Week 2 will focus on several issues related to people performance such as how a firm can evaluate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) of its employees.  We will also examine how the goals of organizations need to be connected to the individual employee goals as well as how HR can assess the KSA’s of its employees to make improvements.

Knowledge is the subjects, topics, and items of information of the employee that are applied directly to the performance of work functions.  Essentially an employee’s understanding of certain information. Skills are typically defined as the technical or manual abilities which are usually learned or acquired through training by the employee. Last, the abilities are the demonstrable capacity of the employee to apply knowledge and skills simultaneously to complete a task or perform the employee’s job functions. (Hunt, 2014). Accordingly, organizations and their HR department must ensure that potential candidates and employees with the most knowledge, best skills and abilities are recruited, selected and retained as employees into the organization. Additionally, organizations should continue to empower and develop employees through their tenure with the organization.   If the organization, employs the best suited employees based on KSA’s it will:

• remain competitive in the marketplace;
• reduce employee turnover rates; and
• align employee development with organizational objectives.

(Developing Employees, 2015).   Aligning employee KSA’a and their training and development are connected to the overall success of the organization.  Recruiting top candidates and hiring the right people with the best KSA’s to fit the organization is the first step; however, organizations need to continue the process with training of development of its employees as the needs of the business industry continue to change.  For example, when new regulations are adopted by the government, organizations need to have employees who are ready to change and adjust to the new regulations or be able to properly train staff on regulations to ensure consistent compliance.  Another example is how technology is ever changing and organizations need employees who will adapt to the new and often improved use of technology.  Additionally, organizations should be prepared to ensure all staff are properly trained in the future.

More and more organizations have become goal driven with clearly defined organizational and employee goals.  Goals for employees and the organization provides means to assess performance, as well as support future training and development.  Therefore, HR’s role in performance development, to assess performance and track growth of employees, is critical to ensure organizational success  “Employees assigned specific, difficult, yet achievable goals consistently outperform employees who are given no goals or nonspecific goals encouraging them to do their best.” (Hunt, 2014).  Having employees perform to the best of their ability will in turn, provide a more productive organization with a competitive advantage. It will also provide a greater sense of employee satisfaction.

Please watch Employee Development and Career Management (Links to an external site.), which will provide an overview on employee development.

References

Developing employees. (2015, July 23). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/developingemployees.aspx (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

Gregg Learning. (2016). Employee Development and Career Management. Retrieved from Employee Development and Career Management (Links to an external site.).

Hunt, S.T. (2014). Common sense talent management.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

Question 1:  Discuss the relationships among KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities), job analysis, organizational strategy, and HR activities. What are the KSAs needed by the firm to achieve the strategy and what KSAs are currently resident? How does the firm Amazon grow its KSAs to meet the strategic challenge? Support your post with at least one current and relevant article from the ProQuest database. Present your findings in 200 words or more in your discussion post. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.

Question 2:  Using Figure 5.4 on page 139 of your textbook, describe how to use the model to set developmental goals for the employee population. Are balanced goals important? Explain. Support your post with at least one current and relevant article from the Ashford Library database. Present your findings in 200 words or more in your discussion post. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
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