Hi,

I work in the Human Resources department of an oil & gas company and I've often seen in performance appraisal forms where supervisors end up listing down the training programs required for the person appraised in the "Recommended Development Plan" section of Performance Appraisal forms. The biggest anomaly here is that for e.g., a person's weakness/area of improvement has been found to be "lack of leadership capabilities" and the supervisor ends up recommending him for a Basic Leadership Training. Is the supervisor under the conception that leadership training will bring leadership capabilities in him?

I feel that there should be development needs assessment instead of training needs assessment because training is not the only solution for an employee's development. In the above-mentioned case, I feel, assigning the employee to drive small projects along with a team may help develop leadership capabilities instead of sending him to a leadership training.

I seek the opinions of HR professionals in this regard. Hope to hear from you.

Thanks,

Naved.


Hi Naved,
Training is a short-term affair and its effect can be short term if not implemented in routine life.
Therefore, it’s necessary to keep a watch on its effectiveness by providing real life situations to the trainee. Assigning him/her a task where he/she can use their leadership skills can bring out changes in their attitude.
Case presented by you requires continuous check and grooming as well by the superior.
Best Regards,
Upasna Kaushik

From India, Delhi
HI NAVED,
REGARDING THE ISSUE U RAISED, AND IN COMPLIMENTARY WITH UPASNA KAUSHIK RESPONSE, I JUS WISH TO ADD THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO PUT EVERYTHING IN ITS CONTEXT. FOR EXAMPLE IF ONE SAYS 'LACK OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES' AS A GENERAL ASSESSMENT, WHAT WERE THE INDICATORS FOR THIS. THE INDICATORS POINTS TO THE PRESCRIBED SOLUTION. LEADERS ARE BORN, BUT ALSO MADE...IN OUR CONTEXT...WE DEAL WITH HOW TO MAKE LEADERS...AND THIS SHOULD BE FOCUSED AT IDENTIFYING THE INDIVIDUALS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN LEADERSHIP, AND COMPLIMENTING/BOOSTING THE STRENGTHENS WHILE ADDRESSING THE SPECIFIC WEAKNESSES, WHETHER IT IS BY TRAINING OR PROVIDING PRACTICAL CHALLENGES etc. EVENTUALLY THE PACKAGE TARGETS AT ENGRAINING LASTING SKILLS AND PERSONA THAT MAKES ONE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER.
REGARDS,
MOSES J. EMANUEL

From Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam
Hi Naved,
My view is that both are equally important viz basic Leadership training & continous development projects. One cannot become a leader just by being a part of the team alone unless he/she has been imparted a basic training in leadership/supervisory development.
Also recommend mentor programs & giving small group tasks with responsibilty to be monitored & assessed by the Leaders of the company.
Cheerio
Rajat Joshi

From India, Pune
My concern stems from the lack of appreciation of the statement 'Lacks Leadership capabilities and I would suggest that effort be made to educate line managers on the use of the term. as earlier noted there needs to have been pointers which should I imagine mean that the person has been asked to run a small task and showed ineptitude. I believe if there is sufficient involvement employees will take up the ownership of their tasks.
I agree with raja both training and development work hand in hand. You should not in fact place someone in that capacity before simulating it in training. Failure could be costly to the organization and the staff.
Oris

From Nigeria,
Dear Colleagues,
All the comments made are quite relevant I just want to add mine.
Basically-Training would always have its own benefits-however I would strongly support the notion that when an employees tasks or responsibilites are expected to change-Training should be done prior to the assignment otherwise I do not think he/she should be held liable for any failure that emanates from such redeployment.
Refresher courses could be introduced
Fast Track Courses for those that might be changing Department-eg HR to Marketing.
Advanced Management Courses for those due for promotion-to that cadre
and general for others to be elevated.
Based on the training given employees could be assessed or appraised based on their out put having taken up these new tasks or responsibilities.
Thanks.

From Nigeria, Lagos
Hello All,

I have been following the discussions this side, and I must say I find them all interesting. Let me add just my few cents worth regarding training, supervision, and all matters that may relate to the line of discussions above.

I believe that personnel movement from different departments or areas of reponsibility should be related to competency, or this may just be an invitation for failure. As for managerial responsibilities, I agree that training can do something about it but this should not be done as a palliative solution. I believe that leadership is a characteristic expected of everyone in the organization NOT reserved for supervisosrs and managers alone. Rank and file people are leaders in their own right and should also be recognized as such. In fact, in all strata of the organizations, everyone should be enjoined to perform decision making responsibilities and be accountable for the same. This way, solutions to whatever areas of concern become everybody's concern and not the concern of "formal" leaders alone. In my years of Training,Consulting, and Coaching experience, I have seen that empowerment is a very big area that could very much influence the making or the breaking of an organization. That said, I certainly believe that a competency audit may be a good start and basis for whatever TNA. Have a nice day everyone.


to just state a point ...i agree tht leaders are made....leadership like nay other skill can be learnt...
me for instance....i never used to work for project in the first sem..i wld like to research...n always depended on others to temme wt to do,.
i dunno wt my eco teacher saw in me n made a team lead for a project...tth is wer i understood the responsibility
... fortunately i have lots of frenz who helped me out wen i was the leader, n my proj really rocked...this was 2 yrs ago..now i always look out for opt wer i can help out
so i wld suggest to give the person small responsibilties...but dont losetouch with the person..keep an eye on him....
regards
sunayna
ur vews are welcome

From India, Mumbai
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