Training and Development of Talent in a Warehousing Organisation

Workplace health and safety, as well as the growth and performance of an organisation, are highly dependent on the competence of personnel. Finding and recruiting talent alone does not lead to success, but also depends on the best practices employed to sustain and grow the skills of workers. Training and development provide the necessary means for ensuring workers have the highest level of proficiency in their work. A warehousing organisation reviewed in the case study shows that the lack of a human resources department has affected the training and development process, particularly among forklift operators. One of the workers handling the equipment has caused two accidents involving damage to the warehouse shutters on two occasions. The issue has led to the discovery of the need to undertake regular training of workers to build and develop their skills. A critical evaluation of the organisation indicates that it uses a one-time coaching approach and lacks a development program to improve employee competence. Therefore, the firm should invest 20 million pounds in the next five years for the creation of a human resources department that will undertake the training and development of personnel, especially forklift operators. It will also evaluate and improve the training programs to ensure they continue to meet the requirements of employees.

Introduction

Organisational safety, performance and future growth are highly dependent on the skills, knowledge, and experiences of the employees as well as a company’s ability to retain the talents. Training and development of talent is one strategic human resource practice in the current global business environment that focuses on the retention of human capital and ensuring a competitive advantage for specific organisations in the market. According to the report findings of Thomas and Pate (2017), 67% of the educated professionals believe that talent is the primary priority in firms to achieve high retention rate and improve the performance of the organisations. Managers of organisations also have a high appreciation for safety training noting that it reduces the risk of hazards in the workplace (Tweedy, 2014). Therefore, companies must develop and implement training and development initiatives to achieve a competitive edge and guarantee the safety of workers. The paper aims to undertake a critical evaluation and implementation of policies and practices for training and development as a significant process of reducing forklift accidents in the workplace. The critical review will be vital for developing best practice recommendations that should be applied by the organisation to achieve the highest health and safety standards in the enterprise.

Case study

The human resource department (HRD) plays a fundamental role in the creation of best practices and policies to provide high performance and productivity in the organisation. It is responsible for the description of functions and offers training and development to the employees in different departments. However, the organisation under evaluation lacks an HRD, and the responsibility is assumed by the managing directors of other departments on a random basis. They have a few experiences in human resource management that lead to problems with talent growth. The situation highlights a reluctance in the company to invest in training and development, especially safety training. Therefore, most employees are exposed to high risks and hazards. For instance, a few weeks ago a colleague in the warehouse department who has been there for five years smashed the forklift shutter. Examining the employee’s history the following information was obtained. He obtained forklift training four years ago and has not been trained again. During that time, he has been involved in a similar accident and only received a warning from the general manager. Before the current crash, he had been out of work on paternity leave for three months. When he returned to work, he was not provided with any training.

Review of Good Practices in Training and Development of Talent

Health and safety standards, norms and procedures concerning forklift operations require employees to undergo continuous education on a yearly basis to enable operators to undertake their responsibilities effectively (Great Britain Health and Safety Executive Staff, 2013). Therefore, the company needs to initiate training and development opportunities to increase the health and safety standards of employees. Training and development as a subsystem of the organisation play a critical focus on the improvement of skills, knowledge, and performances of individuals, teams or groups. Training involves an educational process oriented towards the development and sharpening of employee skills, knowledge and experiences to ensure companies improvement based on its current situation (Masadeh, 2012). Therefore, training in most cases focuses on meeting the current demands to ensure high levels of performance. On the other hand, talent development involves an on-going process focused on building the capacity of the employees to attain and sustain a desired state of performance that benefits the firm and the community at present and in the future (Masadeh, 2012). Therefore, the combination of training and development programs of workers can help organisations to secure the health and safety of staff as well as realise strategic goals. Employing best practices provides a high return on investment through improved performance, high productivity, greater attention to health and safety requirements and higher profitability and sustainability of the organisation (Baporikar, 2017). Therefore, application of best practices in the training and development of talent is crucial for the achievement of securing personnel safety and achieving the vision and mission of enterprises.

According to Garavan, Carbery and Rock (2012), based on the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report 2012, effective budgeting for the training and talent development is a significant practice for influencing positive outcomes in the program. Organisations must ensure that they have adequate finances and human resource department professionals to successfully execute training and development strategy. Safety issues at the workplace make it necessary for organisations to train their employees regularly to ensure they have the competence to perform duties. For instance, forklift training is critical to ensuring that workers understand the problems associated with the equipment, such as load stability, speed, blind spots and manoeuvring (Archer, Borthwick and Travers 2012). High investment in educating staff ensures they possess the skills and understanding to operate machines with minimal risk of injury or accidents. Training and development programs also align the employees’ skills to the competency needs of the company.

The value organisations place in developing the skills of employees leads to increased motivation and commitment to its strategic objectives. For instance, HP created a corporate culture that prioritises knowledge improvement and development of personnel throughout their career (Maycock and Ikuomola, 2015). The education-oriented strategy aligns the employees’ knowledge and skills to the HP culture and has been the primary tool for building the competitive edge of the company. Consequently, connecting the skills and knowledge of workers to the needs of a company improves competence and confidence in handling responsibilities.

Training and development of workers is a vital function of the human resources department. Human resource professionals schedule the hours of training, arrange for experts to train workers and evaluate the sessions to ensure they aid employees in developing their skills and knowledge (Maalderink, 2014). Educating workers enhances their attitudes, understanding and skills that lead to improvements in their performance and attention to safety standards. Effective training programs should be organised by the HR unit that involves a thorough analysis of the shortage of skills. The HR professionals can then proceed to schedule training programs. In this instance, they should ensure that the plans include both organisational and individual goals to secure benefits for both parties (firm and workers). As a result, the human resources department ensures that staff have the skills and comprehension to perform tasks safely and efficiently to meet the objectives of a firm.

The Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R) affects organisational work as well as health and safety. According to Bauer and Hammig (2014), the present version of the model states that high demands in a job lead to stress, strain and the health impairment of workers and recommends high resource usage to increase motivation and productivity. Forklift operators are at significant risk of straining since due to the arrangement of the machine. The steering wheel of forklifts is almost horizontal, and the operator has to stretch to reach the steering and extend the neck to raise the eyes (Grace and Deal, 2012). As a result, the forklift operator job is demanding when a person has to work long hours. Through the Job Demand-Resource Model, organisations with these kinds of workers can address the challenge. Allocating great resources for training and development enables companies to deal with the problem and realise higher productivity and motivation among personnel. Training workers on issues, such as proper posture and manoeuvring of forklifts can prevent injuries and accidents. As a result, firms can secure the health and safety of their employees while

Critical evaluation of the organisation

Current policy and practice

The current policy and practice within the organisation under review is to provide for one-week training of the forklift operators after successful recruitment into the organisation. It takes place during the initial stages of an employee’s time in the organisation. The policy requires all employees joining different departments to attend a training program before starting their jobs.

Analysis of the system and practice

The one time approach to training as applied by the organisation is significantly based on the need to fill gaps in employees’ skills before they begin their duties. Therefore, it ensures the company manages time and reduces cost in training the employees to take on various responsibilities, for example, operating forklifts. The short period of education provide the employees with the skills and knowledge to complete tasks and accomplish the firm’s goals and objectives (Ford, Harding and Stoyanova Russell, 2010). The practice is highly effective since the firm focuses on specific training related to the job needs of the employees. Therefore, they are trained to accomplish particular tasks that are important to the achievement of the company goal and objectives.

Furthermore, the organisation on a yearly basis creates a slim budget for the training and development department. However, the one-time training approach is only significant during the initial stages of the employees’ time at the firm due to a high understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Human beings are bound to forget, therefore, after a long period of working with the organisation they overlook most of the information provided during the initial training and can lead to problems in the operation of the company. The situation has severe consequences for forklift operators who must understand the proper functioning of the machine to secure their health and safety. A lack of constant education on forklift usage raises the risk of accidents and injuries in the workplace.

Impact of the current policy and practices

The ongoing training and development policy and practice ensure cost reduction in the short-term through low spending. However, in the long-term, it is very costly based on the problems created by the employees, for example, the forklift smashing into the shutters of the warehouse business. Furthermore, the one-time training policy and practices limit and reduce employee productivity based on the low understanding of the new technologies and innovative processes introduced in the organisation (Inkinen, Kianto and Vanhala, 2015). Additionally, it faces an enormous challenge of resistance to change as a result of low understanding, lack of skills and knowledge in operating technology-driven processes. Therefore, the current policy and practice are detrimental to the firm’s growth and performance hence require changing.

Recommendations

The most significant approach to improving the organisation’s training and development and guarantee workplace health and safety involves the JD-R Model. Educating the workers to enhance skills is a high-priority level. Thus, the warehouse enterprise should increase funding to create a human resources department and undertake training programs. The time-scale of the recommendation is five years, and the company should invest 20 million pounds in these two areas. The increased budget will be significant for the creation of a unit to manage the talent training and development process and promote continuous programs to ensure high competence levels among the employees. The approach can address the difficulties experienced with the forklift operator who clashed the equipment into the warehouse shutters on two occasions. The HRD will assess and determine skill requirements and plan for training of forklift operators. The method will ensure they have the competence to handle the equipment securing health and safety at the workplace.

Secondly, the HRD should undertake an education for forklift operators on a yearly basis. The training should be based on bi-annual quarterly evaluation and feedback programs. Each half will require an investment of 10,000 pounds making it a budget of 20,000 pounds a year. The evaluation and feedback programs will be provided by the HR department on the employees. An online survey, employee questionnaires, and team interviews will be significant in data collection during the evaluation process. The evaluation and feedback practice will be beneficial in the improvement of training and development policies and practices based on the incorporation of employees’ ideas and needs. The assessments will also help to determine the effectiveness of training and development programs and identify areas for improvement. Thus, the HR department will be responsible for the training and development process.

Conclusion

Training and development is a significant process in the company to improve employee skills, knowledge, and experience, which in turn increase its secure workers’ health and safety as well as performance. Businesses focus on the provision of high funding for training and development based on the high return on investment gained through improved safety standards, motivation and productivity. Despite the potential to realise this gains, the organisation in the case study provides a small budget and a short period of training to save on time and cost. The process is highly detrimental to the competence of employees indicating the minimal effectiveness of resourcing and talent management in the company. Workers are unable to perform their duties as expected, for example, a forklift operator has caused two accidents during the service period due to a lack of proper training on handling the equipment. Therefore, the firm’s senior management and finance department should focus on increasing spending to establish an HRD that will be responsible for the training and development of personnel, create evaluation and feedback programs as well as update and implement a continuous program to train forklift operators. Consequently, training and development initiatives are significant for achieving health and safety standards, raising motivation, and securing productivity.

References

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