HR 750- Talent Acquisition & Management- Week 3 Substantive Peer Engagement
Assigned Reading:
Talent Management Building Blocks (Chapters 4-12)
Read 1 chapter from each building block (Students will read 3 chapters total)
Please post 3 separate discussion entries. One discussion entry for each chapter that you read. Clearly title each discussion post and provide the title of the chapter that you read prior to discussing the chapter.
Substantive Peer Engagement
Substantive peer engagement requires that students provide an initial response to the topic and consistently engage in discussion over the course of the week. Initial responses should be a minimum of 300 words per chapter, provide thorough information regarding the topic, include citations from the textbook readings and external readings, and include a reference list for all sources. Responses should include a mixture of the following:
Provide correlations to information that you noted in the readings
Ask questions regarding any of the content presented by your peer
Reference additional readings, videos, sites, etc. that provide information regarding the topic
Share experiences from your personal or work experience that relate to the topic
APA formatting of all in-text and references
BLOCK 1 CHAPTER 4: FORMULATING COMPETENCIES.
When it comes to competency, one question that would pop in my mind is how do you determine a person’s competency? What are the best measures of competency? From chapter 4, competency has been discussed in length and thus brings to meaning to the word as discussed by two individuals. The first meaning comes from McClelland who states that competency refers to any attribute that differentiates outstanding from the average performance. In his view what matters is not what is expected of the people to stand out but what makes the difference. This led to the formulation of the iceberg model on competency that states the levels of competencies that are skills, knowledge, trait, and self-concept (Reitsma, 2020).
Schippman differs in his explanation of competency. He believes that competencies are what people bring to the role and not what the person is required to do in the role or what they are accountable for(Reitsma, 2020). Currant writers will differ with the meaning as Merriam-Webster defines competency as possession of sufficient knowledge and skill (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Talent managers need to assess competency according to the level defined by Merriam-Webster but also consider McClelland and Schippman’s definition to find the right individuals who can meet the competency level. This also includes taking into consideration the iceberg model levels of competency as they all summarize what being competent entails. At my former workplace, competence was only measured with one’s ability to fulfill their tasks on time, and in the expected way which was a measure of skill and time management and also the ability to be held accountable for every decision made. I think this was a better way of measuring competency as some people may have the skills and knowledge but lack discipline especially with time management and lack accountability thus disqualifying them from being competent.
There are four steps in making competency formulations a part of the strategic plan of the company. Through these steps, competency is incorporated in the company plan and thus helps ensure success in the HR departments and the company as a whole. The first step is finding how the business or organization adds value to the customers. It should be unique in a way that it gives the company a competitive advantage in the market or industry. Step 2 involves the core competencies which are skills, behavior, knowledge, and abilities that distinguish the company from others. Setting itself unique from others makes a company gain limelight and an advantage in the market for its products. Step 3 is defining the values or beliefs the company will live and stand by throughout its operation which sets the ground for the ethical environment and organizational culture for the company. The last step is the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics and behaviors that people bring to the organization (Reitsma, 2020).
References
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Competency. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/competency (Links to an external site.)
Reitsma Tim. (2020). 10 Best HRIS Systems of 20222. People Managing People. https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/hris-human-resources-information-system/ (Links to an external site.)
BLOCK 2 CHAPTER 8: USING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL TO DRIVE ORGANIZATION SUCCESS.
Performance appraisals have been neglected by most companies and those using them have not developed more effective appraisals to use when measuring the performance of the employees. This causes some employees to think the performance appraisal used by managers is unfair to them and they can easily accuse their superiors of bias. Performance appraisal is not just beneficial or the company built also for the employee as a whole hence need to be developed most effectively and efficiently possible to improve performance and drive the success of the company. Is it worth having performance appraisals in the company? Do they motivate or discourage employees?
There are various ways that companies use performance appraisals like goal setting, rating scales, competencies, and coaching. Through this, one can determine the performance of their employees and also track their progress to determine areas that have been improved, where they have reduced their performance, and thus what to do to make the performance improvements. Through coaching, employees can be boasted and their experience as will also skills improved to improve their efficiency. Managers can also help shape the employees and mold them to fit the needs, requirements, and expectations of the organization. Through goals setting, the progress of the employee or team performance as well as the organizations can be tracked to find ways in which they have improved or not and thus understand what to and not do. Rating scales help understand how the employees perform while competencies help measure their level of skills, experience, and knowledge concerning completing the tasks at hand (Reitsma, 2020).
Performance appraisals help the company in a good way. Through them, the HR teams can understand who their best performers are, who their worst performers are. It also helps understand which skills are lacking in the company when gauging the competency thus understanding which training to offer the employees to boost their skills. They also know which people are needed for promotion and whom to hire to fill the gaps in the company. Such great decisions can only be made possible through performance appraisals (Reitsma, 2020). Through this performance appraisal, communication between managers and employees improve, managers identify how to improve the employees, how to develop the employees at work, how to adapt to changes in the organization especially those that cause changes in the ways and mode of operation, identify employee potentials and talents and help develop them and also allows employees to freely share their concerns and ideas on the work environment (BenefitCorp, 2020).
However, from my experience, I believe that performance appraisal helps an employee understand their strengths, their weaknesses at work. They thus know how to improve themselves and what to maximize. It is efficient when in teams to know which role which member will take and how to complement each other. Performance appraisal, helps the employee track their career development and thus chose whether to be in the company or not depending on their job satisfaction and expectations.
References
Reitsma Tim. (2020). 10 Best HRIS Systems of 20222. People Managing People. https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/hris-human-resources-information-system/ (Links to an external site.)
BenefitCorp. (2020).why are performance appraisals important. https://benefitcorp.com/why-are-performance-appraisals-important/ (Links to an external site.)
BLOCK 3 CHAPTER 11: FORECASTING EMPLOYEE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH
Employee potential is what a manager should be keen on determining. Understanding the employee potential will help evaluate their competency, their needed mentorship or training, and how to help them fully exploit the potential. In talent management, employee potential is a key aspect that helps managers to efficiently help their employees to ensure there is high performance and employee efficiency at work. The question that always arises is how can you identify employee potential especially for young graduates who are entering the job market for the first time? Some employers will end up missing some key employees who would have been very efficient just because they looked for those with experience.
According to Reitsma (2020), some challenges have been proven to challenge employee growth at work and thus make forecasting employee potential a problem. The first challenge is the fact that many executives are leaving the job market than entering it. These are experienced people who need to mentor, coach, and evaluate the incoming employees, especially the new entries into the job market. They can help bring out their potential by training them and teaching them how to fully explore their potential and utilize their talents but they are leaving. The second challenge is that the work environment is dynamic and keeps changing which calls for continuous changes of the employees and labor market to adjust to these changes. With these challenges comes a problem with employment and increased competition especially from machines due to improved technology. The employees are thus required to be creative and innovative which is likely to pause a challenge in forecasting their growth and potential as the changes come drastically and need time to adjust.
Reitsma (2020) suggested a 3Cs model for identifying the potential of an employee where the model helps determine whether someone can move forward and at what pace. This can help the employer understand the potential the employee possesses. The commitment, change and convection model is appropriate for forecasting the employees. Evaluating based on change gauges whether the employee is a change agent and how much they can respond and adjust to change. Their response to change also helps determine whether they have the potential to grow as the work environment keeps changing with each passing day, improved technology, and changing human needs. Conviction comes with their ability to communicate their conviction to others, take the lead of change, and how they can convince others on their convictions. The last commitment helps measure the ability of the employee to make follow-up through their work which makes them committed to what they do. Some people will do tasks and not do a follow-up to find whether they met expectations o not and some will not find areas where they failed and need to improve.
Reference
Reitsma Tim. (2020). 10 Best HRIS Systems of 20222. People Managing People. https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/hris-human-resources-information-system/ (Links to an external site.)
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