What are the various problems associated with performance appraisal? Briefly describe each.

There are several problems associated with performance appraisal which are mentioned below with
brief explanation-

Unclear Standard: In the rating standard there are sometimes unclear standard which to be
considered as satisfactory & which would be good or poor. In addition, manager to manager that
varies. Rating standard creates this unclear standard rating during appraisal process. This appraisal is
too open to interpretation.
HALO Effect: This problem occurs when supervisors rating is based on one trait biasness comes
for all other traits for that person. For example, once supervisor seen one employee, who is actually
the best performer, to come late at office for the first time of his career. Therefore, supervisor
considering him/her as regular latecomer & rated him/her as poor rated performer on all other
criteria.
Central tendency: Some supervisors while rating subordinated, in order to avoid too high or too
low score, use mid-level rating. For example, if the rating scale is from 1-10 then mostly he/she rated
in between 5-7. So all the employees get average scales.
Leniency or Strictness: This tendency occurs when a supervisor rates subordinates either
high/low scores.
Recency Effect: Instead of accumulating over the year performance, supervisor considers the
recent activities during appraisal, which is recency effect.
Biasness: Several parameters influence supervisor biasness while rating subordinates. This is
called biasness.

Therefore, calibration meetings are mostly practiced to avoid those problem from supervisors end
while appraising employees.

- Appraiser discomfort - Subjectivity of performance evaluations - Bias errors

- First impression effect - Positive halo effect - Negative halo effect - Similar-to-me effect -
Contrast errors - Errors of central tendency error - Leniency error - Strictness error

Appraiser Discomfort: Whom to choose for highest or lowest rating, what would be the
appropriate rating, how to deal with employees rating, how to convey & communicate during
appraisal process all those issues are challenging & discomfort range for appraisers.
Subjectivity of performance evaluations: A subjective performance evaluation typically relates
to intangible employee qualities and is based on subjective feedback from the manager as
opposed to objective, measurable feedback. Use of subjective evaluation criteria can offer
employees a better overall picture of their performance, but overuse of subjective criteria does
pose some risks. Subjective performance appraisals do allow for broader input on employee
performance than more objective tools.
Bias Errors: The way a supervisor feels about each of the individuals working under him -
whether he likes or dislikes them - as a tremendous effect on the rating of their performances.
Personal Bias can stem from various sources because of information obtained from colleagues,
considerations of faith and thinking, social and family background and so on. Biasness stops
improvement of even an excellent performer for his/her further improvement, this is positive
sign. On the other hand, negative signs are vast.
 First Impression Effect: Raters form an overall impression about the employee based on some
particular characteristics of the employee identified by them. The identified qualities and
features may not provide adequate base for appraisal.
Positive Halo Effect: The individuals performance is completely appraised based on a
perceived positive quality, feature, or trait. In other words, this is the tendency to rate a man
uniformly high or low in other traits if he is extra-ordinarily high or low in one particular trait.
If a worker has few absences, his supervisor might give him a high rating in all other areas of
work.
Negative Halo Effect: he individuals performance is completely appraised on the basis of a
negative quality or feature perceived. This results in an overall lower rating than may be
warranted. He is not formally dressed up in the office. He may be casual at work too!.
Similar to me Effect: More than fair rating given to an applicant or employee due to his or her
personal or professional similarity to the interviewer or evaluator. Also called similarity error.
Contrast Error: If a manager focuses on a stereotype (i.e. due to race, religion, age, or sexual
orientation) when rating, a contrast error results. Each employee's performance, not his
background, characteristics or lifestyle, should be rated. Besides, a contrast error can result
when two employees with similar performances are compared. The error occurs when the
manager rates one employee lower than the other because the manager likes the other
employee better. Giving ratings based on an employee's traits or likability, rather than her
performance, qualifies as job discrimination, which can lead to legal claims and other
complications.
Central Tendency Error: Appraisers rate all employees as average performers. That is, it is an
attitude to rate people as neither high nor low and follow the middle path. For example, a
professor, with a view to play it safe, might give a class grade near the equal to B, regardless
of the differences in individual performances.
Leniency/Strictness Effect: Depending upon the raters own standards, values and physical and
mental makeup at the time of appraisal, employees may be rated very strictly or leniently.
Some of the managers are likely to take the line of least resistance and rate people high,
whereas others, by nature, believe in the tyranny of exact assessment, considering more
particularly the drawbacks of the individual and thus making the assessment excessively
severe. The leniency error can render a system ineffective. If everyone is to be rated high, the
system has not done anything to differentiate among the employees.

Briefly describe each of the following methods of performance appraisal: a. 360-degree

feedback evaluation, b. Rating scales, c. Critical incidents, d. Essay, e. Work standards, f.
Ranking, g. Forced distribution, h. Behaviorally anchored rating scales, and i. Results-based
systems.

360-degree feedback evaluation: Typically, performance appraisal has been limited to a

feedback process between employees and supervisors. However, with the increased focus on
teamwork, employee development, and customer service, the emphasis has shifted to
employee feedback from the full circle of sources depicted in the diagram below. This
multiple-input approach to performance feedback is sometimes called 360-degree
assessment to connote that full circle.
 This is a computerized appraisal process. 360-degree appraisals are more candid when
subordinates know rewards or promotions are not involved.

Rating Scales: Graphics rating scales method of appraisal process is the most popular &
simplest method used. A scale that lists a number of traits and a range of performance for
each of the employee is then rated by identifying the score that best describes his or her level
of performance for each trait.
The greatest advantage of rating scales is that they are structured and standardized. This
allows ratings to be easily compared and contrasted - even for entire workforces. Rating scale
methods are easy to use and understand. The concept of the rating scale makes obvious
sense; both appraisers and appraises have an intuitive appreciation for the simple and
efficient logic of the bipolar scale.
Disadvantages of rating scale method are, i.e. Trait Relevance, systematic disadvantage,
Perceptual errors, perceived meaning, rating errors etc.

Critical Incidents: In Critical Incident Method of appraisal process, supervisors used to keep a
record of uncommonly good or undesirable examples of an employees work-related behavior
and reviewing it with the employee at predetermined times. In this process supervisors &
subordinated meet every 6months or periodically to discuss further improvement & issues to
mitigate negative progress. It helps supervisor to get a clear view on overall year
performances (positive or negative) during appraisal where all the lists or logs give examples
on how subordinates can improve or eliminate deficiencies. On the other hand, since there is
no numerical values comparing employees become difficult or for deciding salary increments.

Essay: All or part of the written appraisal may be in narrative form. In this process, persons
supervisor assesses the employees past performance and required areas of improvement. The
supervisor s narrative assessment aids helps the employee understand where his or her
performance was good or bad, and how to improve that performance.
The essay method is far less structured and confining than the rating scale method. It permits
the appraiser to examine almost any relevant issue or attribute of performance. This contrasts
sharply with methods where the appraisal criteria are rigidly defined.
Essay methods are time-consuming and difficult to administer. Appraisers often find the essay
technique more demanding than methods such as rating scales.
The techniques greatest advantage - freedom of expression - is also its greatest handicap.
The varying writing skills of appraisers can upset and distort the whole process.

Work Standards: The work standards method is a performance appraisal method that
compares each employees performance to a predetermined standard or expected level of
output. Standards reect the normal output of an average worker operating at a normal pace.
Firms may apply work standards to virtually all types of jobs, but production jobs generally
receive the most attention. An obvious advantage of using standards as appraisal criteria is
 objectivity. However, in order for employees to perceive that the standards are objective, they
should understand clearly how the standards were set. Management must also explain the
rationale for any changes to the standards

Ranking Method: The ranking method of performance evaluation requires a rater to order all
employees from highest to lowest. While it is possible to rank order employees on each of
several performance dimensions, simply ordering ratees on an overall performance dimension
seems most common.
An important advantage of the ranking method is that it forces raters to differentiate among
ratees.
The ranking method, therefore, controls rating errors such as leniency & Strictness, and forces
distinctions among workers. Disadvantages of the ranking method are time consuming, no
concrete ranking method, differences between different groups or domains are not identical,
sometimes demotivation is high through this process.

Forced Distribution Method: Here employees are clustered around a high point on a rating
scale. This is predetermined & almost similar to grading process of employees. Rater is
compelled to distribute the employees on all points on the scale. Forced ranking is a
performance intervention, which can be defined as an evaluation method of forced
distribution, where managers are required to distribute ratings for those being evaluated, into
a pre-specified performance distribution ranking.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) Method: A behaviorally anchored rating scale
(BARS) is an appraisal tool that anchors a numerical rating scale with specific illustrative
examples of good or poor performance.
This process aims at combining the benefits of narrative critical incidents & quantified ratings
by anchoring a quantified scale with specific narrative examples.
This is typically a 5-step process-
1. Write critical incidents: Ask the job s jobholders and/or supervisors to write specific
illustrations (critical incidents) of effective and ineffective performance on the job.
2. Develop performance dimensions: Have these people group the incidents in to 5 or 10
performance dimensions, such as salesmanship skills.
3. Reallocate incidents: To verify these groupings, have another team of people who also
know the job reallocate the original critical incidents. They must reassign each incident to
the cluster they think it fits best. Retain a critical incident if most of this second team
assigns it to the same cluster as did the first group.
4. Scale the incidents: This second group then rates the behavior described by the incident
as to how effectively or ineffectively it represents performance on the dimension (7- to 9-
point scales are typical).
5. Develop a final instrument: Choose about six or seven of the incidents as the dimensions
behavioral anchors.

Results based System: MBO (management by objectives) methods of performance appraisal

are results-oriented. This is 4-stage process- Finalizing overall objectives, Specific performance
goal setting, jointing determining the targets for individuals, rewarding process. This is widely
used process but suitable where there is no conflicting working environment, good acceptance
level between supervisors-employees, no eyewash in the process.

What appraisal intervals are often used in appraisal reviews?

Many different people can conduct performance appraisals. What are the various alternatives?
Immediate supervisor
Subordinates
Peers and team members
Self-appraisal
Customer appraisal

Traditionally supervisors are conducting performance appraisal for subordinates, which is relatively
meaningful, & straightforward in some extends. However, supervisor is also a factor for performance
level of a subordinate; therefore, HR department serves a policy-making & advisory role on this
regard. HR thus ensures training for supervisors about how to conduct performance appraisal
effectively & that complies EEO laws. As a result, several alternates are used now days for
performance appraisal for an employee those are briefly explained below-

o Immediate Supervisor: Supervisors ratings are the heart of most appraisals. This makes
sense. The supervisor usually is in the best position to observe and evaluate the subordinates
performance and is responsible for that persons performance. However, biasness or central
tendency or other demerits may influence this evaluation to exact judgment.
o Subordinates: In this process subordinates rates supervisors since they knows better about
the lacking of their supervisor. This is used actually for development, not for pay purposes.
Research shows, it helps supervisors significant improvement those having poor or moderate
rates from subordinates.
o Peers & Team members: With more firms using self-managing teams, peer or team appraisals,
the appraisals of an employee by his or her peers are becoming more popular. Typically, an
employee chooses an appraisal chairperson each year. That person then selects one
supervisor and three or four peers to evaluate the employees work. Research indicates that
peer appraisals can be effective. One study involved undergraduates placed into self-
managing work groups. The researchers found that peer appraisals had an immediate positive
impact on [improving] perception of open communication, task motivation, social loafing,
group viability, cohesion, and satisfaction.
o Self-Appraisal: Some employers obtain employees self-ratings, usually in conjunction with
supervisor ratings. Research says that the outcome is mostly people rates below compared to
their supervisor used to rate them.
o Customer appraisal: Customer appraisal is the part of 360-degree appraisal process.
Supervisor may not have the idea about how customers are satisfied or dissatisfied with the
employee, which helps him/her to give a proper rating. It may be internal or external
customers, the purpose is for development rather than pay proposal. Usually this is a
computerized or web-based survey from customers to rate an employee.
o Rating Committee: A rating committee is usually composed of the employees immediate
supervisor and three or four other supervisors. Using multiple raters is advantageous. It can
help cancel out problems such as bias on the part of individual raters. It can also provide a
way to include in the appraisal the different facets of an employee s performance observed by
different appraisers.
What aspects of a persons performance might an organization evaluate?
Traits
Behaviors
Competencies
Task outcomes
Improvement potential

What are the steps in the performance appraisal process?

The continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and
teams and aligning their performance with the organization s goals.
This is basically a 3 steps process which can be said a 6 stage process in extended version. Some of
the steps involved in performance appraisal process are:

1. Setting the Performance Standards:

The first step in the performance appraisal process is the setting of standards of performance
expected from the employees. SMART goal setting process, the standards set should be the line
with the objectives and the mission of the organization.

2. Communicating the Performance Standard to the Employees:

It is not enough if just the standards are fixed. The expected level of performance should be
communicated to the employees so that they are all well aware of what is expected of them.

3. Measuring the Actual Performance:

 This is a crucial step in the performance appraisal process. Here the actual performances are
measured. There are various methods of measuring the performance.

4. Comparing the Actual With the Standard Performance:

Once the standard levels of performance are set and the actual performances are measured, the
next step will be the comparison of the actual with the standard performance. This comparison will
enable the determination of the gap between the actual and the expected performance; such gaps
can be bridged through training and development.

5. Providing Feedback:
The performance appraisal process does not end with mere evaluation of the performance. It is
essential to provide feedback to the employees on their performance. This will help the employees
to identify the weak areas and initiate actions to overcome them. Such feedback motivates them to
perform better in future by avoiding the repetition of the same mistakes.

6. Initiating Corrective Actions (if required):

When a gap is found between the actual and the expected level of performance, corrective actions
should be undertaken. By analyzing the reason for a gap, proper action should be taken so that
the gap is bridged. When the actual and the standard performance match there is no need for any
corrective action.

Define performance management and performance appraisal.

The terms 'performance management' and 'performance appraisal' are sometimes used
synonymously, but they are different.
Performance Management is a comprehensive, continuous, and flexible approach to the
management of organizations, teams and individuals which involves the maximum amount of
dialogue between those concerned. The continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing
the performance of individuals and teams and aligning their performance with the organization s
goals.
Performance Appraisal is a more limited approach that involves managers making top-down
assessments and rating the performance of their subordinates at an annual performance appraisal
meeting. Evaluating an employee s current and/or past performance relative to his or her
performance standards.
Below diagram illustrates a basic clear view on Performance Management & Performance Appraisal-
What are some reasons that people give for getting rid of performance appraisal?
There are potential drawbacks Performance appraisals (PAs). It has been noted that determining the
relationship between individual job performance and organizational performance can be a difficult
task. One of the problems with formal PAs is there can be detrimental effects to the organization(s)
involved if the appraisals are not used appropriately. Secondly, with formal PAs is they can be
ineffective if the PA system does not correspond with the organizational culture and system.
Complications stemming from these are:
o Detrimental to quality improvement: it has been proposed that the use of PA systems in
organizations adversely affect organizations pursuits of quality performance. It is believed by
some scholars and practitioners that the use of PAs is more than unnecessary if there is total
quality management.
o Subjective evaluations: Traditional performance appraisals are often based upon a manager
or supervisor's perceptions. Therefore, the review may be influenced by many non-
performance factors such as employee 'likeability', personal prejudices, ease of management,
and/or previous mistakes or successes.
o Negative perceptions: If the person being appraised does not trust their employer, appraiser
or believe that they will benefit from the process it may become a "tick box" exercise.[27]
o Errors: Performance appraisals should provide accurate and relevant ratings of an employees
performance as compared to pre-established criteria/goals (i.e. organizational expectations).
o Legal issues: when PAs are not carried out appropriately, legal issues could result that place
the organization at risk. The improper application and utilization of PAs can affect employees
negatively and lead to legal action against the organization.
o Performance goals: performance goals and PA systems are often used in association. Negative
outcomes concerning the organizations can result when goals are overly challenging or
overemphasized to the extent of affecting ethics, legal requirements, or quality.
o Derail merit pay or performance-based pay: some researchers contend that the deficit in merit
pay and performance-based pay is linked to the fundamental issues stemming from PA
systems.

What are the uses of performance appraisal?

- Human resource planning
- Recruitment and selection
- Training and development
- Career planning and development
- Compensation programs
- Internal employee relations
- Assessment of employee potential

1. Human resource planning: this is the ongoing, continuous process of systematic planning to
achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset its human resources. The four key
steps of the human resources planning process are analyzing present labor supply, forecasting labor
demand, balancing projected labor demand with supply and supporting organizational goals.

2. Recruitment and Selection: The recruitment process begins when you know you need
someone new in the Department, either because an existing staff member has left, or because there
is new work to be done. It doesnt finish until after the appointment has been made and PA plays a
major role in Recruitment Process. Finally the selected employees also need to be placed on proper
jobs. Here some companies recruit employees for specific jobs while others recruit fresh trainees in
 large number and train them for future manpower needs. Moreover, PA is very important for perfect
match of right employee and right job

3. Training and development: Training refers to the process of imparting specific skills. An
employee undergoing training is presumed to have had some formal education. No training program
is complete without an element of education. Hence, we can say that Training is offered to
operatives. Performance appraisal provides a basic ground for determining needs of individuals. It
indicates the performance deficiencies in employee, if any, so that the training needs can be identified
within individuals. It also helps in indicating talented employees so as to impart additional knowledge
and skills in them.

4. Career planning and development : Performance appraisal is said to be used in career

planning and development whenever it is used to gear up towards improving employee's performance
and skills. It can also be defined from the viewpoint of self-improvement.

5. Compensation programs: A compensation program that will actually improve and sustain key
employee performances must conform to behavioral principles. Wages and salaries generally operate
as negative reinforces rather than positive.

6. Internal employee relation:

7. Assessment of employee potentials : Performance appraisal serves as a basis for assessment

of employees by communicating required skills, efficiency and potentials of the employees. It is the
common interest of employees to get promoted into position where they can utilize their abilities
effectively. Hence, performance appraisal provides relevant information on promotion decision.

Define training and development

Training and Development is a subsystem of an organization, which emphasize on the improvement

of the performance of individuals and groups. Training is an educational process, which involves the
sharpening of skills, concepts, changing of attitude and gaining more knowledge to enhance the
performance of the employees.

The need for Training and Development is determined by the employees performance deficiency,
computed as follows.
Training & Development Need = Standard Performance Actual Performance

We can make a distinction among Training, Development, and Education.

Importance of Training and Development:

Optimum utilization of Human resources For improvement of organization culture
Development of skills To improve quality, safety
To increase the productivity To increase profitability
To provide the zeal of team spirit Improve the morale and corporate image

Reasons to go for Training and Development:

When management thinks that there is a need To set up the benchmark of improvement so
to improve the performances of employees far in the performance improvement effort
 To train about the specific job To test the new methodology for
responsibility increasing the productivity

What is a learning organization?

A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge,

and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.
Learning organizations are not simply the most fashionable or current management trend, they can
provide work environments that are open to creative thought, and embrace the concept that solutions
to ongoing work-related problems are available inside every one of us. All we must do is tap into the
knowledge base, which gives us the "ability to think critically and creatively, the ability to
communicate ideas and concepts, and the ability to cooperate with other human beings in the
process of inquiry and action.

Organization that acquires knowledge and innovates fast enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly
changing environment. Learning organizations
1. create a culture that encourages and supports continuous employee learning, critical thinking,
and risk taking with new ideas
2. allow mistakes, and value employee contributions,
3. learn from experience and experiment, and
4. disseminate the new knowledge throughout the organization for incorporation into day-to-day
activities.

What are the steps in the T&D process?

Steps in T&D Process

The model below traces the steps necessary in the training process:

Training Requirement
o Organizational Objectives or Strategic Plan
o Needs Assessment
o Sort out the gap or gap analysis
o Training Objectives
o Select the Trainees
Select the Training Methods and Mode or Development of Training Module
5-stage ADDIE Model-
o Analyzing the training need
o Designing the overall training program
o Developing the course
o Implementing training by actually training the targeted employee group.
o Evaluating the effectiveness of the course.

Organizational Impact (Feedback Process)

o Choose a Means of Evaluating
o Administer Training
o Evaluate the Training
What are the various training and development methods? Briefly describe each.
- Instructor-led
- E-learning
- Case study
- Behavior modeling
- Role-playing
- Training games
- In-basket training
- On-the-job training
- Apprenticeship training

Organizations use all kinds of training delivery methods to improve the skills and qualifications of their
personnel. However, its also worth remembering that different training delivery methods have
different features and weaknesses. So if organization is currently looking for a better way to instruct
its personnel then here are some options that should try.

1. Instructor Led Training: Instructor led training is facilitated by a qualified instructor and is
held at our facilities or yours. It is an ideal medium for individuals new to technologies and who
benefit from hands-on learning. Each of our instructor led training courses is skill-based and cover a
range of certification requirements.
2. E-Learning: Anytime - Anywhere. When time and money is an issue, e-learning is definitely
the answer! With "new generation" interactive content, you will be able to log onto any computer and
learn in an interactive and fun manner, via the internet, corporate intranet or even via a CD-ROM.
You will be able to track your own progress and access your learning progress at any time.
3. Case Study Method: It is a written down, narrative description of a real situation or incident
relating to an organization and its business, depicting any problem that participants could face in their
employment. Participant trainees are required to propose any number of viable solutions or decisions
that match the variables represented in the case. Case study can be interest creating and thought
stimulating for the participants. It helps to develop analytical, reasoning and problem-solving skills of
the participants. As it shows and reduces gaps in understanding, a holistic understanding of reality is
made possible through case study method. It also helps to reemphasize messages provided during
lectures, group discussions and other methods. The disadvantage of the method might be the
difficulty in drawing adequate number of stimulating cases that actually represent the real life
situations of the trainees.
4. Behavior Modeling Method: This method involves emulation of behavior from a reference
group or a role model whose behavior is shown live before the trainees or by using videotapes or
Compact discs (VCD). The method entails recording and producing events or situations with clear
descriptions in order to cover certain subjects. The footage could be viewed, reviewed and discussed
to enhance learning quality. The advantages of using this method are many. Many events and
discussions can be put on one tape or CD. It is a handy method for small firms that cannot afford
more expensive approaches. It is particularly helpful for first-line supervisors.
Observing a powerful model in the audiovisual form could help learn activities like mediating during
conflict situations, handling customer complaints, and grievances.
5. Role Playing Method: Role is a set of expectations around a given position and is
determined by the role partners. Roles are always reciprocal and described in pairs such as trainer-
trainee, buyerseller, interviewer-interviewee and so on. Playing roles would entail practical problems
like inter-role conflicts, intra-role dilemmas, role overloads, and role under loads. As a result of these
hurdles, role confusion ensues. In order to be trained to perform roles, trainees must attain role
clarity. This may involve negotiation among the role senders and role receivers with regard to their
expectations with counter expectations upon one another. Participants in role-play method are
required to respond to specific problems and expectations of people that they might actually
encounter in their jobs. Role-playing is often used to teach such skills as interviewing, negotiating,
grievance handling, performance appraisal, and buying, selling, and effective communication. It
promotes healthy human relations skills among people.
6. Training Games:
7. In -basket Training (IBT) Method: IBT is a method where the trainee is required to
examine a basket full of papers and files relating to his area of work and make recommendations on
problems contained in them. This method is meant for trainees in a managerial level to improve their
decision-making and problem-solving abilities. This is a form of simulation training designed around
day to- day business situations and hence is transferable to the job experiences. The participant is
usually asked to establish priorities for and then handle a number of office papers, such as
memoranda, reports, telephone messages and emails that would typically cross a managers desk.
The method has at least two main stages. At the outset, the participant starts by working through the
case within a specified time limit all by himself without discussing the details with anyone.
Subsequently, other participants analyze and discuss the questions of whos, whichs, hows, whats,
wheres, whys and whens of each decision or step. The merits of this method include the best of
traditional case study at the same time combining the refinements to allow greater flexibility, realism
and involvement.
The emphasis here is to understand things thoroughly, which is an opportunity too rarely presented
during busy working days. It is done in a permissive atmosphere of experimenting and learning,
rather than within the confines of a boss subordinate relationship.

8 On the job training:

9. Apprenticeship Training Method: It combines classroom instructions with on-the-job
training. It is a method in which trainees at a novice stage called apprentices, work under the
guidance of skilled, licensed instructor and receive lower pay than workers.
The method is a combination of education and employment and is aimed at preparing workforce with
certain levels of qualification to meet the growing needs of the industry. The method develops special
skills like mechanical, electronic, tailoring, etc. Apprenticeship is traditionally used in skilled jobs, such
as those of plumber, carpenter, machinist and printer. The extensive nature of the training assures
quality outputs, though time consumed is long. Employees recruited from the apprenticeship program
are expected to hit the ground running, implying that they would have to start performing with
efficiency. But uniform duration of apprenticeship training does not permit slow learners to reach the
levels of mastery like others.

Conclusion:
Different training delivery methods offer different benefits to organizations. Training delivery not only
helps trainees learn faster, it can also help them understand what they are expected to do after they
have completed their training. So if your organization is looking for effective training delivery methods
for its personnel then the three items mentioned here can help them achieve their goals.
 What are the various training and development delivery systems? Briefly describe each.
- Corporate universities
- Colleges and universities
- Community colleges
- Online higher education
- Vestibule system
- Video media
- Simulators

A corporate university is any educational entity that is a strategic tool designed to assist its parent
organization in achieving its goals by conducting activities that foster individual and organizational
learning and knowledge.
( Check Internet)

How is social networking used in informal training?

(check Internet & Note book)

In today's Internet-driven world, more and more knowledge workers prefer to have a say in how the
company facilitates their learning. With so much of the world's workforce connected to Social Media,
that's where most workers are turning to informally seek their knowledge.
This is the age of the "knowledge worker" - there's no question about it! Companies, both big and
small, invest vastly in delivering workers the knowledge they require to do their jobs successfully. The
more knowledge a worker assimilates, and the quicker he/she absorbs it, the more competitive and
profitable will he/she become for the company.

Informal learning - Not a new concept

While companies spend a huge part of their personnel development budget on "formal" learning, such
as training courses and workshops, a surprising number of students that come out of those sessions
are unprepared to put that learning into practice. However, once they are in the workforce, they use
informal learning techniques, including:
Observing other colleagues
Asking senior employees
Experimenting on their own
Doing their own additional research to fill in the gaps to perfect the skills they need in the real world.
This informal way of teaching/learning has been around for a while, where knowledge has been
handed down from one generation to another. Even during the days of the Industrial Revolution, the
Apprenticeship system was essentially an informal learning process that every Supervisor and Shop
Foreman underwent before they got to where they were.
How to leverage Social Media as learning tools
Today's informal learning environment has many of the same characteristics as the system of the
bygone ages. However, with the proliferation of the Internet, learners are turning to social
connections and tools to learn informally. The following are some ways that companies can leverage
Social Media platforms in informal learning settings:
LinkedIn
This is a platform for aggregating professionals and peers, and then connecting with them through
Social Media. Knowledge workers are much more likely to learn by interacting informally with their
peers in such settings. Most professionals value tips/techniques and learning nuggets supplied
informally by their peers more than those offered by a lecturer standing in front of a classroom.
Chat/Messaging
Formal courses won't provide answers to every work situation. Tools like Yahoo Messenger, MSN
Messenger (Skype) and Google Talk (Hangouts) can become great informal learning resources for
employees to use in order to get quick responses to desperately needed work-related questions. They
are quicker than sending an email to a Training Officer, and more effective than a phone call to a
supervisor.
YouTube
Most learning takes place by "seeing", and employers can take advantage of that by creating short
videos about work-related situations, and posting them on YouTube for employees to access and
learn. YouTube also hosts a wealth of instructional as well as "How To" videos that may apply to
many organizational situations.
Facebook Groups
Almost two-thirds of the world's population is on Facebook, and that offers a unique opportunity to
use this social platform as an incredible informal learning tool. While most employees "should" be
using formal company platforms (like websites and email) to stay "plugged in" to major corporate
developments, a surprising number of knowledge workers are more connected to Facebook. Setting
up Facebook Groups, and using them to stimulate discussions and debates can be a great informal
way to deliver much needed learning to broad and dispersed groups of employees.
Twitter
Tweeting has now become a standard way to provide instant updates and feedback on global events.
Companies can use this medium effectively as an integrated informal learning tool, by providing
ongoing commentary on important corporate initiatives. Tweets from known Subject Matter Experts
(SMEs) will help new-comers in the field pick up invaluable insight on the situation in progress - more
so than any formal classroom lecture can offer.
Blogs
Each time that a company releases a new product or service, it might be difficult (especially if the
audience is global) to bring every employee into a classroom/training center to disseminate
information to them. Blogs can not only be used effectively in such situations, but can also be
configured to stimulate discussion, elicit feedback and provoke comments about them. Unlike a
formal email system, feedback on blogs can also be anonymous, which can often be more meaningful
than comments/feedback received through formal systems.

While some of these Social Media tools can be used to achieve multiple learning objectives, most are
excellent at delivering specific informal learning experiences. YouTube, for instance, has a niche in
delivering video content, while Messaging can be leveraged for rapid communication exchanges.
Recognizing which tools to use, and what type of learning content to deploy using them is vital to
successful use of Social Media in informal learning.
How to Strike the right balance
When it comes to ensuring effective informal learning, There are certain strategies that should be
embraced by all organizations. However, there has to be a balance struck on how much latitude to
give informal learners. Some points to consider when striking that balance include:
Standardization- Recognize that not all learners will embrace the same set of Social Media
tools as learning aids. Companies will need to introduce standards for their tools.
Expertise- Realize that "expertise" offered via Social Media learning tools is often difficult
(sometimes impossible) to verify.
Security-If public domain Social Media learning tools are being made available to company
employees, then security must be a concern that should be addressed.
Oversight-Should there be oversight of an employee's access to such tools? Or, will the
company go by the "honor system" and trust that employees won't abuse the use of these tools?
Building Social Media learning policies is the best way to proactively address all of the above
concerns. However, the key to creating and implementing such policies is "consultation". Without
adequate consultation and buy-in from employees, companies have no hope of successfully
integrating Social Media tools in support of informal learning.
 Example: TELUS, a Canadian telecommunications company shifted its investment in 3rd party
learning for its 35,000 employees by adopting the MS SharePoint server as the focus of its new
information and social learning initiative. It is using the system to support learning through a formal,
informal, and social content paradigm, including networking, blogs, wikis, videos, communities, and
collaboration sites to foster knowledge sharing among team members. The company expects to see
increased team member engagement, better sharing of institutional knowledge, and 20 percent
savings on learning costs in 2010 alone.
BT is also using Microsoft SharePoint to enable employees to create, find and view learning segments
(podcasts, documents and links), and also discuss and debate the content being created. It calls its
system Dare2Share. This environment encourages people to experiment, innovate, collaborate,
communicate, and share their experiences and knowledge in engaging ways. The knowledge sharing
has a positive impact on how other employees serve customers, find information, or solve problems.

Define orientation, and explain the purposes of orientation.

Orientation: A procedure for providing new employees with basic background information about the
firm.
Employee orientation is part of a long-term investment in a new employee. It is an initial process that
provides easy access to basic information, programs and services, gives clarification and allows new
employees to take an active role in their organization.

Introduce new employees to their new environment

Make new employees feel welcome and comfortable
Retain a pool of new, capable employees

Benefits:

Establish clear standards that help reduce disputes and limit liability
Promote consistent management
Inform new employees of the companys policies
Demonstrate a commitment to equal treatment of personnel
Provide protection from claims of discrimination and sexual harassment

Purpose of Orientation:
In some organizations, an employee handbook is available to all employees. The content of the
handbook covers the key topics covered in an orientation session for new employees.
Purposes of Orientation Employers have to realize that orientation isn't just a nice gesture put on by
the organization. It serves as an important element of the recruitment and retention process. Some
key purposes are:

1. To Reduce Startup Costs Proper orientation can help the employee get "up to speed" much more
quickly, thereby reducing the costs associated with learning the job.
2. To Reduce Anxiety Any employee, when put into a new, strange situation, will experience anxiety
that can impede his or her ability to learn to do the job. Proper orientation helps to reduce anxiety
that results from entering into an unknown situation, and helps provide guidelines f or behavior
and conduct, so the employee doesn't have to experience the stress of guessing.
3. To Reduce Employee Turnover Employee turnover increases as employees feel they are not
valued, or are put in positions where they can't possibly do their jobs. Orientation shows that the
 organization values the employee, and helps provide the tools necessary for succeeding in the
job.
4. To Save Time For Supervisor & Co-Workers Simply put, the better the initial orientation, the less
likely supervisors and co-workers will have to spend time teaching the employee.
5. To Develop Realistic Job Expectations, Positive Attitudes and Job Satisfaction It is important that
employees learn as soon as possible what is expected of them, and what to expect from others, in
addition to learning about the values and attitudes of the organization. While people can learn
from experience, they will make many mistakes that are unnecessary and potentially damaging.

What are some metrics for evaluating training and development?

- Reactions
- Learning
- Behavior
- Organizational results
- Benchmarking

Measuring the effectiveness of training is a very difficult task, for stakeholders, training departments
and end users. If you are a training manager or company stakeholder looking for ways to measure
the effectiveness of your programs, these ten metrics are a great place to start.

One: Increased retention. Most Human Resources departments measure the rate of retention in
all or various jobs. Many times, the front line, high turnover jobs are the ones that receive the most
attention. If newly trained employees feel ill-equipped for the job, they are more likely to leave within
their first 90 days. When you measure training success this way, higher retention points to a
successful training program.
Two: Increased sales. Many organizations can track efficiency based on sales. If training is heavily
geared toward a sales or customer service force, an effective program will eventually increase sales
numbers. You can also measure product knowledge training as part of a sales number poorly
educated sales people usually do not make the sale. Dollar figures and unit sales make good metrics,
but be sure to balance any metric with other factors that can influence sales numbers.
Three: Increased operational efficiency. In highly regulated or production-oriented businesses,
managers look for more efficiency, which raises the bottom line. If your training programs teach
skills, look to managements efficiency metrics, as a baseline, before and after the training
intervention. If you are building a new program or product, look at the efficiency numbers to obtain
direction on training course content.
Four: Customer service results. Any organization can link training to customer service, which can
be both internal and external. Customer service is also one of the easier place to start: one well-
written survey can identify a host of customer related issues that can be addressed by training
programs. Remember that training may not be the only solution to those issues. If your organization
already has a customer survey in place, use those metrics to cross check your programs. When your
programs impact the survey items, you can correlate an increase in customer satisfaction back to
training.
Five: Company-defined scorecards. Training outsourcers tend to use client-
defined criteria to determine training effectiveness. If your organization has a wide
variety of possible measurements, sit down with management, and stakeholders, to
create a custom scorecard based on expectations and the training programs that
need to be in place.
 Six: Cost of training. This is an internal training department measurement. In high
turnover organizations, lowering cost per student can be used as an effectiveness
measurement. Cost of training could also relate directly back to retention if youre
spending less on new hire training, your retention may be higher. Work with your
stakeholders and the HR department to determine training costs and where you want
those numbers to be.
Seven: Return on Investment. ROI has long been a catch all metric. In some
cases, its easy to define ROI, but in more cases its increasingly difficult. If you
deliver soft skills training, its hard to put a dollar figure on the return. There are
numerous ROI calculations available, so if youre thinking about using an ROI metric,
look for the formulas and plug in what you can. If you are part of a numbers-driven
organization, youll be able to make friends with the stakeholders by defining and
measuring concrete ROI.
Eight: Revenue generation. This metric appears most likely as a combination of
sales numbers, operational efficiency, and customer service. If an organization
shows increased revenue, a solid training program can be part of that increase. If
your organization is rolling out a new revenue generator, such as a product or
service, that is generally the best time to use revenue generation as training metric.
Nine: Instructor performance. Instructor evaluation is an important internal measurement. The
results can come from student and manager evaluations, and must take into account the instructors
presentation skills, knowledge of the subject, projection of organizational values, and adherence to
instructional guidelines. The good part about instructor performance as a metric is that it can also be
used as an external measure. When training is under discussion, training managers should be the first
to praise their instructors for delivering quality instruction in every course and instructor evaluations
provide the supporting evidence.
Ten: End-user satisfaction. Your audience can measure effectiveness quicker than anyone else,
both immediately following training and after a given time period, such as 30 or 60 days. The
immediate results, sometimes referred to as smile sheets, can give you a picture of what happened
in the classroom. The delayed results can tell you if the material is useful or not. Plus, end-user
surveys are great tools for proving effectiveness with management.

Define career. Why is it important for individuals to conduct career planning?

Career: The progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially those related to that
person's occupations. A career is often composed of the jobs held, titles earned and work accomplished
over a long period of time, rather than just referring to one position.
While employees in some cultures and economies stay with one job during their career, there is an
increasing trend to employees changing jobs more frequently. For example, an individual's career could
involve being a lawyer, though the individual could work for several different firms and in several different
areas of law over a lifetime.

Important for individuals to conduct career planning: Competitions and challenges are a part
of today's world; therefore, to achieve our goals, we should plan our careers well, rather than
aimlessly change jobs all the time.
There are many individuals who are clueless about their pursuits after graduation, as they do not plan
ahead. Finally, they end up earning little and feeling dissatisfied. Career planning can help you to
realize your intentions and dreams - and if you want to have a stable future, proper planning is the
key to success. Planning your career basically starts after the secondary level of education. After a
certain level of education, we have to decide on our careers, to be able to pursue higher education
that will help us to secure good job opportunities.

Importance of Planning Your Career Path

Having a career path is like having a professional insurance policy. With a career path you will
probably:
Have a broader skill base: You will have identified and learned the skills necessary to make
you more attractive to a wider range of employers.
Make logical job transitions: You will know what skills and responsibilities to look for in the
next job.
Have increasing responsibility: You will have identified and gained the skills and training
you need to take on more responsibility.
Have a broader prospective: You will be able to understand where a specific job or
responsibility fits into your overall career path plans.
Make decisions easier: You can look at a situation within a larger context and better
evaluate your options.
Earn more: You are less likely to be underpaid since your career research will tell you what
you should be earning.
Be more satisfied: You will be moving in a career direction that is designed to meet your
lifestyle, interest and financial goals.

Career Planning and its Importance

Five steps to creating a career plan:
Over the past 14 years I have been helping people plan their career. Through a mixture of
interviewing, coaching, developing, MBTI testing, and just general listening I have had the
opportunity to learn about different peoples aspirations and goals. Career planning is essential to
achieving success in your chosen career. Whether you are aiming to be a bookkeeper in a small
business or the finance director of a multi-national corporation, you must know in which direction you
are headed and what is required of you to achieve your goal. That being said, think of:
1. Plans are formulated on a regular basis to control direction, make the best use of resources
and measure progress or results.
2. Think of your career plan along the lines of a business plan. The key issues to cover are:
3. What are my long-term career objectives?
4. What will I want to get out of my job in the next five years or so?
5. Do I need to study? If so, what for?
6. What are my individual priorities?
A succinct, detailed career plan is one of the most useful tools you can use to identify where you are
now, where you want to be, and how to get there. Here are five key steps to help you create your
own career plan.
STEP 1: SELF EVALUATION
To discover what you really want to do, try answering these fundamental questions about
your personality, preferences and values in your career plan:
What motivates me and what do I enjoy doing?
What are my personal attributes and lifestyle priorities?
What do my family and friends see as my strengths and weaknesses?
What are the five key things I am looking for in a job?
STEP 2: SKILLS ANALYSIS
As well as your personal preferences, your existing skills are an important indicator of the
direction in which you could head. Reflect on your skill set with the following questions:
What qualifications and experience do I have?
What are my key strengths, transferable skills and specific skills?
 What are my biggest achievements to date?
What are my weaknesses and areas for development?
STEP 3: SETTING YOUR DIRECTION
Based on your key interests, attributes, skills and experience, you can now start to formulate
ideas on the type of roles/industries that will suit you best. Try brainstorming as part of your
career plan:
The broad industries that really appeal to you
The types of roles that would suit you best
How these options match your personal preferences
Key skills that may need development
STEP 4: COMMITTING TO A TIME FRAME
Now that you have an idea of where you want to go, its time to work out how you can get
there. Ask yourself the following questions to help break down your goals into smaller, more
manageable milestones for your career plan:
What do I want to achieve within the next six, twelve, eighteen months?
How and when will I achieve my training and education goals?
How and when will I gain the additional skills and experience I need?
How can I expand my network, and by when?
STEP 5: REVIEW YOUR CAREER PLAN
Having established your goals and how to achieve them, you will now have a clear pathway in which
to head. Its important to monitor the progress of your career plan at least every six months, to
ensure that you are on track to meet your goals. Re-evaluating your career plan and goals allows you
to make adjustments based on changing economic and personal circumstances.