Department of Work & Employment Studies

2021 EXAM

Academic Year: 2022-22 Semester: Spring

Module Title: Human Resource Development Module Code: PM4014

Duration of Exam: 2.5Hrs % of Total Marks: 60%

Lecturer: Dr. Jean McCarthy

External Examiner: Prof. Emma Parry

Instructions:
 Place your Name and ID Number in the space provided, below:

Name: ____________________________________
ID: _________________________________________

 Please answer TWO of the questions, below

 Please include all of your answers on this Word Document, below and submit via
Sulis by Friday, 13th May @ 11:55pm
 No late submissions will be accepted – late submissions will result in a F grade

 Quality takes precedence over quantity in word count; answers should be approx.
1000 words each and include reference to source materials and readings
 The exam is graded out of a total of 100 marks, 50 marks per question

QUESTIONS (please answer TWO of the following questions)

1. What are the strategic benefits of Learning and Development (L&D) programmes
and activities to an organisation?
2. Discuss how an understanding of learning theories can help in the design of L&D
programmes and activities
3. How would you evaluate an L&D programme or activity?
1.What are the strategic benefits of Learning and Development (L&D) programmes and
activities to an organisation?

The focus of this essay is to critically analyse the strategic benefits of Learning and
Development (L&D) programmes and activities to an organisation as part of Human
Resource Development (HRD). According to Harrison (2005), the primary purpose of
learning and development as an organisational process is to aid collective progress through
the collaborative and expert stimulation and facilitation of learning and knowledge that
support business goals, develop individual potential and respect and build on diversity. This
theory implies that a business cannot expect employees to use the L&D process to benefit the
organisation unless it will also benefit themselves. Therefore throughout this essay I will
prove that L&D activities are beneficial to both businesses and their staff.

According to Aguinis and Kraiger (2009), learning and development activities including on-
the-job training and internal training with in-house trainers are favourably associated with
effectiveness and profitability, and have a beneficial impact on performance leading to
increased productivity. On-the-job training (OJT) refers to activities that take place at a
person's employment in order to build work-related knowledge and skills that are essential for
employees to do a certain job inside the workplace. Employees learn in an atmosphere where
they must put what they've learned in on-the-job training into practice. Well-designed OJT
programmes are well planned and resourced, consist of managers with competent coaching
abilities, and define the criterion for performance standards (Vasanthi and Rabiyathul
Basariya, 2019).

Employees who see their organisation's interest in them through providing them with L&D
programmes put out their best efforts to attain organisational goals and demonstrate good
work performance (Elnaga &Imran, 2013). For any organisation to succeed in reaching the
goals of its L&D programme, the design and implementation must be planned and
systematic, with an emphasis on improving performance. HRD activities such as performance
appraisals are intended to motivate and develop employees so that they can enhance their
overall productivity (Sheridan, 2007). Authors Elnaga & Imran, (2013) indicate in their
research that HRD affirmed the idea that learning and development has a good impact on
employee performance and that training programmes are the stimulant that workers require to
increase this.
One of the advantages of learning for staff in a larger business is that it gives them a degree
of organisational expertise, which allows firms to obtain a high degree of differentiation and
to reduce costs (Tarí, 2005). Quality is an essential function for an organisation's long-term
sustainability. TQM and other quality management systems need personnel training as a
critical component to its implementation. An onboarding programme is a vital component in
the L&D process. Employees are acclimatised to their role, the firm's philosophies, and what
the organisation has to offer during the programme. It also engages employees, resulting in
employees being dedicated to the company's success, as well as helping new hires feel like
part of the team. As a benefit to the business, an effective onboarding programme reduces
employee turnover. High turnover can be a serious danger to an organisation's survival, but
showing a commitment to staff's learning and development fosters good work culture,
employee satisfaction and reduces this rate of turnover. Better training could also provide the
company a competitive advantage over external competition. By making sure that employees
are constantly progressing, the company automatically gains more value and continues to
move forward with a strong position in the market.

As part of L&D employees should be properly and consistently trained in health and safety
procedures, as well as get suitable training for all of their responsibilities. Employees who
have been properly trained are less likely to have workplace accidents because they know
how to do their responsibilities effectively and safely. Management will also be fulfilling
legal obligations and helping to promote a strong health and safety culture by training
personnel. This will benefit the organisation because if there’s an accident in the workplace,
it should minimise monetary, physical and emotional impacts for management and
employees.As part of the onboarding programme, the L&D team may introduce a safety
representative to represent the employee in consultation with the employer on all matters
relating to health and safety at work (Stranks, 2006). This will benefit the organisation as
employees will know who to contact in the event of an emergency or to prevent a potential
hazard.

Employee satisfaction is an important part of successful business strategy. Underperformance

is directly tied to their lack of comprehension of the job at hand. Employees can benefit from
a well-thought-out employee development strategy by cultivating continuous learning habits,
learning about solutions to their most pressing work-related issues, and working toward
personal improvement. They may need leadership training or desire to develop their soft
skills. Companies can ensure that their employees receive appropriate training to improve
their abilities and perform well at their jobs by engaging in employee development
programmes. These activities can boost employee satisfaction, which leads to increased
productivity and a higher quality output . Several studies suggest that there is a positive
relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Bernhardt et al.)

Each individual has a responsibility in managing learning and development to achieve

outcomes efficiently and effectively. These are critical processes for enhancing productivity
and organizational performance but also benefit all parties involved. To summarise, because
of L&D, organisational profits are increased, staff turnover is decreased, Health & Safety
guidelines are followed and TQM is implemented. If these elements do not exist in a
business, it is very unlikely to succeed.
References:

Aguinis, H. and Kraiger, K., 2009. Benefits of training and development for individuals and
teams, organizations, and society. Annual review of psychology, 60, pp.451-474.

Bernhardt, K.L., Donthu, N. & Kennett, P.A., 2000. A longitudinal analysis of satisfaction
and profitability. Journal of Business Research, 47(2), pp.161–171.

Elnaga, A. and Imran, A., 2013. The effect of training on employee performance. European
journal of Business and Management, 5(4), pp.137-147.

José Tarí, J., 2005. Components of successful Total Quality Management. The TQM
Magazine, 17(2), pp.182–194.

Sheridan, J.A., A study of culture and conflict management styles of Community College
Employees. Fisher Digital Publications. Available at:
https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters/120/ [Accessed May 13, 2022].

Stranks, J., 2006. Health and Safety Pocket Book, Burlington: Elsevier.
2. Discuss an understanding of how learning theories can help in the design of L&D
programmes and activities

Understanding socio-culturalism theory should greatly help a HR practitioner develop an

effective Learning and Development (L&D) programme for new hires. According to his
studies on observational learning, Psychologist and professor, Albert Bandura (1977)
believed people could learn new actions by simply observing others perform them. This is
also known as social learning because this theory implies that learning is largely a social
process and was founded on the notion that we learn from our social interactions with others.
Individuals develop comparable tendencies by watching the activities of others. People
assimilate and mimic other people's behaviour after witnessing it, especially if their
observational experiences are favourable or include rewards related to the observed conduct.
According to Bandura (1977), imitation involves the actual reproduction of observed motor
activities. This theory is useful to HR practitioners as it is one of the most prevalent ways for
staff to learn on the job. This is why new hires are frequently partnered with experienced
employees for the first few weeks or months of their employment; they can learn how to react
to a range of scenarios much more successfully through vicarious learning than they could by
reading an employee handbook.

While discussing the socio-culturism theory it is difficult to ignore Bandura’s famous Bobo
doll experiment. Adults and their conduct toward a Bobo Doll were observed by the
children. They'd either react passively or violently. The children's reactions to what they saw
had an impact on their own relationships with the Bobo Doll. If a child saw aggressive
behaviour, they would repeat it verbally and physically, whereas those who saw passive
behaviour would treat their doll similarly (LaMarco, 2019). Bandura arrived at the conclusion
that children learn their social behaviour through observation. As part of the design of the
L&D programme, HR practitioners or mentors can draw from this experiment by displaying
proper conduct in work as part of on-the-job training or a buddy system, with the intention
being for new hires to mirror this behaviour. Drawing on the previous experience of existing
employees also facilitates learning in the workplace.Sociocultural theory was created by Lev
Vygotsky as a response to Behaviourism.

In the early 1900s, the most prevalent way of looking at learning was behaviourism.
Behaviourists defined learning as an observable change in behaviour. They believed that we
can never know what is going on “inside people’s heads” and that it is inappropriate to try to
guess or speculate at what cannot be empirically observed. Instead, they believed that we
should watch for observable changes in behavior to find out what people were learning
(Thompson, 2019). Behaviourism is based on studies on conditioning, which is a behavioural
process in which a reaction in a particular context becomes more common or predictable as a
result of reinforcement, with reinforcement being a stimulus or reward for a desired
response. Operant Conditioning is aimed at the motivation of employees and what
encourages and reinforces good or bad behaviour at work. After employees have successfully
undertaken a learning and development activity, a manager should give them positive
feedback as an incentive to continue and excel in their learning journey. Classical
conditioning is a learning process that creates a conditioned response through associations
between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus. It can help companies better
understand how consumer habits impact their reaction to products, the goal is to get
consumers to associate brands with a particular feeling or response. For example, customers
might buy a certain product not because it works better but because the packaging is
attractive, and while the product has no special function, the organisation’s profitability still
increases.

In the late 1950s there was a greater emphasis on more sophisticated cognitive processes like
thinking, problem solving, language, concept formulation, and information processing, rather
than overt, visible behaviour (Snelbecker, 1983). Cognitive theories focus on the
conceptualization of learning processes and address the issues of how information is
received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the mind. Learning is concerned not so much
with what learners do but with what they know and how they come to acquire it (Jonassen,
1991). Workers can build upon previous ideas and apply new concepts to already existing
knowledge and develop as a very valuable asset to an organisation.

Constructivism is considered to be a branch of cognitivism as both perceive learning as a

mental activity, however, it distinguishes itself from traditional cognitive theories in a
number of ways. According to Bereiter (1994), constructivism is defined as a theory which is
based on observation and scientific study, about how people learn. It says that people
construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things
and reflecting on those experiences. With knowledge of this theory the L&D team should be
able to include activities into their programme accordingly. The implementation of role-play
should provide new hires with an effective and active learning experience. Rather than
reading through protocols or listening to management describe the proper way to respond to a
question, learners could actively participate by acting as both the customer and the employee.
This allows new hires to connect the training to previous personal experiences and excel in
their teamwork, communication and problem solving skills. The successful use of these
activities will expose the existing knowledge, skills and attitudes of new hires, stored in long-
term memory. This will make it easier for the HR department to distribute constructive
feedback following observation.

I strongly believe that with an understanding of learning theories, an L&D department will be
able to create the most efficient activities and programmes, to create staff that positively
contribute to profitability. Due to the fact that there are many learning theories, it gives the
L&D department flexibility in what ones to implement in the L&D process. This might
depend on the role the employees are being trained into or even a distinctive personality trait.
For example, cognitivism may be the most suitable theory to an employee who is a logical
thinker.
References:

Bandura, A., 1977. Social Learning theory, Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall.

Bereiter, C., 1994. Constructivism, socioculturalism, and Popper's World 3. Educational

Researcher, 23(7), pp.21–23.

Ertmer, P.A. & Newby, T.J., 2013. Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing
critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement
Quarterly, 26(2), pp.43–71.

Jonassen., 1991. Evaluating constructivistic learning - JSTOR. Available at:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44401696 [Accessed May 13, 2022].

LaMarco, N., 2019. How to apply the social learning theory in the workplace. Small Business
- Chron.com. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/apply-social-learning-theory-
workplace-12860.html [Accessed March 10, 2022].

Thompson, P., 2019. 3.1 behaviorist theories of learning. Foundations of Educational

Technology. Available at:
https://open.library.okstate.edu/foundationsofeducationaltechnology/chapter/2-behaviorist-
theories-of-learning/ [Accessed May 13, 2022].