Good communication as a tool in achieving productivity

Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization. Employers who invest time and energy into delivering clear lines of communication will rapidly build up levels of trust amongst employees, leading to increases in productivity, output, and morale in general.

The quality of service rendered

b.      What is Training Needs Analysis?

Is concerned with addressing skills gaps at the organizational level, the group level, and the individual level, and falls under the remit of learning and development.

c.       Elaborate on the Training Needs Analysis Procedure

Step 1: Determine the Desired Business Outcomes

Before a training needs analysis can begin, the employer needs to articulate the goal of the training. That is, what are the expected business outcomes of the training?

Step 2: Link Desired Business Outcomes with Employee Behaviour

There are generally multiple behaviors that are associated with any desired business outcome. These behaviors are a result of employees:

Step 3: Identify Trainable Competencies

Not every competency can be improved through training. For example, a sales job may require salespeople to be outgoing and initiate conversations with total strangers.

Step 4: Evaluate Competencies

With a targeted list of competencies in hand, employers should determine the extent to which their employees possess these

Step 5: Determine Performance Gaps

Regardless of the methods used to evaluate competencies, individual employee results are then combined to assess how many employees are in need of improvement in particular competencies.

Step 6: Prioritize Training Needs

Employers should aggregate the data in Step 6 with information on the performance gap pervasiveness.

d.      A training program looks like it might involve a fair amount of work and cost some money. Does your organization really need one? Why run a training program?

No. To improve the skills and knowledge of the employees

e.       You use an external provider to deliver training to your staff.  Is this the only support that they need?  Why? Why not?

No.  There are other organizations that offer the same service mostly some of the employees can train others.

f.       What support is offered to staff within your organization to develop staff?

Training and motivations techniques

g.      What is the importance of the support programs?

To offer extra training

To improve the skills of the employees

Providing quality services to customers is the fundamental goal of any contact center activity. Adhering to stringent call center quality assurance parameters can help to provide consistent and sustained quality services to customers. Bad quality calls is harmful for the brand reputation and image of the contact center. Call center quality assurance and call center quality monitoring results in greater customer satisfaction, higher employee productivity, improved sales, higher call efficiency, and improved calling skills of the agents.

When you monitor a program, what should you be able to identify?

Its reliability

When should quality start to be monitored?

At the start of the business

His/her business history

Performance level

What is a needs assessment?

Is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or “gaps” between current conditions and desired conditions or “wants”. The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need.

Two staff has completed a needs assessment.  The HR manager has identified that they need training to update their computer skills.

Using the information that you have used, put together an outline of what you need to know and make recommendations on how you can do it.  Design a questionnaire if you find this easier.

Have you ever done any computer course?

Do you have interest in one?

Why do you need the external provider?

To offer consultation service

What should you keep in mind when you choose an external provider?

The cost of one

The value of the provider

The reliability of the provider

Underperformance or poor performance is a failure to perform the duties of a role or to perform them to the standard required by the business. Employers sometime confuse underperformance or poor performance with misconduct or poor conduct.

Why does underperformance arise?

Due to low self esteem

Low job satisfaction

List the steps that you may be required to follow if underperformance arises in your team?

Step 1

Document the performance problems you observe. If the employee’s performance issues were raised as a concern by someone else, verify the allegations are legitimate by reviewing his work product. R

Step 2

Meet with the employee in a confidential location to discuss the problem. Present your documentation and ask him for his input. Some employees may already be aware of the issue

Job satisfaction

Employee Performance

Consider areas that this way of measuring performance may be problematic

Health care

List of all employs

Payroll date

Copies of employees certificates

Graphical Representation can be used for monitoring and reviews of information. Discuss its application.

1. Costly: Graphical representation pf reports are costly because it involves images, colors and paints. Combination of material with human efforts makes the graphical presentation expensive.
2. More time: Normal report involves less time to represent but graphical representation involves more time as it requires graphs and figures which are dependent to more time.
3. Errors and Mistakes: Since graphical representations are complex, there is- each and every chance of errors and mistake. This causes problems for better understanding to general people.
4. Lack of Secrecy: Graphical representation makes full presentation of information which may hamper the objective to keep something secret.
5. Problems to select the suitable method: Information can be presented through various graphical methods and ways. Which should be the suitable method is very hard to select.
6. Problem of Understanding: All may not be able to get the meaning of graphical representation because it involves various technical matters which are complex to general people.

Open or closed ended questions

How can you control the size of the survey? Why would you need to control the size of the survey?

By listing the most important questions for the survey first

In order to get the best results

When asking survey questions, what should you not do?

Tutoring the participants

What is the difference between verifiable and unverifiable questions?

Verifiable questions can be supported and quantified but the later cannot

Client level of satisfaction

List the different types of feedback.

Positive feedback
As I approached the registration desk in the nearly vacant lobby of an economy motel, my hope was to complete a hassle-free registration and get to my room. Wow! Was I surprised when I was met by a friendly, helpful gentleman who also asked if I needed anything special.

Redirection or negative feedback
“Good performance should always be treated differently than poor performance.” For most of us, providing what is commonly referred to as “negative” feedback is more difficult than providing positive feedback, for two reasons.

Negative feedback
The second explanation for the failure in performance, where the context cannot explain the failure, calls for a very different response. Since the context does not explain the failure, the only remaining explanation is the employee’s behavior (behaviour) – effort level, commitment, motivation, concentration.

What should feedback focus on?

The message from the client

Draw a graph depicting these results.

The feedback for training organisation two identifies four customers are happy with the provider, five are not and one is indifferent.

Use a line graph to demonstrate these results.

Read the graphs, assess them and recommend which training organisation the company should retain.

I prefer the second training organization

It ensures that service are done according to the law

To ensure that professional ethics is adhere for the safety of the professional as well as that of the client

Approvals are put in place to ensure that controls in staff actions are maintained.

Why do organisations have paper trails in regards to obtain approvals?

Its costly to implement

What steps do you need to follow to obtain approval to change service delivery in your work area?

To know the change strategies needed

To seek legal authority

To apply for the service delivery

Human resources also can help company leaders make change by working to describe and define new job descriptions that arise as a result of the change and describe the kinds of skills that will be needed for these new jobs – and then also work to match the best people to these jobs.

Human resources can also help with change in the key area of training and development, helping to design programs that will be effective in training managers in the new way of doing things.

Creating and continuing change is fundamentally about people and how they work to bring about and adapt to change, Power says. So, obviously, human resources has a fundamental role to play. Depending on its effectiveness, the human resources department can help or hinder change.

Restaurant Code of Ethics

Employee Relations

Employee relations is an area of ethics that food establishments too often neglect. With a number of exceptions, food restaurants generally pay minimum wage or only slightly higher for high-stress jobs. Scheduling issues are notorious in restaurant settings as well, with employees working double shifts or working early-morning shifts immediately after late-night shifts.

Food establishments should commit to breaking the trend of overworking and underpaying employees. Addressing this issue in a code of ethics can dramatically impact your reputation among potential employees.

Food Safety

Although most people do not realize it, patrons of food establishments place their lives in the establishments’ hands. Improper storing and labeling of food items or selling slightly-expired food can be tempting from a financial perspective but can lead to serious injury or worse due to food poisoning, cross-contamination or allergic reactions.

Food establishments should include firm commitments to food safety in their codes of ethics, always placing food safety above financial concerns. This includes going beyond the letter of the law to enforce the highest product quality standards.

How would you ensure that personal behaviour is consistent and reflects the values of the organisation?

Sometimes implementing a code of ethics to prevent unethical behavior is the best option. For example, if workers regularly use the copy machine to make personal copies or steal supplies from the storeroom, you can require a code for the copier and ask the secretary to distribute office supplies as requested. Such policies result in employees not having to put their personal integrity to the test, Baggett said. Consider incorporating ethical behaviors into company policy as well. For example, confidentiality is required of healthcare workers, and breaching it can be grounds for termination. The same can hold true in your company for ethical standards that are essential to a productive work environment.

A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of, or proper practices for, an individual, party or organization. Related concepts include ethical, honor and moral codes, as well as halachic and religious laws.

Privacy is the control over the extent, timing, and circumstances of sharing oneself (physically, behaviorally, or intellectually) with others. For example, persons may not want to be seen entering a place that might stigmatize them, such as a pregnancy counseling center clearly identified by signs on the front of the building.

Confidentiality pertains to the treatment of information that an individual has disclosed in a relationship of trust and with the expectation that it will not be divulged to others without permission in ways that are inconsistent with the understanding of the original disclosure.

How does this apply to the human resources department?

Every organization has a need to keep certain information confidential. HR is typically entrusted with maintaining sensitive employee data and information relating to employee and management issues. As a result, confidentiality issues in any human resource department are complex and multitiered.

Human resource professionals should understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive employee information (e.g., Social Security numbers, performance reviews, workplace injury information, reference checks, health-related information, pay levels, etc.). Legal issues, such as identity theft, data breach notification and privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), require employers to establish processes and procedures to secure and safeguard sensitive employee data and notify employees of any breach of this confidential information.

The first thing you should do is figure out where your interests lie on ethical issues. Much ground has already been covered for you, such as instances involving sexual harassment, discrimination, and whistleblowing, just to name a few. But you may want to spell everything out for your employees so that there is no chance they are unaware of legal issues and personal policies regarding certain subjects. Most businesses do this by creating a section of the employee handbook that clearly states what types of offenses are actionable and how they will be dealt with. This kind of upfront information will not only help your employees to act in accordance with your mandates; it will also give you legal standing should you be forced to demote, fire, or otherwise punish a worker who does not comply with your policies.

Rewards

Catch employees “doing something right” and reward ethical behavior. For example, you might implement a system in which people can submit anonymous tips telling about employees behaving in a particularly honest way. Show gratitude when someone “blows the whistle” on a practice that could potentially hurt customers or stakeholders. Incorporate ethical standards into employee performance reviews. Encouraging ethical behavior is always easier than confronting unethical behavior.