CHAPTER -3 IDENTIFICATIONAND DEVELOPMENTS OF TALENTED PEOPLE
Talented Professionals- Importance- Characterization Identification- assessment and recognizing talent development- Development needs-Counseling.
Talent management
Talent management refers to the process of developing and integrating new workers, developing and keeping current workers and attracting highly skilled workers to work for your company. Talent management [1] in this context does not refer to the management of entertainers. The term was coined by David Watkins of [2]Soft cape published in a article in 1998[3].
Talent management is a process that emerged in the 1990s and continues to be adopted, as more companies come to realize that their employees’ talents and skills drive their business success. These companies develop plans and processes to track and manage their employee talent, including the following:
• Attracting and recruiting qualified candidates with competitive backgrounds
• Managing and defining competitive salaries
• Training and development opportunities
• Performance management processes
• Retention programs
• Promotion and transitioning
Talent management is also known as HCM (Human Capital Management), HRIS (HR Information Systems) or HRMS (HR Management Systems), and HR Modules.[4]
Companies that are engaged in talent management (human capital management) are strategic and deliberate in how they source, attract, select, train, develop, retain, promote, and move employees through the organization. This term also incorporates how companies drive performance at the individual level (performance management).
The term talent management means different things to different people. To some it is about the management of high-worth individuals or "the talented" whilst to others it is about how talent is managed generally - i.e. on the assumption that all people have talent which should be identified and liberated.
This term is usually associated with competency-based human resource management practices. Talent management decisions are often driven by a set of organizational core competencies as well as position-specific competencies. The competency set may include knowledge, skills, experience, and personal traits (demonstrated through defined behaviors).
Older competency models might also contain attributes that rarely predict success (e.g. education, tenure, and diversity factors that are illegal to consider in many countries).
Talent management definition
1. “A conscious, deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people with the aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organizational needs”.
2. “Talent management involves individual and organizational development in response to a changing and complex operating environment. It includes the creation and maintenance of a supportive, people oriented organization culture”.
3. “Talent management refers to the process of developing and fostering new workers through on boarding, developing and keeping current workers” and
4. “Human capital management of the entire employee lifecycle. Companies that are engaged in talent management are strategic and deliberate in how they source, attract, select, train, develop, promote, and move employees through the organization”.
5. “The recruitment, selection, identification, retention, management, and development of personnel considered to have the potential for high performance. Talent management is a model of personnel management. It focuses on the skills and abilities of the individual and on his or her potential for promotion to senior management roles. It also assesses how much of a contribution the individual can make to the success of the organization”.
Importance of talent management
Talent management (TM) brings together a number of important human resources (HR) and management initiatives.
Organizations that formally decide to "manage their talent" undertake a strategic analysis of their current HR processes. This is to ensure that a co-coordinated, performance oriented approach is adopted.
Quite often, organizations adopting a TM approach will focus on co-coordinating and integrating:
• Recruitment - ensuring the right people are attracted to the organization.
• Retention - developing and implementing practices that reward and support employees.
• Employee development - ensuring continuous informal and formal learning and development.
• Leadership and "high potential employee" development - specific development programs for existing and future leaders.
• Performance management - specific processes that nurture and support performance, including feedback/measurement.
• Workforce planning - planning for business and general changes, including the older workforce and current/future skills shortages.
• Culture - development of a positive, progressive and high performance "way of operating".
An important step is to identify the staff or employees (people and positions) that are critical to the organization. They do not necessarily have to be senior staff members. Many organizations lost a lot of "organizational knowledge" in the downsizing exercises of a few years ago. The impact of the loss was not immediately apparent. However, it did not take long for many companies to realize their mistake when they did not have people with the knowledge and skills to either anticipate or solve problems that arose.
The current discussions about skill shortages and the ageing population are also helping organizations to focus on the talent management issue. It may not be possible to simply go out and recruit new people to meet operational needs. Many leading companies have decided to develop their own people, rather than trying to hire fully skilled workers.
In summary, every organization should be implementing talent management principles and approaches.
Principles for talent management
Talent management strategies are required to understand not only what talent is needed to achieve business goals, but how to recruit, retain and develop that talent. Four major principles for talent management have been identified by Duttagupta:
Build a winning environment that people want to belong to — create opportunities to excel by using strengths, personal and professional challenges, constant new projects to work on, teams and leaders who provide a rich mix of strengths and lifestyle considerations.
Establish a talent management mindset, which enables ownership and accountability for optimizing talent and potential — coaching, mentoring, empowerment and sponsorship.
Create tangible means to identify, select and deploy people of outstanding talent — identify the talent needed and how to source it and use it for optimal effect.
Fully engage talent, use it and manage it intelligently — use talent wisely to achieve both personal and business goals.
How does an organization effectively manage Talent
1. Recognize talent:
Notice what do employees do in their free time and find out their interests. Try to discover their strengths and interests. Also, encourage them to discover their own latent talents. For instance, if an employee in the operations department convincingly explains why he thinks he's right even when he's wrong, consider moving him to sales.
2. Attracting Talent:
Good companies create a strong brand identity with their customers and then deliver on that promise. Great employment brands do the same, with quantifiable and qualitative results. As a result, the right people choose to join the organization.
3. Selecting Talent:
Management should implement proven talent selection systems and tools to create profiles of the right people based on the competencies of high performers. It's not simply a matter of finding the "best and the brightest," it's about creating the right fit - both for today and tomorrow.
4. Retaining Talent:
In the current climate of change, it's critical to hold onto the key people. These are the people who will lead the organization to future success, and you can't afford to lose them.
The cost of replacing a valued employee is enormous. Organizations need to promote diversity and design strategies to retain people, reward high performance and provide opportunities for development.
5. Managing Succession:
Effective organizations anticipate the leadership and talent requirement to succeed in the future. Leaders understand that it's critical to strengthen their talent pool through succession planning, professional development, job rotation and workforce planning. They need to identify potential talent and groom it.
6. Change Organization Culture:
Ask yourself, "Why would a talented person choose to work here?" If the organization wishes to substantially strengthen its talent pool, it should be prepared to change things as fundamental as the business strategy, the organization structure, the culture and even the caliber of leaders in the organization.
A rightly managed talent turns out to be a Gold Mine. It's inexhaustible and priceless. It will keep supplying wealth and value to the organization.
In turn, Management needs to realize its worth, extract it, polish it and utilize it. Don't hoard Talent- spend it lavishly, like a millionaire flashing his luxuries, because Talent is Wealth.
Seven Talent Management practices
Competing in a "flat world", a term popularized by columnist Tom Friedman, requires (well) rounded people. Becoming a well rounded talent requires continuous learning and development of knowledge and skills. Organizations that want to succeed in flat world competition better be creating enriching workplace experiences if they wish to attract and retain the high-caliber talent they need.
How can you create an enriching workplace? It isn't easy and doesn't happen overnight. But with some planning, a lot of persistence and adept execution of seven key practices, any organization can create an enriching workplace.
1. Job Stretch and Mobility
Feel like you're stuck in a box at work? If you do you've got plenty of company. Many organizations define jobs narrowly and allow little or no movement across organizational boundaries or even within them. But to grow, talented people need to be constantly challenged and stretched. This means the ability to take risks, to try new things, and yes, even to fail - whether by doing something differently in an existing job or tackling an entirely new one. If experience is indeed the best teacher how much are we learning if what we do rarely changes?
SEI Investments, a leading global provider of outsourced investment business solutions, has created an environment that provides continual challenge to staff and enables them to regularly move around the organization and to frequently take on new tasks and responsibilities.
2. Mentoring Not Just Managing
Nothing speeds up the transfer of knowledge and know-how or enhances individual development more than a quality one-to-one dialogue between an experienced person and an up-and-comer.
W.L. Gore, creator of Gore-Tex fabrics, is a mentoring-intensive organization. Managers are called "Sponsors" and act as advocates for their assigned staff. They commit to being knowledgeable about their activities, well being, progress, accomplishments, personal concerns and ambitions. Each associate has at least one sponsor and some have more than one.
3. Freedom and Stimulation
Often the environment in which people work can make a huge difference to the speed and quality of people development. Two ingredients essential to making a workplace conducive to learning are stimulation - through frequent exposure to a wide variety people and ideas and the freedom to explore and pursue individual ideas and passions.
Google is a nirvana for the best and brightest technical talent in the world. The company's commitment to human capital is strong and was a core principle expressed in its now famous IPO filing in 2004. Staff are given huge amounts of freedom to determine when, where, how and on what they work. Each is allowed to spend 20% of their time each week working on personally initiated projects.
4. Deep Immersion
Nothing frustrates talented people, particularly young up-and-comers, more than being asked to wait their turn before getting the opportunity to contribute to important projects or initiatives. This is not only demotivating to people but counter-productive to performance as opportunities to contribute depend more on tenure and pecking order than merit.
Trilogy, a software company based in Austin Texas not only avoids this problem, but has created a fast- track, merit-based process that starts with every new hire. Its induction program is on steroids - goals are not only cultural induction, bonding and skill development but to create the company's next generation of ideas, products and leaders. The program is led and run by Trilogy's top executives, including its CEO.
5. Teaching and Coaching
This means having people in the organization - both managers and specialists - whose role it is to help others to grow, learn and realize their potential. Many organizations have de-emphasized this key task as pressure to meet quarterly performance targets have cascaded down to every level of the organization.
Schools provide an inspiration and model from which other organizations can learn. They have teachers whose only job is to develop their student's skills and learning. While few organizations are positioned to employ full-time teachers, many should encourage and help managers and staff to take on this role. They can do this by explicitly acknowledging the value of teaching and coaching and including these responsibilities in the expectations and measures of performance set for managers and staff.
6. Diversity of Talents and Personalities
The value of diversity in business seems obvious to most observers, but few leaders really know how to leverage the differences that people bring to the workplace. As Ricardo Selmer, head of the innovative Brazilian conglomerate Semco puts it - "I prefer Coq-au-Vin to Chicken McNuggets". He is not talking about food but rather cultures that blend diverse talents and perspectives (like the ingredients in a slow-cooked Coq-au-Vin) versus those that impose numbing conformity on their people (like the industrial-style sameness of Chicken McNuggets). And believe me, many companies have Chicken McNugget talent - mass produced, standardized and consistently mediocre. Far better to blend diverse ingredients into a rich and unique tasting stew - ala coq au vin!
Semco backs up its words with actions. It regularly pairs younger and older workers together. Its "Lost in Space" program affords young staff the opportunity to move around the company on a regular basis during their first few years. This helps them to both develop new perspectives are well as inject their own fresh ideas throughout the business. Their "Trading Places" initiative let's people trade jobs as a way of gaining new experience and skills.
7. Horizontal Growth Paths
Flattening of hierarchies in recent years has severely curtailed growth paths in many organizations. But growth shouldn't just be up the ladder or depend purely on acquiring managerial skills. Another productive growth path is horizontal and progressive organizations have created lateral paths that allow people to broaden their skills and knowledge within their disciplines and jobs.
Process of Talent Management
1. for Executives:
Make sure that everyone is Identify top performers and keep them energized
• Improve goal alignment. Provide employees with greater visibility into your organization’s strategic and tactical goals.
• Increase Cooperation. Accelerate performance as people work together more closely and focus on shared goals.
• Strengthen accountability. Assign measurable and clearly articulated goals to individuals that are visible to others.
• Keep goals on track. Monitor progress against goals more easily.
• Boost employee engagement. Set up employees for greater success by giving them a clearer understanding of how their day-to-day work contributes to your long-term goals.
Goal Management is a core module of Success Factors’ Professional Edition for simple, automated employee performance management for the small business.
Professional Edition Product Overview Complete, automated employee performance and talent management.
Based on feedback from hundreds of customers, Professional Edition has been designed specifically to help small businesses with their employee performance and talent management. Built on a single platform, this automated and easily configurable web-based solution includes four core modules:
• Goal Management
• Performance Reviews
• Employee Profile
• Dashboards & Analytics
Professional Edition can grow and change right along with your company, offering additional modules such as:
• 360-Degree Review
• Compensation Management
• Learning & Development
• Talent Planning
1. Goal Management
Success Factors Goal Management module makes it easy to align the goals of individual employees to the overall mission of your organization.
• Improve goal alignment. Provide employees with greater visibility into your organization’s strategic and tactical goals.
• Increase Cooperation. Accelerate performance as people work together more closely and focus on shared goals.
• Strengthen accountability. Assign measurable and clearly articulated goals to individuals that are visible to others.
• Keep goals on track. Monitor progress against goals more easily.
• Boost employee engagement. Set up employees for greater success by giving them a clearer understanding of how their day-to-day work contributes to your long-term goals.
2. Performance Reviews
Performance reviews stand as one of your company’s most powerful tools for ensuring ongoing success. But unfortunately, many organizations today have come to see the review process as a dreaded exercise that holds little real value for workers or management.
Success Factors Performance Review module eliminates the stress of your current review process. Our automated web-based employee appraisal software replaces manual systems to make your performance review process simple, effective and fast. In fact, up to a breathtaking 90% faster.
• Streamline your workflow. Automatically route and track review forms and provide participants with instant online access.
• Boost review quality. Collect more professional and meaningful employee appraisals with the help of built-in writing and coaching assistants.
• Gain new insights. Transform your standard review process into a dynamic 360°feedback loop between managers, subordinates, and peers.
• Reduce your risk. Minimize legal exposure with our built-in Legal Scan function.
3. Employee Profile
Success Factors Employee Profile creates a dynamic company network where your employees can use tagging, social networking, and other social media tools to paint a complete picture of them for all to see. This rich clear vision of your employees and unique corporate culture can then be accessed by others throughout your organization.
• Get the complete picture. Use “tags” to build an inventory of your employee’s hidden talents so you can put these skills to work for your organization.
• Make smarter talent decisions. Be better informed about individual employees before making key job assignment decisions.
• Cast a wider net. See far beyond the rigid confines of functional organization structures and geographic locations when assessing your talent pool.
• Share, collaborate, and build culture more effectively. Create a corporate social network that drives performance through increased knowledge sharing and collaboration.
4. Dashboards & Analytics
Success Factors Analytics and Reporting module puts in-depth information about your workforce right at your fingertips, presenting it in a flexible, meaningful, and intuitive way. Using our performance management dashboards, you’ll be able to see and evaluate what’s happening at your company with just a few mouse clicks.
• Respond more quickly. Gather timely and detailed information about your organization so you can make quicker, better-informed decisions.
• Get a comprehensive picture. Gain a cross-functional perspective on your organization that reaches across all areas of your company’s talent and performance management.
• Turn mere data into powerful insights. Pinpoint and analyze trends across your company and generate customized reports to find the answers you need.
5. 360 Degree Reviews
Success Factors 360-Degree Reviews module brings a new facet to the employee review process, providing self feedback as well as input from peers and external sources. So you get more insightful and realistic assessments of your employee's competency gaps and development needs.
Success Factors 360-Degree Reviews shapes the course of each employee using:
• Multiple-Input Ratings. Get comprehensive assessments from every relevant source.
• Detailed Gap Analysis. Identify areas for improvement and development, including hidden strengths and blind spots.
• Pre-Populated Forms. Save enormous amounts of time by using the role-based competencies and behaviors built into our simple, web-based forms.
• Comprehensive Writing Assistant. Create concise and meaningful assessments using suggested review text created by experts.
• Legal Scan. Automatically spot non-compliant language, significantly reducing HR review time.
6. Compensation Management
Success Factors Compensation Management helps you boost the performance of your employees via compensation rewards, creating a more engaged workforce that’s willing to go the extra mile for your organization. Plus you’ll enjoy clearer visibility into individual employee performance when it comes time to make those all-important compensation planning decisions.
• Create a True Pay-for-Performance Culture. Provide a clear linkage for employees between their compensation and your performance expectations.
• Improve Retention. Recognize employees for a job well done using variable pay and other proven methods. So your top performers stay happy—and more likely to stay with your company.
• Optimize Budgets. Run “what-if” scenarios and instantly see how increasing merit pay to your best employees would impact your budget.
• Save on Salaries. Save your business thousands of dollars every year by making sure you’re not unfairly compensating those employees who fall short in their efforts to help your company achieve its key objectives.
7. Learning & Development
Success Factors Learning & Development helps you establish a clear path for employees to achieving their goals. Our powerful solution lets you easily identify competency gaps across your organization, and then helps you formulate appropriate career development goals for your people.
• Strengthens collaboration. Managers and staff create career development goals together, resulting in increased employee engagement and retention.
• Boosts performance. Ties learning activities directly to performance reviews.
• Improves metrics tracking. Lets you closely monitor post-learning performance to determine how specific training has impacted each person’s individual growth.
• Saves on training costs. Eliminates costly, non-strategic training by more closely aligning learning activities with performance needs and strategic goals.
8. Talent Planning
Success Factors Talent Planning helps retain and develop talent at every level of your company [Hilton Hotels Success Story]. This robust planning application lets you easily map every staffing move - across teams, departments or divisions. Plus you can construct and create new department hiring plans, while providing employees with greater visibility into the future of their careers.
• Build bench strength. Gain visibility to your existing talent pools - and potential gaps - so you can proactively train and groom employees for key positions.
• Better assess your talent. Formulate valuable insights about your workforce by gathering information on their backgrounds, expertise, performance, career aspirations, and more.
• Uncover "hidden" talent. Greatly expand your internal talent search efforts beyond your immediate sphere.
• Find the best candidate, every time. Speed the process of finding just the right employees to fill your leadership gaps
2. for Managers:
• Set clear goals and expectations
• Motivate team and increase productivity
• Develop and retain top talent
1. Goals and Expectations:
Refer with Goal Management.
2. Motivate team:
Refer with Compensation Management.
3. Develop:
Refer with Learning and Development.
3. for Employees:
• Understand organizational goals
• Align individual effort with company direction
• Earn raises and promotions based on merit
• Take control of career development
1. Organizational goals
Refer with Goal management
2. Individual effort
Refer with Employee profile.
3. Raises and promotions
Refer with compensation management.
4. Career development
Refer with Learning and Development.
Characteristics of Talent Management
The following 10 characteristics of outstanding workplace performance specialists detail the value they can bring to both organizational clients and the talented performers who make up the organizations' workforces. According to Harold D. Stolovitch
1. Focused on client need:
Exemplary performance professionals never lose sight of the primary mission: valued performance. They are not swayed by enthusiasms or constraints. They ably separate wants and whims from true needs and stick to required outcomes despite pressures.
2. Cause-conscious, not solution-focused:
The performance professional is an analytic and systematic investigator. This leads to decision making based on data, hard evidence and a thorough sifting of facts. As a result, solutions are derived from cause, not opinion.
3. Systemic thinkers:
This means outstanding performance professionals view workplace and talent gaps holistically. They anticipate how change in one area affects others. Single, simple solutions, while attractive, rarely achieve long-term performance improvement. The system view weaves together a web of interventions that are mutually supportive.
4. Appropriately involve others:
Successful performance professionals seek out complementary skills, experiences and power sources to support an effort, such as those of authority figures, knowledgeable individuals and union representatives. They draw strength from diversity. They are project orchestra leaders.
5. Organized, rigorous and prudent:
The true performance professional lets data and credible evidence speak for itself. This characteristic builds trust with management, clients and stakeholders. It increases support for a project and smoothes the way for work to progress. It also enhances the belief that solution recommendations will deliver as promised due to data-based decisions and actions.
6. Sensitive to the need for verifying perceptions:
Careful performance professionals continuously conduct reality checks with reliable people. They double and even triple-test interpretations. By frequently checking and rechecking understandings, they ensure the project is on the right track. Investments in "verifying time" are worthwhile because they negate the need for rework and can eliminate the ill feelings that result from misinterpretation.
7. Sort out and maintain a firm hand on priorities:
This result in adherence to business needs. A byproduct is protection from spontaneously appearing miracle-cure seductions. All projects have the potential to slip off course because of new, exciting "discoveries" reported to clients. It demands skill and wisdom to absorb new information while maintaining goal focus. The ability to suppress distractions, including faddish hype and the latest and greatest technological marvel, is a major asset.
8. Diplomatic and credible:
Being able to overcome resistance without antagonizing, while convincing decision makers and team members to remain on track has powerful payoff. This characteristic takes the edge off rejection of nonessential recommendations. It fosters smoother implementation of talent interventions and the attainment of performance goals without bitterness.
9. Generous in giving credit to others:
By highlighting other people's accomplishments and sharing in success rewards and recognition, performance professionals achieve loyalty to the project. They also draw out the best from all players.
10. Principled, yet flexible:
True performance professionals stick to bottom-line outcomes. They bend with pressures and constraints without deviating from the mission.
Talent management frame Work Model
1. Recruitment & Selection:
If an organization fails to procure the services of persons with required qualifications, skill and caliber continuously, a time may come ultimately when all the qualified persons retire and then the organization is bound to suffer. Therefore, the importance of recruitment and selection of the right type of persons at the right time is indispensable to the organization.
2. Succession Planning:
In organizational development, succession planning is the process of identifying and preparing suitable employees through mentoring, training and job rotation, to replace key players — such as the chief executive officer (CEO) — within an organization as their terms expire. From the risk management aspect, provisions are made in case no suitable internal candidates are available to replace the loss of any key person. It is usual for an organization to insure the key person so that funds are available if she or he dies and these funds can be used by the business to cope with the problems before a suitable replacement is found or developed.
Succession Planning involves having senior executives periodically review their top executives and those in the next lower level to determine several backups for each senior position. This is important because it often takes years of grooming to develop effective senior managers. There is a critical shortage in companies of middle and top leaders for the next five years.[citation needed] Organizations will need to create pools of candidates with high leadership potential.
A careful and considered plan of action ensures the least possible disruption to the person’s responsibilities and therefore the organization’s effectiveness. Examples include such a person who is:
• suddenly and unexpectedly unable or unwilling to continue their role within the organization;
• accepting an approach from another organization or external opportunity which will terminate or lessen their value to the current organization;
• indicating the conclusion of a contract or time-limited project; or
• Moving to another position and different set of responsibilities within the organization.
A succession plan clearly sets out the factors to be taken into account and the process to be followed in relation to retaining or replacing the person.
3. Performance Management:
Performance management is the process of assessing progress toward achieving predetermined goals. Performance management is building on that process, adding the relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined goals.[1]
• In network performance management, (a) a set of functions that evaluate and report the behavior of telecommunications equipment and the effectiveness of the network or network element and (b) a set of various sub functions, such as gathering statistical information, maintaining and examining historical logs, determining system performance under natural and artificial conditions, and altering system modes of operation.[2]
• In organizational development (OD), performance can be thought of as Actual Results vs. Desired Results. Any discrepancy, where Actual is less than Desired, could constitute the performance improvement zone. Performance management and improvement can be thought of as a cycle:
1. Performance planning where goals and objectives are established
2. Performance coaching where a manager intervenes to give feedback and adjust performance
3. Performance appraisal where individual performance is formally documented and feedback delivered
A performance problem is any gap between Desired Results and Actual Results. Performance improvement is any effort targeted at closing the gap between Actual Results and Desired Results.
• Application Performance Management (APM) refers to the discipline within systems management that focuses on monitoring and managing the performance and availability of software applications. APM can be defined as workflow and related IT tools deployed to detect, diagnose, remedy and report on application performance issues to ensure that application performance meets or exceeds end-users’ and businesses’ expectations.
• Business performance management (BPM) is a set of processes that help businesses discover efficient use of their business units, financial, human and material resources.
• Operational performance management (OPM) focus is on creating methodical and predictable ways to improve business results, or performance, across organizations.
• Integrated business planning (IBP) refers to the technologies, applications and processes of connecting the planning function across the enterprise to improve organizational alignment and financial performance.
Simply put, performance management helps organizations achieve their strategic goals. Rather than discarding the data accessibility previous systems fostered, performance management harnesses it to help ensure that an organization’s data works in service to organizational goals to provide information that is actually useful in achieving them. and focus on the Operational Networking Processes between that performance level. The main purpose of performance management is to link individual objectives and organizational objectives and bring about that individuals obey important worth for enterprise. Additionally, performance management tries to develop skills of people to achieve their capability to satisfy their ambitiousness and also increase profit of a firm.
4. Compensation Management:
Human Resource is the most vital resource for any organization. It is responsible for each and every decision taken, each and every work done and each and every result. Employees should be managed properly and motivated by providing best remuneration and compensation as per the industry standards. The lucrative compensation will also serve the need for attracting and retaining the best employees.
Compensation is the remuneration received by an employee in return for his/her contribution to the organization. It is an organized practice that involves balancing the work-employee relation by providing monetary and non-monetary benefits to employees.
Compensation is an integral part of human resource management which helps in motivating the employees and improving organizational effectiveness.
Components of Compensation System
Compensation systems are designed keeping in minds the strategic goals and business objectives. Compensation system is designed on the basis of certain factors after analyzing the job work and responsibilities. Components of a compensation system are as follows:
Types of Compensation
Compensation provided to employees can direct in the form of monetary benefits and/or indirect in the form of non-monetary benefits known as perks, time off, etc. Compensation does not include only salary but it is the sum total of all rewards and allowances provided to the employees in return for their services. If the compensation offered is effectively managed, it contributes to high organizational productivity.
1. Direct Compensation 2. Indirect compensation
1. Direct Compensation
Direct compensation refers to monetary benefits offered and provided to employees in return of the services they provide to the organization. The monetary benefits include basic salary, house rent allowance, conveyance, leave travel allowance, medical reimbursements, special allowances, bonus, Pf/Gratuity, etc. They are given at a regular interval at a definite time.
Basic Salary
Salary is the amount received by the employee in lieu of the work done by him/her for a certain period say a day, a week, a month, etc. It is the money an employee receives from his/her employer by rendering his/her services.
House Rent Allowance
Organizations either provide accommodations to its employees who are from different state or country or they provide house rent allowances to its employees. This is done to provide them social security and motivate them to work.
Conveyance
Organizations provide for cab facilities to their employees. Few organizations also provide vehicles and petrol allowances to their employees to motivate them.
Leave Travel Allowance
These allowances are provided to retain the best talent in the organization. The employees are given allowances to visit any place they wish with their families. The allowances are scaled as per the position of employee in the organization.
Medical Reimbursement
Organizations also look after the health conditions of their employees. The employees are provided with medi-claims for them and their family members. These medi-claims include health-insurances and treatment bills reimbursements
Bonus
Bonus is paid to the employees during festive seasons to motivate them and provide them the social security. The bonus amount usually amounts to one month’s salary of the employee.
Special Allowance
Special allowance such as overtime, mobile allowances, meals, commissions, travel expenses, reduced interest loans; insurance, club memberships, etc are provided to employees to provide them social security and motivate them which improve the organizational productivity.
2. Indirect compensation
Indirect compensation refers to non-monetary benefits offered and provided to employees in lieu of the services provided by them to the organization. They include Leave Policy, Overtime Policy, Car policy, Hospitalization, Insurance, Leave travel Assistance Limits, Retirement Benefits, Holiday Homes.
Leave Policy
It is the right of employee to get adequate number of leave while working with the organization. The organizations provide for paid leaves such as, casual leaves, medical leaves (sick leave), and maternity leaves, statutory pay, etc.
Overtime Policy
Employees should be provided with the adequate allowances and facilities during their overtime, if they happened to do so, such as transport facilities, overtime pay, etc.
Hospitalization
The employees should be provided allowances to get their regular check-ups, say at an interval of one year. Even their dependents should be eligible for the medi-claims that provide them emotional and social security.
Insurance
Organizations also provide for accidental insurance and life insurance for employees. This gives them the emotional security and they feel themselves valued in the organization.
Leave Travel
The employees are provided with leaves and travel allowances to go for holiday with their families. Some organizations arrange for a tour for the employees of the organization. This is usually done to make the employees stress free.
Retirement Benefits
Organizations provide for pension plans and other benefits for their employees which benefits them after they retire from the organization at the prescribed age.
Holiday Homes
Organizations provide for holiday homes and guest house for their employees at different locations. These holiday homes are usually located in hill station and other most wanted holiday spots. The organizations make sure that the employees do not face any kind of difficulties during their stay in the guest house.
Flexible Timings
Organizations provide for flexible timings to the employees who cannot come to work during normal shifts due to their personal problems and valid reasons.
Need of Compensation Management
A good compensation package is important to motivate the employees to increase the organizational productivity.
Unless compensation is provided no one will come and work for the organization. Thus, compensation helps in running an organization effectively and accomplishing its goals.
Salary is just a part of the compensation system, the employees have other psychological and self-actualization needs to fulfill. Thus, compensation serves the purpose.
The most competitive compensation will help the organization to attract and sustain the best talent. The compensation package should be as per industry standards.
Strategic Compensation
Strategic compensation is determining and providing the compensation packages to the employees that are aligned with the business goals and objectives. In today’s competitive scenario organizations have to take special measures regarding compensation of the employees so that the organizations retain the valuable employees. The compensation systems have changed from traditional ones to strategic compensation systems.
5. Learning and Development:
Success Factors Learning & Development helps you establish a clear path for employees to achieving their goals. Our powerful solution lets you easily identify competency gaps across your organization, and then helps you formulate appropriate career development goals for your people.
• Strengthens collaboration. Managers and staff create career development goals together, resulting in increased employee engagement and retention.
• Boosts performance. Ties learning activities directly to performance reviews.
• Improves metrics tracking. Lets you closely monitor post-learning performance to determine how specific training has impacted each person’s individual growth.
• Saves on training costs. Eliminates costly, non-strategic training by more closely aligning learning activities with performance needs and strategic goals.
6. Employee Retention:
Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization as well as the employee.
Employees today are different. They are not the ones who don’t have good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current employer or the job, they switch over to the next job. It is the responsibility of the employer to retain their best employees. If they don’t, they would be left with no good employees. A good employer should know how to attract and retain its employees. Retention involves five major things:
1. Compensation
Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention process. The employees always have high expectations regarding their compensation packages. Compensation packages vary from industry to industry. So an attractive compensation package plays a critical role in retaining the employees.
Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses, benefits, prerequisites, stock options, bonuses, vacations, etc. While setting up the packages, the following components should be kept in mind:
Salary and monthly wage: It is the biggest component of the compensation package. It is also the most common factor of comparison among employees. It includes
o Basic wage
o House rent allowance
o Dearness allowance
o City compensatory allowance
Salary and wages represent the level of skill and experience an individual has:
Time to time increase in the salaries and wages of employees should be done. And this increase should be based on the employee’s performance and his contribution to the organization.
Bonus: Bonuses are usually given to the employees at the end of the year or on a festival.
Economic benefits: It includes paid holidays, leave travel concession, etc.
Long-term incentives: Long term incentives include stock options or stock grants. These incentives help retain employees in the organization's startup stage.
Health insurance: Health insurance is a great benefit to the employees. It saves employees money as well as gives them a peace of mind that they have somebody to take care of them in bad times. It also shows the employee that the organization cares about the employee and its family.
After retirement: It includes payments that an Employee gets after he retires like EPF (Employee Provident Fund) etc.
Miscellaneous compensation: It may include employee assistance programs (like psychological counseling, legal assistance etc), discounts on company products, use of a company cars, etc.
2. Organization Environment
It is not about managing retention. It is about managing people. If an organization manages people well, employee retention will take care of itself. Organizations should focus on managing the work environment to make better use of the available human assets.
People want to work for an organization which provides
Appreciation for the work done
Ample opportunities to grow
A friendly and cooperative environment
A feeling that the organization is second home to the employee
Organization environment includes
• Culture
• Values
• Company reputation
• Quality of people in the organization
• Employee development and career growth
• Risk taking
• Leading technologies
• Trust
Types of environment the employee needs in an organization
Learning environment: It includes continuous learning and improvement of the individual, certifications and provision for higher studies, etc.
Support environment: Organization can provide support in the form of work-life balance. Work life balance includes:
• Flexible hours
• Telecommuting
• Dependent care
• Alternate work schedules
• Vacations
• Wellness
Work environment: It includes efficient managers, supportive co-workers, challenging work, involvement in decision-making, clarity of work and responsibilities, and recognition.
Lack or absence of such environment pushes employees to look for new opportunities. The environment should be such that the employee feels connected to the organization in every respect.
3. Growth and Career
Growth and development are the integral part of every individual’s career. If an employee can not foresee his path of career development in his current organization, there are chances that he’ll leave the organization as soon as he gets an opportunity.
The important factors in employee growth that an employee looks for himself are:
Work profile: The work profile on which the employee is working should be in sync with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high.
Personal growth and dreams: Employees responsibilities in the organization should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations can not keep aside the individual goals of employees and foster organizations goals. Employees’ priority is to work for them and later on comes the organization. If he’s not satisfied with his growth, he’ll not be able to contribute in organization growth.
Training and development: Employees should be trained and given chance to improve and enhance their skills. Many employers fear that if the employees are well rained, they’ll leave the organization for better jobs. Organization should not limit the resources on which organization’s success depends. These trainings can be given to improve many skills like:
• Communications skills
• Technical skills
• In-house processes and procedures improvement related skills
• C or customer satisfaction related skills
• Special project related skills
Need for such trainings can be recognized from individual performance reviews, individual meetings, employee satisfaction surveys and by being in constant touch with the employees.
4. Importance of Relationship in Employee Retention Program
Sometimes the relationship with the management and the peers becomes the reason for an employee to leave the organization. The management is sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work culture and environment in terms of personal or professional relationships. There are times when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the management or peers. This bitterness could be due to many reasons. This decreases employee’s interest and he becomes de-motivated. It leads to less satisfaction and eventually attrition.
A supportive work culture helps grow employee professionally and boosts employee satisfaction. To enhance good professional relationships at work, the management should keep the following points in mind.
1. Respect for the individual: Respect for the individual is the must in the organization.
2. Relationship with the immediate manager: A manger plays the role of a mentor and a coach. He designs ands plans work for each employee. It is his duty to involve the employee in the processes of the organization. So an organization should hire managers who can make and maintain good relations with their subordinates.
3. Relationship with colleagues: Promote team work, not only among teams but in different departments as well. This will induce competition as well as improve the relationships among colleagues.
4. Recruit whole heartedly: An employee should be recruited if there is a proper place and duties for him to perform. Otherwise he’ll feel useless and will be dissatisfied. Employees should know what the organization expects from them and what their expectation from the organization is. Deliver what is promised.
5. Promote an employee based culture: The employee should know that the organization is there to support him at the time of need. Show them that the organization cares and he’ll show the same for the organization. An employee based culture may include decision making authority, availability of resources, open door policy, etc.
6. Individual development: Taking proper care of employees includes acknowledgement to the employee’s dreams and personal goals. Create opportunities for their career growth by providing mentorship programs, certifications, educational courses, etc.
7. Induce loyalty: Organizations should be loyal as well as they should promote loyalty in the employees too. Try to make the current employees stay instead of recruiting new ones.
5. Support
Lack of support from management can sometimes serve as a reason for employee retention. Supervisor should support his subordinates in a way so that each one of them is a success. Management should try to focus on its employees and support them not only in their difficult times at work but also through the times of personal crisis. Management can support employees by providing them recognition and appreciation.
Employers can also provide valuable feedback to employees and make them feel valued to the organization.
The feedback from supervisor helps the employee to feel more responsible, confident and empowered. Top management can also support its employees in their personal crisis by providing personal loans during emergencies, childcare services, employee assistance programs, counseling services, et al.
Employers can also support their employees by creating an environment of trust and inculcating the organizational values into employees. Thus employers can support their employees in a number of ways as follows:
By providing feedback
By giving recognition and rewards
By counseling them
By providing emotional support
Approaches of Talent Management
Talent management is most commonly one of six possible approaches, each of which exists along a spectrum ranging from a simple rebranding of a different concept through to a truly different approach, each of which are based upon the way that talent has been defined. John Ingham Let me explain:
The first approach is progressive HR (you could also call it human capital management) and is based upon the belief that talent or human capital is a critical enabler to business success. At the rebranded end of the spectrum, this form of ‘talent management’ is really just good old traditional HR, but has been renamed talent management to make it (and the HR function) sound a bit more valuable and strategic. At the other, differentiated, end of the spectrum, this form of ‘talent management’ puts more investment into all people management activities, ensuring the development of employees’ engagement and capability, in order to build human capital and deliver business results.
The function of Human Resources departments is generally administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Efficient and effective management of "Human Capital" has progressed to an increasingly imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized Human Resource Management Systems. Due HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before the "client-server" architecture evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the high capital investment necessary to purchase or program proprietary software, these internally-developed HRMS were limited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent of client-server, Application Service Provider, and Software as a Service or SaaS Human Resource Management Systems enabled take increasingly higher administrative control of such systems. Currently Human Resource Management Systems encompass:
1. Payrolls
2. Work Time
3. Benefits Administration
4. HR management Information system
5. Recruiting
6. Training/ Learning Management System LMS
The Payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems.
The Work Time gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions.
The Benefits Administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement.
The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to "read" applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information system to:
• produce pay checks and payroll reports;
• maintain personnel records;
• Pursue Talent Management.
Online Recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent Management systems typically encompass:
• analyzing personnel usage within an organization;
• identifying potential applicants;
• recruiting through company-facing listings;
• Recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants.
The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the development of a dedicated Applicant Tracking System, or 'ATS', module.
The 'Training Module' provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a Learning Management System if a stand alone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS allow managers to approve training, budgets and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics.
Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced Applicant Tracking System that encompasses a subset of the above.
The second approach is HR using e-HR systems. At the basic end of the spectrum, a basic, transactional, functional HR IT system which calls itself a talent management system is used to support one or more processes, most commonly recruitment, which is then renamed talent management. At the advanced end of the spectrum, integrated talent or human capital management systems are used to provide better understanding of talent / people management data. The assumption here is that all people provide talent, some of which is more valuable than others, and that an integrated IT system is required to identify the opportunities this talent provides.
E-HR Systems:
E – HR system is a web based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application technology to deliver an online real- time human resource solution. It is comprehensive but easy to use, feature- rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your specific needs.
Benefits
Easy and fast to deploy;
Multisite consolidation of information online and real time;
Cost savings in IT infrastructure by using the internet;
Reduce IT capital expenditure through centralization and eliminate equipment duplication in multisite configurations;
Eliminate data duplication and maintain data integrity.
The exact e- synergy solution e- HR is fully integrated with is the other e- synergy modules. Now the employees can easily track produce customers, documents, external and internal requests that are linked to his name.
Important Aspects of E- HR Systems
E- job design and job analysis
E-Human resource planning
E- Recruitment
Advantages: It reduces the cost by 95% of cost
It reduces the time
It presents list of job opportunities
E- Selection
E- Performance management
E- Training and Development
E- Compensation Management – Almost all organizations started using computer for salary fixation, salary calculations, allowances and fringe benefits.
E- HR records.
E-HR Information –The information is generated maintained, processed and transmitted to the appropriate places with the help of software with high speed and accuracy.
E-HR Audit – The standard HR practices or the desired HR practices are fed into the computer and actuals are also fed into the software which automatically completes the human resource audit and procedures the audit report. Now, HR manager can modify the report by deleting or adding any comments.
E-HR allows you to –
Manage systems and information
Use yellow pages
Generate reports and statistics
Manage and delegate online
Plan resources
Get a clear overview of planning and statistics
Manage workflow, absence and expenses
Keep track of fringe benefits scheme and keep track of applicants
Perform mail mergers
Manage your assets
Track individual financial transaction
Link to pay roll.
The third approach is matching supply and demand of talent. The basic form of this approach includes short-term resource planning in which particular needs are identified and the relevant types of numbers of required talent is provided, through the recruitment of new staff or contingent workers, or the development or deployment of existing employees. More advanced approaches focus on longer-term workforce planning and succession strategy, identifying potential future-state scenarios and planning internal and external actions (e.g. development of high potentials / relationships with potential employees e.g. head farming) to close possible talent gaps.
Forecasting methods range from a simple supervisor or manager best guess to a rigorous and complex computer simulation. Simple assumptions may be sufficient in certain instances, but complex models may be necessary for others. Here we are discussing some prominent methods; forecasts may be either judgmental or mathematical methods.
Judgmental Methods:
Estimates
Role of thumb
Delphi technique
Nominal groups
Estimates: It can be either top- down or bottom-up, but essentially people who are in a position to know are asked, “How many you need.
Role of thumb: Rely on general guidelines applied to a specific situation within the organization.
The Delphi technique: It uses input from a group of experts whose opinions of forecasted situations are sought.
Nominal groups: Their ideas are usually generated independently at first, discussed as a group and then complied as a report.
Mathematical Methods:
Statistical regression
Simulation models
Productivity factors
Staffing ratios
Statistical regression: Makes a statistical comparison of past relationships among various factors.
Simulation Models: These models are representation of real situations in abstract form.
Productivity factors: It calculates the average number of units produced by employee.
Staffing ratios: It can be used to estimate indirect labor.
Fourthly, talent management can refer to recruitment / resourcing of talent. At a basic level, this can be a simple rebranding of recruitment activities. I suspect this is the most popular form of talent management in organizations, and most ‘talent managers’ I have met are in fact recruiters. However, a more advanced take on this applies supply chain management principles to resourcing to ensure an appropriate ‘flow’ of people / talent into and through the organization. Talent in this perspective is usually defined in reference to key roles, e.g. Kaplan and Norton’s strategic job families or Boudreau and Ramstad’s pivotal roles (those in which a certain investment can provide the greatest return).
Recruitment: It refers to the attempt of getting interested applicants and providing a pool of prospective employees, so that we can see the right person for the right job from this pool. Therefore, recruitment precedes selection. Recruitment is the discovering of potential applicants for the actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. It brings together those who want jobs and those who have jobs. Recruitment locates the sources of man power to meet job requirement and job specification. It is a process that not only helps to fill a vacancy physically, mentally and temperamentally, but also helps to develop an employee into a desirable asset.
Recruitment policy should be planned one so that disruption of work in an organization will be minimized to employee turnover. Recruitment policy should be such that right types of personnel are identified for the specific jobs. Today, in the Indian scenario, there is a death for skilful personnel in each and every organization. A sound recruitment policy has to be based on comprehensive employee development programme.
Planned: This occurs due to change in organizational decisions and retirement policies.
Anticipated: Arises due to change in environment.
Unexpected: Emerges from contingencies like retirement, death, ill- health, accidents, etc.
Fifthly, talent management can also be defined in the context of development. Again, at a basic level, this can refer to a simple rebranding of learning and particularly leadership development activities. At a more advanced level, it can refer to a major focus on leveraging peoples’ strengths or on unleashing their potential. Talent here usually refers to key people rather than to key roles, and often to the leadership team or potential future leaders and
Finally, talent management can refer to employee engagement and retention. A basic approach can refer to a set of communication activities designed to engage employees. A more advanced form of this type of talent management focuses on management of the individual deal agreed with each person identified as talent to ensure that their own individual engagement drivers / employee value proposition is implemented to the individual’s satisfaction. Talent management here is often about getting key people into key roles, or crucible roles.
The basic forms of these six approaches probably don’t deserve the title talent management, but the six more advanced forms certainly do, and each can be effective in different organizations depending upon their contexts and business strategies.
Talent Development
Talent Development, part of human resource development, is the process of changing an organization, its employees, its stakeholders, and groups of people within it, using planned and unplanned learning, in order to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage for the organization. Roth well notes that the name may well be a term in search of a meaning, like so much in management, and suggests that it be thought of as selective attention paid to the top 10% of employees, either by potential or performance.
While "Talent Development" is reserved for the top management it is becoming increasingly clear that "Career Development" is necessary for the retention of any employee, no matter what their level in the company. Research has shown that some type of career path is necessary for job satisfaction and hence job retention. Perhaps organizations need to include this area in their overview of employee satisfaction.
The term "Talent Development" is becoming increasingly popular in several organizations, as companies are now moving from the traditional term "Training and Development". Talent Development encompasses a variety of components such as training, career development, career management, and organizational development, and training and development. As we proceed through the 21st century more companies will begin to use more integrated terms such as "Talent Development"
Washington Group International, in their paper "The Nuclear Renaissance, A Life Cycle Perspective"[3] defined two logical laws of Talent Development:
First Law of Talent Development: "The beginnings of any technology-rich business are all characterized by a shortage of large numbers of technically trained people needed to support ultimate growth"
Second Law of Talent Development: "The resources will come when the business becomes attractive to the and brightest who adapt skills to become part of an exciting opportunity"
Talent Development refers to an organization's ability to align strategic training and career opportunities for employees.
Definitions of HRD
The concept of HRD was first introduced by Leonard Nadler in 1969 in a conference in U.S. He defined HRD as “those learning experiences which are organized for a specific time, and designed to bring about the possibility of behavioral change.”
“HRD is a process by which the employees of an organization are helped in a continuous, planned way to:
Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their present or expected future roles;
Develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover and exploit their own inner potentials for their own and / or organizational development purposes;
Development of an organizational culture in which superior- subordinates relationship, team work and collaborations among sub units are strong and contribute to the professional well- being, motivation and pride of the employee.”
According to SubbaRao defines, HRD “is a process which helps the human, managerial and behavior knowledge, skills, and abilities and mould the values, beliefs, attitudes necessary to perform present and future roles by realizing highest human potential with a view to contribute positively to the organizational, group and social goals.”
Objectives / Purpose/ importance of talent Development
The talent development programmes are organized with a view to achieving specific objectives. They are:
To overhaul the management machinery.
To improve the performance of managers.
To give the specialists on overall view of the functions of an organization and equip them to co- ordinate each others efforts effectively.
To identify persons with the required potential and prepare them for senior positions.
To increase morale of the members of the management group.
To increase versatility of the management group.
To keep the executives abreast with the changes and developments in their respective fields.
To create the management succession this can take over in case of contingencies.
To improve thought process and analytical ability.
To broaden the outlook of the executive regarding his role position and responsibilities.
To understand the conceptual issues relating to economic, social, and technical areas.
To understand the problems of human relations and improve human relations skills and
To stimulate creative thinking.
Achievement of the above stated objectives/ importance is very difficult as some factors inhibit the talent development process.
Factors Affecting the Talent Development
The factors affecting TD are seen in these definitions. They are briefly analyzed in the following factors:
(1) Manpower Development:
Business world is becoming highly dynamic in character, new technology is introduced at a higher speed in industries, and fast changes are taking place in the business operations. Business is becoming more and more complex and is demanding highly competent human force to handle the situations. HRD has the responsibility of developing the competent human force to handle changing and challenging socio- business environment. Manpower training and development programmes are to be designed to give adequate exposure to executives, technocrats and the work force of the organization.
(2) Career Planning:
HRD also considers career – planning programmes. Career planning refers to “forward looking employment policies of an organization which takes into account the career of individual executives involved in various tasks”. This blends HRP and individual career needs. Individual capabilities and aspirations are matched with organization goals and objectives, integration takes place and HRD trains people for “managerial succession” (occupying the position of retired, resigned or dead employee by lower position employee).
(3) Organizational Structure:
The entire business world today is undergoing rapid change and a new organization structure is found in every organization. Strong operational managers are needed to take charge to this new structure. HRD is to cope with this and is taking up the activities to meet this challenge. “A new concept regarding what is work and how to redistribute tasks, redefine roles, authority relationships and sources of power must be based on the new models emerging globally. Recruiting, selecting, developing, rotating and managing human resources must aid such a global”. HRD considers that factor of organization structure as one of the vital aspects in developing human resources.
(4) Organizational Climate:
Another factor which is associated with HRD is organizational climate. Congenial work atmosphere should be created by HRD to see that employees are motivated and work for the growth of the organization. Employees should be able to work in a free and cool atmosphere. Then only they work positively and give what best is there in them for the growth of the organization. HRD should create good working conditions.
(5) Development of Individuals:
Development of individual capability is another factor which is associated with HRD. The potentiality of individuals has to be located and be used for the good organization as well as their own good. For this HRD should be integrated with appropriate job design and succession plan. This activity may also be called as “Potential Appraisal”.
(6) Employee Counseling:
Every employee of the organization should be given proper information about his activities in the organization, how he/she should grow, what right practices one has to adopt to improve him and to improve the organizational conditions. Counseling, this includes career counseling, motivation counseling, and problem solving counseling, is one of the factors to be considered by HRD. HRD should also take care of grievance handling.
(7) Recruitment and Selection:
This is an associated factor of HRD which is discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters. However, HRD should make careful selection of employees, train them according to the needs of the organization and position them in right places.
(8) Performance Appraisal:
HRD also takes up the periodical performance appraisal of employees. This is another essential factor of HRD. To maintain the quality of work and to reach the set targets in business operations, the employees should be monitored continuously. Periodical appraisal of work will enable the firm to locate the weak spots and rectify the operations then and there. Without the appraisal method, the quality of worker cannot be improved and the quality operations in the firm cannot be maintained.
Other factors like, well formulated human resource information system (HRIS), management development, technical development, supervisory development, organization development, employee welfare measures, developing feedback systems are also associated with Human Resources Development.
Scope of Talent Development
1. Recruiting the employees within the dimensions and possibilities for developing human resource.
2. Selecting those employees having potentialities for development to meet the present and future organizational needs.
3. Train all the employees in acquiring new technical skills and knowledge.
4. Develop the employees in managerial grid and behavioral skills and knowledge.
5. Changing the employee’s behavior through organization development.
6. Employee learning through group dynamics, intra and inter team interaction.
7. Learning through social and religious interactions and programmes.
8. Learning through job rotation, job enrichment and empowerment.
9. Learning through quality circles and the schemes workers participation in the management.
10. Planning for employee’s career and introducing developmental programmes.
Principles of Talent Development
The top management of a company should follow certain principles to make the management development programmes effective. They are:
The management should assess the development needs of its mangers at different levels through performance analysis and development methods.
Management should decentralize the responsibility of developing the managers of different departments/ units and make the head of the department unit responsible for it.
Management should integrate career planning and development of the organization with the management development programmes.
Every manager of the organization should be motivated and empowered to take up developmental programmes.
Management development programme is a continuous process.
Management should encourage the manager to take up programmes on their own in addition to the company sponsored programmes.
Management should make use of the management development programmes organized by outside agencies like IIMS, XLRI etc.
The content of the programme should be need based for the individual manager and the organization.
The physical, social and psychological climate for the programmes should be conducive.
All managers should be encouraged to undergo development programmes in order to avoid executive obsolescence.
Management development programmes should concentrate on the latest management concepts and principles.
Methods of Management (Talent) Development
There are various methods of training, which can be divided in to cognitive and behavioral methods. Trainers need to understand the pros and cons of each method, also its impact on trainees keeping their background and skills in mind before giving training.
Cognitive methods are more of giving theoretical training to the trainees. The various methods under Cognitive approach provide the rules for how to do something, written or verbal information, demonstrate relationships among concepts, etc. These methods are associated with changes in knowledge and attitude by stimulating learning.
The various methods that come under Cognitive approach are:
LECTURES
DEMONSTRATIONS
DISCUSSIONS
COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT)
INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM (ITS)
PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (PI)
VIRTUAL REALITY
Behavioral methods are more of giving practical training to the trainees. The various methods under Behavioral approach allow the trainee to behavior in a real fashion. These methods are best used for skill development.
The various methods that come under Behavioral approach are:
GAMES AND SIMULATIONS
BEHAVIOR-MODELING
BUSINESS GAMES
CASE STUDIES
EQUIPMENT STIMULATORS
IN-BASKET TECHNIQUE
ROLE PLAYS
Both the methods can be used effectively to change attitudes, but through different means.
Another Method is MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT METHOD –
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT –
The more future oriented method and more concerned with education of the employees. To become a better performer by education implies that management development activities attempt to instill sound reasoning processes.
Management development method is further divided into two parts:
ON THE JOB TRAINING –
The development of a manager’s abilities can take place on the job. The four techniques for on-the job development are:
COACHING
MENTORING
JOB ROTATION
JOB INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE (JIT)
OFF THE JOB TRAINING –
There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The few popular methods are:
SENSITIVITY TRAINING
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES
SIMULATION EXERCISES
I. Cognitive approach
1. Lecture – A Method of Training
It is one of the oldest methods of training. This method is used to create understanding of a topic or to influence behavior, attitudes through lecture. A lecture can be in printed or oral form. Lecture is telling someone about something. Lecture is given to enhance the knowledge of listener or to give him the theoretical aspect of a topic. Training is basically incomplete without lecture. When the trainer begins the training session by telling the aim, goal, agenda, processes, or methods that will be used in training that means the trainer is using the lecture method. It is difficult to imagine training without lecture format. There are some variations in Lecture method. The variation here means that some forms of lectures are interactive while some are not.
Straight Lecture: Straight lecture method consists of presenting information, which the trainee attempts to absorb. In this method, the trainer speaks to a group about a topic. However, it does not involve any kind of interaction between the trainer and the trainees. A lecture may also take the form of printed text, such as books, notes, etc. The difference between the straight lecture and the printed material is the trainer’s intonation, control of speed, body language, and visual image of the trainer. The trainer in case of straight lecture can decide to vary from the training script, based on the signals from the trainees, whereas same material in print is restricted to what is printed.
A good lecture consists of introduction of the topic, purpose of the lecture, and priorities and preferences of the order in which the topic will be covered.
Main Features of Lecture Method
some of the main features of lecture method are:
• Inability to identify and correct misunderstandings
• Less expensive
• Can be reached large number of people at once
• Knowledge building exercise
• Less effective because lectures require long periods of trainee inactivity
2. Demonstration Training Method
This method is a visual display of how something works or how to do something. As an example, trainer shows the trainees how to perform or how to do the tasks of the job. In order to be more effective, demonstration method should be should be accompanied by the discussion or lecture method.
To carry out an effective demonstration, a trainer first prepares the lesson plan by breaking the task to be performed into smaller modules, easily learned parts. Then, the trainer sequentially organizes those modules and prepares an explanation for why that part is required. While performing the demonstration, trainer:
• Helps the focusing their attention on critical aspects of the task
• Tells the trainees what you will be doing so they understand what you will be showing them
• Explains why it should be carried out in that way
• Demonstrates the task by describing how to do, while doing
The difference between the lecture method and the demonstration method is the level of involvement of the trainee. In the lecture method, the more the trainee is involved, the more learning will occur.
The financial costs that occur in the demonstration method are as follows:
• Cost of training facility for the program
• Cost of materials that facilitate training
• Food, travel, lodging for the trainees and the trainers
• Compensation of time spent in training to trainers and trainees
• Cost related to creating content, material
• Cost related to the organization of the training
After completing the demonstration the trainer provide feedback, both positive and or negative, give the trainee the opportunity to do the task and describe what he is doing and why.
3. Discussion Training Method
This method uses a lecturer to provide the learners with context that is supported, elaborated, explains, or expanded on through interactions both among the trainees and between the trainer and the trainees. The interaction and the communication between these two make it much more effective and powerful than the lecture method. If the Discussion method is used with proper sequence i.e. lectures, followed by discussion and questioning, can achieve higher level knowledge objectives, such as problem solving and principle learning.
The Discussion method consists a two-way flow of communication i.e. knowledge in the form of lecture is communicated to trainees, and then understanding is conveyed back by trainees to trainer.
Understanding is conveyed in the form of verbal and non-verbal feedback that enables the trainer to determine whether the material is understood. If yes, then definitely it would help out the trainees to implement it at their workplaces and if not, the trainer may need to spend more time on that particular area by presenting the information again in a different manner.
Questioning can be done by both ways i.e. the trainees and the trainer. When the trainees ask questions, they explain their thinking about the content of the lecture. A trainer who asks questions stimulates thinking about the content of the lecture. Asking and responding questions are beneficial to trainees because it enhance understanding and keep the trainees focused on the content. Besides that, discussions, and interactions allow the trainee to be actively engaged in the material of the trainer. This activity helps in improving recall.
4. Computer-Based Training (CBT)
With the world-wide expansion of companies and changing technologies, the demands for knowledge and skilled employees have increased more than ever, which in turn, is putting pressure on HR department to provide training at lower costs. Many organizations are now implementing CBT as an alternative to classroom based training to accomplish those goals.
According to a recent survey, about 75% of the organizations are providing training to employees through Intranet or Internet. Internet is not the method of training, but has become the technique of delivering training. The growth of electronic technology has created alternative training delivery systems. CBT does not require face-to-face interaction with a human trainer. This method is so varied in its applications that it is difficult to describe in concise terms.
The various methods that come under Cognitive approach are:
INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM (ITS)
PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (PI)
VIRTUAL REALITY
1. INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM (ITS)
This Intelligent Tutorial system uses artificial intelligence to assist in training or tutoring the participants. This system learns through trainee responses.
This Intelligent Tutorial system uses artificial intelligence to assist in training or tutoring the participants. This system learns through trainee responses.
Features of Intelligent Tutorial Systems (ITS)
It selects the appropriate level of instructions for the participants
It guides the trainees
It is a text-based system
It also evaluates the training program
It also improves the methodology for teaching the trainee based on the information
It is an interactive system
It determines the trainee’s level of understanding
Intelligent Tutorial System (ITS) comprises of 5 components:
1. A domain expert also called the expert knowledge base
2. A trainee model – stores the information on how the trainee is performing during the training program
3. A scenario generator
4. A training session manager – interprets trainees responses and responds either with tutoring, more content or information
5. A user interface – allows the trainee to communicate with the Intelligent tutorial System
Considering an example, in the following table there are 3 students ABC, DEF, GHI. The Intelligent Tutorial System determines the problem with the three students, diagnose them, and provide them a different type if instruction to each student keeping the errors they make in mind.
2. Programmed Instruction (PI)
Programmed instruction is a Computer-based training that comprises of graphics, multimedia, text that is connected to one another and is stored in memory.
Programmed instruction is the procedure of guiding the participants strategically through the information in a way that facilitates the most effective and efficient learning. It provides the participant with content, information, asks questions, and based on the answer goes to the next level of information i.e. if the trainee gives the correct answer; one branch moves the trainee forward to the new information. And if the trainee gives the wrong answer then different branch is activated, taking the trainee back to the review relevant information in more elaborate manner.
This method allows the trainees to go through the content according to the individual speed, and capability. Those trainees, who respond better, move through the content rapidly.
Programmed Instruction also comes in
• Printed form i.e. books
• Tape
• Interactive Video
• Other formats
In programmed instruction, trainees receive information in substantial amount and then tested on their retention of information. If the trainees are not able to retain the information, they are referred back to the original information. If the trainees retain the information, they are referred to the next log of information that is to be learned.
Features of Programmed Instruction
some of the features of programmed instructions are:
• It provides immediate feedback to trainee response
• It frequently reviews the content
• It programs small learning steps that results in fewer response errors
• It allows trainees to move through the content at their own speed, or capability
• It requires frequent active responses by the trainees
3. Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual Reality is a training method that puts the participant in 3-D environment. The three dimensional environment stimulates situations and events that are experienced in the job. The participant interacts with 3-D images to accomplish the training objectives. This type of environment is created to give trainee the impression of physical involvement in an environment. To experience virtual reality, the trainee wears devices, like headset, gloves, treadmills, etc.
Virtual Reality provides trainees with an understanding of the consequences of their actions in the work environment by interpreting and responding to the trainees’ actions through its accessories:
• Headset – provides audio and visual information
• Gloves – provides tactile information
• Treadmills – is used for creating the sense of movement
• Sensory devices – transmits how the trainees are responding in the virtual workplace to the computer this allows the virtual reality (VR) system to respond by changing the environment appropriately.
Features of Virtual Reality (VR) System
some of the features of Virtual Reality System are:
• It is poorly understood – requires technical understanding
• It is expensive
• It is time consuming
• It is flexible in nature
• It does not incur traveling, lodging, or food cost
• It requires excellent infrastructure
II. Behavioral approach
1. Games and Simulations
Games and Simulations are structured and sometimes unstructured, that are usually played for enjoyment sometimes are used for training purposes as an educational tool. Training games and simulations are different from work as they are designed to reproduce or simulate events, circumstances, processes that take place in trainees’ job.
A Training Game is defined as spirited activity or exercise in which trainees compete with each other according to the defined set of rules.
Simulation is creating computer versions of real-life games. Simulation is about imitating or making judgment or opining how events might occur in a real situation.
It can entail intricate numerical modeling, role playing without the support of technology, or combinations.
Training games and simulations are now seen as an effective tool for training because its key components are:
• Challenge
• Rules
• Interactivity
These three components are quite essential when it comes to learning.
Some of the examples of this technique are:
Trainees can therefore experience these events, processes, games in a controlled setting where they can develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes or can find out concepts that will improve their performance.
The various methods that come under Games and Simulations are:
BEHAVIOR-MODELING
BUSINESS GAMES
CASE STUDIES
EQUIPMENT STIMULATORS
IN-BASKET TECHNIQUE
ROLE PLAYS
1. Behavior Modeling
Behavior Modeling uses the innate inclination for people to observe others to discover how to do something new. It is more often used in combination with some other techniques.
Procedure of Behavior Modeling Technique
In this method, some kind of process or behavior is videotaped and then is watched by the trainees. Games and simulation section is also included because once the trainees see the videotape, they practice the behavior through role plays or other kind of simulation techniques. The trainee first observes the behavior modeled in the video and then reproduces the behavior on the job.
• The skills that are required to build up are defined
• A brief overview of the theory is then provided to the trainers
• Then, trainees are given instructions that what specific learning points or critical behavior they have to watch
• Then the expert is used to model the suitable behaviors
• Then, the trainees are encouraged to practice the suitable behavior in a role play or through any other method of simulation
• Trainees are then provided with some opportunities to give reinforcement for appropriate imitation of the model’s behavior
• In the end, trainer ensures that trainees appropriately reinforces the behavior on the work place
Behavior modeling focuses on developing behavioral and interpersonal skills. This type of method can be used for training in
• Sales training
• Interviewee training
• Interviewer training
• Safety training
• Interpersonal skills training
2. Business Games Training
With the increase in globalization and changing technologies, many organizations are now moving from board games to computer based simulations, using interactive multimedia (IM) and virtual reality (VR). Business games are the type of simulators that try to present the way an industry, company, organization, consultancy, or subunit of a company functions. Basically, they are based on the set of rules, procedures, plans, relationships, principles derived from the research. In the business games, trainees are given some information that describes a particular situation and are then asked to make decisions that will best suit in the favor of the company. And then the system provides the feedback about the impact of their decisions.
Again, on the basis of the feedback they are asked to make the decisions again. This process continues until some meaningful results do not came out or some predefined state of the organization exists or a specified number of trails are completed.
As an example, if the focus is on organization’s financial state, the game may end when the organization reach at desirable or defined profitability level.
Some of the benefits of the business games are:
• It develops leadership skills
• It improves application of total quality principles
• It develops skills in using quality tools
• It strengthen management skills
• It demonstrates principles and concepts
• It explores and solves complex problem
Many games and simulations examine the total organization but only some focus on the functional responsibilities of specific positions in an organization. Business games simulate whole organization and provide much better perspective than any other training methods. They allow trainees to see how their decisions and actions impact on the related areas.
3. Case Study Training Method
Case Studies try to simulate decision-making situation that trainees may find at their work place. It reflects the situations and complex problems faced by managers, staff, HR, CEO, etc. The objective of the case study method is to get trainees to apply known concepts and ideologies and ascertain new ones. The case study method emphasize on approach to see a particular problem rather than a solution. Their solutions are not as important as the understanding of advantages and disadvantages.
Procedure of the Case Study Method
• The trainee is given with some written material, and the some complex situations of a real or imaginary organization. A case study may range from 50 to 200 pages depending
Upon the problem of the organization.
• A series of questions usually appears at the end of the case study.
• The longer case studies provide enough of the information to be examined while the shorter ones require the trainee to explore and conduct research to gather appropriate amount of information.
• The trainee then makes certain judgment and opines about the case by identifying and giving possible solutions to the problem.
• In between trainees are given time to digest the information. If there is enough time left, they are also allowed to collect relevant information that supports their solution.
• Once the individuals reach the solution of a problem, they meet in small groups to discuss the options, solutions generated.
• Then, the trainee meets with the trainer, who further discusses the case.
Case Study method focuses on:
• Building decision making skills
• Assessing and developing Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSAs)
• Developing communication and interpersonal skills
• Developing management skills
• Developing procedural and strategic knowledge
4. Equipment Simulators
Equipment simulators are the mechanical devices that necessitate trainees to use some actions, plans, measures, trials, movements, or decision processes they would use with equipment back on the their respective work place.
It is imperative that the simulators be designed to repeat, as closely as possible, the physical aspects of equipment and operational surroundings trainees will find at their work place. This is also called as physical fidelity of the simulation. Besides that, the mental conditions under which the equipment is operated such as, increasing demands, pressure of time, and relationship with colleagues, subordinates, etc must also be closely matched to what the trainees experience on the work place.
The literature on socio-technical approaches to organizational development provides guidelines for the design or redesign of tools. Human Resource professionals involved in propose of simulators and their pre-testing should engage those who will be using the equipment and their supervisors. Their input can help in reducing the potential resistance, errors in the equipment and more importantly, it also increases the degree of reliability between the simulation and the work setting.
Equipment simulators can be used in giving training to:
Air Traffic Controllers
Taxi Drivers
Telephone Operators
Ship Navigators
Maintenance Workers
Product Development Engineers
Airline Pilots
Military Officers
5. IN-Basket Technique
In-Basket Technique – It provides trainees with a log of written text or information and requests, such as memos, messages, and reports, which would be handled by manger, engineer, reporting officer, or administrator.
Procedure of the In-basket Technique
• In this technique, trainee is given some information about the role to be played such as, description, responsibilities, general context about the role.
• The trainee is then given the log of materials that make up the in-basket and asked to respond to materials within a particular time period.
• After all the trainees complete in-basket, a discussion with the trainer takes place.
• In this discussion the trainee describes the justification for the decisions.
• the trainer then provides feedback, reinforcing decisions made suitably or encouraging the trainee to increase alternatives for those made unsuitably.
A variation on the technique is to run multiple, simultaneous in-baskets in which each trainee receives a different but organized set of information. It is important that trainees must communicate with each other to accumulate the entire information required to make a suitable decision.
This technique focuses on:
• Building decision making skills
• Assess and develops Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSAs)
• Develops of communication and interpersonal skills
• Develops procedural knowledge
• Develops strategic knowledge
These skills are mainly cognitive to a certain extent than behavioral.
6. Role Play Training Method
Role play is a simulation in which each participant is given a role to play. Trainees are given with some information related to description of the role, concerns, objectives, responsibilities, emotions, etc. Then, a general description of the situation, and the problem that each one of them faces, is given. For instance, situation could be strike in factory, managing conflict, two parties in conflict, scheduling vacation days, etc. Once the participants read their role descriptions, they act out their roles by interacting with one another.
Role Plays helps in
• Developing interpersonal skills and communication skills
• Conflict resolution
• Group decision making
• Developing insight into one’s own behavior and its impact on others
There are various types of role plays, such as:
Multiple Role Play – In this type of role play, all trainees are in groups, with each group acting out the role play simultaneously. After the role play, each group analyzes the interactions and identifies the learning points.
Single Role Play – One group of participants plays the role for the rest, providing demonstrations of situation. Other participants observe the role play, analyze their interactions with one another and learn from the play.
Role Rotation – It starts as a single role play. After the interaction of participants, the trainer will stop the role play and discuss what happened so far. Then the participants are asked to exchange characters. This method allows a variety of ways to approach the roles.
Spontaneous Role Play – In this kind of role play, one of the trainees plays herself while the other trainees play people with whom the first participant interacted before.
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
I.ON-THE-JOB TRAINING (OJT)
The most frequently used method in smaller organizations that is on-the-job training. This method of training uses more knowledgeable, experienced and skilled employees, such as mangers, supervisors to give training to less knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced employees. OJT can be delivered in classrooms as well. This type of training often takes place at the work place in informal manner.
Some key points on On-the-Job Training
On-the-Job Training is characterized by following points
It is done on ad-hoc manner with no formal procedure, or content
At the start of training, or during the training, no specific goals or objectives are developed
Trainers usually have no formal qualification or training experience for training
Training is not carefully planned or prepared
The trainers are selected on the basis of technical expertise or area knowledge Formal OJT programs are quite different from informal OJT. These programs are carried out by identifying the employees who are having superior technical knowledge and can effectively use one-to-one interaction technique.
The procedure of formal on-the-job training program is:
1. The participant observes a more experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled trainer (employee)
2. The method, process, and techniques are well discussed before, during and after trainer has explained about performing the tasks
3. When the trainee is prepared, the trainee starts performing on the work place
4. The trainer provides continuing direction of work and feedback
5. The trainee is given more and more work so that he accomplishes the job flawlessly
The four techniques for on-the job development are:
• COACHING
• MENTORING
• JOB ROTATION
• JOB INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE (JIT)
1. COACHING
Coaching is one of the training methods, which is considered as a corrective method for inadequate performance. According to a survey conducted by International Coach Federation (ICF), more than 4,000 companies are using coach for their executives. These coaches are experts most of the time outside consultants.
A coach is the best training plan for the CEO’s because
It is one-to-one interaction
It can be done at the convenience of CEO
It can be done on phone, meetings, through e-mails, chat
It provides an opportunity to receive feedback from an expert
It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs improvement This method best suits for the people at the top because if we see on emotional front, when a person reaches the top, he gets lonely and it becomes difficult to find someone to talk to. It helps in finding out the executive’s specific developmental needs. The needs can be identified through 60 degree performance reviews.
Procedure of the Coaching
The procedure of the coaching is mutually determined by the executive and coach. The procedure is followed by successive counseling and meetings at the executive’s convenience by the coach.
1. Understand the participant’s job, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and resources required to meet the desired expectation
2. Meet the participant and mutually agree on the objective that has to be achieved
3. Mutually arrive at a plan and schedule
4. At the job, show the participant how to achieve the objectives, observe the performance and then provide feedback
5. Repeat step 4 until performance improves
For the people at middle-level management, coaching is more likely done by the supervisor; however experts from outside the organization are at times used for up-and-coming managers. Again, the personalized approach assists the manger focus on definite needs and improvement.
2. Mentoring
Mentoring is an ongoing relationship that is developed between a senior and junior employee. Mentoring provides guidance and clear understanding of how the organization goes to achieve its vision and mission to the junior employee.
The meetings are not as structured and regular than in coaching. Executive mentoring is generally done by someone inside the company. The executive can learn a lot from mentoring. By dealing with diverse mentee’s, the executive is given the chance to grow professionally by developing management skills and learning how to work with people with diverse background, culture, and language and personality types.
Executives also have mentors. In cases where the executive is new to the organization, a senior executive could be assigned as a mentor to assist the new executive settled into his role. Mentoring is one of the important methods for preparing them to be future executives. This method allows the mentor to determine what is required to improve mentee’s performance. Once the mentor identifies the problem, weakness, and the area that needs to be worked upon, the mentor can advise relevant training. The mentor can also provide opportunities to work on special processes and projects that require use of proficiency.
Some key points on Mentoring
• Mentoring focus on attitude development
• Conducted for management-level employees
• Mentoring is done by someone inside the company
• It is one-to-one interaction
• It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs improvement
3. Job Rotation
For the executive, job rotation takes on different perspectives. The executive is usually not simply going to another department. In some vertically integrated organizations, for example, where the supplier is actually part of same organization or subsidiary, job rotation might be to the supplier to see how the business operates from the supplier point of view. Learning how the organization is perceived from the outside broadens the executive’s outlook on the process of the organization. Or the rotation might be to a foreign office to provide a global perspective.
For managers being developed for executive roles, rotation to different functions in the company is regular carried out.
This approach allows the manger to operate in diverse roles and understand the different issues that crop up. If someone is to be a corporate leader, they must have this type of training. A recent study indicated that the single most significant factor that leads to leader’s achievement was the variety of experiences in different departments, business units, cities, and countries.
An organized and helpful way to develop talent for the management or executive level of the organization is job rotation. It is the process of preparing employees at a lower level to replace someone at the next higher level. It is generally done for the designations that are crucial for the effective and efficient functioning of the organization.
Benefits of Job Rotation
Some of the major benefits of job rotation are:
• It provides the employees with opportunities to broaden the horizon of knowledge, skills, and abilities by working in different departments, business units, functions, and countries
• Identification of Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) required
• It determines the areas where improvement is required
• Assessment of the employees who have the potential and caliber for filling the position
4. Job Instruction Technique (JIT)
Job Instruction Technique (JIT) uses a strategy with focus on knowledge (factual and procedural), skills and attitudes development.
Procedure of Job Instruction Technique (JIT)
JIT consists of four steps:
Plan – This step includes a written breakdown of the work to be done because the trainer and the trainee must understand that documentation is must and important for the familiarity of work. A trainer who is aware of the work well is likely to do many things and in the process might miss few things. Therefore, a structured analysis and proper documentation ensures that all the points are covered in the training program. The second step is to find out what the trainee knows and what training should focus on. Then, the next step is to create a comfortable atmosphere for the trainees’ i.e. proper orientation program, availing the resources, familiarizing trainees with the training program, etc.
Present – In this step, trainer provides the synopsis of the job while presenting the participants the different aspects of the work. When the trainer finished, the trainee demonstrates how to do the job and why is that done in that specific manner. Trainee actually demonstrates the procedure while emphasizing the key points and safety instructions.
Trial – This step actually a kind of rehearsal step, in which trainee tries to perform the work and the trainer is able to provide instant feedback. In this step, the focus is on improving the method of instruction because a trainer considers that any error if occurring may be a function of training not the trainee. This step allows the trainee to see the after effects of using an incorrect method. The trainer then helps the trainee by questioning and guiding to identify the correct procedure.
Follow-up – In this step, the trainer checks the trainee’s job frequently after the training program is over to prevent bad work habits from developing.
II. OFF THE JOB TRAINING
There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The few popular methods are:
SENSITIVITY TRAINING
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES
SIMULATION EXERCISES
1. Sensitivity Training
Sensitivity training is about making people understand about themselves and others reasonably, which is done by developing in them social sensitivity and behavioral flexibility.
Social sensitivity in one word is empathy. It is ability of an individual to sense what others feel and think from their own point of view.
Behavioral flexibility is ability to behave suitably in light of understanding.
Procedure of Sensitivity Training
Sensitivity Training Program requires three steps:
The trainees become aware of the inadequacy of the old values. This can be done when the trainee faces dilemma in which his old values is not able to provide proper guidance. The first step consists of a small procedure:
• An unstructured group of 10-15 people is formed.
• Unstructured group without any objective looks to the trainer for its guidance
• But the trainer refuses to provide guidance and assume leadership
• Soon, the trainees are motivated to resolve the uncertainty
• Then, they try to form some hierarchy. Some try assume leadership role which may not be liked by other trainees
• Then, they started realizing that what they desire to do and realize the alternative ways of dealing with the situation
Development of new values – With the trainer’s support, trainees begin to examine their interpersonal behavior and giving each other feedback. The reasoning of the feedbacks are discussed which motivates trainees to experiment with range of new behaviors and values. This process constitutes the second step in the change process of the development of these values.
Refreezing the new ones – This step depends upon how much opportunity the trainees get to practice their new behaviors and values at their work place.
Procedure of Sensitivity Training
2. Transactional Analysis
Transactional Analysis provides trainees with a realistic and useful method for analyzing and understanding the behavior of others. In every social interaction, there is a motivation provided by one person and a reaction to that motivation given by another person. This motivation-reaction relationship between two persons is a transaction.
Transactional analysis can be done by the ego states of an individual.
An ego state is a system of feelings accompanied by a related set of behaviors.
There are basically three ego states:
Child: It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and impulses which come to her naturally from her own understanding as a child. The characteristics of this ego are to be spontaneous, intense, unconfident, reliant, probing, anxious, etc. Verbal clues that a person is operating from its child state are the use of words like “I guess”, “I suppose”, etc. and non verbal clues like, giggling, coyness, silent, attention seeking, etc.
Parent: It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and impulses imposed on her in her childhood from various sources such as, social, parents, friends, etc. The characteristics of this ego are to be overprotective, isolated, rigid, bossy, etc. Verbal clues that a person is operating from its parent states are the use of words like, always, should, never, etc and non-verbal clues such as, raising eyebrows, pointing an accusing finger at somebody, etc.
Adult: It is a collection of reality testing, rational behavior, decision-making, etc. A person in this ego state verifies, updates the data which she has received from the other two states. It is a shift from the taught and felt concepts to tested concepts.
All of us evoke behavior from one ego state which is responded to by the other person from any of these three states.
3. STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES
Refer with Cognitive approach - Lecture method.
4. SIMULATION EXERCISES
Refer with Behavior approach – Game simulations
Role of Training in Talent Development
Business is been changing continuously in terms of technology, type of business, product, organizational strength and the like. Training plays a major role for the development of personnel in the organization.
1. Changing Job Requirements:
Organizational dynamism brings changes in organizational design and job design. The change in job design bring changes in job description and job specification these changes demand for new techniques in training to fulfill the gaps in the future.
2. Need for multi- skilled human resource:
The changing trends in industrialization, structuring jobs and organization demand the employee to take up multiple activities where training plays a major role to develop personnel towards the changing trends and technology.
3. Organizational viability and transformation process:
Organizational viability is continuously influenced by environmental threats. If organization does not adopt itself to the changing environmental factors it will lose its market share. If the organization desires to adopt these changes first it has develop human resources.
4. Technological advances:
Adaptation of the latest technology will not be complete until HR resources are trained and placed.
5. Organization complexity:
With the emergence of increased mechanization and automation, manufacturing of multiple products and rendering of services, organization becomes complex. Management of organizational complexity is possible through HRD.
6. Human Relations:
Most of the organizations today tend to adopt the human relations. This can be achieved through imparting training in team spirit, intra- personal relations and overall organizational relations.
With the introduction of IT solutions in business houses, human resources are being gradually reduced. But this is not the solution for organizational effectiveness. Whatever the human factor, works in an organization should be developed as per the needs of the organization should be developed as per the needs of the organization. The pragmatic approach is to identify the requirement of each level of work force and develop them by imparting the continuous training for them. The major emphasis is to be laid on the development of the core workers by imparting training. The workers at any level are to be trained, retrained, assisting them in career development. The immediate task is to identify their training needs and adopt a continuous training policy. The corporate policy regarding performance appraisal should bee objective. The reward systems also should be developed considering the skill and competence of the workers who contribute their mite for the overall progress of the organization.
Principles of Talent Development
The top management of a company should follow certain principles to make the talent development programmes effective. They are:
The management should assess the development needs of its managers at different levels through performance analysis and development methods.
Management should decentralize the responsibility of developing the mangers of different departments/ units and make the head of the department unit responsible for it.
Management should integrate career planning and development of the organization with the management development programmes.
Every manager of the organization should be motivated and empowered to take up developmental programmes.
Talent development programme is a continuous process.
Management should encourage the manager to take up programmes on their own in addition to the company sponsored programmes.
Management should make use of the management development programmes organized by outside agencies like IIMs, XLRI etc.
The content of the programme should be need based for the individual manger and the organization.
The physical, social and psychological climate for the programmes should be conductive.
All managers should be encouraged to undergo development programmes in order to avoid executive obsolescence.
Talent development programmes should concentrate on the latest management concepts and principles.
Talent Development Needs
The need for talent development programme arises due to the following reasons:
Techno – mangers like basic chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, information/ systems engineers need to be developed in the areas of managerial skills, knowledge and abilities.
Efficient functioning of public utilities, transport, communications etc. depend on professionalisation of management in the public sectors.
Professionalisation of management at all levels particularly in service organizations need the development of managerial skills and knowledge particularly at lower and middle levels.
Transmission of communist/ socialistic societies into capitalistic economies changed the structure of the principles of business. These changes along with liberalization, privatization and globalization of business changed the principle. Hence, the development of the present managers in these new principles/areas is highly necessary.
Human resources development of the managers in multiple areas necessitates the executive development programme.
The need for talent development arises due to providing technical skills and conceptual skills to non- technical managers and managerial skills and conceptual skills to technical managers.
The intensive competition and consequently upon employment of various grand strategies by various business organizations necessitates the development of mangers.
The emergence of new concepts in management like TQM, ERP, BPR and Empowerment etc. necessitates the management to offer developmental programmes.
Entry of multi national and transnational corporations brought new trends and strategies the domestic companies also. These factors necessitated the domestic companies to undertake developmental programmes.
COUNSELLING
Human resource management is basically a process of dealing with people. A manager has to deal with various types of people, subordinates, superiors, strong temperaments, weak temperaments, problem makers, problem solvers, contented employees. Disgruntled employees, and so on. Very often dealing with problem employees, disgruntled employees, weak temperament employees and hot-tempered employees becomes necessary for every manager, particularly the human resources manager, the instrument with which the managers can achieve a balance and develop and maintain a congenial inter-personal relationship with the employees, is counseling. Counselling is a discussion of an emotional problem with an employee so that he can cope with the problem in a much better way. Counselling tries to improve the mental health of the employee. In the present fast moving society, the employee is confronted with numerous problems, which may be personal in nature or related to his job. Every management desires that their employees should not only be physically fit but also mentally alert. Emotions being an integral part of life should be channelised on constructive lines. Counselling helps an emotionally disturbed employee to become normal. Develop self-confidence, self-control and understanding so that he can work effectively.
Definitions of counselling
According to Gosh and Ghorpade, “personnel counseling is defined as discussion of an emotional problem with an employee, with the general objective of reducing it so that performance is maintained at adequate level or even improved upon.”
According to B.J. prasantham, “counselling is a relationship between the counselor and the counselee characterized by trust and openness, in a one to one, or a small group relationship, whereby the counselee is helped to work through his interpersonal and\ or intra-personal problems and crisis. He is also helped to mobilize his inner and outer resources and to find new options in facing life.”
According to Keith Davis, “counseling is discussion of a problem that usually has emotional content with an employee in order to help the employee cope with it better Counselling seeks to improve employee mental health.”
From the above definitions we can conclude that counseling usually involves some or all of the following:
Two people are present.
The process leads to action on the part of the client.
The counselor is a person who listens.
The client can be trusted to find his own solutions.
Personal growth of the client usually occurs.
Resolution of problems is an expectation.
Characteristics of counselling
From the above definitions, counseling implies a number of characteristics. They are:
Counselling is an exchange of ideas and feelings between two people, a counselor and a counsellee, so it is an act of communication. Thus, successful counselling depends on communication skills.
Counselling facilitates the employees in coping with their emotional problems, which in turn helps in improving the organizational problems. Counselling also helps the organization to be more human and considerate with people’s problems.
Counselling is generally confidential and hence employees feel free to talk openly about their problems involving both jobs and personal problems.
Counselling may be performed by both professionals and non- professionals.
Counselling enhance job satisfaction and morale of the employees.
Need for Counselling
In the present fast moving society, the employee is confronted with numerous problems which may be personal in nature or related to his job. When these problems exist, employees benefit from understanding and help of the type that counselling can provide. In such a situation counselling facilitates in reducing his successful condition and thereby returning to normal job performance and behavior.
Most problems that require counselling have some emotional content. Emotions are a normal part of life. Nature gave people their emotions and these feelings make people human. On the other hand, emotions can get out of control and cause workers to do things that are harmful to their own interests and those of the organization. Counselling helps an emotionally disturbed employee to become normal, develop self – confidence, self- control and understanding so that he can work effectively.
Causes of Counselling
In the present fast moving society, the employee is confronted with numerous problems which may be personal in nature or related to his job. Some of the conditions like frustration, job dissatisfaction, resistance to change, inter- group conflict, inter- personal relationships etc., are the major causes of counselling needs. In such a situation counselling facilitates in reducing his successful condition and thereby returning to normal job performance and behavior. Thus, counselling helps an economically disturbed employee to become normal, develop self- confidence, self- control and understanding so that he can work effectively.
The causes of counselling needs are:
1. Conflict:
Conflict arises when there is disagreement between two or more individuals or groups and each individual or group tries to gain acceptance of its views or objectives over the other one. Conflict is undesirable and it should be avoided and resolved as soon as possible. Personal conflict is more emotional in nature and reflects feelings, anger, distrust, fear, resentment, and clash in personality, antagonism, tension etc. The organizational conflict on the other hand involves disagreement on such factors as allocation of resources, organizational policies and procedures, nature of assignments and distribution rewards. Possibly the most serious problem to most of the people is inter personal conflict as it deeply affects the person’s psychological being. We feel concerned when we have a need to protect our self- image and self- esteem from damage by others. When they threaten it, we get emotionally upset.
The management experts are of the view that an environment of goodwill and trust should be developed in order to avoid conflict. Proper organizational structures, authority relationship and good human relations can help in preventing conflict. Counseling facilitates in resolving the conflict by reducing emotional blockages.
2. Stress:
Stress is a condition of strain that has a direct bearing on emotions, through processes and physical conditions of a person. When it is excessive, it can threaten one’s ability to cope with the environment. People who are stressed may become nervous and develop chronic worry. They are easily provoked to anger and are unable to relax. Stress also leads to physical disorders, because the internal body system changes to try to cope with stress. The causes of stress can be classified under two heads:
On – the – job stress.
Off – the – job stress.
On – the – job stress:
The job itself may pose as the basic cause of stress. Employees may not e able to cope with the demands of the job or the requirements of the job may be unclear to them. On such occasions the employees may feel that they have a work overload, pressures they cannot cope with tension, anxiety and insecurity. All these feelings cause stress.
Off – the – job stress:
Off the job stress also affects the functioning of the employee. Causes of stress off – the – job are numerous. Some of them are- financial problems, death in family, martial problems, problems with children and so on. Stress is not necessarily undesirable. Eustress or mild stress, in fact, tends to stimulate performance in most persons. It is beneficial as it encourages going ahead against hindrances. Excessive amount of stress leads to distress. It is harmful in nature. Ability to tolerate stress is not same in all the people. People differ in their tolerance to stress. Some people can tolerate much greater stress than others. Stress is thus, one of the most important aspects of the employees, which needs to be kept at a level low enough to tolerate without developing disorders.
Methods of Stress
1. Work place:
Job stress may be caused by a complex set of reasons. Some of the most visible causes of workplace stress are:
a. Job Insecurity
Organized workplaces are going through metamorphic changes under intense economic transformations and consequent pressures. Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizing and other changes have become major stressors for employees, as companies try to live up to the competition to survive. These reformations have put demand on everyone, from a CEO to a mere executive.
b. High Demand for Performance
Unrealistic expectations, especially in the time of corporate reorganizations, which, sometimes, puts unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee, can be a tremendous source of stress and suffering. Increased workload, extremely long work hours and intense pressure to perform at peak levels all the time for the same pay, can actually leave employees physically and emotionally drained. Excessive travel and too much time away from family also contribute to an employee's stressors.
c. Technology
The expansion of technology—computers, pagers, cell phones, fax machines and the Internet—has resulted in heightened expectations for productivity, speed and efficiency, increasing pressure on the individual worker to constantly operate at peak performance levels. Workers working with heavy machinery are under constant stress to remain alert. In this case both the worker and their family members live under constant mental stress. There is also the constant pressure to keep up with technological breakthroughs and improvisations, forcing employees to learn new software all the times.
d. Workplace Culture
Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or not, can be intensely stressful. Making one adapt to the various aspects of workplace culture such as communication patterns, hierarchy, dress code if any, workspace and most importantly working and behavioral patterns of the boss as well as the co-workers, can be a lesson of life. Maladjustment to workplace cultures may lead to subtle conflicts with colleagues or even with superiors. In many cases office politics or gossips can be major stress inducers.
e. Personal or Family Problems
Employees going through personal or family problems tend to carry their worries and anxieties to the workplace. When one is in a depressed mood, his unfocused attention or lack of motivation affects his ability to carry out job responsibilities.
f. Job Stress and Women
Women may suffer from mental and physical harassment at workplaces, apart from the common job stress. Sexual harassment in workplace has been a major source of worry for women, since long. Women may suffer from tremendous stress such as 'hostile work environment harassment', which is defined in legal terms as 'offensive or intimidating behavior in the workplace'. This can consist of unwelcome verbal or physical conduct. These can be a constant source of tension for women in job sectors. Also, subtle discriminations at workplaces, family pressure and societal demands add to these stress factors.
2. Stress Busters:
Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to go beyond a stress situation, life seems to find new ways of stressing us out and plaguing us with anxiety attacks. Moreover, be it our anxiety, mind-body exhaustion or our erring attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and the conditions triggered by those. In such unsettling moments we often forget that stressors, if not escapable, are fairly manageable and treatable.
Stress, either quick or constant, can induce risky body-mind disorders. Immediate disorders such as dizzy spells, anxiety attacks, tension, sleeplessness, nervousness and muscle cramps can all result in chronic health problems. They may also affect our immune, cardiovascular and nervous systems and lead individuals to habitual addictions, which are inter-linked with stress.
Like "stress reactions", "relaxation responses" and stress management techniques are some of the body's important built-in response systems. As a relaxation response the body tries to get back balance in its homeostasis. Some hormones released during the 'fight or flight' situation prompt the body to replace the lost carbohydrates and fats, and restore the energy level. The knotted nerves, tightened muscles and an exhausted mind crave for looseners. Unfortunately, today, we don't get relaxing and soothing situations without asking. To be relaxed we have to strive to create such situations.
(A) Recognizing Stressor
It is important to recognize whether you are under stress or out of it. Many times, even if we are under the influence of a stressful condition and our body reacts to it internally as well as externally, we fail to realize that we are reacting under stress. This also happens when the causes of stress are there long enough for us to get habituated to them. The body constantly tries to tell us through symptoms such as rapid palpitation, dizzy spells, tight muscles or various body aches that something is wrong. It is important to remain attentive to such symptoms and to learn to cope with the situations.
We cope better with stressful situation, when we encounter them voluntarily. In cases of relocation, promotion or layoff, adventurous sports or having a baby, we tend to respond positively under stress. But, when we are compelled into such situations against our will or knowledge, more often than not, we wilt at the face of unknown and imagined threats. For instance, stress may mount when one is coerced into undertaking some work against one's will.
(B) Life Style Management
Perhaps it is time to put emphasis on the 'life after birth'. And make it as enjoyable and stress free as it can be. Streamlining one's living pattern and priorities of life is perhaps the most significant step that one can take in order to sidestep stress and its effects.
The first thing is to set one's body clock right to get around crippling stress-effects such as sleep disorders, bowel disorders, nerve perturbation and hormonal dysfunction.
To minimize the effect of stress one has to help oneself to a good sleep. The human body is designed for sleep to come effortlessly. When sleep comes with an effort it is obvious that we're holding on to the day's stresses and reaching out for tomorrow's as well.
Apart from adjusting one's lifestyle to one's body clock, effectively managing time is also an invaluable skill in coping with stress. Knowing when to take the load and when to offload, often goes a long way to maintaining a healthy and balanced existence.
1. Effective Time Management:
Effective time management and living in an organized way can save us from nagging day-to-day stressors. We just can't keep count of missed or procrastinated calls to the doctor, a friend, a relative or a business partner in a day. Many don't have the time for family and social commitments, which often results in anxieties and relationship tensions. A bad time manager invariably ends up a much-harried one at the close of the day. Getting organized in various fields of life—be it a holiday trip, household, office or management of children's affairs—can be a sure step towards avoiding stress.
To get yourself organized in life the following points can prove vital:
• Be Flexible.
There is always more than one solution to a problem. One should be flexible enough to accept alternative solutions and experiment with them. It doesn't help becoming anxious, depressed and staying screwed, if one's dream formula for a problem didn't work.
• Be Realistic About Your Ability.
It does help to set realistic and achievable goals? Long term or short term, in life. The targets should correspond to one's capability to achieve them. Making unrealistic demand on oneself and others is a sure way to invite stress.
• Prioritize Your Tasks.
Prioritizing the tasks on hand can help reduce the challenges in completing them. Putting time and energy to important tasks and breaking a big task into smaller steps makes things easier. When one finishes one thing at a time and is able to meet one's responsibilities in time, the effect can be inspiring.
• Do Not Baulk At Delegating Responsibility.
Delegating responsibility when it is appropriate prevents emergence of stress. When one has several tasks at hand and puzzles over how to go about them, assigning smaller tasks to others can work wonders. This can be done both in office and at home.
• Learn To Be Assertive.
Practicing to be a little more assertive or learning to say `no' when required can prevent you from taking up extra tasks which can eat into your precious time and energy. We often come across a housewife at home or an executive in office putting them under unwelcome stress by taking more than what they can handle.
• Keep A Time Planner.
Keeping a time planner ready helps going about one's task systematically. The listings should be scheduled on a day-to-day and priority basis. It is, also, important to allot a little more time for each schedule to avoid working under strain and anxiety.
• Take Planned Breaks From Work.
Whether a quick 5-minutes break or a 5-day long holiday, the breaks might offload the after-effects of stress in us. A jaunt to a spa or health resort goes a long way in refueling our stress resistant capabilities.
2. Effective Communication:
Effective communication is key to the success of all kinds of relationships. Stress—the real 'bug' in our lives, generally comes from the interaction with others and demand from modern way of living. A hiccup in communication at any level is most likely to lead you into a stress situation.
Learning to say no, developing interpersonal communication skills such as listening to other's views and providing effective and timely feedback is key to effective communication.
When your ideas and attitudes are effectively communicated to people around, you may find yourself in a win-win situation in every sphere of life-family, workplace or social gathering. This can save you from unnecessary misunderstandings and consequent tensions.
3. Sleep and Stress:
It is imperative to create tranquil and inviting environs in and around the resting-place to slip into a restful sleep.
One must make it a point to end the day with a pleasant or relaxing schedule: listening to choice music, reading a light and leisurely book, doing some simple, relaxing exercises, playing with children or watching a fun-filled tele-show.
It is significant to keep a watch on what you take at dinner, as most of our mind-body anomalies spring from indigestion of food at physical level or indigestion of emotions (irritation, uneasiness et al) at mental level. A rich and heavy dinner close to bedtime can intervene with your sleeping patterns, make you sluggish in the morning and can disrupt your normal diet routine.
Taking an expert's help for natural product based aromatherapy and Flower Essence therapy can be a useful option against insomnia.
Approximately 20 million prescriptions are written each year for sleeping aids (Archives of Internal Medicine), a number that is dwarfed by the quantity of over-the-counter sedatives sold annually. Though these medications relieve short-term insomnia, medically it is held that these are not helpful in resolving chronic sleep problems. Non-toxic sedatives available over the counter in holistic medicine shops have been proved to be better options for sleep disorders.
A change in attitude such as simple modifications of habits, thought, and behavior patterns often go a long way in reducing stress and tension. Practicing to let go or making a conscious choice not to become angry or upset over trivial matters saves a lot of mental and physical energy. Trying to develop the habit of adopting a humorous view towards life's situations, can take the edge off everyday stressors.
4. Pet Therapy:
Bringing pets into your life can be rejuvenating. This has been proved by many recent experiments. Company of pets other than humans can have a therapeutic effect on us, especially when we are in the grip of stress.
As human-to-human interactions are often complex and unpredictable, we may not feel relaxed and comfortable in the company of our own species. But, with pets as company, we can be ourselves and enjoy unconditional acceptance from our companions. A pet can be anything from a cat to a fish, or a bird to a tortoise. People are known to keep unusual varieties such as snakes as pets. It is obvious that the selection of pets should be compatible to one's temperament, availability of space at home and lifestyle.
The company of a pet has amazing capability to transport you from the grindings of day-to-day life to a more relaxing and fulfilling existence.
Clinical researches show that presence of pets around stressed out individuals can:
• Help check stress-induced disorders such as hypertension and heart ailments.
• be excellent mood enhancers. It diverts your attention from depressing subjects to something more pleasurable. Individuals who have mental illness or low self-esteem focus on themselves and have difficulty in relating to others. Spending time with pets can develop an outward focus in their thinking.
• increase the nurturing instinct inside you and can give you a sense of authority as you take care of your pets.
• lessen medical attention for stress-induced aches and pains as you spend time with pets and taking care of them.
• lessen negative mental responses such as anger and self-centric attitudes developing a sense of empathy, especially in children.
• add years to one's life. It's known that pets provide unconditional, nonjudgmental love and affection to their owners. It has been found that many cancer patients with pets lived longer because subconsciously they felt that their pets need them and they need to survive to take care of their pets. Watching or observing the natural and pleasant activities of pets, holding or touching them and talking to them enlivens their mind and heart. It also creates a sense of belonging and responsibility in their life, which can boost the desire to live longer.
To know more about therapeutic effects of a pet besides you, visit healthy reasons to have a pet.
5. Diet Management:
When the body is in a 'fight or flight' mode the digestive system shuts off temporarily and our appetite is suppressed. The release of adrenaline and cortical help mobilize carbohydrate and fat for quick energy. When that situation is over, the cortical lingers there increasing our appetites in an effort to replace the used up carbohydrate and fat. If the body doesn't react in that survival instinct the lingering hormones tend to create an artificial craving for food. Resulting in overeating and eating the wrong kind of food.
A well-nourished and fit body can be more resilient to stressful conditions. Many illnesses induce stress and stress too induces eating disorders, addiction to alcohol and substance abuses. Hence, a planned and nutritious diet can act as an effective stress-fighting tool.
Natural, unprocessed foods and herbal concoctions are proved to be helpful to many stress induced disorders such as disturbed bowel syndrome, digestive malfunction, nerve perturbation and other disease conditions. Again a healthy and disciplined diet habit can help an individual in stress conditions as well as prevent him from falling victim to abusive food habits.
(C) Yoga and other Holistic Therapies As Stress Busters
It is well known that either a quick or constant stress can induce risky mind-body disorders. Immediate disorders like dizzy spells, anxiety, tension, sleeplessness, nervousness, muscle cramps can result in chronic health problems when we constantly remain under stress. Besides prescribed drugs, there are extremely effective holistic methods to tackle the impairing influence of stress. Some of them are age-old techniques whereas many lost therapies have been retrieved and being applied in new manners for alleviation of stress and its effects.
1. Yogic Techniques for stress relief:
Stressed out individuals carry a great deal of physical tension in their bodies. In these cases the natural unblocking effected by yoga postures are helpful. When one rests between postures, abdominal tension is released from the body promoting deep breathing. The benefits of yoga postures (asana), breathing (pranayama), and meditation (dhyana) include increased body awareness, release of muscular tension and increased coordination between mind-and body. It helps in better management of stress and ensures an overall feeling of well being. Some custom made yogic techniques include Sudarshan Kriya by Sri Sri Ravishankar, Sahaja Samadhi by Ma Anandmayee and Kriya Yoga by Paramashansa Yogananda—are three widely practiced techniques of yoga devised by three epoch making spiritual gurus.
2. Breathing Techniques:
The ancient therapeutic traditions as well as modern medical research speaks about the intimate relationship between our breathing patterns and our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. They have shown how natural healthy respiration not only increases longevity and supports our overall well-being and self-development, but also helps in medical conditions such as asthma, poor digestion, insomnia, low energy, high blood pressure, anxiety, panic attacks, heart ailments, and many other problems.
How Stress Affects Our Natural Breathing Pattern
With each inhalation, oxygen (pure air) enters into our body and triggers off the transformation of nutrients into fuel. With each exhalation carbon dioxide (toxic air) is eliminated from our body. Presence of oxygen purifies the blood streams and helps invigorate each cell. Sufficient amount of oxygen is required to maintain the vitality of our body organs.
In normal conditions the body follows a natural breathing pattern that is slow and regulated. Under stress when the body shows symptoms such as tightening of muscles, distractions, anxiety, hyperactivity and angry reactions et al, breathing becomes quick and shallow. One tends to hold one's breath, frequently. With restricted breathing inflow of oxygen is restricted. Lungs are unable to exhale the stale airs and residual toxins build up inside the body. Under stress the stiff muscles restrict the circulation of blood. So, even less oxygen comes in and fewer toxins are removed. It affects the healthy regeneration of cells. Medical studies show that the oxygen-starved cells are the major contributing factors in cancer, immunity deficiency, heart disease and strokes. Breathing also affects our state of mind and consequently makes our thinking either confused or clear.
When breathing is slow, deep and full, the lungs work more, the diaphragm moves well, the intercostals, back and abdominal muscle work, drawing in extra oxygen to the blood stream. Increased oxygenation purifies blood and stimulates healthy functioning of cells, glands and muscles.
Hence, a regulated and mindful breathing pattern has been held vital to maintaining the highest level of physical health by yoga. Another positive result of conscious breathing is its calming effect on the emotions, reducing fear and anxiety in the nervous system. Regulated and mindful breathing, dynamic movement of the head, shoulders and arms during the practice of breathing and meditation promote concentration and relaxation.
3. Pranayama:
Yoga offers many breathing skills for stress-affected individuals. These yogic breathing techniques are termed as 'pranayama' (prana+ayama). Roughly 'prana' can be explained as the vital life force that regulates all activities in this universe. 'Ayama' has a wide range of meaning; the most appropriate here is 'control or regulation'. According to yoga, pranayama consists of various ways of inhaling, exhaling and retention of prana. This prana is inter-linked with consciousness (citta) both at the cosmic and individual levels. Pranayama is devised by yoga to create a synergy between the self-energizing life force and individual mind-body-spirit by scientific regulation of prana.
Perhaps the simplest form of pranayama is nadi shodhanam (channel purification), which consists alternate nostril breathing, suitable for everybody. Nadis are subtle nerve channels through which prana flows. In Sanskrit, Shoshannam means 'cleansing'. According to yoga there are 14 major nadis and prana flows in and out of them controlling all our mind-body functions. Nadi shodhanam works to unblock tensions and resistance in the energy-conveying channels of the gross and subtle bodies, thus calming and strengthening sensitive nerves. Conscious breathing through cleansed nadis allows more oxygen inflow and effective excretion of toxins from within. This brings about a healthful state both in body and mind.
Method of Nadi Shodhanam
Hold your right hand up and curl your index and middle fingers towards your palm. Place your thumb next to your right nostril. Close the left nostril by pressing gently against it with your ring finger and inhale through the right nostril. The breath should be slow, steady and full.
• Now close the right nostril by pressing gently against it with your thumb, and open your left nostril by relaxing your ring finger and exhale fully with a slow and steady breath.
• Inhale though the left nostril, close it, and then exhale through the right nostril.
(That's one complete round of Nadi Shoshanna—Inhale though the right nostril, Exhale through the left, Inhale through the left, Exhale through the right)
Begin with 5-10 rounds and add more as you feel comfortable. Remember to keep your breathing slow, easy and full Nadi Shoshanna can be practiced just about any time and anywhere. Nadi Shoshanna helps control stress and anxiety. If you start to feel stressed out, 10 or so rounds will help calm you down. It also helps soothe anxiety caused by flying and other fearful or stressful situations.
For the details about nadi shodhanam and other pranayama techniques:
Important points to remember before going for pranayama:
• Pranayama should always be practiced with a suitable asana (asana that increase the volume of the lungs and free the muscles of the ribs, back, and diaphragm can help prepare one for pranayama) or yogic posture for its effectiveness.
• It should be practiced under the guidance of an able teacher.
• Those who suffer from chronic shortness of breath or other breathing disorders should not attempt pranayama until they are ready for it.
• The practitioner shouldn't exhaust himself in the process.
• Breathing should always be done in an almost empty stomach.
• Breathing shouldn't be done in haste, nor should it be jerky or irregular. Breathing should always be smooth and steady otherwise the whole purpose of pranayama is lost. Uneven exhalation is held to be a sign of present or impending illness.
4. Meditation:
Meditation, one of the eight limbs of yoga outlined in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, is the final step before attaining spiritual bliss. The great seer has described yoga as —yogaschittavrittinirodhah, which means completely shutting out all kinds of mental fluctuations. When such a stage is reached, meditation (dyana) is perfected, resulting in yoga (union of individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness). That is the zenith of meditation.
On a lower plane, meditation has proved helpful in reducing stress and anxiety, lowering blood pressure, improving concentration and creativity besides bringing relief from stress-induced ailments. In the postmodern age various meditation techniques are increasingly being used for relaxation as well as therapeutic benefits.
The Transcendental Meditation technique made popular during the 1970s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was aimed at ushering in perfect health and happiness. The technique is specifically designed to relieve man of his modern day trappings and the resultant mind-body disorders by helping him to access the boundless cosmic energy field.
The words of Maharishi aptly describe TM: "Transcendental Meditation opens the awareness to the infinite reservoir of energy, creativity, and intelligence that lies deep within everyone."
TM is a simple, natural and effortless procedure practiced for 15-20 minutes in the morning and evening, while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. During the course of the meditation, the fluctuating mind gradually becomes still and the individual experience a unique state of 'restful alertness'. The body becomes deeply relaxed; the mind transcends all mental activity to experience the simplest, purest and highest form of Consciousness.
Numerous researches on TM in institutes and universities all over the worlds have shown that its practice benefits all areas of an individual's life. The researches claim TM develops the individual's latent creative potential while dissolving accumulated stress and fatigue through the deep rest experienced during practice. This experience enlivens the individual's creativity, dynamism, orderliness, and organizing power, which result in increasing success in daily life. To learn more about Transcendental Meditation.
Hypnomeditation believes in the Freudian theory of the origination of ailments from deep impressions of emotional traumas etched in our sub consciousness. The idea of hypnomeditation is to use the body's own inherent energy to holistically treat the individual being. As one practices it the mind reaches the state of minimal fluctuation through mild self-hypnosis. It effects deep mental and physical relaxation, which is useful in relieving stress and anxiety including many other ailments. Though the method of hypnomeditation is difficult to practice, it hasn't hampered its popularity as a stress buster.
Stress Management and Stress Prevention
Stress management, stress reduction and stress prevention are all necessary in today's high pressure corporate environment. The effects of stress in the workplace are devastating, both physically and financially. According to the National Institutes of Health, 80-90% of all illnesses are caused by stress, either directly or indirectly. Clearly, something more than stress balls, stress tabs, morale boosters and even health clubs is needed. In this study described below, the Transcendental Meditation technique was found to be more than twice more effective at reducing stress than any other form of relaxation or stress reduction.
A statistical meta-analysis conducted at Stanford University of all available studies-146 independent outcomes-indicated that the effect of the Transcendental Meditation program on reducing anxiety as a character trait was much greater than that of all other meditation and relaxation techniques, including muscle relaxation. This analysis also showed that the positive Transcendental Meditation result could not be attributed to subject expectation, experimenter bias, or quality of research design.
5. Yogasanas & Mudras:
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, an authentic treatise on Hatha Yoga, says, "From asana arises steadiness of body and mind, freedom from disease and lightness of limbs".
It has long been established that yogic asanas or physical postures and mudras combined with pranayama and meditation have a tremendous therapeutic effect on the body, mind and spirit. Asanas are regarded as the most important system of physical culture ever invented, considering its amazing understanding of how the body works. Yogic asanas constitute a physical science that also comprehends all aspects of consciousness. The purpose of asanas is to create a free flow of life energy in and out of the body in order to perfect its functioning.
Mudras are the most ingenious innovations of yoga. They help to reduce physical stress and energize the whole body. The most welcoming aspect is that these mudras can be done anywhere and at any time without any specific rules of breathing or sitting or standing postures!
Wrong postures create various stresses and cause contractions inhibiting circulation of energy and nutrients in the body. This allows toxins and waste materials to accumulate inside body. As mind and body are interconnected, physical blockages combined with mental blockage result in pain and disorder in both spheres.
Anyone who works sitting at the office desk for long hours or people who, generally, have one type of physical activity tend to acquire a fixed body posture. This declines flexibility and accumulates vata (waste/stale air) in the bones. Even people who do a lot of traveling or frequent flying tend to aggravate vata dosha (fault) in their stressed out bodies. Sitting or resting (while working, watching TV or sleeping et al), in incorrect posture for long, can stress one's body without one's knowledge. Such habitual acts can lead to an increased fixation of the body, and rigidity of the mind and emotions. All kinds of body aches? Backache, shoulder aches, lower back pain, pain or numbness in feet and legs, are generated by built-up stiffness and tension in muscle and bones.
There are meticulously devised yogic asanas (postures), mudras and breathing techniques for reduction of all these stresses and their disease potentials.
The corpse pose (savasana), the crocodile (makarasana), and the child's pose (balasana) are simple relaxation postures particularly helpful in relieving anxiety and nervous irritability. (for more details about these asanas)
3. Frustration:
Frustration is another major cause of stress. When an employee is repeatedly interfered with or hindered in such a way that prevents him from achieving a desired goal, it results in frustration. There are various kinds of reactions to frustration – aggression, apathy, withdrawal, regression, physical disorders, substitute objectives, negativism, fantasy etc.
Functions of counselling
There are many functions of counselling. Some of them are given below:
1. Advice:
The counsellor after carefully listening to the problems of counsellee makes judgments about the counsellee’s problems and guides him towards desired courses of action. It has been observed that advising develops a very good relationship between the counsellor and the counsellee as the latter starts depending on the former.
2. Reassurance:
Reassurance provides courage, confidence and strength and develops a positive feeling that he is pursuing a suitable course of action and is on the right track. Reassurance is needed when an employee is assigned a challenging risk.
3. Clarified Thinking:
Clarified thinking is another function of counselling. It encourages the person to think in a rational and realistic manner. Clarified thinking encourages a person to accept responsibility and be more realistic in solving the emotional problems which occur in between.
4. Release of Emotional Tension:
An important function of counselling is release of emotional tension. This release is also termed as emotional catharsis. When people share their emotional problems with someone, they get emotional release from their tensions and frustrations. This emotional release may not solve the problem but paves way for solution.
5. Communication:
Counseling facilitates in improving upward and downward communication. In upward communication process, the feelings and emotional problems of employees can be interpreted to management. It also helps in achieving downward communication as the counselors interpret company activities and give work insights.
6. Reorientation:
I t involves a change in the employee’s basic self- through a change in basic goals and values. It facilitates people in recognizing and accepting their strengths, weakness and limitations.
Types of Counselling
There are three forms or types of counseling. They are:
1. Directive Counselling:
Directive counselling is the process of hearing a person’s emotional problems, deciding what he should do, and then telling and motivating him to do it.
Under directive counselling, the counsellor performs all the functions of counselling except reorientation. If the directive counsellor listens to the employee’s problems carefully and makes the counselee realize that his advice is worthwhile, directive counselling can be successful.
2. Non – Directive Counselling:
Non – directive or client – centered counselling is the process of skillfully listening to a person and encouraging him to explain his emotional problems, understand them and determine courses of action. It focuses on the counselee rather than the counsellor as judge and adviser and hence it is “client centered”.
Professional counsellors generally follow non- directive counselling. They facilitate the counselee in discovering and finding a suitable course of action himself. The counsellor not only tries to solve the immediate problem of the counselee but also attempts to bring about an attitudinal change in him.
Besides having certain advantages, non- directive counselling has several limitations, such as, it is time consuming, it requires professional counsellors, it is costly and so on.
3. Participative Counselling or Co-operative Counselling:
This form of counselling is worth a serious notice as this appears to be more practically applicable and more readily suitable to managerial attitudes and temperaments in Indian organizational situations than the other two.
It is in the middle of directive and non- directive counselling. Participative counselling is a close and mental relationship between the counsellor and the counselee that establishes a cooperative exchange of ideas, information, knowledge, values, feelings, etc., to solve the problems of the counselee. It is not dominated by either party, on the other hand, it integrates many advantages of directive and non- directive counselling and avoids most of their disadvantages. Usually this method uses four counselling functions of reassurance, communication, and emotional release and clarified thinking.
Steps in Counselling Process:
Counseling is meant to help in utilization of human resources in the organization. The counselor manager has to help his employees to be aware of their strong and weak points and improve upon the strong points and overcome their weakness. In fact, every manager or supervisor is in a way counseling his employees knowingly or unknowingly everyday.
The usual counseling process goes through the following phases:
Effective leaders use the counseling process. It consists of four stages:
• Identify the need for counseling.
• Prepare for counseling.
• Conduct counseling.
• Follow up.
(1) IDENTIFY THE NEED FOR COUNSELING
Quite often organizational policies, such as counseling associated with an evaluation or counseling required by the command, focus a counseling session. However, you may conduct developmental counseling whenever the need arises for focused, two-way communication aimed at subordinate development. Developing subordinates consists of observing the subordinate’s performance, comparing it to the standard, and then providing feedback to the subordinate in the form of counseling.
(2) PREPARE FOR COUNSELING
Successful counseling requires preparation. To prepare for counseling, do the following:
• Select a suitable place.
• Schedule the time.
• Notify the subordinate well in advance.
• Organize information.
• Outline the counseling session components.
• Plan your counseling strategy.
• Establish the right atmosphere.
i. Select a Suitable Place: Schedule counseling in an environment that minimizes interruptions and is free from distracting sights and sounds.
ii. Schedule the Time: When possible, counsel a subordinate during the duty day. Counseling after duty hours may be rushed or perceived as unfavorable. The length of time required for counseling depends on the complexity of the issue. Generally a counseling session should last less than an hour. If you need more time, schedule a second session. Additionally, select a time free from competition with other activities and consider what has been planned after the counselling session. Important events can distract a subordinate from concentrating on the counseling.
iii. Notify the Subordinate well in Advance: For a counseling session to be a subordinate-centered, two-person effort, the subordinate must have time to prepare for it. The subordinate should know why, where, and when the counseling will take place. Counseling following a specific event should happen as close to the event as possible. However, for performance or professional development counseling, subordinates may need a week or more to prepare or review specific products, such as support forms or counseling records.
iv. Organize Information: Solid preparation is essential to effective counseling. Review all pertinent information. This includes the purpose of the counseling, facts and observations about the subordinate, identification of possible problems, main points of discussion, and the development of a plan of action. Focus on specific and objective behaviors that the subordinate must maintain or improve as well as a plan of action with clear, obtainable goals.
v. Outline the Components of the Counseling Session: Using the information obtained, determine what to discuss during the counseling session. Note what prompted the counseling, what you aim to achieve, and what your role as a counselor is. Identify possible comments or questions to help you keep the counseling session subordinate-centered and help the subordinate progress through its stages. Although you never know what a subordinate will say or do during counseling, a written outline helps organize the session and enhances the chance of positive results.
vi. Plan Counseling Strategy: As many approaches to counseling exist as there are leaders. The directive, nondirective, and combined approaches to counseling were addressed earlier. Use a strategy that suits your subordinates and the situation.
vii. Establish the Right Atmosphere: The right atmosphere promotes two-way communication between a leader and subordinate. To establish a relaxed atmosphere, you may offer the subordinate a seat or a cup of coffee. You may want to sit in a chair facing the subordinate since a desk can act as a barrier.
Some situations make an informal atmosphere inappropriate. For example, during counseling to correct substandard performance, you may direct the subordinate to remain standing while you remain seated behind a desk. This formal atmosphere, normally used to give specific guidance, reinforces the leader’s rank, position in the chain of command, and authority.
(3) CONDUCT THE COUNSELING SESSION
Be flexible when conducting a counseling session. Often counseling for a specific incident occurs spontaneously as leaders encounter subordinates in their daily activities. Such counseling can occur in the field, motor pool, barracks—wherever subordinates perform their duties. Good leaders take advantage of naturally occurring events to provide subordinates with feedback.
Even when you haven’t prepared for formal counseling, you should address the four basic components of a counseling session. Their purpose is to guide effective counseling rather than mandate a series of rigid steps. Counseling sessions consist of:
• Opening the session.
• Discussing the issues.
• Developing the plan of action.
• Recording and closing the session.
Ideally, a counseling session results in a subordinate’s commitment to a plan of action. Assessment of the plan of action (discussed below) becomes the starting point for follow-up counseling.
Open the Session: In the session opening, state the purpose of the session and establish a subordinate centered setting. Establish the preferred setting early in the session by inviting the subordinate to speak. The best way to open a counseling session is to clearly state its purpose. For example, an appropriate purpose statement might be: “The purpose of this counseling is to discuss your duty performance over the past month and to create a plan to enhance performance and attain performance goals.” If applicable, start the counseling session by reviewing the status of the previous plan of action.
You and the subordinate should attempt to develop a mutual understanding of the issues. You can best develop this by letting the subordinate do most of the talking. Use active listening; respond, and question without dominating the conversation. Aim to help the subordinate better understand the subject of the counseling, for example, duty performance, a problem situation and its impact, or potential areas for growth.
Both you and the subordinate should provide examples or cite specific observations to reduce the perception that either is unnecessarily biased or judgmental. However, when the issue is substandard performance, you should make clear how the performance didn’t meet the standard. The conversation, which should be two-way, then addresses what the subordinate needs to do to meet the standard. It’s important that you define the issue as substandard performance and don’t allow the subordinate to define the issue as an unreasonable standard—unless you consider the standard negotiable or are willing to alter the conditions under which the subordinate must meet the standard.
Develop a Plan of Action: A plan of action identifies a method for achieving a desired result. It specifies what the subordinate must do to reach the goals set during the counseling session. The plan of action must be specific: it should show the subordinate how to modify or maintain his behavior. It should avoid vague intentions such as “Next month I want you to improve your land navigation skills.” The plan must use concrete and direct terms. For example, you might say: “Next week you’ll attend the map reading class with 1st Platoon. After the class, SGT Dixon will coach you through the land navigation course. He will help you develop your skill with the compass. I will observe you going through the course with SGT Dixon, and then I will talk to you again and determine where and if you still need additional training.” A specific and achievable plan of action sets the stage for successful development.
Record and Close the Session: Although requirements to record counseling sessions vary, a leader always benefits by documenting the main points of a counseling session. Documentation serves as a reference to the agreed upon plan of action and the subordinate’s accomplishments, improvements, personal preferences, or problems. A complete record of counseling aids in making recommendations for professional development, schools, promotions, and evaluation reports.
Additionally, Army regulations require written records of counseling for certain personnel actions, such as a barring a soldier from reenlisting, processing a soldier for administrative separation, or placing a soldier in the overweight program. When a soldier faces involuntary separation, the leader must take special care to maintain accurate counseling records. Documentation of substandard actions conveys a strong corrective message to subordinates.
To close the session, summarize its key points and ask if the subordinate understands the plan of action. Invite the subordinate to review the plan of action and what’s expected of you, the leader. With the subordinate, establish any follow-up measures necessary to support the successful implementation of the plan of action. These may include providing the subordinate with resources and time, periodically assessing the plan, and following through on referrals. Schedule any future meetings, at least tentatively, before dismissing the subordinate.
(4) FOLLOW UP
Leader’s Responsibilities: The counseling process doesn’t end with the counseling session. It continues through implementation of the plan of action and evaluation of results. After counseling, you must support subordinates as they implement their plans of action. Support may include teaching, coaching, or providing time and resources. You must observe and assess this process and possibly modify the plan to meet its goals. Appropriate measures after counseling include follow-up counseling, making referrals, informing the chain of command, and taking corrective measures.
Assess the Plan of Action: The purpose of counseling is to develop subordinates who are better able to achieve personal, professional, and organizational goals. During the assessment, review the plan of action with the subordinate to determine if the desired results were achieved. You and the subordinate should determine the date for this assessment during the initial counseling session. The assessment of the plan of action provides useful information for future follow-up counseling sessions.
Counselling Approaches
Psychological therapies generally fall into three categories. These are behavioral therapies, which focus on cognitions and behaviors, psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies, which focus on the unconscious relationship patterns that evolved from childhood, and humanistic therapies, which focus on looking at the 'here and now'. This is a generalization though and counselling usually overlaps some of these techniques. Some counsellors or psychotherapists practice a form of 'integrative' counselling, which means they draw on and blend specific types of techniques. Other practitioners work in an 'eclectic' way, which means they take elements of several different models and combine them when working with clients.
The different types of psychological therapies:
Behavioral Therapies
Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies
Humanistic Therapies
1. Behavioral Therapies
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a common approach used by counsellors and other professional psychologists to help ease emotional distress by recognizing and treating the underlying psychological problems. This type of therapy has proven to be an effective method of treatment for a variety of problems, including anxiety disorders, depression disorders, stress, anger and coping with loss. It is possible for the therapy to take place on a one-to-one basis, with family members or even as a group depending on the issue and how the individual feels most comfortable.
Behavioral and Cognitive therapies mainly concentrate on the theory of here and now, however, they do not dismiss the individuals past altogether and the professional and client must work together to address the current issues. It is imperative that the relationship formed between the counsellor and the sufferer is positive in order to develop a shared outlook of the issues that need to be confronted. If this occurs the pair can set goals and find ways of achieving these goals together. The counsellor will often set the client home projects to complete in order to put their new skills into practice.
Behavioral Therapy
This approach addresses the unusual thoughts, feelings and behavior directly by issuing the sufferer with rewards and by confronting the factors that influence these recurrent thoughts. This therapy does not ignore the past like some other approaches, but does concentrate on the present events which are in control of the sufferer’s behavior.
Cognitive Therapy
This type of therapy attempts to recognize unusual thoughts or events that could potentially result in unwanted feelings and negative behavior. The main objective is to amend these initial thoughts and replace them with a different perspective in order to prevent the distressing consequences from occurring.
Many professionals combine the two approaches, which can have effective results in changing a persons distorted thoughts and feelings.
The main objective of this therapy is to identify and alter an individual's thought process in order to change both behavior and emotional development. The sessions consist of a number of activities; a few of the techniques are listed below.
Coping skills
Assessments
Relaxation
Challenging certain thoughts
Thought stopping
Homework projects
Training in communication
2. Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies
Psychoanalytical and psychodynamic approaches are based on theories of mental functioning that acknowledge how individuals have perceptions, thoughts and desires they are not consciously aware of. Freud is widely regarded as being the founder of modern psychology, developing the therapy known as psychoanalysis. Patients would lie on a couch and talk about what came into their mind. Deeply buried memories and experiences were often expressed and the opportunity to share these thoughts and feelings seemed to help patients. This therapy is based on the idea that a great deal of an individual's behavior and thoughts are not within their conscious control. By talking freely about thoughts entering their minds, the patient reveals unconscious needs and memories that will allow them to gain control of their life.
Psychoanalysis is intensive and usually patients attend four or five sessions a week for several years. Psychoanalytic therapy is based upon psychoanalysis but is less intensive, patients only attending between one and three sessions a week. Psychodynamic counselling is based on the same theories, however it may focus on more immediate problems, be more practically based and shorter term than psychoanalytic therapy.
Psychoanalytical therapies are often beneficial for individuals who want to understand more about themselves. They are particularly helpful for those who feel their difficulties have affected them for a long period of time and need relieving of mental and emotional distress. Together, the therapist and the client try to understand the inner life of the client in a deep exploration. Uncovering an individuals unconscious needs and thoughts may help them to understand how past experiences have affected them, and how they can work through these to live a more fulfilling life.
Psychodynamic is the word that links psychotherapy and counselling with psychoanalysis. Psychodynamic counselling is based on empathy, acceptance and understanding. The understanding the counsellor gains from the therapy can enhance the life of the counsellor as well as the client. The process of change develops when the client recognizes the power of the unconscious and learns how to control their actions and responses.
3. Humanistic Therapies
Humanistic Counselling became known over 50 years ago and has become an extremely effective approach to counselling. Although behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic methods were available, a Humanistic approach offered sufferers another alternative. This type of counselling focuses on recognizing human capabilities in areas such as creativity, personal growth and choice. This method is perceived more as an artistic approach rather than scientific and is therefore not as well known as the other two types.
When an individual is choosing a counsellor, it is extremely important that the client is aware of the approach the counsellor uses before arranging an appointment. This is because each method is different and depends on the person's needs as to which approach should be taken. The main objectives of humanistic psychology are to find out how individuals perceive themselves here and now and to recognize growth, self-direction and responsibilities. This method is optimistic and attempts to help individuals recognize their strengths by offering a non-judgmental, understanding experience.
a. Person-Centered Counselling
This type of counselling allows the client to guide themselves through the episode rather than being led by the professional. This theory suggests that sessions should not be directive and the counsellor should be a source of understanding and encouragement rather than the problem solver. The Person-Centered approach allows clients to move at their own pace and to direct their own development. This means they are aware that the counsellor believes in their capability to manage problems, which encourages them to believe in their strengths, values and worth.
An individual's self-concept is an important issue in this type of counselling; if someone has been brought up around negative experiences or interactions, it is likely that the person's self-concept will be damaged. With this method, it is not the counselor’s task to direct or diagnose the individual; their role is to listen, understand and accept in a non-judgmental manner, thus allowing the clients to help themselves. This is thought to be extremely beneficial in repairing a person's self-concept.
The relationship created between the therapist and client is extremely important and the counsellor must adhere to specific healing characteristics in order for the outcome to be successful. The counsellor must empathize with the individual, offering honesty and no matter how the client acts, the same positive, kind feelings must be portrayed at all times. The experience offered concentrates on the here and now and the I am a concept, which overlook the individual’s past and reassures them they are responsible for the way they feel and their actions.
b. Gestalt Counselling
Unlike Person-Centered Counselling, this method is directive and concentrates on the client's thought process and feelings. The main objective of this approach is for the individual's to become more aware of them taking into account their mind, body and spirit. The purpose of this is to improve the person's personal experiences and therefore creating a better quality of life.
A gestalt professional constantly promotes the client’s awareness of themselves and uses experiments that are often invented by the counsellor and client. These experiments can be anything from creating patterns with objects and writing to role-playing. Promoting awareness is the main objective of Gestalt Counselling but other areas such as improving the ability to support ones emotional feelings are also important.
c. Transactional Analysis Counselling
Transactional Analysis is a theory that involves an individual's growth and development. It is also a theory related to communication and child development explaining the connections to our past and how this influences decisions we make. The TA theory was developed by Eric Berne who was a psychiatrist and he recognized three key ego-states that are present in everyone; Parent, Adult and Child.
This method of counselling encourages individuals to analyze previous decisions they have made and understand the direction and patterns of their life for themselves. It also helps clients to trust their decisions and think/act as an individual improving the way they feel about themselves. TA is a humanistic approach and like Person-Centered Counselling focuses on the here and now concept.
d. Transpersonal Psychology and Psycho synthesis
Transpersonal psychology began within humanistic psychology, however today it is gaining recognition by many psychologists and a number of professional organizations, and is now often seen as its own separate psychological theory (along with the other three main categories: behavioral, psychoanalytical and psychodynamic and humanistic).
Transpersonal psychology literally means “beyond the personal” and involves encouraging the individual to discover the deep core of who they really are (the real person that transcends an individual’s body, age, gender, physical space, culture, appearance etc.) It involves building and expanding on an individual’s qualities, their spirituality and self development.
Psycho synthesis was developed by psychiatrist Roberto Assail and involves an integration of the psychological and transpersonal elements. Psycho synthesis accepts the idea of a higher, spiritual level of consciousness, sometimes referred to as the “higher self”. Techniques such as meditation and visualization are often used for self-exploration and personal growth.
Draw backs of counselling
Counselling may help an employee for better adjustment with his superior but it does not improve the working environment.
Counselling attempts to change individual attitudes and behavior, this does not last in the long run.
In most of the cases, the employees blame their superiors or supervisors which generally objected by them, thus, effecting counselling.
Counselors usually follow an appeasement policy. They do not want to annoy the management by telling the reality.
Reference Books
1. Talent Management - Organizational Behavior by Pravesh Mishra
2. Talent Management – Organizational Behavior A Strategic Approach by Hitt Miller & Colella
3. Talent Development – HRD by Randy L. Desimone
4. Talent Development – HRM & PHRM by Aparna Rao & Subba Rao.
5. Counselling - HRM by P.G. Aquinas
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