavior regarding policies and procedures intended to formalize or institutionalize all aspectsof organizational behavior. In many cases,of course, that is true.

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On the other hand, there are caseswhen training should help anticipate future job requirements utterly unlike those that have existed in the past. Instead of narrowing gaps between actual and desired job performance at present, the focus should be on gaps between present or actual performance, and future or desired performance. Sometimes, an organization seeks new ways to do things: new approachesand innovative structures and ideas. It requires system change as well as individual change. When used in this way, training becomes an adaptive system. It tends to achieveenvironmental constancy by bring the external world under control. Instead of bring individual performance into compliance with organizational policies, procedures, work methods, and cultural requirements, training becomes a vehicle for anticipating future environmental requirements. As environmental conditions change, the organization and individual gradually learn how to behavior so as to meet new requirements created by those changing conditions.

2.4 Strategic Training

Strategic training prepares employees for changes in job requirements wrought by externalenvironmen conditions or by organizational policies, procedures,plans, or work methods. Itis based on predictions of future job requirementsstemming from strategic necessity. Strategictraining requires HRD practitioners and managers to envision what future job performance should be under future conditions and prepare people for those conditions. In this sense,then,training is a method of changing the "organizational paradigm", the culture or metarules governing behavior in the firm. It is a vehicle for realizing a vision of what individualperformance should be under relatively uncertain future conditions. Hence, strategic training is a tool for organizational and individual transformation, renewal, and creativity. Its focus is onworking smart, not on working hard. '., Much like its traditional counterpart, strategic training contributes to formulating and implementing organizational strategyfor HRD, HRP, and strategic businessplanning. However, strategic training is useful in ways different from its traditional counterpart. T0 formulate organizational strategy for HRD, managersand employeesmust envision the future. What are job conditions going to be in one year, two years, five years, and as business plans change? If people anticipate the future, they positioned to take advantageof opportunities and advert threats posed by the changes it brings. This principle applies as much to individuals in their jobs as it applies to organizations in their interactions with the external environment. To formulate organizational strategy for HRD, managersand employees need training to envisionthe future and plan in anticipation of it. Since future conditions are not fixed, like the past, envisioning them is a higWy creative and subjective process. Future training needsare identified in the context of a vision of what future job requirements will be or should be. Implementing organizational strategy for HRD is also highly creative and subjective. Since the future may not unfold as expected, HRD practitioners must plan for contingencies to cope with otherwise unexpected probiems. To plan for contingencies, both HRD practitioners and operating managers may need instruction in the principles of contingency planning. To narrow the gap between presentlabor supply and future demand, managerscan do more than just make betteruse of available supply. They can also changethe allocation of work, which may affect the numbers and skills of people needed in the future; automate; and change the kind of

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recruited into the firm. There are other st~ategies too: reduce turnover and absenteeism;change the distribution of full-time and part-time employees; and introduce innovative practiceslike job sharing or flexible work hours. Any of these strategies will, of course, influence jobtraining needs. In fact, HRD practitioners and managers may need to predict the likely futureeffects of each change, so as to anticipate future training needs. Strategic training is necessaryto avert future shortfalls in the supplies of skilled people. Examining past requirements orprojecting past needs into the future are equally inadequate for this purpose. Implementation of HR plans calls for action on several fronts at once: recruitment of skills from outside theorganization; contracting for skills on a short-term basis; and training employees for skills theywill need to implement strategic businessplans. Strategic training contributes to strategic businessplanning in two ways. First it furnishes new,perhaps better, methods of doing work. Second, it prepares employees at each organizational level to carry out their jobs in ways consistent with future job requirements. The process offormulating strategic training may reveal issues appropriate for consideration in formulatingbusiness strategy. The process of implementing strategic training may also produce new information of value in subsequentorganizational strategy-making.

Techniques of Personnel Selection

SelectionProcess

Infonnation is very important in the processof personnel selection. A prerequisite for accurate selection is a precise detennination of the skills, abilities, aptitudes, etc., needed by a person tobe successful on the job. Many problems are associatedwith the qualifications necessary;one problem is defining successon the job. Successon a job may be the result of several factors. Different people may be equally successful on the job but may vary considerably in theirqualifications For example, two secretariesmay have the sametotal output per day, but one mayachieve this through a combination of extremely accurate, but slow work, whereasthe other maybe extremely fast, but inaccurate. Another example would be two salesmenwith identical total sales. One salesman may succeedowing to his personality and aggressivesalespitch, whereasthe other may carefully select his customers, develop his presentations,and be persistent. The per.son responsible for selection needsto know not only the attributes required for a job but also how to measurethem. Some attributes are necessaryfor somejobs but only desirable for others.The personrequesting a new employee should indicate, if such infonnation is not available fromthe job description, which attributes or skills are essential and which are a plus factor. In some cases,the absenceof some certain qualifications or the presence of certainnegative factors would disqualify a person for job. For example, the lack of a driver's license would cause a person applying for the job of taxi driver to be rejected. Color blindness or loss of hearing would be anegative factor in many instances. The degree of accuracy in selecting employees who are successful on the job can never be any greater than the degree of accuracy in describing the attributes and skills needed for the jobholders. Another factor to consider is the trade-off between training and ability. If an organization is trying to hire a person with certain skills and is having difficulty in finding such a person, it might consider the comparative costs of recruiting and selecting a completely qualified person, 185

people 3. 3.1

training a present employee, and of hiring a person with the necessaryaptitude and training him for the job. The effect of a wrong selection decision should be considered in determining how detailed or elaboratethe selectionprocessshould be for eachtype of position. The two maintypes of mistakes made in selection decisions are false positive and false negative. A false positive error occurs when the persondoing the selectionpredicts an applicant will be successful on the job, and he is not. A false negative error occurs when it is predicted wrongly that an applicant would not have beensuccessful. In the selection of an astronaut or airline pilot a false positive error might be quite costly. A false negative error might result in the loss of a potentially successful employee. The number of applicants in relation to the number of persons neededto be hired is known as the selection ratio. The selection ratio can be expressedas 10 to 1 or as 10 percent; both refer to ten times as many applicants as employeesneeded. The greaterthe number of applicants with respectto neededemployees,the greaterthe probability of finding a qualifies person. The term "base rate" refers to the degree to which the skills or attributes wanted are found in the generalpopulation. The lower the baserate, the snore difficulty it becomesto attract applicants with the desired qualifications, and more care should be devoted to the selection of recruiting methods. Here is an example of steps in the selection process. The West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (W estvaco) has an unusually effective recruiting and selection procedure for its marketing trainees. It has achieved an acceptancerate of 80 percentand a first-year turnover rate of only 7 percent. Westvaco concentrateson recruiting dischargedjunior officers of the Armed Forces and young second job seekers. Nearly all its applicants are referred to it by selected employment agencies across the county. These agencies refer only the top Y2percent of their clients, after an extensive prescreeningprocess. Westvaco used a multi-interview technique to assess the candidates'traits and abilities and whether or not their goalswould be compatible with the company'sprogram. The personnel departmentconducts the first interview, in which it filters out some applicants and determines whether the remaining applicants have the necessary qualifications for a marketing trainee. Only one out of five is sent to the next step. The marketing personnel development department evaluatesthe applicants and passesthem on for evaluation by representativesof sales,marketing research,etc.. There applicants are given tests and interviews by a testing organization. This last step is a final check before the applicant is offered a job, and as noted before, 80 percent accept. The selection process can be thought of as a series of steps or stagesduring which additional information is secured about the applicants. At each stage, information may be revealed which will cause the applicants to be rejected--a procedure whic4 may be compared to a series of successivebarriers which the applicant must pass. This procedure is designed to eliminate the unqualified at any point in the process,thus saving the cost of sending an applicant through all the steps. However, some firms use a different procedure--a multiple correlation process. In these firms, an applicant goes through all the steps. The hiring decision based on information gathered during the entire process. In a newsletter, the Klieg Institute for Aptitude testing states that its experience over twenty-seven years and thousands of clients suggests that most poor hiring decisions are the result of inadequateinformation. The Institute suggeststhe following total assessment program:

A realistic analysisof the requirements of the job to be done.

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of

3. 4. 5. 6.

A sound application blank-- fact- finder which help you to learn aboutthe man's background and life history. A well-conducted interview--explore the facts and get at the attitudes of the man, and of his family, toward the job and the company. A reference check-.;.how do previous employers feel aboutthe man? Above all, would they rehire him? A physical examination--health and stamina are vital factors in success. Psychological aptitude testing--to explore the subsurfaceareaand get an objective look at a man's suitability for the job.

to the report of the Bureau of National Affairs of United States,there are six steps ina typical selectionprocedure: preliminary screening;application blank; interviewing and testing;reference check; employment decision; and a physical examination. .Step 1: Preliminary Screening. This can often be done by the receptionist or secretary in the personnel department in large organizations. Preliminary screening essentially consists of informing applicants, frequently drop-ins or persons coming to the organization on their own initiative, what kinds positions are open, if any. Usually the personwill ask a few questions of the applicant, about the type of work experiencehe has had and the kind of job he is seeking. In large organizations, preliminary screening may include having the applicant fill out a brief application form and assigning him to the propriety interviewer. Step2: Application Blank and Other Biographical Data Forms. The application blank or form usually requires the applicant to provide data about his background, work experiences,personal and employer references,and other similar data. Some companies analyzed the infotnlation on the application blank and determined statistically its relation to later success on the job. The answers are weighted according to their relationship to job success. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT & T) analyzed the records of some 17,000college graduatesit had hired and found that successas measuredby the level of salary obtained could best be predicted by the applicant's rank in his college class with some adjustment necessary for the quality of college attended. Scott and Johnson found that the weighted application blank proved just as effective as,and much simpler than, a multiple-regression technique for weighted-item responses for selecting unskilled workers who would remain on the job for a long time. Convenience to work and 'family responsibility accounted for most of the variance in the criterion of tenure Various researchershave tried several methods of using biographical data in predicting job success. Marshall Brenner selected 100 employees of Lockheed California who had been employed at least two years, had begun work with the company within one year of graduation from high school, and had attended a Los Angeles high school at least two years. High school teachers were requested to fill out a questionnaire about their former students. The ratings obtained from these teachers were compared with supervisors' ratings of the employees' performance on the job. The correlations were significant and the relations were better than those obtained using aptitude tests. Absenteeism on the job was found to be significantly related to absenteeismin high school. The teacherswere able to make discrimination of work habits and cooperative behavior which proved highly predictive of later on-the-job behavior.

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2. According

Background data have been used to predict success for salesmenand executives. Bichs and Williams investigated the predictive ability of background data and found that financial responsibility, early family responsibi.lity, and stability were useful predictors of sales success. This was true not only of salesmenbut also of district managers. The relation of the factors and salesperformance tended to be linear; i.e., low scores on the three factors were associatedwith low sales performance, and high scores usually meant high performance. Another studycompared the ability of personal data and objective test scores to predict the successof youngexecutives Education was the only variable, among thirty-one tested in this study, with sufficiently high correlation to help predict success. When one considers the number of items of biographical data which would be used and the number of possible combinations of this items, it is soon apparent that it becomes too time-consuming to perform any meaningful analysis by hand methods even when using calculators. It was only natural, therefore, to expect that someonewould turn to the computer for aid. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of USA did this. In an attempt to identify and determine the predictive ability of biographical data, some of its researchersselected 1,525 life insurance salesmenwho had completed at least one year with the company during 1963. Form application blanks, data were recorded for the factors of age, prior weekly salary, sales experience, marital status, number of dependents,and education. Each factors was divided into single, married and others. There are twenty-six intervals in all for the six factors or variables. A computer program was used to examine all possible combinations of these twenty-six intervals. The various combinations were ranked or reported in the order in which they accounted for the difference in salesproduction (first year salesof insurance). Prior income was reported asthe most important variable; next was the number of dependents.Thesetwo variables accounted for nearly all the explicable variance in sales. By simply separatingthe applicants intothose with prior weekly income above and below $90, the result is two groups with a difference of $46,000 in average salesproduction. The difference between the lowest group (prior salary less than $90) and the highest group ($130 or more prior salary and three or more dependents) is over $100,000 in sales per year.

Another method of using biographical data is the biographical information bank, also known as a personal information bank, or life history antecedent questionnaire. The biographical information bank consists of a series of statistically weighted questions about the applicant'sbackgroun These blanks are usually developed and validated by a trained psychologist, but they can be scored and interpreted in the samemanneras most objective tests. Thesebanks have been found to be the best single predictor of successby a number of companies. Standard Oilof Indiana of USA is reported to have dropped its testing in favor of banks for some of itspositions.

Step3: Interviewing and Testing. The next step in the selection process is usually an interview by some one in the personnel department (in those organizations with personnel department). This interview is then usually followed by a test or battery of tests, however, in some organizations the testing comes prior to the interview. The applicant m~y be sent to the department or unit in which he will work for interviews by the department managerand perhaps others. The topics of testing and interviewing are mentioned here only to indicate their place in the selection procedure.

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Step4: Reference Checks. A survey by the Bureau of National Affairs of USA revealed that 93 percent of large and 87 percentof small companies check previous employment records, and 41 percentof large and 38 percentof small checkpersonaland/or credit references. A telephone call is much quicker than a letter and usually yields better information. Instead of calling the personnel departmentof the former employer, some firms call the applicant's former supervisor; the experiencesof these firms indicate that this method yields more reliable information. Some organizations have stopped trying to check reference themselves, preferring to have a full background investigation made by a firm which specializes in this work. The validity of recommendations of former employers has been the subject of at least two published studies. The first showed that an "employment recommendation questionnaire" was of little value in predicting the performance ratings which the applicants would receive on their new job. In another study conducted ten years later, ratings by former employers or other references of new teachers were correlated with their end-of-year ratings by their new principals. The results showed very little correlation; in fact, compared with reference ratings, years of teaching experience were as good an indicator, if not a better one, in predicting end-of-year evaluations. A story on the Wall Street Journal reported the problems somefirms were having in checking thereferences of applicants. A college official was quoted as saying that the college received calls frequently from employers inquiring about an applicant's college record. In many cases,it was discovered the applicant lied about his college work. The story is told about one quite cleverperson. On his application he list a B. S. from MIT and a Ph.D. from Yale. The Boston electronic firm where he had applied for work check his referencesand found them correct--or so they thought. Later on he was considered for promotion and had to have a security clearance. A federal investigator turned up the fact that he had never attendedYale. He had simply searchedthe rosters of schools until he found Ph.D. graduate with his own name. "

employers have turned to the use of polygraph examinations as a means of trying verifybackground data. Many people oppose its use, as all unions do, and severalstateshave outlawedits use in private industry. Some employ~rs report their turnover and internal theft losses have been reduced since they started using the polygram as a screening device. Some personneldirectors use polygraph tests as a means of speeding up the employment decision. Afterpreliminary screeningand interviewing, if the personnel director thinks he will offer the applicanta position, he tells the applicant that he is being strongly considered for a job and the only thinglacking is a check of his references. The applicant then is given a choice: either to take a polygraph examination and, if no problems arise, come to work next day, or to wait for one weekwhile the firm check references through telephone calls and.letters. About 99 percent of the applicants volunteer to take the polygraph examination. Another personnel director thinks thatusing the polygraph examination in lieu of reference check gives him a better chance of hiring an applicant. His reasoning is that by using the polygraph examination instead of reference check, he can offer an applicant a job before he leavesthe firm. In a tight labor market, ifhe has to wait several days while referencesare checked, the applicant may be offered a job by another

firm.
Step5: Employment Decision. After information has been gathered abo.utapplicant, someone must evaluate it and make the final decision to accept or reject him. This decision is normallymade by the supervisor for whom the applicant will work; this is especially true for higher-leveljobs orjobs calling for unskilled workers. In some organizations, the personnel department may

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screenout applicants who it thinks will not fit the job, and send the two or three best applicantsto the supervisor. .Another method is for the personneldepartmentto sendall seemingly qualified applicants to the supervisor, who then hires the first one he likes. The applicant should be told when the decision will be made and should be informed promptly of the decision, whether favorable or unfavorable. He should not be told "Don't call us, we'll call you" if no job openingexists or if he is not really being considered for the job. Step6: Physical Examinatio.n. Physical examinations arerequired by most firms. The two main reasonsfor the physical are to seewhether the employee is physically able to perform the job andto discover existing disabilities to avoid being liable for unfounded compensation claims later. The cost factor usually is what causesorganizations to wait until the applicant is hired before sending him to take a physical exam (i.e., why pay for a physical examination of someone youdo not hire?). The thoroughness of the examination may vary with the demands of the job.Applicants for certain jobs should be tested for color blindness, visual acuity, or hearing.

3.2 Selectionby Computers

One of the earliest reported attempts to use the computer in personnel selection was made by International Business Machines corporation (IBM) in 1959. Personneldata from 300 company offices were stored in a data bank set up at the Annonk Location. Years later there was a story about the company's new "Recruitment Information System" (IRIS for IBM's Recruitment Information System). The system used a 1410 computer, and one of its key points was atwelve-pag Data-Perk questionnaire usedto gatherthe data for a skills inventory. The companywas trying out the system on itself first, although it was also talking to other companies about itsuse. '., In later 1969, at least 150 personnel agencies, members of National Personnel Associates of I;SA, were hooked by telephone into a data bank in Detroit of USA. The databank was Ov.11ed by Employment System, Inc., who also leased it to many other clients. Other agencies have specialized in a particular type of client, e.g., Re-Con System, Inc., which is oriented to college students. Computerized Employment Center, Inc. of USA, advertises itself as a clearing house for qualified personnel. The service is by subscription on the part of the employers, who fill out a job order whenever they are in need of an applicant. The job order is matched against applicants' resumes in the agency's computer; any personnel profile which matches the order is sent to the employer, who then contacts the applicant. Computerized Employment Center also maintains a data bank of vacancies which have beenlisted by employers. When an applicant first sendsin his resume, it is matched againstthis list. In the event a match occurs, the employer with the vacancy is sentthe resume of the applicant. The firm claim that it is a pioneer in developing a 100 percent computerized matching program which requires no counselors. in an ad in one of the local newspapers,the firm listed some of the vacancies in its client firms. The list ranged from a clerk typist at 8 salary of "to $350" to several engineering jobs, two of which showed salariesof$25,000. Another firm usescomputers, but it also usescounselors in its process. The f rm, managementRecruiters, Inc., is one of over ninety personnel agenciesin"the United States of America specializing in recruiting EDP sales and technical personnel. The agencies have accessto an IBM 360 computer with over 50,000 profiles of men throughout the country in its data bank. Several large business firms have their own internal data bank.

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are several state employment services systems in the United States of America. The Baltimore branch of the Maryland State Employment Service was the first large test caseof the use of computers by state employment service in. The test was pronounced a success in 1969 after a year's trial. The main feature of the system was a daily computer printout (around 400 pages)listing from 9,000 to 13,000jobs in the Baltimore area. This printout or "job book" was available eachmorning at some seventeenbranch offices where sometwo hundred interviewers and supervisors used it in counseling job seekers. It was estimated that 75 percent of the area employers with twenty-five or more employeesusedthe service. The firms would have to supply 30 to 40 bits of data about eachjob, suchas pay, experiencerequired, skills needed,and whether union membership was required. The test was partially subsidized by the Labor Department, whose officials stated that the job book was very helpful in securing jobs for the .culturally disadvantaged applicant. the Labor Department also started a fully automated system on a statewid,e basi~ in Utah in January 1969. The Secretaryof labor of United Statesannouncedlate in 1969 that the Department planned to have job bank systems in fifty-five cities by the middle of the following year and pannedto convert them to a fully automated systemas soonaspossible. Another example of the use of the computer, unrelated to state employment agencies is that of the Governor of Oklahoma. He used the computer to printer out the names of those graduates from the state'suniversities who had takenjobs out of the state but were willing to return if they could find the right job. These printouts, arranged by job categories, were provided to perspective employers or firms who were thinking of moving into the state. The program was aptly titled "Bring Back Our Oakies".

Although many people have praised the computer as an aid in selecting employees, there arenumerous critics with very good questions about the whole process. in a speech before the twentieth annual winter meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association, Prazier Kellogg discussed some of the problems involved. One of the most important is the determinationof the information content in the system. For example, there is a problem not onlydescribing skills but also of indicating how relevant theseskills are. A common setof descriptors may not be available until after a systemhas beenin operation for sometime. Kellogg illustrates another problem by describing a training program for disadvantages youths in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The youths were trained for jobs in the food service industry, ranging from kitchen helper to first cook. The youths expectedto start lower than the job as first cook, but they were impressedby promotion possibilities. However, it appearedthat rapid promotion was possible only by moving from one firm to another rather than within one firm. Thus, some employers might feel that being a part of a computerizedjob-matching system might lead to a loss of their valued employees. Some private employment agencies have examined the pros and cons of the computer and have turned it down. Common complains are that it costsmore money than it is worth and it is too difficulty to control errors in input. Another complain is that the systemshave been designed by people expert in the ways of the computer but not in the ways of recruiting and selecting employees. A Baltimore employer states that he used the state employment service's job bank, but he has better results from the classified ads. Some employers complain of the lack of the personal touch which they formerly had when they discussed their needs with people whom they knew in the agency. The first,!eport on the Utah system stated it was not as reliable as a goo(l interviewer in matching jobs and applicants. Despite all the problems and criticism, it is probable that continued efforts will be made to use the computer's tremendous ability to store and manipulate data to help in the recruitment and selection of employees.

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3.3 Evaluation of SelectionMethods

A few large companies have been engaged in long-term researchprogram aimed at improving the ability to select personnel--usually managers. Among this group are such firms as Sears, Roebuck and Company, Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), General Electric Company, and American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Most of theseprograms are related to the ability of teststo predict success. However, someof their research relates to other topics. For example, AT&T learned through a long-term study of managersthat the first job a college graduate has with the company will have a lasting effect. If the graduatehas a challenging job as his first one, he is likely to show a high level of performance later, evenifhe is on a dull job. The reversewas also shownto true. Other findings indicated that a definition correlation existed betweenthe rank in college class and the rank in salary bracket had beenin the top third of their college class. also, a graduate in the lower third of his class was twice as likely to be in the lower third of the salary bracket as those in the top of the class. Some studies at General Electric Company indicate that many who become successful in managementdo not begin to show much promise until they are in their thirties. This finding and the one about the influence of a person's first job suggestthat the prediction of managerial successmay be quite complicated and frustrating. Consider, for example, the researcherwho is trying to validate a test he has developed to identify applicants who will be successfulmanagers. What might one expectfind if some of his experimental group were assigned first jobs which were dull and if some were "later bloomers"? Many managersassumethat if a college studentworks for an organization as a summer intern, the opportunity to observe him at work will be valuable in later deciding whether to offer him permanentemployment. This assumptionwas tested by Tosi and Starr, who concluded that the opportunity to observe the person as a summer intern provided no increase effectiveness in selection, using the level later attained by the applicant in the organization as the criterion of success. Korman reviewed the literature on predicting managerial successand concluded that objective personality inventories have not shown much validity in predicting success, with a possible exception of a protective measure of managerial motivation which was developed by John D. Miner. Another conclusion was that personal history data can aid in the prediction of successfor first-line supervisors. Although much is known about some selectionproceduresand extensive researchhas beendone, much remains to be learned. Any organization which must hire very many employees eachyear should consider taking a look at their selectionproceduresto seewhether they are helping select the most qualified applicants. One of the first items the organization should evaluateis its application bank. What information is obtained by the bank, and is this information helpful in forming a opinion about the applicant? A more basic question is to determine how interviewers (or the person who makes the hiring decision) decided to acceptor reject an applicant. Do they basetheir decision mainly on positive items (skills, experience, etc.), or on negative items (subject to draft, has never worked on the

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specific job, has moved from job to job frequently, etc.)? Is this information obtained efficiently and in sufficient quantity? If the fiml check references,is it by telephone or by letter? Have these references been useful? If preliminary interviews are not used, would their use reduce the number of obviously nonqualified persons who fill out the longer application bank, take tests, and Waste the interviewers time? How many applicants were rejected at each stepof the selective process,and how does this compare with the previous year?

Perhapsthe best evaluation method would involve requesting the person who makes the hiring decisionto make some sort of prediction about the applicant's successon the job. The decision maker could record his prediction (and the reasons for it) for each applicant he hires orrecommend for hire, and later compare it with actual results.

Personnel Achievement Evaluation

Why Evaluate PersonnelAchievement?
Why, in view of the many problems suggested, should one attempt to design, install, and administer a performance evaluation plan (personnel achievement evaluation plan)? This question brings us face to face with the question of whether or not to have performance evaluation in the first place. It seems that managers do evaluate whether or not, they have adequateevaluation plans to guide them. Since evaluations are made anyway, the only question is whether or not there should be a formal, systematized plan to replace the existing plan. What are the objectives of employee perfonnance evaluation? It is easyfor managers,especially personnel managers, to become intrigued with all the various system of evaluation and completely forget the goals or objectives to which the various programs and systemsare related. Each job should be clearly related to the objectives of the organization. The objective for each job is found stated in writtenjob description, and thejob's relation to the large organizational unit of which it is a part will often be clearly stated in the description. A specific job, however, may be merely one step in the career ladder of jobs of an employee, and an employee's perfonnance of particular job may be nothing more than one step in an employee development process that will lead the employee to some higher-level job in the career ladder. Thus, employee perfonnance evaluation may be considered in the light of two important objectives--the development of employees and the reward of employee productivity. The development of the employee's ability to perfonn some future job as well as improvement of his ability to perfonn his present job is a second objective for employee evaluation program. The objective of rewarding employees in relation to their productivity on their present job is also a sound objective.

The kinds of rewardsimportantto one personmaybe unimportant to another. If managers areto exercisesome influence upon the job behavior of employeesand thus stimulate highproductivit they mustunderstand the needsof their employees.It is the unfulfilled needthat

4. 4.1 193

motivates. For example, the possibility of receiving an additional small increment of money may be of considerable value to a man who has little economic wealth. To another, whose economic wealth is great, an additional increment of money may serve no economic need whatsoever; however, an additional increment may be important to him in term of its value in relation to his recognition and statusneeds. Money, as a common denominate, may serve many needs,and of coUrsepay has a major impact upon industrial behavior. On the other hand, a man who wants responsibility, rather than pay, might actually be offended by an increase in monetary rewards. This would be the case, perhaps, if he actually wanted more power and responsibility and received money instead. This example and the one above illustrate the importance of understanding employee needs and the importance of relating rewards to employees' needs as well as to the objectives of the job. One of the greatestvalues to be derived from a performance evaluation program is the benefit flowing from a clarification to all employees of organization objectives. When objectives are clear and accepted,and when rewards are related to both the needs of employees and organization objectives, then a climate for high employee motivation

exists.
At the beginning of the perfonnance rating period the objectives of eachemployee'sjob should be assessedin a systematic manner and written down for all to see. Those who will be conducting the appraisals should then counsel, coach, and assistthe employee tn accomplishing his own personal objectives as well as the job objectives which must be related to the organization's objectives. This means that employee perfonnance evaluations must be a continuous process. Fonnal evaluations may be held at periodic intervals in order that some control may be establishedto ensure against failure of supervisors to evaluate at all. However, effective evaluation is more like good coaching, and the coach does not wait until the same is over to give counsel. He gives counsel whenever it is needed. Motivated behavior is goal-directed behavior; therefore, perfonnance goals must be constantly in view of the employee, and timely feedback to the employee about how well he is doing must be given so that he is continually challenged to meet perfonnance standards. This means that perfonnance standards must be correct and visible, and that perfonnance results must be compared with par, whatever par may happento be. Preferably, the employee will receive infonnation and do whatever he can to improve his own perfonnance. Preferably a climate will be developed so that the supervisor's role will be supportive ratherthan threatening. Obviously, sound selection decision must precede perfonnance evaluation. A man who lacks requisite abilities cannot perfonn regardlessof how god the environment may be. Performance evaluations can be used for employee improvement. Few organizations have attempted to assessthe man requirements of various jobs that make up specific career ladders. Until this has been done, employee performance for improvement of employees, in terms of demands of future jobs, can be little more than a short in the dark. For example, experience in the performance of a supervisory job may have little relevance to future performance on a high-level job requiring much in the way of information handling though little in regard to the supervision of others. Employee evaluation for purposes of the improvement of the employee implies knowledge not only of the man requirements.of jobs but also of the prQcessby which manpower may be developed. If these ingredients are lacking, then the evaluation process can be a travesty, a process that createsmore problems than it will solve. Unfortunately, this often happens, and this why most managers are unhappy with traditional employee evaluation processes. For example, suppose that a particular job in the international division of a

194

corporation requires an incumbent who can speak the language of the natives of the foreign country in question. Furthemlore, assumethat a positive attitude toward a particular race is an absolute requirement for effective job perfomlance in thatcountry. Placing a particular employee on ajob in the country in question and on ajob that requires him to speakthe foreign language of the country to which he is assigned may be an appropriate development process in temls of the acquisition of language skills. In temls of attitudinal change, another process might be far more effective. For example, sensitivity training, in a laboratory setting, or some process other than job oriented training might more effective for purposes of attitude change. Perfomlance evaluations may contribute to employee development; however, this process is no panaceafor all ills. Attitudes held by employees cannotbe changedeasily, and if an employee does not want to change his attitudes, then the tusk of changing them becomes almost insurmountable. In summary, then, a great deal of thought needs to be given to the objectives of performance evaluation in terms of its relation to employee development. The performance appraisal process is just not suitable for all manpower development objectives. Properly used, the process is valuable for the transmission of information about presentand future jobs, and the development of certain skills can be induced without too much difficulty if the employee has ability. Processes of attitudinal change, however, will probably have to take place of the job in most instances, unless the change process is directed by those at the highest level of the organization. Organizations may have to be changed first before employee attitudes can be changedand newly acquired attitudes must be supported; otherwise they will not become permanent.

4.2 EmployeePerformance Evaluation

Perfomlance evaluation, simply defined, is the process by which attemptsto detemll'fle how well an employee hasperfomled what managementhas asked him to do. Infomlation collected by the perfomlance evaluation process may influence the following decisions: discharge, demotion, transfer, promotion, pay, training and development, and other related personnel decisions. The vital importance of these decisions to the welfare of both employee and organization demands that an evaluation process be created that will produce valid and reliable infomlation for decision-making purposes. An example drawn from an arbitration case will illustrate the importance of the evaluation process.A motor freight organization negotiated a contract with a white-collar union. An unusual clause in the contract granted a senior employee the right to be "bumped upward" in the event that his job should be eliminated by technological change. A job was eliminated, and a fifty-five-year-old woman with ten years' seniority who had been performing the abolished job demandedthat shebe placed on a higher-rated job titled cashier. Previously, for some ten years, she had been a switchboard operator. The contract also specified that an employee bump into a pigher-rated job would be given a thirty-day trial period, under proper supervision. If, however, performance was completely unsatisfactory sevendays after bumping, the contract specified that the company could transfer the employee to another job. Seven days after bumping into the higher-rated job, the elderly employee was transferred to the night shift on the grounds that she was not competent to perform the duties of the job titled cashier and no other job for which she was qualified existed on the day shift. She promptly filed a grievance which the company and union could not settle, and the issue was eventually submitted by the parties to an arbitrator. A hearing was held in a downtown motel. The terminal manager, assistantterminal manager, and

195

manager representedthe company at the hearing. The employee with the grievancewas also at the hearing. The presidentof the local union and the international representative from union headquartersrepresentedthe union. The arbitration hearing begin at 8 A.M. and lasted until 5 P.M. of the same day. The company contended that the job of cashierwas not actually a higher-rated job than the job eliminated even though the salary rate for the job of cashierwas higher than that of the switchboard job which had beeneliminated. In supporting this view, the companycomparedthe responsibility, skill, working conditions, and educational requirements of the two jobs. The company also contended that the performance of the elderly woman on the job of cashierwas completely unsatisfactory during the seven-dayperiod. The union's position was that none of the jobs of the organization had ever been evaluated by the company; that the responsibility demands of the cashier job made it higher-rated job of switch-board operator; that the company had never establishedperformance standardsfor the job of cashier; that the performance appraisal conducted after seven-dayperiod was arbitrary and capricious; and that proper supervision had not been given to the employee on her new job. This position.was supported by the arbitrator, who directed that the employee be reinstated to the job of cashier and given a thirty-day trial under proper supervision.
This example illustrates both the problem of job evaluation and the problem of employee evaluation. Was the eliminated job of higher value than the job of cashier? Was the employee's performance "completely unsatisfactory" on the cashier's job? In either case value judgments are involved. To judge means to apply a set of values, and value judgments without clear, sharp, and public standards are irrational and arbitrary. They corrupt both the judge and the judged. Valuejudgments made without standards will often be held by arbitrators to be arbitrary and capricious.

Performance evaluation is an attempt to appraise how well an employee does what he has been asked to do. This statementof course implies that managementhas properly designed, properlydcfined, and properly describedthe job and has properly supervisedthe employee. It also implies that management has established performance objectives, performance standards, and a systematic and rational process for collecting information about employee performance for some given period of time. Peter Drucker states,"No matter how 'scientific', no matter even how manyinsights it produces, an appraisal that focus on 'potential', on 'promise'--on anything that is not proven and provable performance--is an abuse". The duties and responsibilities of an employeeare found in his job description.
In practice, one of the most serious errors occurring in the process of employee evaluation (performance evaluation) is the failure of managers to distinguish clearly in advance of the appraisal between the process of job evaluation and the process of employee performance evaluation. Under a properly administrated employee performance appraisal program an employee performing the job of custodian should have the opportunity to score as high on a rating scale as an employee performing the job of comptroller. Ifa custodian's performance is superb, then he should receive a maximum rating (100 percent). In practice, employee performance ratings often seem to correlate highly withjob value ratings. This syggests that those conducting the ratings may actually be rating the value of the job rather than rating how well employees have actually performed the job to which they have been assigned. Thus, in our discussion, we will turn to job evaluation.

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4.3 Job Evaluation

Job evaluation is the process by which jobs in an organization are appraised. Simply stated,then, when we evaluatedjobs, we are assessingthe relative worth of a given collection of duties and responsibilities to the organization. We perform this process becausefailure to do so impedes management's attempt to maintain high level of employee productivity and high levels of employee satisfaction. If job values have not been systematically studied, very likely jobs are not properly priced. High-valued jobs may be receiving less pay than low-valued jobs. When employee feel that this is happening, they become dissatisfied. They may leave the organization, reduce their efforts, or perhaps adopt other patterns of behavior detrimental to the organization. In the American society considerable attention is paid to the value of a job. For example, reward decisions are greatly influenced by value judgments about job worth. If an employee with a doctoral degreeis working alongside an employee with little education, and both are performingthe job titled custodian, what should each be paid? If the position are identical, equity in our society demandsthat the two employees be paid the samebasic wage or salary, regardlessof the difference in their educational background. In this society, then, great attention is given to the value ofajob when wage and salary rates are being decided. We pay a man for what he bringsto ajob, i.e., education, training, and experience only if theseare relatedto the man requirements of the job to which a man is assigned.At the sametime, we all realize that the productivity of two employees who are performing identical jobs may vary widely. Assuming a given quality of product or service produced, a particular employee may produce twice as much as another. Certainly, then, the more productive employee should receive a total reward greater than the reward given to the lessproductive. Rewarding high performance behavior tends to reinforce this type of behavior. Job evaluation encouragesemployee productivity. In summary, society demands that the performance high-valued jobs be recognized by the payment of greaterrewards than those paid for lower-rated jobs; and society also tells us that a more productive employee on some given job should receive higher reward for his efforts than a less productive employee. Society does not tell us what processto use when making a decision about how well a man has actually performed the tusks, duties, and responsibilities to which he has been assigned.And, of course, individuals often work as a team; and they often work with machinery; therefore, individual productivity cannot always be measured. Sometimes, high productivity cannot even be observed, much less measured. For example, the productivity ofthose performing mental work of a highly creative nature cannot evenbe observed.Nonetheless, decisions about employee performance are always made by someone;there(ore, whether or not there will be an employee evaluation program is not the question. The only question is, what program will be adopted? If those decisions are not the result of the use of rational process, employees will seldom perceive them to be just and equitable. Employee perceptions about the fairness of decisions related to job values and employee performance influence an organization's ability to attract, hold, and motivate employees to high levels of productivity. Because of this, managers must give careful attention to both job evaluation and employee performance evaluation. . In a job evaluation process, there are three items: market value; qualitative processes of job evaluation; and quantitative job evaluation process.

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Item 1: Market Value. In order to attract, hold, and motivate employees, an organization must provide a compensationpackage of the correct magnitude. In other words, the wage and salary and related fringe benefit levels must be in tune with the market. To explain, if there are many jobs of a given description in other organizations for which the pay is $5 an hour, a manager would be foolish to offer a rate of $3 an hour for a like job in his own organization. There is obviously some minimum compensation level that a firm must establish for its jobs if it hopes to attract and hold the quality of employees it demands. Thus, one manner of establishing job value is simply to survey the market prices being paid for a given job and then compute an average of all those rates found. Immediately, however, we must ask this question: Will such a process give us the "correct" value for this job? Few organizations, if any, base their actual wage and salary rates upon the results of wage and salary surveys. A particular job will vary in value from one organization to another. To one organization, the job of machinist may be so important that the proper performance of this job determines whether or not the organization will survive. To another organization the samejob may be of little importance in terms of the organization's ability to survive. Market value, then, is not a good yardstick to be used for evaluating jobs. Market value may influence judgments about job values; seldom, though, does such information playa determining role in the process of pricing the job. Item 2: Qualitative Process of Job Evaluation. The job ranking process and the classificationprocess are two qualitative methods commonly used to evaluatejobs. Seldom will all the jobs in an organization be evaluated. Rather, an evaluati9n will be made in ajob cluster. Examples of clusters are factory jobs, clerical jobs, and managerial jobs. The ranking method ranks the jobs in a job cluster from highest to lowest. When the number ofjobs to be evaluated is small, perhaps fifteen to twenty, let us say, eachjob may be compared with each other job in a gross manner, and then a simple rank order of all jobs may be established.If employees are brought into this processand permitted to participate in the ranking decisions, the results will perhaps be perceived to be equitable. Either of two methods may be used to rank jobs: the card-sort method and the paired-comparison method. In the former, those doing the evaluating will be given a card for eachjob. This card will contain information such as job title, job description, and job specifications. After examine this information, the ratters simply rank the cards (jobs) from highest to lowest. If the job are few in number, this process may work well If a large number of jobs are being evaluated, it may be desirable to categorize the cards first into three stacks representing high-valued jobs, medium-valued jobs, and low-valued jobs. Then job within each pile are ranked. The paired-comparison method of ranking is more systematic and reliable than the card-sort method. Under this plan the rater compares eachjob with every other job to be rated. The simplicity of the ranking process is a decided advantageof this process over other job evaluation processes.There are disadvantages to this process, though, because it is difficulty to explain to employees why one job is ranked higher than another and how much difference there is betweena job of one rank and a job of the next higher rank. If the jobs of the organization are few in number, if the reason for the differences in job value are clearly distinguished between ranks, and if wage and salary differentials are small, a ranking process may serve quite well the objective of the design of an equitable internal compensationstructure. A compensationstructure is simply a hierarchy of jobs to which rewards (wage or salaries, fringes, etc.) have been attached.

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The job classification or grade-description process of evaluating jobs has the appearanceof greater objectivity than the ranking method, becausethis plan specifies that job classesor grades of jobs must be established and described in writing in advance. Once job classeshave been described, the next step is to compare information about eachjob being evaluated with the job class descriptions, and then a judgment must be made about the best fit between the job descriptions and class descriptions. The U.S. Civil Service Classification system is one of the oldest classification systems in existence.The lower-numbered classescontain the lower-valuedjobs. This system includes more than eighteen job classifications, with the lower-numbered classes being of the lowest value. In industrial practice the opposite is often found; the lower-numbered classesarethe high-valuedjobs. As was mentioned when discussing the ranking system,jobs are first divided into job clusters if the number of jobs is large, and the number ofclasses may vary from one clusterto another. For example, clerical job clusters may have fewergrades than factory jobs. First, then, jobs are placed in ajob cluster. Next, jobs are placed withina job class or job grade. Finally, jobs within a grade may be ranked. Minimum and maximumwage or salary rates are assignedto labor grades; however, the problem of pricing jobs withinclasses still remains to be solved, and the problem of what to pay the individual remains to besolved. Individuals, not jobs, receive paychecks. Item 3: Quantitative Process of Job Evaluation. There are two quantitative processes of evaluating jobs: point and factor comparison. The point systemof job evaluation is probably the most prevalent system in use today. The steps in this process are as follows: First a managerial judgment is made about just what it is the organization is paying for. For example, to illustrate this point, this question may be asked: "Why do we pay a comptroller more than a custodian?" One reason, of course, is that the comptroller's job is higher in terms of responsibility requirements than the job of custodian. Still other factors, common to all jobs to be"evaluated, must be selected, defined, and weighted in terms of importance to the objectives of the organization. Skill, responsibility, educational requirements, and working conditions are factors c<?mmonly used. Thesefactors might be weighted asfollows: Skills, 50%, Responsibility, 20%; Education, 10%; Working conditions, 20%. If such weights were used, this would tell us that the organization in question is certainly paying for skill. In summary, organizations pay individuals for two things: what they bring to a job, in terms of education, training, and experience; and what they put into a job, in term of physical and mental efforts. Usually, various degreesof each factor are carefully defined and written down, and points are assigned to each degree so established. Secondly, information about eachjob to be evaluated is collected, and then comparisons are made of this information with the factor degreesestablished; then, a total point value is assigned to each job. This process has the appearance of great objectivity; however, it should be clearly pointed out that value judgements are made in regard to the selectionof factors, their weights, and their definitions; and still other value judgements are made when information about a particular job is given a pint value, True, these are value judgements; however, this should not imply that the decisions are arbitrary and capricious.

As is true of all systems of job evaluation, the process by which judgements are made, and the person by whom judgements are made, may be more important than the particular systemused. A major objective of all job evaluation systems is to establish an equitable internal wage and salary structure the employees will perceive to be equitable. An internal structure is a hierarchyof jobs to which wage rates have beenattached. Equity is a perceived phenomenon; therefore,

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be successful, job evaluationsystems almostalwaysrequiresomeinvolvementof employees from almostall major employeegroupings. This is particularlytrue of the factor comparison systemof job evaluation.
Like the point system of job evaluation, the factor comparison plan, as the name implies, provides for the selection of factors deemed important to the goals of the organization, i.e., skills, working conditions, and so on, Then key jobs are selected.Key jobs are those benchmarkjobs, at all levels of the job clustersbeing considered, that the job evaluation committee agreesare now properly defined and now properly priced. Next, the total price of eachof thesejobs is distributed over the factors that have been selected. For example, let us assumethat there are some twenty jobs to be evaluated. Furthermore for simplicity's sake, let us assumethat only three factors have beenselected, though usually at leastfive will be used. In the accompanying tabulation the total price of eachjob has been distributed over the compensablefactors assumed.Note that a high-, medium-, and lower- priced key job has been selected. In addition to skill, responsibility, and working conditions, mental and physical abilities are often used. After the key jobs have been selected,the job evaluation committee will then compare eachof the remaining seventeen jobs with one or more jobs, factor by factor, and .place each new job evaluated on the scale. Each factor of each key job becomes a benchmark by which each factor of eachjob is compared. The factor comparison process is somewhat similar to the point system, because in the final analysis a certain number of points (the wage rate) is assignedto eachjob. In effect, the standard definition of each factor is simply the definition attached to that factor for each key job. The factor comparison system is not as easy for employeesto understandas the point system, but the system is in one respect superior to the point system. The factor comparison standards, the factors of key jobs, used for comparison are jobs that actually exist now in the organization. When the objective of an equitable internal wage structure is the goal to be accomplished, and when one considers that employees must perceive 'this structure to be equitable, then the importance of this difference between the point and factor comparison systems should not be overlooked. It is emphasized that the method used to design and install the evaluation system is probably more important than the particular job. evaluation plan adopted.Detailed presentations aboutthe merits of these various plans are available elsewhere, and the discussion here should be considered as nothing more than an introductory presentation. One thing is clear. If the plan is to succeed, high employee involvement is a necessity .

4.4 Performance Evaluation Systems

Systemsfor appraising performance are somewhatanalogousto systemsfor evaluatingjobs. Herewe introduce four methods: paired-comparison; rating scale; checklist; and performancemeasureme

paired-comparison methodof job rankingis similarto the man-to-man comparison methodof employeeevaluation. Under the paired-comparison method of job ranking, eachjob iscompared with eachotherjob in the job clusterand thena rank orderis established. Undertheman-to-ma comparisonsystemof employeeperformanceappraisal,information about the

to The 200

of eachemployeeis compared with information about eachof the other employees in the reference group, and a ranking of employees from high to low is established. the employee rating scalemethod of employee performance evaluation is similar to the point system of job evaluation. Under the rating scale plan various employee job performance factors are selected and defined. Next, information about an employee's job performance, interms of each factor, is compared with the description of various degrees on a rating scale for eachfactor. A judgment is then made. The total of the various judgments made on eachscale of comparison is the employee'soverall rating. When rating scaleis used,employeesare compared with a standard (the factors deemed important to employee performance). In contrast, theemployee comparison raking systemends with a decision about the performance of an employeerelative to the performance of other employees in the group. checklist method of employee performance evaluation does not have a parallel in jobevaluation. This method provide a list of adjectives which may be descriptive of various facetsof an employee's performance on his job. The person performing the performance evaluationchecks those words, or phrases,which in his judgment describethe employee's performance ofthe duties and responsibilities which have been assigned. Then, a total score is computed. The personconducting the rating may not be able to infer what the total rating is going to be, becausethe value attachedto eachof the words. or phrases,on the checklist may not be available to him.This tends to ensure objectivity on the part of the rater.

performance measurements method does not have a parallel in job evaluation too. Thismethod is the one in which either actual measurements,or descriptions, of performanceare used.Ideally, if the actual output of each employee could be measured,the problem of per.formance evaluati{}n would be almost completely solved. Unfortunately, this cannot be done. Machinesas well as men contribute to employee productivity. Men also work with other men, and the product produced.is more often than not the result of joint factor efforts. Furthermore, modern technology seemsto be demanding larger and larger capital- intensive work organizations, and in these organizations an employee may have little influence over the rate at which output isproduced. In such organization it is impossible to measure accurately the output of eachemployee.

ProfessionalDevelopment
Matching Individual and Organizational Needs

organizations have engaged in HR panning and development. This activityinvolves charting the moves of large numbers of employees through various positions in an organization and identifying future staffing needs. Career-development (professional-development) programs with greater emphasis on the individual introduce apersonalized aspectto the process. Such programs typically involve several specific activitiesincluding careercounseling, career pathing, training, computerized inventorying ofbackgroundsand skills, and job posting.

performance Likewise, The 5. 5.1 Traditionally, 201

In an ideal system for HR planning and development, individuals would seek to match a particular organization's HR needs with their own needs for personal career growth and development. According to Schein,the basic systemcan be depicted as involving both individual and organizational planning and a series of matching activities that are designed to facilitate mutual need satisfaction. It is also assumedthat both individual and organizational needschange over time.

5.2 Creating Favorable Conditions

a career-developmentprogram requires many specialprocesses and techniques, somebasicconditions must be presentif it is to be successful. A favorable climate for the program is created by theseconditions--managementsupport; goal setting; changesin HR managementpolicies; and announcementof the program. Condition I: Management Support. If career development is to succeed, it must receive the complete supportof top management. Ideally, seniorline managersand HR departmentmanagers should work together to design and implement a career-development system. Managerial personnel at all levels will then need to have training in the fundamentals of job design, performance appraisal, counseling, and careerplanning. With such training as a background, managers and supervisors are prepared to become careerdevelopers. Condition 2: Goal Setting. Before individual can engage in meaningful career planning, they must have a clear understandingof the organization's goals. Otherwise they may plan for personal changeand growth but not know if or how their own goals fit those of organization. If individuals are to plan their futures, the organization must also have a strategy. For example, if the technology of a business is changing and new skills are needed,should the company retrain to meet this need or hire new talent? Is there growth, stability, or decline in the number of e~ployees needed?How well turnover affect this need? A definite plan is essential to support individual careerplanning. Condition 3: Changes in HR ManagementPolicies. In order for a career-developmentprogramto be effective, it may be necessaryto alter an organization's current HR managementpolicies. F01: example, a policy oflifelongjob rotation can counteractobsolescence and maintain employee flexibility. Another policy that can aid development involves job transfers and promotions.

A transfer involves the placement of an individual in another job for which the duties,responsibili status, and remuneration are approximately equal to those of the previous job. A transfer may require an employee to change work group, work place, work shift, or organization unit; and it may even necessitatemoving to another geographic area. Transfers make possible the placement of employees injobs where there is greaterneed for their services and provide an opportunity for the employee to acquire new knowledge and skills. A downward transfer, or demotion, relocatesan individual to a lower-level job that canprovide developmental opportunities but is ordinarily considered unfavorable, especially to the individual who is demoted. it is important, therefore, that an employee who is demotebe given whatever assistance possible.

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A promotion involves a change of assignmentfrom a job at a lower level to one at a higher level within the organization. The new job is normally one that provides an employee with an increase in pay and statusand demandsmore in terms of skills or responsibilities. Promotions permit an organization to utilizes the skills and abilities ofindividua,ls more effectively, and the opportunityto gain a promotion can serve as a incentive. The two principal criteria for determiningpromotions are merit and seniority. In given recognition to merit and seniority, the problem is todetermine the degree of recognition that should be given to eachof the factors. Even when notrestricted by a labor agreement, managementmay find itself giving considerable recognition to seniority becauseof the difficulties of effectively measuring relative merit and of effectivelycommunicatin to employees that the measurementis accurate and fair. Relocation services are neededbecausetransfers and promotions require the individual to adjustto new job demands and usually a different work environment. Those transfers that involvemoving to a new location within a country or abroad pose greater demands. Employees arerequired to adapt not only to the new work environment but also to new living conditions.Employees who are married and those with children have the responsibility of helping familymembers to adjust to the new living arrangements.While employers are providing all types of relocation services,including moving, selling a home, cultural orientation languagetraining, and other assistance,there is a loss of production time. Pretransfertraining whether related to skills or to life style, has been suggestedas one of the most effective ways to reduce lost productiontime.

Outplacement services now are provided by many organizations to help terminated employees g,eta job somewhere else.'This service can be used to enhancea productive employee's career, as well as to terminate an employee who is unproductive. If an organization canriut meet its career-developmentresponsibilities, HR policy should provide assistanceto the individuals in obtaining more suitable career opportunities. For the unproductive employees, it is a way ofterminating them that preservestheir dignity, recognizestheir pastcontributions, and enablethem to find a new job quickly and relatively painlessly. Professional outplacement counseling as an organized profession is of fairly recent origin. It is been added to many employee benefit packagesas another form of employee assistance.The skills that are needed for outplacement counseling, as well as other types of counseling, could be found in many related books.

Condition 4: Announcement of the Program. The career-development program should beannounced widely throughout the organization. The objectives and opportunities can becommunica in several ways, including: publication in newsletters; inclusion in employeemanuals; publication of a special career guide or as part of career-panning workshops; andvideotaped or live presentations. At a minimum, a book that spells out the basic job families, career-progressionpossibilities, and related requirements should be given to each managers.

Inventorying Job Opportunities

While career development usually involves many different types of training experiences, the most important influences occur on the job. It is there that the individual is exposed to a wide variety of experiences, and it is there that contributions are made to the organization.

5.3 203

It is important that the jobs in an organization be studied carefully to identify and assignweights to the knowledge and skills that are required. This can be achieved by using job analysis and evaluation systems such as those used in compensationprograms. The system used at Sears measuresthree basic competenciesfor eachjob: know-how, problem solving, and accountability . Know-how is broken down into three types of job knowledge: technical, managerial, and human relations. Problem solving and accountability also have several dimensions. Scores for eachof these three major competencies are assigned to each job, and a total value for each job is computed. For any planned job transfer, the amount of increase (or decrease)the next job represents in each of the skill areas,as well as in the total point values, can be computed. This information is then used to make certain that a transfer to a different job is a growth-demanding assignment. Sears designs career-developmentpaths to provide the following experiences; an increase in at least one skill area on each new assignment; an increase in at least 10 percent intotal points on each new assignment, and assignments in several different functional areas.

Once the skill demands of jobs are identified and weighted according to their importance, it is then possible to plan job progressions.A new employee with no experience is typically assigned to a "starting job". After a period of time in that job, the employee can be promoted to one that requires more knowledge and/or skills. While most organizations have concentrated on developing job progressions for managerial, professional, and technical jobs, progressions can be developed in all categories of jobs. These job progressions then can serve as a basis for developing the careerpaths--the lines of advancementwithin an organization--for individuals. many organizations have preparedinteresting and attractive brochuresto describethe careerpaths that are available to employees. In a large multinational corporation, one must be prepared to move geographically in order to advance in a careerfield. General Motors Company of USA hasprepared a Career Development Guide that groups jobs by fields of work such as engineering,manufactur communications, data processing, financial, personnel, scientific, and others. These groupings enable an employee to obtain a better understanding of the careerpossibilities in the various fields of work. There are likely to be points in an individual's career path where training beyond that received on the job is essential. Such points should be identified and appropriate training made available to prevent progress from being impaired by a lack of knowledge or skills. Differences in the training needsof individuals concerning their jobs require that theseneedsbe monitored closely.

5.4 Determining Employee Potential

Probably the most important phaseof any career-developmentprogram is that of determining the potential of employees for successin one or more careerpaths. Theseobjectives may be achieved in various ways. All of them, however, involve the participation of the employees concerned. According to an American ManagementAssociation survey, informal counseling by HR staff and by supervisors is used widely. In many companies, communication on educational assistance, AA/EEO programs and policies, salary administration, and job requireme~s are also basic practices. Career-planning workbooks and workshops also are popular as a means of helping employees identify their potential.

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Several organizations use workbooks to guide individual employees through systematic self-assessmentof values, interests, abilities, goals and personal development plans. General Motors Company's Career Development Guide contains a section on "What do you want your future to be?" in which the individual makes a personal evaluation. General Electric Company has developed an extensive set of manuals for its career-developmentprogram, including two workbooks foe employee exploration of life. issues that affect career decisions. Syntex's workbook, How to Work for a Living and Like It, may be used by an individual or in a group workshop. Some organizations prefer to use workbooks prepared for the general public. popular ones include Where Do I Go from Here with My Life? By John Crystal and Richard N. Bolles--a workbook follow-up to What Color Is Your Parachute?by Richard N. Bolles. CareerStrategies: Planning for Personal Growth by Andrew H. Souerwine and Self-Directed Search by John Holland are also popular. These materials have considerable appeal and are recommended to students in planning their own careers. Workshops provide experiences similar to those available in workshops. They have the advantage, however, of fostering discussion and providing for a comparison of attitudes, concerns, and plans. Some of them focus on current job perfoffilance and development plans. Others deal with broader life and careerplans and values. The AMA survey of company practices found that counseling is used widely in career development. Careercounseling involves discussing with employees their current job activities and performance, personal job and career interests and goals, personal skills, and suitable career-developmentobjectives. Suchcounseling is usually voluntary for employees, although it may be included as .part of an annual performance appraisal. Counseling may be provided by the HR staff, superiors, specialized staff counselors, or outside professionals. '.,

Training Methods and Trainers

Training Methods
In the study of employee training methods, the most widely used techniques of training was on-the-job training, used almost 97 percent of those firms with training programs. Under study or "assistant to" techniques were used by 61 percent. Job rotation was used by 60 percent, and 57 percent used courses and sessions. New methods or improvements of old methods and techniques are appearingfrequently. These developmentsmak~ a trainer' job harder in sensethat he has the problem of picking the most effective method from among a large number of choices. New developments in the hardware used in the education or training can provide more student participation and allow more autonomy with respectto the person's own rate ofleaming. It can also provide a situation in which a better student-teacherrelation can evolve.

Trainers

successof any training effort will depend in large part upon the teaching skills and personalcharacterist of those responsible for conducting employee training. What separatethe goodtrainers from the mediocre ones? Often a good trainer is one who shows a little more effort,demonstrate more instructional preparation, or takes extra time to plan the training session.However, good training activity is also influenced by the trainer's personal manner and

6. 6.1 6.2 The 205

According to Donaldson and Scannell, trainees list the following factors as traitsof successfultrainers: of subject. Employees expectmanagersto know their job or subjectthoroughly.

Adaptability- someindividualslearnfasteror slowerthanothers,and instructionshouldbe matchedto the traineeslearningability. Sincerity.Trainees appreciate sincerity,particularly for employees asindividuals.

4. Senseof humor. Learning can be fun. Very often a point can be made with a story oranecdote.

A good trainer is interestedin the subjectbeing taught.this interestis keenand readily felt by the employee. Clear instruction.Training is accomplished more quickly and with greaterretention when trainersgive clear instructions. Individual assistance. Whentraining morethan one employees, successful trainersalways provide individual assistance. 8.
A dynamic presentation and a vibrant personality shows trainees that the managerenjoys training. Employees tend to respond positively to an enthusias.ticclimate.

Post Evaluation of Training

What Should Be Evaluated?
Training is traditionally designed to produce immediate change in employee job performance. its focus is on the job. The purpose of training is to narrow gaps between what job incumbents should know or do and what they actually know or do. Training is a very short-term change effort.

Evaluation pervades all aspects of training. It guides decisions to use training to correct aperformanc problem rather than use some other improvement strategy. This is called front-end analysis. It influences the preparation of test items matched to instructional objectives. It is used in field-testing instruction before and after widespread adoption, and even during instruction. However, evaluation is perhaps most often associatedwith post-instructional assessment.

7.2 Front-end Evaluation (FEA): The Traditional Approach

FEA is the bridge between recognizing a need and deciding what to do about it. The goals of FEA are to isolate performance problems that have potentially high economic "worth"; isolateprecise performance deficiencies within the problem area that account for the greatest loss;increase the probability that the solution to a given problem is effectively by matching the cause

characteristics. Knowledge 2. 3. Interest, 5. 6. Enthusiasm! 7. 7.1 206

the problemto the proprietytypeof remedy;increase the probabilitythatthe solutionselectedis the most costeffective; isolatethe root causeof the performance problem;and increasethe probabilitythatthereis a matchbetween the preciseperformance deficiencyandthe individualswho have the deficiency. it is thus intendedto correctthe most glaring humanperformanceproblems in the mostcost-effective manner.
It is necessaryto clarify the precise nature of the performance problem, its cause(s),appropriate solutions, and costsof appropriate solutions. Theseissuesare important, becausenot all problems should be addressedby training. The costs of solutions are worth considering becausetraining is expensive: it means lost work time and substantial investments in materials and design. There is no point in wasting money: some problems can be solved through means other than training--such asjob aids, automation, or job redesign. The cheapest alternative should, of course, be favored. To clarify the nature of a performance problem and possible solutions, practitioners should ask such questions as: Do we have a problem? How will we know when the problem is solved? What is the performance problem? What is the range of possible causesof the problem? What is the precise probable causeof the problem? What general solution is indicated? What are the relative costs, and development time of each solution? What are the constrains? and What are the overall goals? Answers to these questions help clarity whether training is an appropriate solution. In sorting out instructional from noninstructional needs, HRD practitioners should apply four acid tests: Management Commitment--Do managers view a problem as important enough to warrant attention?; Resources--Are adequateresources available to meet the need? If not, aremanagers willing to provide funds, staff, time, and materials?; Skills--Do HRD practitionerspossess necessaryskills to meet the need?ffnot, can they identify people who do 'possessthe skills from inside or outside the organization? Are they free to contract for needed skills?; and Costs versus benefits-- Will costsof solving a problem produce greaterbenefits than alternatives, like taking no action or selecting a different solution?

Of these tests, cost-benefit analysis is most important-- and most difficulty. It is importantbecause HRD practitioners are often faced with the necessity of convincing managers that tra.ining is worth the costs associated with it. A cost is understood to mean, both directexpenditure such as funding required to analyze a problem, develop, deliver, and evaluate instruction; and indirect expenditures on salaries, lost production time, and facilities rental.Benefits are estimates of increase production or cost savings. They can be calculated peremployee and then multiplied over the number of trainees. 'calculating cost-benefit ratios is difficulty becausethey are simple estimatesthat are easily challenged. It is not all that clear what cost or benefit categories should be used, since even experts defer on this point.

Front-end Evaluation: The Strategic Approach

major problem exists with the traditional approachto FEA: it assumesthat any performance problem can bejudged using information about presentconditions and presentcpst-benefits. That assumptionis not always valid; Changesinside or outside an organization may gradually increase or decreasethe importance of a performance problem--or even alter the nature of it. consider asimple example. Suppose that production output is below standard in one work group. Uponfurther analysis, HRD practitioners determine that the problem is attributable to lack ofemployee

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skills. for simplicity's sake, assume that new machines are being introduced gradually. 'Even experienced workers do not know how to use them. A simple front-end analysis of this problem mayor may not demonstratea presentneed for training. However, common sensedictates that production levels will probably remain below standarduntil all new machinesare introduced and, assuming no formal training is provided, workers learn from trial and error how to use the machines. In this example, a traditional approach to FEA does not tell the whole story. Theperformanc problem is not severe at present--but it may well become more severe as newmachine are introduced. Experience is not an adequategauge for judging how long it will take for production levels to reach or exceed normal, unless similar machines were introduced on asimilar production line at another company facility some time before.

If HRD practitioners wait around for this performance problem to reveal itself, valuable production output will be lost. Nor will it be easyto estimate how much output will be lost. Even supervisors may not be convinced under presentconditions that training is necessary.What then? Is HRD forced into a reactive mode, unable to respond until the performance problem is apparentto everyone and managers are willing to support organized instruction on new machine? The answer to these questions is "not at all". The HRD practitioners has to demonstratebeforehand that the problem will exist, will affect production, and will lend itself to solution through training. How is this accomplished? There are several ways: Through Direct Persuasion--HRDpractitioners can go to the people, including the production managers, the foreperson, andworkers, affected by the problem to discuss the problem; Through Indirect Persuasion -Practitioners can find analogous situation and then remind managersof historical events and point out similarities between and show supervisors or managerswhat the problems are. If thisis not possible, they can shoot a videotape and show it to key decision-makers. The purpose of future-oriented FEA is to anticipate future performance problems before they come up and determine the most effective means of averting them. To understand a future -oriented FEA, HRD practitioners: scantrends in work flow and work methods at the operational level; isolate areas in which changesare likely to occur; pinpoint changeswhich are likely to be most costly in the future; separatenoninstructional from instructional needs; consider alternative strategies for averting a performance problem; isolate root causesof anticipated problems--such as changesin technology, job, or work group redesign, new products, or job duties; and point outthe likely problem to managersand supervisors,gaining their supportto avert future performanceproblems. If these steps are followed, HRD practitioners will find that their mode of operation is proactive. Plannedlearning activities will anticipate and help avert problems before they arise.

Post-instructional evaluations: Traditional Approaches

evaluations are conducted, as their name suggests,after a training course or program has been delivered. They overlap with other forms of training evaluation. DonaldKirkpatrick; conceptualized a classic way of viewing post-instructional evaluations by arrangingpossible results of training on a four-level hierarchy of change. In ascending order, these levelsare: Reactions--How much did trainees like a course? How much do they feel it will help themimprove their job performance?; Learning--How much knowledge or skills changeresulted froma course: How well did participants achieve the terminal objectives of the course?; Behaviors-What changes in job behaviors resulted from training? How much are workers applying what they learned in a way that is measurable and observable?;Results--What changes in job results

7.4 Post-instructional 208

are attributableto training? How muchmore productiveare trainedthan untrainedworkers? Whatdifferencesin productivitylevels stemfrom training?
Reactions are undoubtedly measured most frequently, often by means of attitude surveys--so-called participant evaluations--handed out at the end of courses or sessions. Participants are typically askedto respondto questions like those above. While reaction surveys may indicate feelings, they do not really addressbottom-line results. Another way to evaluatereactions is to sendtrainees a survey aboutone to six months after their participation in a trainingprogram. Sometimes their views change as they acquire more experience or reflect on coursecontent.

the second step in Kirkpatrick's hierarchy of change, is measured by tests. Duringinstructiona design, one test item--or more than that--is written to correspond to eachinstructiona objective. After test items are developed, instructional content (subject matter) and delivery methods (means of presentation) are chosen. The result is a direct link betweenintentions for end-of-course change as expressed in terminal objectives and test items formeasuring them. Most p.eoplethink of written tests,which are sometimescalleq paper-and-penciltests. However, tests may also be administered orally or through demonstration of knowledge orskills. What could be better way to prove mastery of learning objectives than to perform whatwas learned? Frequently, demonstration involves assembling or disassembling machinery--or some other physical object. To demonstrate skill or knowledge mastery with data (as inmathematic trainees may be asked to solve a problem. To demonstrate skill or knowledge mastery with people, trainees may be asked to participate in an experimental exercise--a simulation, a role play, or a case study. Tests need not pe administered only at the end of acourse, though that is appropriate if the intent is to measure end-of-course learning':',Theymayalso be given to trainees before instruction to measure entry knowledge or skills. Sometimespretests are used for screening purpose to ensure that learners possessadequate entry skills,meaning that they have Satisfied prerequisites. Tests may also be given periodically during acourse to determine how well learners are progressing. the third level in Kirkpatrick's hierarchy of change,are measuredon the job ratherthan at the end of a course. This distinction is important, becausetrainee job behavior is affected by much more than instruction. It is also affected by individual motivation, peer pressure exerted by coworkers, expectationsof supervisors,and much more. It is possible for a trainee to completetraining successfully--and never change behavior on the job. There are several ways to assesschanges injob behaviors produced by training, what some call simply transfer of learning. To lista few: ask the learners, their coworkers, supervisors, or subordinates if training has influenced job behavior; show up atthe work site and ask former trainees to. demonstratehow they are using what they learned in training; observe former trainees at work both before and after training,noting any changes in observable work methods; and compare job behaviors of former traineesand a control group of similar but randomly-selected non-trainees using predetermined criteria.To phase it another way, behavioral change on the job can be measuredthrougJ1 the opinions oftrainees. or other people, through tests of learning conducted at the job site, through worksampling of behaviors, or through evaluation design. Obviously, the first job is the easiest but

209

Learning, Behavior,

leastvalid andreliable,because opinionsare notnecessary accurate. The fourthmethodis mostvalid and reliable, but is alsothe most costlyandtime-consuming.
Results,the fourth level of Kirkpatrick's hierarchy of change,are also ( like behaviors) measured on the job rather than at the end of instruction. Results are the real bottom-line: did training change on-the-job output or quality? To addressthis difficulty question, HRD practitioners must identify before training what results they will attempt to change; how much change they will tryto achieve; and how they will analyze and interpret change.

7.5 Post-instructional Evaluation: The Strategic Approach

It is difficulty to predict post-instructional outcomes of training. For this reason, practitioners should improve an areathey have too often neglectedduring instructional design--analysis of the work context. Before training is delivered and during needs assessment,practitioners should carefully examine the work setting. Just what are the acceptednorms of behavior? What does a supervisor believe his or her employeesneed to know? What rewards or punishments are likelyto affect application of new methods on the job? Once these questions have been addressed,practitioners should gear their efforts as closely aspossible to conditions likely to exist when trainees return to the job. If barriers to application exist, they should be identified during training. Trainees will have to be furnished with methodsto help them to eliminate the barriers or apply instruction despite barriers. While this is quite difficulty --especially when trainees attend from a cross-sectionof work groups rath~r than only one--it is not possible. SD practitioners should enlist the support of others back on the job site, such as experienced workers who have attended training in the past or supervisors who have a stake in performance improvement. These supporters serve as on-the-job coacheswho facilitate application of training.

7.6 ComprehensiveReviewsof Training

There is little point in distinguishing between traditional and future-oriented approaches to comprehensive reviews of all training courses. There are two good reasons why. First, few organizations develop a long-term learning plan or training 9urriculum by job class. Second, evaluation is relatively rare. In short, there is no training curriculum and little evaluation.
Before a comprehensive review of training can be conducted in an organization, several preconditions must be met. First, a curriculum must exist. That means that HRD practitioners have succeeded in planning for long-term training needs in each job ciass. Second, the purpose of the training curriculum must be stated. \\'by does it exist? Third, the goals must also be stated. What results are sought from training for each job class and for all job class taken together? Fourth, each training program must be systematically planned and evaluated. Fifth, each training program should simultaneously reflect: job requirements for its targeted learners; organizational requirements and priorities; and organizational strategy for HRD. Sixth and finally, the evaluation results of each training program should be collected and stored program-by-program;

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learner-by-learner; and job class-by-job class. Perhaps the most important preconditions are the first, fourth, and sixth. A curriculum must exist before a comprehensive review of training can be carried out. Each training course or other planned instructional event must be planned and evaluated so that information is available about each program. This information must be recorded in a way that allows data to be compared and aggregated over time.

To carry out a comprehensive review of training, practitioners should begin by setting a policy that such reviews will be conducted at periodic intervals--every or two. A training advisory committee, composed of representatives from the ED department, line management, topmanageme and trainees, can be especially useful. This committee directs studies, participates in them, and/or receives results and makes recommendations for corrective action. Regardless of who is involved, however, it will be necessaryto clarify the purpose, goals, and objectives ofthe review; selectpeople who possessthe skills necessaryto carry it out; establish an evaluationplan; and clarity precisely what will be done with the results once they are received. In mostrespects, a comprehensivetraining review is approachedlike any evaluation study. The only keydifference between it and"moststudies has to do with focus. It focus on the overall training plan for eachjob class or all job classes in the organization.

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