Training and skill development

Training and skill development

• Training and development help increasing employees’ level of competence, thus increasing their productivity.
• It shows company commitment to its employees, thus encouraging employee loyalty and commitment to the company.

Companies need to adopt a policy of training their employees to develop their skills and level of competence.  Increasing the employees’ skills and competence can significantly increase productivity, both qualitatively and quantitatively in a company. Besides, providing training and skill development opportunities shows the company’s commitment to its employees’ welfare and development. As a result, the company will not only be able to earn its employees’ loyalty but also earn from their set new skills.

2. Cross-utilization and cross-training

• Cross-utilization and cross-training encourages transparency and accountability within the organization
• It discourages absenteeism among employees.
• It promotes job security among employees

Cross-utilization and cross-training is the ability of an organization to use their employees for different tasks within the organization. Cross-utilization is beneficial to the company because it encourages transparency within the organization structure. It also removes boredom and absenteeism among works, thus increasing productivity. Furthermore, it encourages creativity within the work environment. That is, an employee in a new work station might help identify a problem that an old employee has taken for granted.  Finally, it promotes job security among workers as companies find it hard to layoff multi-talented employees.

3. Symbolic Egalitarianism

• Helps in minimizing formalities within the organization thus encouraging communication between employees and employers

Symbolic egalitarianism is the concept of reducing the differences between employees in an organization. For instance, a company can have the same dress code for both employees and the executive, the company can have the same parking lot for all employees without any reservations spaces for executives, or everyone eats in the same cafeteria where all employees. Symbolic egalitarianism when effectively deployed in an organization setting can help in minimizing formalities within the organization. As result, there could be increased communication between employees and their employers. This means that employers can have the chance of timely knowing what is going on within the organization.

4. Wage compression

• Pay compression helps in reducing interpersonal competition within the organization.
• Encourages cooperation among employees
• Encourages jog satisfaction among the organization’s workers.

Wage compression refers to the situation where there is only a small difference in pay between employees regardless of their position, skills, or experience.  Pay compression helps in reducing interpersonal competition within an organization that might lead to low productivity. It also encourages cooperation between employees in executing coordinated projects within the organization. As a result, the company can be able to achieve its objectives in a more timely manner. Besides, it reduces the worry among employees, whether they are equitably paid and builds a less calculative culture. Finally, it encourages work satisfaction among workers, which in turn increases their productivity.

5. Promotion from within

• Promotion from within helps build trust between employees and employers.
• It also helps the organization save its time and resources.

Promotion from within encourages training and skill development among workers. Besides, it helps promote trust between employees and employers since promotion opportunities are within. This means that employers consider the growth and welfare of its employees. Also, promotions within helps an organization save their time and resources that would have otherwise been used in the tedious recruitment process.

The disadvantage of achieving competitive advantage through the workforce

• It takes a long time to achieve the company objective but, when complete, can sustain the company for a long time in a less costly manner.

The bad news about achieving competitive advantage through the workforce is that it takes a long time. For instance, it takes much time to train an employee on a specific set of skills that could be of benefit to the company. By contract, new marketing strategies like price change or acquisition of new technologies can quickly be done without putting in too much time. However, if a competitive advantage is achieved through the workforce, it is likely to be applicable for a long time in a less costly manner.