Essay: workforce-skills-training.html

$pagename = “workforce-skills-training”;
= “Workforce Skills Training Essay | Business”;

$description =”Business Essay – The workforce of modern Britain is primarily composed of knowledge workers.”;

$subject = “Business”;

All organisations are under increasing pressure to train and retain their workforce; this change has been forced by the “knowledge economy” These pressures are economic, to remain effective employees need to posses the skills so the organisation can attract and retain business. Training of employees is discussed as the last competitive edge that organisations can have. Efficient use of resources will increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s) (T Blackwood, 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that learning is inextricably linked to market economics, that "knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantage“(Garrick 1998:5).

The UK was the first country to industrialise and the first country to begin the process of de-industrialising. The development of the manufacturing industries in the UK was associated with the development of economic stability. From 1952 until 1966 national manufacturing employment grew just slightly slower than total employment. It peaked at 9,109,000 in 1961 reaching that level again in 1966. After 1966 manufacturing employment nationwide went into a nearly continuous decline, by 1989 manufacturing employment had fallen to 5,232,000, a 42% drop from the peak in 1966 (Keil, S. 1999).

In 1920, the ratio of manual workers to knowledge workers was 2:1, by 1980; the ratio was 1:2, White-collar" workers first outnumbered "Blue-collar" workers in 1956.

Nickols (2000) commented that “the pace of the shift from manual work to knowledge work seems to be nearing steady state “(Nickols (2000)) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004:6002). The impact that knowledge workers are having on the organisation’s economic, it is perceived as an important area of opportunity, which is now being included in organisational strategic plans. Drucker (1999) commented that this was “a consequence of a broader shift from an industrial to a post-industrial society” The increase is a natural progression in the changing format of work (Drucker. P. 1999).

The decline in manufacturing has led to an increase in service industries, which require highly trained workers to perform complex tasks. Once principally reliant on the productivity of manual workers, industry is increasingly dependant on the productivity of knowledge workers. The percentage of knowledge workers in the workforce has increased dramatically, as organisations have moved from manual production to a more automated and knowledge-driven, production. Knowledge workers are rapidly becoming the single largest group in the work force of every developed country (Drucker, P (1999) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004:602)

It should be noted that with the decline of manufacturing productivity of the individual has increased. Drucker (1999) estimates that the “productivity of manual workers has improved an average of 3 percent per year since then, resulting in an overall 50-fold increase in manual worker productivity” (Drucker, P. 1999:256). Productivity measurements for manual workers have usually based on output. The measuring of manual worker productivity was a critical in laying the groundwork for improvement in the productivity of the manufacturing sector Today, work that is considered to be all manual has largely been automated, thereby reducing the human effort in the production process. This has produced high levels of productivity, quality and standardisation (Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004).

The appearance of knowledge based economies, has deep implications for the factors of growth, and its effect on employment and skill requirements. This may call for new directions in industry related government policies (DTI White Paper). The UK government aimed there learning policies towards the emerging knowledge economy. The prime minister stated that "education is the best economic policy we have”. That through the policy of lifelong learning the UK would have the knowledge to compete in the new economy (Tony Blair PM 1998 cited in DTI White Paper).

To compete in the “new economy” organisations and their component parts (employees) require the skills to compete. These skills today are both the responsibility of the organisation and the employee. Employees who seek career development and promotion can develop their own skills. To be able to plan this intervention, the individual should understand which method and delivery of training is suited to their requirements (Sparrow, S. 2004).

Best (2001) discussed the “new economy, as a knowledge-based economy without borders, where the race is between organisations to learn faster and organise more flexibly to take advantage of technology-enabled market opportunities” (Best (2001) cited in DeFillippi, R. 2002). Organisations have changed in the way they operate, shifting from immobile-wired infrastructures to mobile, miniature, and wireless modes of communication, computing, and transacting. Customers now demand 24 hour service, with “any time, any place" solutions of their problems (DeFillippi, R. 2002).

Knowledge workers are described as high-level employees who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal education, to develop new products or services (Drucker, P.(1994) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004). This however does not stress as much the importance of informal education; this can come from previous experience in a specific area, previous access and use of personal knowledge, organisational knowledge, and external knowledge. Davenport and Prusak (2000) define knowledge workers “as those who create knowledge, such as product development engineers, or as those whose use of knowledge is a dominant aspect of their work, such as financial auditors” This concept was later expanded by (Davenport, 2002).defined knowledge workers as “people with a high degree of education or expertise whose work primarily involves the creation, distribution, or application of knowledge” (Davenport and Prusak (2000) and Davenport (2002) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004:605).

Dove (1998) developed a model which classified knowledge workers in three main groups (1) Creation of knowledge work, based on innovation. These workers are dependant on innovation to do their work; they create tools that will be used by other workers. (2) Portable knowledge work, based on wide, immediate utility, they possess knowledge that they can apply in a general manner. (3) Specialty knowledge work, based on narrow but high utility, these workers have a specific knowledge that is needed to perform a task, they are considered experts at what they do. All three classes can work in any combination to enhance each others role (Dove (1998) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004:610).

Knowledge differs from intellectual capital of the organisation, although it is a component part of it. Intellectual capital is often described as an “intangible asset” of the organisation, it consists of intellectual materials, knowledge, information, patents, and experience that when combined, contribute to organisational wealth. Fundamentally the organisation’s intellectual capital is how intelligent and enterprising it is in generating cash flows from its tangible assets. This is how organisation’s establish and maintain their competitive advantage (MacDougall, S. and Hurst, D. 2005)

Although it is frequently referred to as an asset of the firm, intellectual capital is quite different from the organisation’s physical assets and can be considerably more valuable. Distinct from tangible assets, intellectual capital increases when it is shared, and has the ability to grow. A mass of knowledge tends to attract more knowledge workers, there by increasing the percentage of knowledge within the organisation (Carayannis and Alexander (1999 Cited in MacDougall, S. and Hurst, D. 2005).

It is very difficult to measure the productivity of knowledge workers, Drucker (1999) states “the challenge today is not to increase manual worker’s productivity but to measure and increase knowledge workers productivity”. (Drucker, P.1999). The productivity of manual workers has been studied for almost a century, in 1911 Frederick Taylor published his work on scientific management, which intended to standardise work in order to improve productivity by doing the work in the most efficient manner (Taylor, F. (1911) cited in Ramírez, Y and Nembhard 2004:603).

These factors have moved organisations in the UK towards “learning organisations”. Dixon (1994) describes the essence of a learning organisation as “the organization’s ability to use the amazing mental capacity of all its members to create the kind of processes that will improve its own” (Dixon 1994 cited in Wilson 1999). They are organisations where individuals constantly expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire. They have systems, mechanisms and processes in place, that are used to continuously enhance their capabilities to achieve sustainable objectives. To achieve this strategy there is an open culture which promotes learning in both formal and informal methods. Mistakes are discussed and reviewed, theoretically without blame being apportioned (Wilson 1999).

Through the constant reviewing learning organisations are adaptive to their external environment, continually enhance their capability to change/adapt, develop collective as well as individual learning and use the results of learning to achieve their objectives. There is free exchange of information, with systems in place to guarantee that expertise is available where it is needed; individuals network extensively, crossing organisational boundaries to develop their knowledge and expertise. Employees are valued for their ideas, creativity and past experiences. Within this culture employees’ diversity is treated as strength, and individuals are encouraged to develop ideas, to speak out, and confront actions. Organisations are viewed as self-regulating, emergent, open, whole systems. Capra (2002) discussed the change in organisations as “a contrast in the metaphor of organisations being machines to that of organisations as living systems” (Capra 2002 cited in Nixon 2004:58).

Another theory that discusses the increase in the knowledge worker is the Chaos theory. The theorists argue that the world of the organisations is turbulent and chaotic, making it impossible for them to predict the future. Therefore traditional approaches to strategic decision making are no longer relevant (R Stacey (1989) cited in Johnson J & Scholes K 1997:78). Strategies need to be managed differently, building on the innate ability of managers to draw on their own experiences, developing a continual change within the organisations (Handy 2001). In today’s climate for organisations to survive and prosper they must adopt a new way of managing that is based on the organisations’ capacity to learn and change deliberately, incessantly and rapidly (Bennett, J & O’Brien. M, 1994).

Organisational structures are changing. The emphasis on training employees has shifted from an organisational led requirement to the individual employee taking control of their career. This emphasis is a shift of responsibility to most employees, and introduces new challenges. To take control of learning the individual needs to establish their preference to learning, to acquire the knowledge in the best form of delivery.

Employees are being forced to take more responsibility for their own careers, going where the work is rewarding and where they can develop skills that will guarantee their employability in any organisation. Organisations no longer offer “a job for life” there is no longer guaranteed employment, with a pension as a reward for loyalty and compliance. The "psychological contract" between employer and employee has altered. Employees are increasingly mobile, changing employment for promotion, reward and job satisfaction; top employees have more choice as to where to work To retain these key employees the organisations culture needs to allow an environment of personal growth (Harrison 2002).

With less job security, the best reward an organisation can give an employee is transferable skills. This intervention is driven more by the employee taking control on their career path. The individual can take control, and change the direction of their career through development. This training and development is not solely undertaken in the work environment, this can take place outside of work hours (Marchington, M. & Wilkinson, A 1997).

Individuals, who manage their own training, require the skill to select the correct method of delivery of the intervention. Whether this is formal or informal, the method of delivery must match the individuals training preference. If this is not matched, then the intervention is worthless. The individual feels failure, and resources are wasted (Beardwell I et al 2004) Training plans have been until now been the territory of the HR department. The skilled HR practioners have assessed and planned the intervention, although this has primarily been for the organisation’s benefit. The knowledge required for an individual to complete this plan, is too often outside of their level of understanding of delivery methods (Mullins, L. 2005).

This change in training emphasis has a direct impact on the organisation, According to Delany (2001) “successful organisations keep people issues the people issues at the forefront of their thinking and at the core of their decision making and planning”. Delany adds “organisations that get the people things right are the organisations likely to be around in the future” (Delany (2001) cited in Mullins, L. 2005:748).

Reinforcing this new learning within in an organisations, requires what Hawkins (1994) called "a change at the heart” this change is in “the understanding of learning, a shift from viewing learning as being abrupt facts to learning as a more multi-faceted and dynamic process". As Hawkins suggests, it is not that we are learning any differently than before but "our understanding of how we learn has begun to catch up with what happens in practice" (Hawkins, 1994:9). The learning process has been challenged to create a culture that allows continual learning throughout the organisation. As knowledge is what matters, organisations and individuals alike must become continuous learners (Hawkins, 1994).

The change in the make up of employment and organisational structures in the UK has introduced the knowledge economy. This shift to the knowledge economy has brought new challenges for the individual. The rigid formal training plans have declined, with more emphasis on the employee taking control of their training. This brings new challenges to the employee, having to decide on what and how they will receive training. These are decisions that until recently have been made by the organisation.

Learning is a continuous process with an individual, which adds value to the knowledge worker. These workers are vital to the survival of UK organisations, not only in the current economic conditions, but also for the turbulent future. Blue collar work is in decline, replaced by automation. Today’s employment market within the UK requires knowledge workers, this has been slowly changing for nearly a century.

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