HEATHROW’S PROPOSED TRAINING PROGRAMME AND EMPLOYEE ROTATION

Name

Institution

Heathrow’s Proposed Training Programme and Employee Rotation

EPINION Company

The company is marketing research agency focused in delivering fact-based insights to all its clients and at the same time assists the clients in making significant decisions. The company also strives to push for conventional thinking so as to deliver smatter and better results. The company’s operation is highly based on the use of technology since the name, “Epinion”, comes from a combination of two words, “opinion and electronic”. Epinion has its global panels thereby giving it the opportunity to serve its clients across the world. It is observed that the company receives over 2000 people on a daily basis to join its panels due to the fact that it has a centralized operation that is able to co-ordinate its operations across the world. The company has seven offices in Asia and Europe that are able to provide efficient local insights and research consultancy. It believes in adopting a customized approach in handling its clients’ problems; every client is unique in his own way and for that matter need to be given different and special treatment depending on the nature of their problem. They focus on first understanding and analyzing the local environment and the situation of the client and then applying the use of their experts to design fitting solutions.

Employee Satisfaction and Motivation

The first step to improving employee satisfaction in Epinion Company is to determine the current employee satisfaction. This is done by carrying out a survey on the employee satisfaction and then using the results of the survey to determine the areas where the employees are not satisfied. To ensure that the results of the survey are reliable, it is necessary to make use of a survey designed by experts (Patterson, 2012). It is also important for the company to be committed in taking action on the results of the survey. Even if the survey involves just a small change, it is important to communicate the results of the survey to the employees and the leaders and let employees know that action was taken based on the results of the survey. This is very important in the sense that ignoring to follow up the results would imply that the Epinion Company does not value the employees’ feelings, thoughts, and ideas (Patterson K. (2012). The action taken may involve making large or small changes depending on the results of the survey. Several studies have been done on the topic of job rotation, employee motivation, job satisfaction, and how to carry out a successful training program. Susan M. Heathfield wrote a very resourceful article elaborately covering the concepts of job training, job satisfaction, employee motivation, and job rotation. The article is very good and relevant to the topic of study since it clearly discusses the key points or strategies that should be adopted by organizations to ensure an effective job rotation. There was also an article written by Dr. John Sullivan, which was majorly focused on ways of developing a world class job rotation and how to improve training and rotation programs within an organization. The article starts by discussing the impacts of business on the programs of job training and job rotation and the variations existing between various methods of raining employees. The article is relevant for the study since it discusses everything concerning job training, job rotation, and even the costs incurred in the process of carrying out such programs (Sullivan, 1998).

The next step in this aspect as proposed by the group is to address employees’ concerns over their job security. This can be done by ensuring that any time that the company carries out a survey or makes certain changes within the company, the employees should be kept on the know by consistently and clearly delivering such messages to them. In case the job security concerns of the employees fail to get addressed, the organization may be at risk of communication void, which often lead to rumors, fears, and concerns. According to Patterson (2012), such a situation is not healthy for the success of the company since it results in increased resistance and decreased satisfaction. The next step is to increase training programmmes and provide development opportunities within Epinion Company. Professional and personal development is a vital component for employee motivation and job satisfaction. To improve job satisfaction, it is important to ensure that every employee has a development plan and training opportunity. The next important factor to be considered to ensure employee satisfaction in the company is to provide opportunities for involvement of employees in the activities of the company, which involves soliciting employee ideas and opinions. While some areas like the strategic planning may not need the involvement of employees, specifically in the larger organizations, it however provides a degree of credibility in other areas and increase job satisfaction (Patterson, 2012). There are many ways that can be used to increase employee empowerment and involvement: Formal processes such as “Continuous Process Improvement” highly promote employee satisfaction. They make use of empowered and trained teams of employees to evaluate and improve different work processes with the objective of increasing productivity and reducing wastes. The decision of whether to adopt the process is a complex decision that requires extensive work and top-level support.

The next key to improving job satisfaction in Epinion Company is giving employees feedback and recognition based on their performance. To ensure that recognition and feedback results in increased satisfaction, there are important practices that need to be adopted: Recognition and developmental feedback are very vital in this aspect. Developmental feedback enables employees make corrections on how they behave while recognition feedback supports a positive effect by providing recognition. Feedback should be continuously delivered as the employees’ behaviors are observed based on their annual performance reviews. The other key to ensuring employee satisfaction is to carry out regular meetings aimed at keeping employees informed (Robbins & Judge, 2010). Employees normally feel satisfied if the organization keeps updating them on matters of changes made in the management system and the overall progress of the organization. Carrying out regular meetings within the company is important because it enables the management get employee reactions concerning the progress of the company. (Robbins & Judge, 2010).

The group also proposed providing a positive working environment to improve employee satisfaction in Epinion Company. In order to find out what motivates employees, it is necessary to first find out what turns them on. Taking care of the needs of employees’ needs would keep them motivated to keep doing the job and also become loyal to the organization. If the work environment is not positive, there may be no possibility of employees to perform well and achieve the company’s goals and objectives (McShane, Travaglione, & Olekalns, 2012). Encouraging each other, ensuring constructive criticism, giving positive feedback, and avoiding micromanagement are all means of keeping a working environment a place in which employees can freely thrive. There is also the need to build a supportive environment that would enable the employees to develop problem-solving skills, coping skills, tactics for going through hard situations, or freely expressing personal feelings. The next point is the need of Epinion Company to develop employees’ potential and skills. Education and training motivates employees and enables them become more innovative and productive (McShane, Travaglione, & Olekalns, 2012).

Employee Training Program

Employee job training can take many forms. In the case of individuals coming from different cultures, it would be prudent to put them into groups and introduce a discussion concerning a very sensitive matter in the organization such as salary. Ensure that every person in the group contributes to the matter. The people who seem to talk less should in fact be made the group leaders so as to engage them and give them opportunity to express themselves. This will ensure that employees get to understand every person’s culture and background just from how they present their facts. The first form of training plan is the aspect of mentoring. This is whereby junior employees are assigned to senior employees or supervisors who become their mentors and for that matter enlighten them on all aspects of the company including its history, its operations, and its profitability. The mentor also educates the employee on how to become effective, productive, and how to relate with people from other cultures and backgrounds. The aspect of mentoring not only makes employees become socialized within the company but also enables the employees gain organizational knowledge that can only be observed in senior and established employees (Patterson, 2012).

Developmental program and intensive training for the employees results in higher motivation and higher productivity. Well trained and educated employees are more willing and capable of assuming more control in their jobs. They normally need less supervision thereby freeing the management of certain tasks. Employees who are well trained are capable of adequately answering customer questions regarding the organization thereby building a better customer loyalty. Employees who have complete knowledge of the business normally complain less and are more satisfied and are for that matter highly motivated (Patterson, 2012). This generally leads to better management and employee relationships. The employees should also be informed of the specific purposes of the training and how they relate to the larger company goals. Training can highly benefit the employees in every level of the organization but it can involve a number of unexpected challenges in the implementation of the programme. Some employees may not be willing to take part because they may not see the purpose of the training or may not see the need of sacrificing their time. In such a situation, it is necessary to carry out a thorough communication to the employees concerning the company’s development goals. It is important to inform the employees the importance of developing new skills and how such skills are relevant to Epinion Company. The employees should be made to understand the link existing between their job and the training offered (McShane, Travaglione, & Olekalns, 2012).

The group will propose a training programme for the company that involves a weekly training for the employees. The management can organize the training function away from the work place; maybe in some hotel or a conference room. This would give the employees a feeling of a change of environment away from the stressful workplace. The company can make use of experts on organizational behavior and the organization’s senior managers who understand the history of the company and its goals and objectives. During the seminar, the employees can be enlightened on all aspects of organizational behavior and what is expected of them in the company. To ensure the success of the training, employees should be given the opportunity to contribute by asking questions and expressing whatever they think of the company. The employees can be trained in groups of ten individuals; one group after the other, until all the employees go through the training process.

Training Programs for different Cultures

The world has increasingly become international. The notion that the world is now one global village is not a perception anymore but a reality. Across the world, corporate office networks have increasingly grown, distribution chains have spread, and supply channels have extended. In today’s work environment and world business, understanding different cultures and attaining cross-cultural skills have become vital tools in implementing effective commercial and international working practices based on different cultures such as African, Asian, American, European, English, Danish, and so on. For Epinion Company to ensure an effective training programme and job rotation, it is important for the management to understand how different cultures operate (Hill & McShane, 2008).

Employees can share knowledge and skills in a better way after learning to respect each other based on their culture and background. This calls for the need to learn and understand foreign cultures such as Danish and English and then learn to understand how they relate. It is important to understand Danish culture and how to go about intercultural encounters to be able to observe potential challenges before they transform and become problems. Understanding different cultures before initiating the training process is very important in order to remain relevant during the training process. Training employees from different cultures may be very challenging if the instructor or the trainer does not understand the cultural diversity. According to Hill & McShane, (2008), understanding diverse cultural dimensions enables employees understand their new work environment, taking into account the values of the organization. Having a diverse knowledge on culture gives employees a working environment that enables them understand leadership hierarchy, how to make friends, group-oriented team work, and to appreciate employees from other cultural backgrounds. Appreciating and understanding people’s way of life and their unique set of behaviors and cultural rules can ease the frustration and the stress existing in the work environment (Patterson, 2012).

Employee Cost of Training

The process of job training and job rotation incurs much costs and Epinion Company should be ready to spend significant amount of funds if it wants to reap the benefits of training programs. The costs incurred include costs associated with learning a new job, cost of time spent while learning, errors made by employees while training, and the actual cost of training. Other costs incurred by the organization include costs incurred in terms of motivation and satisfaction of other employees not involved in the training process (non-participant jealousy). The departments within Epinion Company also incur costs to pay the rotations and other significant administrative costs. The company will also bear the cost of training some employees who leave the company after the training. The costs incurred by the company to carry out job training and job rotation are very high but if successfully accomplished, it would have significant impact in the company in terms of employee motivation and productivity (Patterson, 2012). As much as employee training may involve high costs, the company needs to develop the perception that it is a long-term investment in improving and developing the staff. To ensure a successful training at relatively lower costs, it is important for the company to identify specific skills relevant for the company in relation to its goals and objectives

Employee Job Rotation

To ensure an effective job rotation, Epinion must have an objective or an end goal since its goal determines job changes. For example, if the goal of a particular department is to cross-train every employee, then there is need to structure the rotation. An effective job rotation should for that matter specify the goal (Langton, Robbins, Judge, & Robbins, 2010). The next plan is to ensure careful planning of the job rotation. The job rotation should be designed in such a way that the employees participate in a series of job activities in their career path up to the point where they become fully accomplished employees. The employees should then be able to assess if the job rotation would help the organization achieve its goals, which would consequently make the steps involved in the job rotation build upon one another and be measurable. In addition to that, the job rotation should be beneficial to both Epinion and the employees. According to Langton, Robbins, Judge, & Robbins, (2010), constantly teaching and training employees on new job skills saps organizational energy and is also time consuming. If the employees do not see any benefit of the training even after putting much effort to learn the new skills, the job rotation may not in any way motivate the employees. Epinion should ensure that there is additional compensation for the employees for learning new and more difficult jobs in the process of job rotation. Employees who get cross-training to be able to perform more jobs get paid more because of their increased flexibility resulting from their training and learning.

In order to ensure a successful and effective job rotation, it is also important to provide an internal trainer, a mentor, or a supervisor at every step of the job rotation process. As a worker moves to every new job, he is assigned to a different employee who is given the responsibility to answer questions, mentor, and teach during the training. Written documentation, online resources, and employee manual normally enhances employee learning. Written documentation concerning various aspects of every job is important in reducing employee learning curve in the process of job rotation. There is need for every employee to focus on making job rotation a success because job rotation enables employees trace their career path in the absence of promotions or in cases where the employee is not interested in being offered management responsibilities or any promotion.

Job rotation offers so many advantages to the employees: It provides the employees with the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge through learning different jobs requiring new skills and knowledge and thus take up different responsibilities. It also enables employees overcome potential job dissatisfaction and boredom by having a different and new job with challenged tasks and responsibilities. An effective job rotation is a new challenge and gives the employee the opportunity to expand his accomplishments, knowledge, impact, and potentially bring change to the various aspects of the company. It also gives the employees the opportunity to learn various facets of the company and how tasks are accomplished in various job functions and departments. Patterson (2012) notes that job rotation makes employees become prepared for any succession plan, eventual promotion by getting the opportunity to expand their skills and responsibilities while at the same time being able to gain broader knowledge concerning the operation of the organization. The fact the employees are able to gain visibility with managers and new groups of coworkers give them potential opportunities.

Methodology

Two-factor or Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory

Looking at the theories of motivation and employee satisfaction, the most common theory and also relevant to Epinion Company is the two-factor theory, which is also known as intrinsic or extrinsic motivation; or the Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. The theory states that while there are some factors causing job satisfaction in the workplace, there are a separate set of factors that can cause dissatisfaction in the work place. Factors that normally motivate employees can change in their lifetime but in any stage of life, “respect for me as a person” is among the top factors for motivation. According to this theory, intrinsic motivators like recognition, responsibility, and challenging work produce employee satisfaction. On the other hand, extrinsic hygiene factors like job security, fringe benefits, salary, and status; if absent, may produce dissatisfaction. The two-factor theory’s fundamental connection with the mental health is highly connected to Abraham Maslow’s motivation theory since both the theories have a considerable practical and theoretical influence on employees’ attitudes towards the management. This explains why it is very important for Epinion to take into consideration the aspect of Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory in the work environment because employees’ attitude and perception of the organization most definitely influence its performance. The theory can be used at the work place to establish whether or not the employees are satisfied with existing psychological and social needs at the work place and use the findings to improve how the organization relates to the employees in terms of recognition, responsibility advancement, and achievements. This would work to the advantage of Epinion since the employees would feel recognized, motivated, and thus become productive to the organization. According to Herzberg, employees are not concerned with the satisfaction associated with lower-order needs at the place of work. That is, the needs associated with pleasant and safe working conditions or minimum salary levels. Individuals rather look for gratification in psychological needs of a higher level such as recognition, responsibility advancement, achievement, and the nature of the job itself.

According to Riley (2005), employees seek to derive high leveled gratification needs related to responsibility, recognition, advancement, achievement, and the nature of existing job. The theory also focuses on the factors causing dissatisfaction, such as supervision, company policies, job interpersonal relations, salary, technical problems, and working conditions. This two-factor motivation model is based on the idea that one set of job incentives or characteristics results in employee satisfaction, while a separate set of job incentives or characteristic may lead to dissatisfaction. This implies that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are independent phenomena, with one advancing as the other one is diminishing. If Epinion wishes to increase the level of employee satisfaction, it should concentrate in the analysis of the nature of the job itself and the opportunities it offers the workers for gaining status, achieving self realization, and assuming responsibility. On the other hand, if it seeks to reduce dissatisfaction among employees it should focus on the environment of the job itself and consider factors such as supervision, procedures, policies, and working conditions (Hil & McShane, 2008). To ensure a productive and satisfied workforce, the management must give attention to the two sets of job factors. The motivation factors are required to motivate employees to attain high levels of performance. The theory further classifies people’s actions and how people do them. For example, if an individual does a work related duty because he has to then it is referred to as “movement”, but if he performs such a duty because he wants to then it is referred to as “motivation”.

Approach Technique

Cultural differences can at times be very challenging and make relationships very difficult. In order to relate with people from different cultures, it is important to understand their language and culture and also give them proper personal space, without having to ask them personal and sensitive questions that would make them feel uncomfortable. It is also important to appreciate their religion and appreciate the fact that in the process of communication, there would be lapses in communication that might lead to slight misunderstanding. Finally feel free to ask things that are not easy to understand from other cultures in order to remain relevant while communicating. In the case of having an interview with two individuals coming from different cultures such as Chinese and Eastern European, the best way to understand them would be to initiate them in a conversation and ensure that each one of them speaks out during the conversation. If an individual appears quiet or polite, he should be given more time to speak by being asked frequent questions. This is the only way to understand the culture of such individuals since one can easily understand them from the way they present their facts or from the way they argue.

References

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McShane, S. L., Travaglione, A., & Olekalns, M. (2012). Organisational behaviour. North Ryde, N.S.W: McGraw Hill Australia.

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Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2010). Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education.

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2013). Organizational behavior. Essex, England: Pearson.

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