Executive Summary
The following report is aimed at defining the major tendencies in terms of employee education in the airline industry in the United States. The notions considered in terms of the research include learning and development, employee training, performance management, and employment legislation. In order to define the relevant solution, peer-reviewed secondary data was analyzed and contrasted. The results of the research demonstrate that the modern tendencies in the HR management and labor market, in general, require the implementation of technology into the learning process. The peculiarities of the employment-related legislation demonstrate the demand for an employee-oriented approach within the organization.
Introduction
Employee management has now become one of the most challenging and complex paradigms in terms of any business endeavor, as employees serve as a major indicator of the enterprise’s productivity and success. According to the researchers, employee performance is a central issue for modern human resource management (HRM) within any industry (Pradhan and Jena, 2017). The term stands for one’s achievement in terms of the established goal and effort put in order to obtain certain results for the overall efficiency. Hence, the primary purpose of the following business report is to define the most relevant strategy for employee management and skills enhancement for a given organization. In order to achieve the goal, the following concepts will be considered throughout the report:
- Performance management system, its purpose, and procedures.
- Definition of training and development initiatives in the workplace.
- Employment legislation peculiarities in terms of the US and the UK employment model.
- Learning Management System as one of the ways to enhance employees’ competence.
- Relevant learning styles, approaches, and models of employee training.
The findings of the report will be represented to the organization’s management team, as its primary goal is to showcase a strategy for the corporation that could be implemented within the HRM framework. However, the findings may also be applicable to other organizations and HR managers who face similar situations, and they are willing to improve the existing state of events.
Findings
Theoretical Framework of the Report
Any organization that is willing to remain relevant in the market for a long time is generally preoccupied with the organizational framework that would increase both the business’s financial capability and employees’ satisfaction and productivity.
Hence, according to the researchers, when speaking of the notion of organizational performance, skills, enhanced capabilities, and knowledge play the most important role in the context of the enterprise’s potential success (Rodriguez and Walters, 2017). Regarding this information, it would be safe to assume that human resource is the key element of the success of any organization. Hence, in order to implement a successful strategy on employee skill enhancement, managers are to realize the extent to which they rely on the workers in terms of the overall enterprise success. Having accepted this fact, it is now important to define the possible approaches to the aforementioned enhancement.
Training and Development
To begin with, the concept of training and development should be defined. The researchers claim that the notions of training and development stand for the process of filling in the gaps that employees have in terms of their professional competence (Chaudhry et al., 2017). The process is presented in the form of specific activities supervised by the management. Hence, it may be outlined that the process of HRM, which is primarily aimed at supervising and support of the employees, cannot function properly without the education and encouragement of the workers.
According to scholars specializing in HRM, the notions of training and development are primarily caused by the external market’s constant demand for improvement, and agility (Younas et al., 2018). Thus, when planning the learning and development activities for the team, it is of crucial importance for the HR managers to explain the benefits for the employees. The overall skill enhancement may sometimes be misinterpreted by the workers. In order to do so, the following strategies may be introduced:
- Peer-to-peer education. A few decades ago, HRM was focused on the ability to render the knowledge on the basis of mentorship, where people with more authority share their knowledge with employees. Today’s tendency has shifted towards a different, more autonomous perspective. Nowadays, employees are more eager to receive valuable experience from their colleagues, as they feel more comfortable interacting with people of their employment status. Moreover, such a training model encourages employees to become influencers for other employees and, as a result, work more on their professional competence.
- Workshops and webinars. Today’s patterns of employment and lifestyle, in general, are focused on efficiency and maximum result in the shortest time possible. Thus, the conventional model of dedicated offline learning that takes months has already become rather old-fashioned in the context of HRM. Instead, managers are now focused on the opportunity to allow their employees to obtain maximum empirical knowledge as soon as possible in order to make use of this knowledge in the work environment.
- Learning Management Systems (LMS) and other online learning networks. The context of the modern world is rapidly changing its attitude towards informal education and channels of learning communication. Hence, considering the current tendencies, especially when the external factors are concerned, there is a growing demand for online education, as it is believed to be the most efficient way to obtain maximum relevant knowledge. Such platforms as learning Management Systems (LMS) are developed in order to place both theoretical and empirical educational data in one place accessible for the enterprise’s employees (Zheng et al., 2018). Such an approach to the organization provides the employees with a higher level of job satisfaction (Brandi and Iannone, 2017). These systems are extremely beneficial for the management team, as they are capable of gathering all the training data into an un-to-date software, like the one seen in Figure 1 (Mindflash, 2018). Moreover, the system itself allows the workers to feel more autonomy in terms of learning.
Having considered the aforementioned approaches, it may be concluded that today’s tendencies in terms of training and development are focused on the quality knowledge and skills that could be received in minimum time. Hence, such an approach towards employee knowledge enhancement is then directly correlated to the notion of performance management and its peculiarities in terms of HRM. The very term ‘performance management’ stands for a complex managerial endeavor aimed at supervising the individual performance of an employee in order to ensure the overall firm-level productivity and professional growth (DeNisi and Murphy, 2017). To reach a consensus in terms of a working performance management system and employee satisfaction, it is necessary to find an anthropocentric approach to the issue.
Performance Management Strategies
One of the most significant frameworks applicable to the issue is the so-called ‘man–man,’ or person-centered motivation performance management pattern. When speaking of performance management, its primary concerns are related to the identification of the team goals, milestones, organizational framework, and communication channels, as these aspects are crucial for the potential success of the organization. Hence, when speaking of the ‘man–man’ motivation management, these notions are to be examined with regard to the job description and level of each team member (Chromjakova, 2016). In such a way, the control over the individual performance of the employees helps the management team identify the areas for improvement within the teams, securing an immediate response by providing employees with necessary information.
Moreover, the ‘man–man’ motivation performance management provides the employees with an opportunity to take responsibility for self-realization through planning, proper allocation of personal labor resources, and satisfactory working conditions (Chromjakova, 2016). Hence, the primary goal of such an approach is to ensure the employee’s development through motivation. Other strategies of performance management include the utilization of the special software, organizing the patterns of constant feedback, the establishment of a regular meeting and discussion system (Mone and London, 2018). Although all of them are important, the person-centered approach is capable of the successful integration of all the strategies into a single framework.
Employment Legislation
The last theoretical aspect of the following report is the analysis of the employment legislation peculiarities in the US and the UK in order to define convergent and divergent features of the employment organization. Hence, in terms of the following analysis, such notions may be described:
Employment contracts
In both states, the process of signing a contract is one of the most important parts in terms of hiring, as it serves as a manifestation of the employee’s rights and responsibilities in the workplace. In the US, the legislation related to employment is not generally justified by specific legal provisions, with the contract content depending solely on the relationship between the employer and future workers (L&E Global, 2020b). Moreover, the legislation does not impose any limits on the notions of trial periods, contract form, notice periods, and a minimum term of the contract. Still, employers are obliged to provide their employees with provisions justified by the US labor law.
In the UK, the situation with a legal justification of employment is similar to the American model. However, the events taking place in 2020 created the demand for employers to provide their workers with a written contract. It describes the major responsibilities of the employee and the form of their employment (either fixed-term or open-ended) (L&E Global, 2020a). Another disparity in the legal provision of employment contracts is the requirements outlined for the notice period, which varies according to the employee’s service period.
Equality and diversity
Considering the labor markets, it would be safe to assume that both the US and the UK, while pursuing the goal of embracing equality in the workplace, still face various challenges in the way. The diversity-related issues are now especially visible in the example of hiring people with disabilities. For example, in the US, while secured by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), they still face severe discrimination in the workplace related to the employers’ reluctance to employ this group (Ameri et al., 2018). In the UK, the situation is similar, as people with disabilities lack support in the workplace despite the fact that they require more attention in order to integrate into the environment (Khan et al., 2019).
When speaking of the disclosure issue, the research systematized in Figure 2 shows evidence of the management’s failure of disability employment disclosure (Khan et al., 2019). Hence, it may be concluded that the notion of diversity and equality in the context of HRM lacks a proper approach in both states. Still, the employment legislature puts much effort into improving the overall situation, especially when speaking of the notions of race, gender, and physical ability.
When speaking of labor laws and legislations in the airline industry, it should be outlined that the process of employment does not obtain any serious updates in terms of obtaining an operating license and signing a contract. When speaking of the US, the overall industry, including labor, is controlled by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 and the Aviation Safety Assessment Program (ICLG, 2020b). The UK airline industry, in its turn, is regulated by the Civil Aviation Act of 1982, followed by a series of Civil Statutory Acts (ICLG, 2020a). However, considering the socio-political situation in the UK, some modifications may be introduced to the labor policy. Hence, it is important to check the legislation that is being ratified in the state. As far as employment contracts and equality are concerned, both states require no specific legal provisions or severe limitations in terms of race or gender.
Recommendations
Having considered the critical review of the theoretical information on the subject of employment and enhancing workers’ skills, the following recommendations for the organization management team may be outlined:
- The current model of training and development is primarily focused on the notions of availability and efficiency. Hence, the focus should be placed on the development of digital peer-t-peer learning programs.
- Learning Management System (LMS) is one of the most beneficial tools in terms of training and development of the employees.
- ‘Man-to-man’ motivation performance management strategy is an extremely relevant tool in the context of building an agile framework within the team.
- The modern patterns of the employment-related legislation are a major responsibility for an employer, as the state does not provide businesses with detailed frameworks of the employment terms and conditions. Hence, it is the organization’s management team’s task to ensure a beneficial environment for both the company and individual employees.
Conclusion
The primary aim of the following report was to analyze relevant data related to the notions of employee learning and development, performance management, and employment legislation. In terms of the theoretical framework analysis, the current tendencies of the learning and development process were estimated, including the digitalization of learning techniques and peer-to-peer education. Moreover, the concept of performance management was analyzed in accordance with the organization management team’s aim of enhancing the skills and knowledge of the employees. The results of the research based on the secondary data analysis have shown the relevance of motivation performance management framework in the context of modern human resource management (HRM).
Reference List
Ameri, M., et al. (2018) ‘The disability employment puzzle: A field experiment on employer hiring behavior’, ILR Review, 71(2), pp. 329–364. Web.
Brandi, U. and Iannone, R.L. (2017) ‘Learning strategies for competence development in enterprises’, Industrial and Commercial Training, 49(5), pp. 1–5.
Chaudhry, N.I., et al. (2017) ‘Impact of working environment and training & development on organization performance through mediating role of employee engagement and job satisfaction’, European Journal of Training and Development Studies, 4(2), pp. 33–48.
Chromjakova, F. (2016) ‘Flexible man-man motivation performance management system for Industry 4.0’, International Journal of Management Excellence, 7(2), pp. 829–840.
DeNisi, A.S., and Murphy, K.R. (2017) ‘Performance appraisal and performance management: 100 years of progress?’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p. 421–433. Web.
ICLG. (2020a) UK: Aviation laws and regulations. Web.
ICLG. (2020b) USA: Aviation laws and regulations 2020. Web.
Khan, N., et al. (2019) ‘Diversity in the workplace: An overview of disability employment disclosures among UK firms’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(1), pp. 170–185. Web.
L&E Global. (2020a) Employment contacts in the United Kingdom.
L&E Global. (2020b) Employment contracts in the USA. Web.
Mindflash. (2018) About us, image, Trakstar. Web.
Mone, E. M., and London, M. (2018) Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. London, UK: Routledge.
Pradhan, R.K. and Jena, L.K. (2017) ‘Employee performance at workplace: Conceptual model and empirical validation’, Business Perspectives and Research, 5(1), pp. 69–85.
Rodriguez, J., and Walters, K. (2017) ‘The importance of training and development in employee performance and evaluation’, Worldwide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 3(10), pp. 206–212.
Younas, W., Farooq, M., Khalil-Ur-Rehman, F. and Zreen, A. (2018) ‘The impact of training and development on employee performance’, IOSR Journal of Business and Management, IOSR-JBM, 20(7), pp. 20–23. Web.
Zheng, Y., Wang, J., Doll, W., Deng, X. and Williams, M. (2018) ‘The impact of organisational support, technical support, and self-efficacy on faculty perceived benefits of using learning management system’, Behaviour & Information Technology, 37(4), pp.311–319.