Internal memo

To: All department heads

From: Eric Hanson, Director of Human Resources

Date: 12 May

Re: Appraisal interviews

May I remind everyone that the time for staff appraisals is once again upon us? As usual, every employee in the company will have an appraisal interview with his or her manager. This time we will be beginning appraisals with people in category X1 – project managers. I am sure you all remember the objectives of this exercise:

• To review the progress made over the last year

• To identify any problems individuals are having

• To set targets for next year

• To resolve conflicts

• To improve motivation

I do not need to tell you how important it is to approach these interviews positively. We are trying to help people achieve more, not simply criticizing them for their failings.

Good luck,

APPRAISAL FORM
Name
Department
Job title
Strong and weak points
Specific problems and progress in the last six months
Areas for development
Working with others
Feelings about the company, suggestions
Future in the company/department
Special needs and requests

Task 1. Study the appraisal form and write ten questions you could ask if you were running appraisal interviews.

Task 2. Write short report about all project managers. Use the role cards.

Task 3. Read what was said in the appraisal interviews and role-play the appraisal interviews. Use the role cards.

Role cards.

1.

Strong points: hard working, good productivity figures

Weak points: your planning is sometimes too optimistic

Specific problems: none in this six-month period

Progress: you are better at delegating work than before

Areas for development: improve planning

Working with others: not good, sometimes you are impatient with subordinates and too critical

Feelings about the company: mainly positive

Suggestions: you suggest starting a sports club for all employees

Future: you would like to go into general management

Special needs & requests: you would like more training on financial management and planning

2.

Strong points: good technical knowledge, high quality work

Weak points: perfectionism – and low productivity

Specific problems: project Y65 was late and over budget

Progress: you are better at planning projects than before

Areas for development: continue to improve planning

Working with others: excellent

Feelings about the company: mixed

Suggestions: none

Future: you are thinking of working freelance as a consultant

Special needs & requests: none

3.

Strong points: motivating, good communicator, good team leader

Weak points: technical knowledge could be better

Specific problems: none

Progress: your cost control is better than before

Areas for development: try to update your technical knowledge

Working with others: excellent

Feelings about the company: very positive

Suggestions: you suggest that the company opens a fitness centre for all employees

Future: you would like to go into general management

Special needs & requests: technical training courses

4.

Strong points: good relations with clients, good productivity

Weak points: team management could be better

Specific problems: several arguments with second-in-command and with senior project manager

Progress: your management of your own time has improved a lot

Areas for development: relations with your team

Working with others: poor

Feelings about the company: positive

Suggestions: you suggest individual productivity bonuses for project managers

Future: you would like to become a senior project manager

Special needs & requests: training to improve ability to work with others

5.

Strong points: creative, hard working

Weak points: self discipline – you take on too many projects at the same time

Specific problems: needed extra staff to finish project T89

Progress: you have improved your relations with clients

Areas for development: time management

Working with others: fine

Feelings about the company: positive

Suggestions: you suggest introducing flextime for administrative staff

Future: would kike to manage projects in other countries

Special needs & requests: language training, time management courses

6.

Strong points: reliable, conscientious

Weak points: could be more flexible

Specific problems: none

Progress: better at planning than before

Areas for development: take a more creative approach to problems

Working with others: fine

Feelings about the company: mixed

Suggestions: none

Future: would like to move to head office

Special needs & requests: 3 months’ unpaid time off to spend with family at the end of the current project

7.

Strong points: calm, self confident

Weak points: could be more creative in finding solutions, can be too dominant sometimes

Specific problems: none

Progress: progress in all directions

Areas for development: taking advice from others

Working with others: excellent

Feelings about the company: very positive

Suggestions: more training for new employees

Future: would like to go into general management

Special needs & requests: financial training

8.

Strong points: sociable, sensitive to other people

Weak points: sometimes indecisive at key moments

Specific problems: project N31 was over budget

Progress: better at dealing with criticism from subordinates

Areas for development: managing the team

Working with others: excellent

Feelings about the company: positive

Suggestions: more social activities for employees

Future: would like to become a senior project manager

Special needs & requests: none

SECTION 3. SUPPLEMENTARY READING.

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.

RECRUITING AND SELECTION.

Once an organization has an idea of its future human resource needs, the next phase is usually recruiting and selecting new employees. Re­cruiting is the process of attracting individuals to apply for the jobs that are open. The goal is to attract qualified candidates. Attracting too few candidates is a problem, because those who are hiring either will not be able to be very selective or will have to leave openings unfilled. On the other hand, attracting far too many candidates is also undesir­able, because evaluating candidates is costly and time consuming, par­ticularly when individual testing or interviews are used.

Once the recruiting process has attracted a pool of applicants, the next step is to select whom to hire. The intent of the selection process is to gather from applicants information that will predict their job success and then to hire the candidates predicted to be most successful. Information about candidates can be collected in many ways, including application blanks, tests, interviews, and reference checks.

The process of proving that any selection device the is really predictive of future job performance is called validation. Recall that any selection device that has an adverse impact on members of must be validated. In practice, all selection devices should be validated. It's a waste of time and money to use a selection device without being certain that it helps pinpoint the best candidates.

Validation. There are two basic approaches to validation. The first is predictive validation . This involves collecting the scores of employees or applicants on the device to be validated and correlating their scores with actual job performance. A statistically significant correlation means that the selection device is a valid predictor of job performance. For instance, certain SAT test scores are used as admissions criteria by many colleges because the scores are correlated with later academic performance.

The second major validation method is called content validation. To apply this method, one uses logic and thorough study of the job to establish that the selection device (usually a work-sample test) measures the exact skills needed for successful job performance. For example, if a job requires a great deal of typing of tables and figures, a typing test performance involving this kind of material is content-valid for the job. The most critical part of content validation is a careful job analysis showing exactly what duties are to be performed. The test is then developed to measure the applicant's ability to perform those duties.

Application Blanks. The first step in selection is usually asking the candidate to fill out an application blank. Application blanks are an effi­cient method for gathering information about the applicant's previous work history, educational background, and other job-related demo­graphic data. They should not contain questions about sex, religion, national origin, or other areas not related to the job. Application blank data are generally used informally to decide whether a candidate merits further evaluation, and interviewers use application blanks to familiarize themselves with candidates before interviewing them.

Tests. Tests are also used to select employees. Tests of ability, skill, aptitude, or knowledge that is relevant to the particular job are usually the best predictors, although tests of general intelligence or personality are occasionally useful as well. If tests are used, they should be validated and should be administered and scored in a very consistent fashion. All candidates should be given the same directions, should be allowed the same amount of time, and should experience the same testing environ­ment (temperature, lighting, distractions). If properly used, tests can be very helpful in selection.

Interviews. The interview is a very popular selection device. Besides evaluating the applicant, the interviewer can tell the applicant about the company. Unfortunately, interviews are sometimes poor predictors of job success. There are many reasons for this, most of them stemming from biases inherent in the way people perceive and judge others on first meeting. Interview validity can be improved by training inter­viewers to be aware of potential biases and by increasing the structure of the interview. In a structured interview, questions are written down in advance, and all interviewers follow the same question list with each candidate they interview. This procedure is helpful for two reasons. It introduces consistency into the interview procedure, and the questions can be carefully screened and refined so that they are all relevant to job ability and are not discriminatory. For interviewing managerial or professional candidates, a somewhat less structured approach can be used. Question areas and information-gathering objectives are still planned by the interviewer in advance, but the specific questions that are asked vary with the candidates' backgrounds. Trammell Crow Co. uses a novel interviewing approach in hiring managers. Each applicant is interviewed not only by two or three other managers but also by a secretary or young leasing agent. This provides information about how the prospective manager relates to non-managers.

Assessment Centers. Assessment centers are rapidly gaining in popu­larity as a selection tool. They are used primarily to select managers and are particularly good for selecting present employees for promotion into management. The assessment center is a content-valid simulation of key parts of the managerial job. A typical center lasts two to three days, with groups of six to twelve assesses participating in a variety of managerial exercises. Most assessment centers include an "in-basket test" of individual decision-making and group exercises to assess inter­personal skills. Centers may also include an interview, public speaking, and standardized ability tests. Candidates are assessed by several trained observers, usually managers several levels above the job for which the candidates are being considered. Assessment centers are quite valid if properly designed and are fair to members of minority groups and women. AT&T pioneered the assessment center concept.

Exercise 2. Translate into English.

Подбирая новое место службы, помните, что поиск работы можно вести в разных направлениях. Прежде всего, это рекрутинговые агентства. Они работают по заявке работодателя. Он и оплачивает услуги агентства. Во-вторых, это агентства по трудоустройству. Их услуги оплачивает соискатель, и лучше, если после зачисления на работу. Но существует и другая схема оплаты: часть денег сразу, часть – после выплаты первой заработной платы. Существует четыре признака солидного кадрового агентства: наличие лицензии на предоставление услуг в области занятости, стаж работы компании не менее 5 лет, свой сайт в Интернете, пунктуальность сотрудников агентства.

Вы должны узнать, в каких областях работают заказчики агентства, попросив назвать несколько компаний-клентов. Не нужно переживать, что вам долго ищут работу. Обычно срок исполнения заказа зависит от его сложности. Работодатели редко сотрудничают с одним кадровым агентством, обычно с тремя-четырьмя. Так же поступайте и вы.

Вы можете составить список людей, которые могли бы помочь вам в поиске работы, и обзвоните всех. Даже неблизкие знакомые станут вам помогать: удачное «сватовство» будет дополнительным плюсом для них самих как в ваших глазах, так и в глазах вашего работодателя. Не стесняйтесь напоминать о себе знакомому. Передайте ему ваше резюме, чтобы он не был голословен, представляя вас начальству.

Просматривайте рубрики с вакансиями из интересующей вас сферы, и посвященные смежным специальностям. В объявлении должны быть указаны четкие требования к кандидатам, профиль компании, конкретная должность и развернутая контактная информация. Если этих обязательных данных нет. То поищите другие варианты. Если вас просят несколько раз перезвонить и не отвечают на вопросы, вычеркивайте компанию из списка.

Посетив специализированный сайт в Интернете, вы имеете возможность ознакомиться с ситуацией на рынке труда, а размещая там свое резюме, экономите время на его рассылке по работодателям. Но помните, вам следует искать работу только на зарекомендовавших себя сайтах.

UNIT 4. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT.

SECTION 1. KEY VOCABULARY.

Exercise 1.Match the words with their corresponding definitions.

peer to improve development

recruit to retrain development program

co-worker training on-the-job training

instructor experienced off-the job training

promotion

1. teaching operational or technical employees how to do the job for which they were hired;

2. instruction in skills required to perform a job by a supervisor or experienced worker in the actual work environment rather than in a simulated work site;

3. teaching managers and professionals the skills needed for both present and future jobs;

4. program designed to improve employee’s conceptual and human relations skills in preparation for future job;

5. learning about skills which takes place in the classroom;

6. to learn new skills or teach someone the skills needed to do a different job;

7. someone who has recently joined a company or organization;

8. someone who is experienced has done a particular type of job before and therefore has knowledge and skills connected with the job;

9. to make something better;

10. a person whose job is to teach people a particular skill;

11. a person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group;

12. an advancement to a position with higher status and greater responsibility, usually with an increase in salary;

13. someone who works with you and has a similar job or position.

Exercise 2. Read and translate the text.

Training and Development.

A major purpose of training and development is to remove the performance limitations current or anticipated, that are causing an employee to perform at less than the desired level. An organization may save money by recruiting trained individuals, but many organizations have found that training and development programs are preferable to hiring experienced employees. EDS, for example, has found that hiring "green" recruits is better than hiring experienced workers from other organizations because it doesn't have retrain the new employees to do things its way. Because training and development are so important and costly, organizations want them carried out as effectively as possible.

Training for the Job. Training refers to improving an employee's skills to the point where he or she can do the current job. Training is particularly important to organizations that provide a standardized service to their customers, such as the Walt Disney Company. One of the reasons for Disney's success is the training that employees receive at Disney University. The following Insight gives you a look at how Disney employees are trained there to provide extraordinary, and consistent, customer service.

Walt Disney said that it takes people to make a dream come true. To make sure that customers' dreams come true, he founded Disney University in Anaheim, Cal­ifornia in 1955. According to Bill Ross, manager for human resource training at Disney U., employees attending Disney U. learn how to play their roles - such as Mickey Mouse and Snow White—and play them well. Disney U. trainers use audio-visual programs, role playing, and other training methods to teach employees proper Disney behaviors. Trainees are shown examples of both good and bad guest relations, and copies of guest complaints are circulated to all trainees so they can be taught which behaviors to avoid. Training focuses on helping employees understand what customers expect to see and what Disney wants its guests to experience. For ex­ample, to create a warm, intimate atmosphere, employees greet all guests at Dis­ney hotels personally and call them by their first names. Training in guest courtesy is required for all new Disney employees. Telephone operators learn how to "Put a Smile in Their Voice." Finally, all new employees experience the park as guests before starting to work. This gives them first-hand experience in being a guest and helps them appreciate how a guest feels about standing in line for a long time or being served quickly and in a friendly way in a restaurant.

Many organizations are spending considerable sums of money on remedial training programs for employees. There are about 25 million adults in the United States who are unable to read, write, or do simple arithmetic. Therefore, organizations such as McGraw-Hill, Monsanto, and Scott Paper, among others, have training programs designed to help employees write letters to customers, read warning labels on chemical containers, or understand machine operating symbols. These organizations believe that if employees.

Development Programs. Development programs seek to improve an employee's conceptual and human relation skills in preparation for future jobs. Given the increasingly complex demands placed on managers, many organizations invest a great deal of time and money in development programs. It is estimated that U.S. organizations spend more than $60 billion each year on training and development. Before sending an employee to a development program, a needs analysis is done to identify his or her particular problems. The needs that are usually examined include the abilities to set goals and objectives for others, negotiate interper­sonal conflicts, and conduct performance appraisal reviews.

On-the-Job Programs. On-the-job development programs are tailored to fit the individual's specific needs. IBM, for example, requires all of its managers to attend at least forty hours of management development programs each year. Many employ­ees go to IBM's development center at Armonk, New York for these programs. Such programs are geared to helping managers gain insight into how their organization operates and upgrade their specific managerial practices for future jobs at IBM.

Off-the-Job Programs. Off-the-job development programs remove employees from the stress and daily routines of their jobs, enabling them to focus more fully on \ the learning experience. Employees from a variety of organizations attend such programs. Participants learn not only from the instructor, but also from their peers.

Some organizations send selected employees to university-sponsored management development programs. Penn State, Duke, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Stanford, among others, offer such programs, which run from two to sixteen weeks in length. Many managers who attend such programs are slated for either a promotion or an assignment in a different division or department. The organization wants to broaden these managers' perspective and prepare them for general (as opposed to functional) management positions.

The Center for Creative Leadership was established as a nonprofit organization in 1970, to encourage and develop creative leadership and management practices. It accomplishes this goal through research and management development programs. In one of the most popular programs, Looking Glass, participants engage in an organizational simulation. Looking Glass re-creates "a day in the life" of the top twenty managers of a mid-sized glass manufacturing organization. In running this corporation for eight hours, students face more than a hundred diverse managerial problems, ranging from whether or not to purchase a new plant to environmental pollution problems to filling a vacant plant manager position. Participants see how their management style affects others' motivation and commitment and discover how an organization's design can promote as well as hinder effective problem solving.

One of the greatest challenges to off-the-job development programs takes place when the employee returns to his or her job: If the organization does not encourage and reinforce the behaviors that the employee has newly mastered, he or she will become discouraged and will give them up. An employee who has gone through an on-the-job development program can easily call or see fellow co-workers who went j through the same program and ask them for advice. The employee who's just completed an off-the-job program, on the other hand, probably has no co-workers to turn to. The support and encouragement of co-workers are critical if the employee is to retain newly learned behaviors.

Exercise 3. Give the definitions to the words in italics.

1. New staff have a week’s training in how to use the computer.

2. 90% of the graduates were offered on-the-job training.

3. Training and development programs should be evaluated.

4. Development programs seek to teach behaviors that employees will need in the future.

5. Both training and development can be conducted on the job or off the job.

6. We bought new software and had to retrain everyone to use the database.

7. The reason for the interrogation is clear; many recruits work out badly.

8. The company has a small team of experienced sales people.

9. Training and development programs can improve employees’ performance.

10. Do you think it’s true that teenage girls are less self-confident than their male peers?

11. She has been recommended for promotion by her boss.

12. The report criticized them for being bad team players, unable to communicate verbally with their co-workers.

Exercise 4. Complete the passage using the following words and phases:

training, programs, promotion, employees, development, training firm, in-house talent, on-the-job training, development programs.

A. After an individual is chosen for hiring or 1..., the next step is often some form of training. In human resource management, 2... usually refers to teaching operational or technical 3..., how to do the job for which they were hired. 4... refers to teach managers and professionals the skills needed for both present and future jobs. Most organizations provide regular training and 5... ... for managers and employees. For example, IBM spends $750 million annually on 6... and has a vice president in charge of employee education. All told, American business spends $30 billion each year on formal training and development programs away from the office or shop floor. This figure doesn’t include wages and benefits paid to employees while they are participating in such programs.

2. Selection of a particular method or methods depends on many considerations, but perhaps the most important is training content. When the training content is factual material, then assigned reading, programmed learning, and lecture methods work well. However, when the content is human relations or group decision making, firms must use a method that allows interpersonal contract, such as role playing or case discussion groups. When a physical skill is to be learned, methods allowing practice and the actual use of tools and material are needed, as in 7... ... or vestibule training. Interactive video is also becoming popular. This approach, relying on a computer-video hookup, is a promising method for combining several of others. Xerox, Massachusetts Mutual, and Ford have all reported tremendous success with this method. Other considerations in selecting a training method are cost, time, number of trainees, and whether the training is to be done by 8... ... or contracted to an outside 9... ... .

Exercise 5. Match the words and phrases with their corresponding definitions.

1. in-service training

2. peer group

3. to seek

4. trainee

5. trainer

6. to promote

7. to set goals

8. participant

1. to establish aims for doing something

2. on-the-job training

3. to raise someone to a higher or more important rank or position

4. a person who teaches skills to people and prepare them for a job

5. a person who takes part in or becomes involved in a particular activity

6. to search for, look for or try to find or obtain

7. the group of people of about the same age and of the same social position

8. someone who is being taught the skills and knowledge to do a particular job.

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences using the phrases (1-8) from Exercise 5. Change the form of the words where necessary.

1. He joined the company as a management ... .

2. A lot of wealthy people have their own personal ... .

3. All ... finishing the race will receive a medal.

4. If I’m not ... within the next two years I’m going to change jobs.

5. They have ... themselves a series of ... to achieve by the end of the month.

6. Most of the posts would be taken by the short-term unemployed, the group that is actively ... jobs.

7. Our new staff receive ... ... .

8. These children scored significantly lower on intelligence tests than others in their ... ... .

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

A. 1. Молодой специалист прошел обучение по месту работы.

2. Эта группа равных по возрасту и положению людей работает в известной японской фирме.

3. Что Вы пишите?

4. Причина кроется в его слабости.

5. За объяснением далеко ходить не надо. ( Причина ясна.)

6. Где Ваш стажер?

7. Неужели Ваш инструктор никогда не объяснял правила дорожного движения?

8. Ему присвоили звание капитана.

9. Он продвинулся по службе, обойдя других.

10. Как начальник отдела, Вы должны ставить четкие цели перед своими подчиненными.

11. Все участники конференции «Методика преподавания иностранных языков в вузе» получат сертификаты.

12. Он главный участник конференции.

B. 1. Ровня – это человек, равный другому в каком-либо отношении.

2. Новичок – новый член коллектива.

3. Инструктор – должностное лицо, инструктирующее и проверяющее подведомственные учреждения, общественные организации и т.д.

4. Инструктор – профессионал, обучающий какой-либо специальности и мастерству.

5. Профессиональное обучение – процесс повышения квалификации, который может осуществляться путем обучения на специальных курсах, организуемых работодателями или образовательными институтами, до поступления на работу либо во время работы.

6. Профессиональное обучение по месту работы – обучение на работе под контролем более опытного сотрудника.

7. Эта форма подготовки отличается от обучения на курсах, которое проводится работодателем или другой организацией со стороны.

8. Большинство фирм организуют профессиональное обучение с отрывом от производства.

9. Повышение в должности – перемещение на более высокую должность.

10. Развитие – процесс закономерного изменения, перехода из одного состояния в другое, более совершенное; переход от старого качественного состояния к новому, от простого к сложному, от низшего к высшему.

11. Развитие экономики – общий термин, обозначающий абсолютное и относительное изменение макроэкономических показателей, характеризующих состояние экономики страны во времени в течение продолжительного периода.

12. Переподготовка кадров – процесс углубления знаний и навыков, обусловленный повышением квалификационных требований, необходимостью освоения смежных отраслей знаний или профессий, переходом на новую работу.

SECTION 2. SKILLS FOCUS.

Exercise 1. Read the following text and answer the questions.

Starting a New Job

Jack Smythe, branch manager for a large computer manufacturer, had been told by his marketing manager Bob Sprague that Otis Brown had just given two weeks notice. When Jack had interviewed Otis, he had been convinced of his tremendous potential in sales. Otis was bright and personable, an MIT honor graduate in electrical engineering who had the qualifications that the company looked for in computer sales. Now he was leaving after only two months with the company. Jack called Otis into his office for an exit interview.

Jack: Come in, Otis, I really want to talk to you. I hope I can change your mind about leaving.

Otis: I don't think so.

Jack: Well, tell me why you want to go. Has some other company offered you more money?

Otis: No. In fact, I don't have another job; I'm just starting to look.

Jack: You've given us notice without having another job?

Otis: Well, I just don't think this is the place for me!

Jack: What do you mean?

Otis: Let me see if I can explain. On my first day at work, I was told that my formal classroom training in computers would not begin for a month. I was given a sales manual and told to read and study it for the rest of the day.

The next day I was told that the technical library, where all the manuals on computers are kept, was in a mess and needed to be organized. That was to be my responsibility for the next three weeks.

The day before I was to begin computer school, my boss told me that the course had been delayed for another month. He said not to worry, however, because he was going to have James Crane, the branch's leading salesperson, give me some on-the-job training. I was told to accompany James on his calls. I'm supposed to start the school in two weeks, but I've just made up my mind that this place is not for me.

Jack: Hold on a minute, Otis. That's the way it is for everyone in the first couple of months of employment in our industry. Any place you go will be the same. In fact, you had it better than I did. You should have seen what I did in my first couple of months.

Questions:

1. What do you think about the philosophy of this company pertaining to a new employee’s first few weeks on the job?

2. What suggestions do you have for Jack to help his company avoid similar problems of employee turnover in the future?

Exercise 2. Read the following text and answer the questions.