There are many incidences where businesses struggle to get the employee who best fits a particular job description. In some cases, the Company may end up hiring incompetent employees for failure to undertake careful evaluation on all the prospective candidates. In such a case, this business offers an option for businesses to delegate such activities and expect that the best candidates are chosen for the required position. Besides, the consultancy handles advertising and other such ancillary activities required to promote the business and also publicize the existence of opportunities, in a manner that manages to attract only competent individuals who deserve such positions. Having been hired to offer consultation on training, there are a number of factors that will be considered as will be demonstrated in the section below.
Key elements of training and development geared toward improving the performance of the specific small business for which you are consulting.
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Besides the significance brought about by advertising for positions available in the Company, one of the important elements of training and development that will improve the performance of consulting entities is on the ways to increase referrals. The business will have to get in touch with their customers in order to understand how they perceive their product ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ). This will be fundamental since word of mouth is credited as one of the most effective product promotion incentives, and would, therefore, play a major role in popularizing the business. Also being a small business, there is a need to establish dialogue with the workers and management within the corporate ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ). In the course of doing so, the consultant will seek to establish the training problems existent.
In order to ensure that the business manages to fulfil clients` needs, the consultant will educate the stakeholders on the essence of maintaining records and coming up with daily plans on the activities they wish to undertake. One of the reasons that will be provided is the idea of minimizing costs ( Mankasingh & Ramsoomair, 2017 ). A low-cost budget will have a significant impact on the performance of the business since it will be in a position to cater for unexpected costs and also manage to dispatch fair compensation to the workers. In turn, the latter individuals will replicate the same in their work thus ensuring that the business is in a position to realize its goals.
Also, if the small organization has focused entirely on advertising its products to consumers, the consultant may suggest the application of alternative low-cost means of product promotion. They need to come up with something attractive and different from what other related entities are using. For instance, the business can report reduced charges on first time clients who consult them for their services. This may appear to be an attractive feature that is likely to drive customers to their doorsteps.
Another noteworthy element is the development of training equipment. All the materials developed have to be aligned with the objectives that the organization has ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ). The consultant will seek to comprehend the business culture and the history of training within the Company. This will also involve understanding the challenges likely to be experienced. Further still, there will be need to consistently update the training so that it is consistent with modern methods being adopted in other facilities. The changes have to be meaningful in order for the desired objectives to be obtained.
Predict three to five (3-5) potential challenges that the managers or owners of the business could face in addressing organizational performance.
It is apparent that managers in small businesses are likely to face a number of challenges in their course to achieving organizational performance. One of the major potential problems is the lack of a clear command path. This is likely to result in a situation where potential conflicts may arise for failure to follow the correct chain of command ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ). Besides, this is also likely to result in discontentment among the workers whereby they fail to report the issues that they may be facing for fear of being reprimanded. Such a situation may occur in a situation where an individual may be working in a small decentralized enterprise leading him into confusion on who he is supposed to report to. This is likely to result in reduced productivity owing to the dissatisfaction of individuals working at the business.
Adapting to the recurrent changes in technology may also prove to be a challenge to the business. This is due to the idea that a small business may not have the required capacity to deal with such developments. As a result, they may either have to outsource funds hence overburdening the business, or continue to use obsolete technology. It is one of the major factors that has to be considered to stop the situation from blowing out of proportion. Besides, this may also involve the incapability to handle responses of members regarding technology use. The business will have to consider the opinion of the workers before making any drastic technological changes ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ).
The work of the manager is to offer proper feedback regarding various undertakings in a business. This implies that if a problem arises within the organization, they are held liable and as a result, they are expected to account for such happenings. It is apparent that problems occurring within a business are likely to have a significant negative impact on the entire organization and hence the need to initiate control measures ( Bergh & Gibbons, 2011 ). In addition, to this, there is a probability of divisions emanating amongst the employees further inducing laxity in the administration of their duties. The supervisor is, therefore, expected to come up with a favorable solution which is likely to favor all the individuals.
The organizational culture is also likely to have a significant impact on the manager. This is due to the fact that there are often many written and unwritten laws which the business expects the organization to follow ( Mankasingh & Ramsoomair, 2017 ). Workers who defy such regulations are to be held accountable by the management. This has, however, to be done with a lot of moderation by evaluating the culture of the business to establish whether it is favorable to the employees. Besides, communication has to be undertaken effectively to avoid causing any disharmony in the operations being undertaken.
Justify the effects of detecting organizational gaps in small business, providing examples to explain the rationale.
It is important for the small business to detect the issues that are keeping the organization from succeeding and working towards rectifying the situation to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders ( Mankasingh & Ramsoomair, 2017 ). One of the most effective ways that the business can manage to accomplish this is by undertaking a survey of the individual workers. This method is likely to establish the attitudes of the employees towards the business and also understand what they are dissatisfied with. For instance, if the Company discovers that the workers are not receiving any incentives such as gifts based on their performance, they can seek to introduce the idea in order to motivate the employees.
Detecting organizational gaps also assists the business to identify the areas that require to be improved. For instance, if there is a shortage of manpower the Company can seek to acquire more employees, but only if it has the necessary capacity to do so. In addition to this, the enterprise is provided with an opportunity to devise a strategy that is likely to benefit their organization. Besides, it becomes possible for the business to seek additional resources to cater for whatever may be missing. In the end the business ends up succeeding; much to the satisfaction of the management.
Identifying gaps makes it easy for the business to initiate a process of eliminate such discrepancies. The systematic issues which are found to be contributing to the situation can, therefore, be rectified or catered for ( McKay, 2016 ). For example, it might emerge that many of the employees are not competent enough to handle certain complex procedures or devices. Such a discovery will enable the business to ensure that the necessary training is provided to the workers, thus leading to additional benefits.
Propose a competitive training strategy that will improve the position of the business in the market.
In order for the business` position to be enhanced in the market a Training Needs Analysis should be undertaken. This is because it would provide the business with an opportunity of determining if training or non-training issues are affecting the organization ( Barthélemy, 2017 ). In the process, it can also be determined whether some of the workers can be transferred or whether certain jobs require to be redesigned in order for the desired objective to be attained. In addition to this, succession planning could also manage to ensure that the business does not stall in a situation where a senior individual in management vacates his position within the Company ( Mankasingh & Ramsoomair, 2017 ). Besides it assists the business to plan in advance and make the necessary changes.
Part of the strategy would also involve the incorporation of a well-designed curriculum that is blended to accommodate all the necessary components. This could entail offering the workers web-based training manuals to aid in the process of comprehending some of the essential features that lead to organizational success ( Mankasingh & Ramsoomair, 2017 ). It would also be imperative for the business to introduce reward incentives to award hardworking employees. This will act as a motivating factor and eventually result in higher productivity. Besides, workers will have to be addressed in a respectful manner by their supervisors since this has a higher probability of ensuring that they work effectively with an aim of attaining the goals of the Company. Part of the training will also involve showing real life examples of businesses which have succeeded by using the recommended strategies. It will be an effective way of ensuring that the employees are in a position to take the training seriously.
Finally, in the course of training, it would be desirable for the consultant to delegate part of the training to other workers within the organization in order for them to succeed in creating an engaging and interesting forum. Having an employee train fellow workmates has been revered as one of the most effective ways of enhancing the performance of an organization. This initiative may be adopted if there exists some highly skilled workers within the business who are willing to demonstrate their skill to the rest of the individuals. Besides, this would further motivate the trainers to work even better resulting in better returns.
References
Barthélemy, J. (2017). The impact of technical consultants on the quality of their clients' products: Evidence from the B ordeaux wine industry. Strategic Management Journal , 38 (5), 1174-1190.
Bergh, D. D., & Gibbons, P. (2011). The stock market reaction to the hiring of management consultants: A signaling theory approach. Journal of Management Studies , 48 (3), 544-567.
Mankasingh, D., & Ramsoomair, F. (2017). COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR A SMALL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING FIRM: STUDY OF MANAGERIAL HIRING PREFERENCES OF BUSINESS ANALYST INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS. Journal on Management , 12 (1).
McKay, R. B. (2016). Hiring consultants during organizational change: Politics and amalgamation. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management , 3 (3), 1053.
