Opportunities and risks in the personnel development process

Table of contents

I. Introduction
1.1 Definition of personnel development

2 The personnel development process
2.1 Phase 1: The personnel requirements analysis
2.2 Phase 2: The objective of personnel development
2.3 Phase 3: The conception of personnel development
2.4 Phase 4: Implementation of personnel development measures
2.5 Phase 5: Evaluation and transfer assurance

3 Opportunities and risks of different stakeholder groups of the personnel development process
3.1 Opportunities and risks of needs analysis
3.2 Opportunities and risks of the objective
3.3 Opportunities and risks of the conception
3.4 Opportunities and risks of implementation
3.5 Opportunities and risks of evaluation and transfer assurance

4 Recommendations for action in the context of reflection

Bibliography

I. Introduction

"The German economy is running at full speed and is growing at its fastest rate in years." (Frankfurter Allgemeine, undated, Internet source)

The German economy has been growing continuously for the last 6 years. In terms of gross domestic product, Germany is the largest economy in Europe. In addition, the German economy as an export country benefits enormously from the re-regenerating global economy. The consequences are rising consumer spending by citizens and corporate investment. (cf. Frankfurter Allgemeine, undated, Internet source) Globalization is leading to new challenges for companies that have to operate under increasing competition and high pressure to perform. (cf. Oenning, undated, Internet source) Accordingly, the demands on personnel who have to deal with technical innovations, for example, are also increasing. (cf. Eidenschink, undated, Internet source) In addition, employers have to deal with difficult conditions for personnel search. Due to the stagnating birth rate in Germany (cf. Lingenhöhl, undated, Internet source) there is a scarce supply of skilled workers and qualified management personnel. (cf. Hoffmann, Erwin, undated, e-book) In order to master these new challenges, the focus of companies is increasingly on human resource management. Now not only the personnel administration is found in it, which was initially understood as a subordinate and exclusively serving function, but also many other functions that deal with the employees of a company. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

Personnel are no longer ranked alongside other production factors, such as machines and raw materials, but are given a new status as the most important resource. Strategic tasks such as personnel planning, recruitment and the deployment of personnel in company personnel management now take up part of the overall corporate policy. (cf. Expertverlag, undated, Internet source) Another task of the company's human resources department is personnel development, which in operational practice serves to promote and develop employees with their skills and abilities. (cf. Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) In addition, personnel development between employers and employees acts as an interface to meet the needs and requirements of both parties. In the future, too, economic factors such as demographic development trends suggest that human resources management will continue to be a major issue for companies. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

The structure of the work begins with the definition of personnel development and then proceeds to the explanation of the personnel development process. Subsequently, opportunities and risks of the individual phases of the process, of different stakeholder groups are listed. As part of the reflection, recommendations for action for the companies are presented.

1.1 Definition of personnel development

A large number of different definitions of personnel development can be found in literature. In order to work with a uniform term limitation in the further course of the work, the object description is defined as follows:

Personnel development recognizes the increase in performance of a company through existing knowledge, qualifications, knowledge, skills and abilities of the employees and subdivide them into a strategic production factor. (cf. Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) The goal of personnel development is a qualitative and quantitative deployment of personnel. Personnel development can be carried out both for employees and for the management personnel of the company. Overall, the added value of the company can be increased by the human factor, so that personnel development is anchored as an important management instrument in corporate policy. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book) Personnel development is divided into three levels: in the narrower sense, in the broader sense and in the broad sense. In the narrower sense, the level is primarily focused on the measures of training the employee base. The intention in the extended sense level is the promotion of the potential of the employees and in the broad sense level the development of the entire organization. In detail, these can be measures such as vocational training, further training or coaching. (cf. Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) Personnel development is closely linked to recruitment and personnel deployment, as the company must continuously compensate for personnel releases, such as natural fluctuations. The aim is to provide a workforce with a sustainable build-up of qualifications in addition to the required quantity. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

2 The personnel development process

2.1 Phase 1: The personnel requirements analysis

Phase 1: The personnel requirements analysis

The personnel requirements analysis forms a basis for targeted personnel development by comparing the current state (actual situation) with the target conditions.

Personnel requirements are divided into gross and net requirements. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

Gross staffing requirements include all employees needed to achieve the company's goals. (cf. Naujokat, undated, Internet source) On the other hand, the net workforce refers to all employees who need to be hired or dismissed in order to achieve the optimal number of employees (gross personnel). As a result, the difference between the current state and the gross personnel requirement determines the quantitative as well as the qualitative personnel requirements. A tool for determining internal development needs is the qualification matrix. "The qualification matrix is an instrument which, in its simple form, clearly assigns the different qualification requirements of the company to the respective employees of the company." (Kaiser, 1994, e-book) The demand factors of companies differ from those of employees. The company-related demand factors are differentiated into internal and external factors. Internal factors include changing the corporate strategy, expanding or changing the product range or rationalization measures. The external factors relate to economic changes, intation of competition or policy changes.

The employee-related demand factors are divided into company-related and personality-related factors. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

2.2 Phase 2: The objective of personnel development

The objectives can relate to the three areas of competence, the technical, the methodological and the social competence area. Professional competence is the ability to link, deepen, review and apply subject-related and interdisciplinary knowledge in contexts of action. (cf. Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) Methodological competence includes the application of working techniques, procedures, analysis techniques and learning strategies. This includes: "(...) the ability to procure, structure, evaluate, recycle, present, correctly interpret the results of processing processes and present them appropriately." (Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) In the end, social competence rounds off the comprehensive competence through its ability to engage in dialogue, consensus and the ability to work in a team. (cf. Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, undated, Internet source) A concrete objective within the company can be the transfer of knowledge, which is classified under the technical competence area. Knowledge can be acquired about process flows, project management skills or "(...) theoretical knowledge that is helpful for a well-founded way of working." (Prosoft, undated, Internet source) Supporting measures can be seminars, workshops or training courses. A further goal can be pursued within behavioral optimization or personality development. On the one hand, this includes: "(...) the mediation, formation and practice of certain desired behaviours within the staff" and on the other hand, "(...) a smooth cooperation and a personal professional satisfaction are established or maintained." (Prosoft, undated, Internet source) In detail, the goal could be an improvement in dealing with customers, communication behavior or individual training regarding the position and task of employees. The area of behavioral optimization or job-related personality optimization usually falls under the social competence area. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

2.3 Phase 3: The conception of personnel development

In the conception of personnel development, the didactic and methodical design of development measures is in the foreground. "For the responsible teacher, didactics is about the didactic (temporal-methodological) planning of the lessons, the content, curricular, preparatory planning, the consideration of possible alternatives and variants and a mental attitude of the teacher to surprises." (Kaiser, 1994, e-book) Above all, the methodology defines the learning instruments to make teaching as effective, varied and motivating as possible. Phase 3 deals in summary with the basic question: "What is learned for what purpose, how, when and with what?" (Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

When selecting personnel development instruments, the size of the company must also be taken into account. There is a wide range of tools that can be applied not only in large companies, but also in medium-sized and small businesses, such as team development. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

2.4 Phase 4: Implementation of personnel development measures

The implementation deals with the organizational and infrastructural requirements of the personnel development measures. As a result, organizational elements that are derduced from action planning must be executed. Examples of the organization can be the timing, the number of participants, the cost and resource planning, the possible development of a trainer's guide and the content preparation. (cf. Bartscher/Frick, 2009, Internet source) Controlling is an important part of the implementation for a smooth implementation and the achievement of the targets. Together with the company management, learning progress and framework conditions can be monitored through various processes. Supporting procedures are the process stage control or the learning progress control. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

The learning theories are based on the NLP of John Grinder and Richard Banler. "Learning types are an individual's preferences in the way they absorb, process, and reproduce information." (Neuerburg, 2005, e-book) Depending on the learning type, one of the three essential forms for recording, processing and reproducing information is preferred. The visual learning type prefers to absorb the information through the eyes. The auditory learning type prefers to process acoustic signals and the kinesthetic learning type "(...) optimal learning is achieved by carrying out action sequences by hand." (Neuerburg, 2005, e-book)

2.5 Phase 5: Evaluation and transfer assurance

"Evaluation is understood to mean the implementation of concrete quality management measures to assess education." (Seufert, 2013, p. 350) This also includes the transfer performance, which the ensures the sustainable application of acquired knowledge in the workplace. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book) As already mentioned in phase 4, controlling during the process is an important component and an instrument for evaluating the entire process. "In every phase, from the objective to the implementation in practice, can and should be controlled and controlled." (Kaiser, 1994, e-book)

Controlling in detail therefore refers to the quality measurement of personnel development measures. According to Solga, the evaluation serves in personnel development "(...) the evaluation of the content and didactic design, implementation, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the programme.' (Ryschka/Solga/Mattenklott, 2008, e-book) On the one hand, the increase in qualifications can be made with the target-actual comparison, which can provide information about a possible replanning of development processes on the basis of the current situation determined. On the other hand, indicators of a successful process can be, for example, the changes in behavior and attitudes or the application of what has been learned in the everyday work of employees. (cf. Bartscher/Frick, 2009, Internet source)

3 Opportunities and risks of different stakeholder groups of the personnel development process

3.1 Opportunities and risks of needs analysis

The personnel requirements analysis provides a concrete actual and target value and enables the company to recruit personnel in a targeted way. This is not only compared quantitatively, but also qualitatively by the requirement profile. In this way, human resources management together with corporate management can ensure the continuous competitiveness of the company. In addition, the analysis can serve the short-, medium- or long-term planning of the management. In particular, the analysis of the qualitative needs for personnel development is of great importance. "From a qualitative point of view, demand describes the target-actual difference as the deviation of an actual (actual) state from a desired (target) state. The actual competencies reflect the current skills, abilities and behaviors of the employees." (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book) On the other hand, the target competencies include "(...) the actual activity requirements in the current or future workplace." (Kaiser, 1994, e-book) The staff benefits from the needs analysis as company-related and personality-related needs factors can be included through the analysis. "Skills gaps can exist in terms of the knowledge, skills and behaviour of employees." (Becker, 2005, e-book) The promotion through educational measures encourages the employees in the preparation for change and promotion, the securing of employment and changeability or the increase of influence and reputation. In addition, personal fulfillments such as joie de vivre and reorientation can be exploited. (cf. Kaiser, 1994, e-book) Personnel development is often not used by many medium-sized companies because the performance-enhancing benefits are not sufficiently recognized. In addition, personnel development can be costly and planning-intensive, so that smaller companies are often unable to use financial resources or companies are structurally inadequate. (cf. Stiefel, 2014, e-book) Thus, it often does not even come to a needs analysis.

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