LEARNING NEEDS IN AN ORGANIZATION

QUESTION

Case study
David is employed in a well known financial institution. On the basis of his
detailed financial knowledge and experience he has been given the position of team
leader of a particular client service team that has been together for some time. He
has never led a team before.
The financial institution prides itself on the service it provides to its customers and
has begun to reward teams for their effective teamwork through the presentation of
awards. Unfortunately the team David has joined has never received an award.
Performance management from previous team leaders has been haphazard with the
team leadership being laissez-faire.
David has discovered there is unrest in the team with members being unsure of
their job roles and negativity beginning to creep into the team. There is also one
new team member who was recruited externally but has a qualification in Banking
and Finance. This member is unsure whether or not to stay with the team.
During team meetings members are reluctant to make suggestions as in the past
suggestions were ignored or criticised by the team leader who never championed
the team.
Task 1
Planned development requires systematic identification of learning and
development needs.
How are you going to identify and plan the learning needs of your team?
P0043374 – LA011427 Case Study – BSBLED401A Ed 2 3
©State of New South Wales, Department of Education & Training 2009, Version 1, March 2009

Task 2
If you were David, what development needs do you see for yourself?
Task 3
The team has a range of issues that may be addressed by further
development or training.
Create a plan for team learning and development for the next 12 months that
will meet the needs of the organisation and team.
The plan should be prioritised. Include a timeframe for length of training
and how the training will be delivered (eg on the job & by whom, off the
job, external provider, mentors etc).
Task 4
As the team leader, select one area of development from your plan for the
team (which includes you).
Research an appropriate unit of competence on the NTIS site and, using the
template provided below, develop one three hour session plan that could be
utilised.
If learning will take longer, indicate how many more sessions you would
plan. (NOTE: You are only required to develop the session plan, not the
resources.)
Timing Performance
Criteria
Key
Points
Activities Assessment
Task

For all learning and development undertaken, records need to be kept.
Task 5
Identify the records that would need to be kept for learning and
development.
4 P0043374 – LA011427 Case Study – BSBLED401A Ed 2
©State of New South Wales, Department of Education & Training 2009, Version 1, March 2009

Why do we keep records and how should we maintain current learning and
development records?
Task 6
Ongoing learning and development is required to maintain effectiveness and
efficiency in the workplace.
How can David ensure his team members are undertaking ongoing
appropriate development?

SOLUTION

Task 1

Learning needs:

To identify the learning needs for the team members, the most important factor is to define their job role. The description of job role will provide with information about key responsibilities of the position and indicators of the skills, knowledge and abilities required for performing the job effectively.

Then the skills of each and every team member are to be identified. This can be done by peer review, self-review and looking at their formal qualification and past experience and performance. These skills, for example, active listening, relationship management and active follow-up could be described as required skills from a team member who interacts with clients on regular basis.

Next stage is to perform a gap analysis between the existing skills of each team member and the skills required to complete his/ her job. This assessment will provide us with the learning needs of the team members. Once the needs are known a detailed road map to fill the gap between the existing skills and desired skills can be prepared.

Task 2

Development needs:

As I expect to have suitable technical knowledge to lead the team, I do not see any development needs for myself in that regard. But I have never leaded a team before; therefore the following skills are required as team leader.

n  Assertiveness: I need to be assertive as a team leader. I will need to negotiate and assert during allocation, performance evaluation and appraisal. This is a mandatory skill for any leader.

n  People management: As a team leader, I need to manage my team members, with whom my communication will be different from the one I was having with my clients. I need people management and relationship building to lead the team.

n  Delegation of work: I need to have skills to allocate the work among resources efficiently. As a team leader, I need to have delegation skills so that I can utilize my time in team development also.

n  Dealing with conflict: I need skills to resolve conflicts among team members. For example if one team member wants to leave the team member, I need to acquire the necessary tools for handling such situation.

n  Managing team development: Team leader’s task is not only getting work done but also providing the team development. I will develop skills necessary for maintaining healthy work conditions and helping members in their professional growth.

There is also a need to understand performance improvement measures for enhancing team efficiency and throughput. Some additional training in leadership and human resource management can help in performing the team leader role much effectively.

Task 3

Detailed training plan:

Team is currently facing various issues. Team members are not aware of their job descriptions. They are not eager to share their views. There are negative feelings in the team.

First priority item will be to eliminate the negative feelings among members and improve the confidence of team members so that they can participate freely in team development. Team members will be provided with detailed job description and the training plans for the skills required for completing the job efficiently.

The following methods will be utilized as training plan:

1. Team building exercise: This will be a quarterly exercise. This will help team members to bond more and fend off negative feelings. All team members will also be asked for their inputs on their various issues.
2. External training: All the team members who require external trainings as per their training needs will be provided with the same within the first month of the year. After six months, the need for external training will be evaluated again.
3. On the job training: Mentors and senior members will provide this training. This will help maintain productivity and team development simultaneously. The need evaluation and training will be performed in first months of every quarter.
4. Knowledge transfer sessions: A knowledge transfer session every week will help team members to update their skills. Any team member who has some exclusive knowledge can provide these sessions. Team members who received external training can also contribute to the team by providing other team members with knowledge session.
5. Performance evaluation: Every member will be evaluated for his or her performances internally. Peer review, self-review and observation will help in the same. This evaluation will also provide the assessment for the effectiveness of the training plan. This will be needed to be completed in sixth and twelfth month.

Task 4

Session plan:

As the team works in service industry for various clients, contribution to team is a necessary skill that is needed from all the team members. To develop this skill a three-hour session can be utilized. The aim of the session will be to complete a complex task with the help of all team members.

The column named “Performance criteria” in the table provides a basis of assessment for the session. These criteria can be subjective as well as objective.

The column named “Key points” provides the necessary skills that are to be utilized for completing the task. Team members will be assessed on these skills.

The column named “Activities” marks the subtasks that are to be performed by the team members and team leader to complete bigger complex task.

The column “Assessment Task” will provide with the details for evaluation the activities based on key points to gauge the performance criteria.

For some development needs, three-hour session may not be sufficient to provide the necessary training to the members. Therefore more sessions can be arranged to fulfill the requirements.

Task 5

Records:

Various statistics are needed to gauge the importance of the team efficiency and training sessions. The following records are needed to be kept for future reference:

Personal information and review details:First, all the personal information (education background, past experience etc) of the team members is kept. For preparing training plan, peer review, self-review and observation are used. The records for all these reviews are also needed to be kept. They will also help in assessment and performance evaluation.

Training details: Details of all the trainings provided to the team members are also needed to be kept. This will also include information about the training provider, information and knowledge imparted, duration and members who attended the training. These records will be helpful in determining future need for training and development.

Assessment details: All the details of performance evaluation for the job as well as training are also needed to be kept. Performance evaluation exams provide us with the details about various tem members and their understanding of the concepts. Besides, scores are to be kept to provide competitiveness among team members. The improvement in performance and enhancement in knowledge is also to be recorded for the performance evaluation purposes. All these records will be useful in future evaluations of team members.

The learning and development records help keeping track of the development of team and team members. These records are essential as they provide all essential information about the team. The details for continuous learning are also essential to be included in the records. These records will be useful in the following ways:

n  These records will help to collect evidence about learning and how the used in day to day works.

n  These records will assist in identifying in future learning needs.

n  These records will support in keeping track of the achievements.

n  These records will help in maximizing team potential.

n  These records will provide comprehensive record of ongoing learning and development.

n  These records will ease the task of annual appraisal and review.

Task 6

Ongoing development:

Ongoing learning and development are necessities for good health of a team. Once all the team members are fully equipped to complete their job role effectively, ongoing development plans are needed to maintain the team efficiency. David can take following steps to ensure continuous development for his team.

n  Team building exercise on regular intervals (for example quarterly) will help strengthening the team and resolving conflicts among members.

n  Feedbacks and inputs from team members will also help a great deal in learning development needs and enhancing team effectiveness. This will also enlighten the team leader about the personal/ professional ambitions of the members.

n  Appraisals and reviews will help the leader to assess the performances of team members and to decide the future course of action.

This continuous learning and development will help team members with personal growth, developing potential, better work conditions and high efficiency.

References:

Competency units in competency. (n.d). Available at: <http://www.amcouncil.com.au/certification/certification_competency_item.aspx?from=3&tar=4&id=87> [Accessed 25 March 2012].

Continuous learning. (n.d). Available at: <http://www.ebcm-vet.net/index.aspx?GroupId=35> [Accessed 25 March 2012].

Financial Services. (n.d). Innovation and Business Skills Australia.Available at: <http://www.ibsa.org.au/training-packages/by-industry/financial-services.aspx> [Accessed 25 March 2012].

Learning and Development Needs Analysis. (n.d). Available at: <http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Staff_Development_and_Learning_ldna.pdf> [Accessed 25 March 2012].

Learning and Development Record. (n.d). Portmouth Hospitals. Available at: <http://www.phtlearningzone.org.uk/uploads/File/LDR.pdf> [Accessed 25 March 2012]

The Team Leader’s Development Manual. (n.d). Available at: <http://www.fenman.co.uk/traineractive/training-manual-1/team-leaders-development.html> [Accessed 25 March 2012].

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