1. Environmental dimension: Environment is
a factor of production. People need proper working place, equipment etc. for
effective performance. When
non-performance or poor performance is attributable to the following factors,
performance problems are said to have environmental dimension:
ü Rules do not
permit them to do what they are required to do.
ü Procedures
prevent them from performing.
ü Resources
necessary for performance are not available.
ü People do not
know what is expected of them.
ü People lack tools necessary for performance.
2. Motivational Dimension: Over and above
the resources such as equipment, funds, etc, people require motivation to
perform. There may be situations where poor performance is attributable to lack
of motivation. Some of the situations when performance problem is attributable
to lack of motivation may be as under:
ü Performance is
punishing (by assignment of additional work)
ü Non–Performance
is not punishing (When there is no performance appraisal system in the
organization, non-performance may not be detected at all and they may get off
with their poor performance)
ü Non–Performance
is rewarded (erratic application of the reward and punishment system in the
organization may lead to non-performers being rewarded)
ü Performance is risky (a performer may commit mistakes and may be required to answer a number of inconvenient and embarrassing questions whereas a non-performer has neither done anything right nor wrong)
3. Behavioural dimension: Lack of
performance may be attributable to lack of knowledge and skill of the persons
responsible for performance. It may be due to variety of circumstances such as:
ü The complexity
of the task to be performed
ü Individuals
concerned may be new to the organization
ü The individuals
may be new to the particular assignment
ü The assignment is occasional in nature that one could not acquire mastery over the performance of the task and maintain it.
4. As seen above, the problems may have multiple dimensions. The solutions to the performance problem depend upon its dimensions. If frequent power cut is responsible for the Performance Problem, the solution might be to install a generator or construct a transformer. There may be a situation where someone is not able to perform because the assignment is new and complex. Training may be thought of as a solution. There may be also a situation where the problem is attributable to the old technology followed by the organization. The solution may be to introduce modern technology. This will give rise to another requirement i.e. training the employees in the new technology. Thus, a performance problem may have a purely non-training solution; or a training solution or a combination of both.
5. You may appreciate that if training is to contribute for organizational growth, there must be active and effective integration between training and non-training interventions.
7. In fact, the
solution to the problem is possible only when the cause of the problem is
known. Very often, there might be confusion between a problem, its symptom and
cause. Suppose there is always a big crowd in a particular branch of a Bank. Is
it a problem or a symptom of a problem? Well, it may be neither. It may be a
symptom of the efficiency of the branch. A symptom is what meets the eye – the
factor that prompts you to examine the issue further. Suppose you wish to
examine the symptom of big crowd in the branch of the Bank. The problem may be
that the time taken for clearing cheques is long. To put it in the form of the
equation we saw in previous para, "whereas a cheque ought to be cleared in
10 minutes, it is being cleared in 20 minutes”. This problem may be due to any
one of the following causes:
ü The ledgers
required for making entries may not be handy
ü The office
layout and the seating pattern of the employees may pose a hindrance to free
movement
ü The person
responsible for processing the cheques may be inefficient and hence slow
ü The computers used for the purpose may be slow and may need upgradation.
8. The solution to the problem depends upon the causes of the problem. One cause may give rise to a number of problems and a problem may have more than one cause. It is also necessary to note that there may be a cause behind a cause. It is possible that there is delay in processing cases in an office because the old records required for processing are not easily available. The old records are not easily available because the Record room is not being maintained properly. The Record room is not being maintained properly because, it was constructed for holding 5000 records but presently there are 15000 records therein. The number of records in the Record room is disproportionate to its capacity because… and it goes on. This way you should keep on asking why? How? Why? How? Repeatedly till you reach the root cause. This will guide you to possible solutions.
9. The solutions,
which emerge as a result of the analysis of the Performance problem, will
contain several non-training interventions. There may be some solutions
relating to the up gradation of the knowledge and skills of the employees.
These are known as Learning Needs. There are several structured and
unstructured informal ways of fulfilling these Learning Needs. Some of them may
be as under:
- The employees whole knowledge and skills are to be enhanced, may be posted as an understudy to an experienced worker.
- Job Aids in the form of Tip Sheets, Task Guidance chart, etc. may be provided for reference when required.
- Information required for enhancement of performance may be provided to the employees in the form of brochures, circulars, manuals, etc.
- Mentoring assistance may be provided to the needy.
- Allowing more time for practice.
10. There may also
be situations where such informal solutions may not work. The reasons may be:
- The skill to be acquired may be complex and call for regular, formal efforts to impart them.
- Informal methods may be costly – you cannot afford to put one experienced senior behind every new recruit. This will affect the productivity of the seniors.
- It may be time consuming.
- It may be risky – you may not like to train fire service personnel to learn things through self – practice.
The Learning needs which could not be fulfilled though the informal arrangements are known as Training Needs, for which Training is necessary.
