Table of Contents
Plan for Hiring and Developing Employees
Employees should master their leadership competencies, which are revealed through effective roles and behaviors for managerial responsibilities. The development of leadership competencies can help managers embrace qualitative data and introduce human resources plans. There are six major leadership competencies, which could be exercised by an employee. These are values and ethics which could be demonstrated through commitment to organizational culture, efficient problem solving, ensuring transparency and equality, flexibility in decision making, readiness to generate innovative ideas, and ability to motivate others (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). All these competencies should be learned to enhance communication skills and knowledge of company’s internal processes, techniques, materials, and equipment. During the preliminary stage, communication is an inherent component of successful interaction and integration into a working team. Additionally, there should be a specific framework within which the new employee starts developing his/her leadership skills.
The Presidential Management Fellow’s Program is directed at enhancing leadership and attracting women who excel in management and leadership skills. By developing skills by means of this program, the new employee can meet the workforce planning needs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The Presidential Management Fellow’s Program is composed of five major elements, such as training and professional development, individual development plan, training itself, performance management, and promotion.
There is a range of activities which could be employed in the context of the PMF. It includes two weeks of interactive training that would address the leadership competencies above mentioned. The training should be presented in a formal atmosphere and should directly deal with the working process to make the new employee understand how theoretical knowledge can immediately be applied to practice. Training of security and ethical conduct is also included into the training and development programs. As soon as employees learn more about the internal activities, along with duties and responsibilities, the attention should be paid to the analysis of the shifts in knowledge, experience and skills that occur in two weeks (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2013). The task of the new employee is to provide a memorandum to a mentor reflecting the major challenges she encounters during the training program. She should also provide the experience and knowledge she acquired during training and development. The task of the mentor is to take control over the changes occurred to the identified leadership skills, as well as the major strengths and weaknesses of the potential candidature.
The second element will include the creation of an individual development plan that can provide the new employee with objectives and goals that ensure the level of satisfaction, as well as the employee’s position on the program completion. In this context, the task of the mentor is to define the resources and materials required for implementing the plan and familiarize the PMF with different operations and components of the U. S. government. Further, the stage also implies addressing the way program will accomplish her career development, as well as the way employee will gain experience to perform the role of a leader or manager. The PMF should carry out an IDP within 45 days on duty date in cooperation with mentor. The major goals of the individual development plan should include the description of the target position, which the leader, the skills and competencies in such areas as leadership, personnel management, strategy development, budget and financial management, program analysis, procurement, and information systems. The stage also provides an outline of skills and knowledge which should be acquired within two years of the program implementation. It should also include a range of specific tasks, training issues, and other activities directed at enhancing skills, competencies and knowledge. Additionally, the stage also defines the training schedule for the identified task with the necessary updates and reviews of previous challenges. Means of tracing of objectives and progress should lead to the establishment of a permanent position.
The third element includes the training itself and is a valuable contribution for developing the employee’s technical skills. In this context, the implementation of the corresponding codes and standards is an obligatory condition. For instance, the implementation of New Employee Orientation standards should be included, along with ethics and security standards. In such a way, the new employee can expand his/her knowledge on the available programs and union which could be helpful for protecting her rights in the workplace. Furthermore, the training opportunities proposed to the employee can also include online trainings, meetings, and conferences during which the employee can gain valuable experience in techniques and approaches that would enhance his/her leadership competencies.
The fourth element is performance management that focuses on the employee’s role in the company’s language associated with the professional development. The task of the mentor is to describe the employee’s duties and responsibilities and make employee become more aware of the importance of updates made to an individual development plan. There are performance standards dictated by the plan to address the required competences, rotations, trainings, as well as a number of skills defined in the individual plant that should match the requirements of the position.
The final element involves promotion which focuses on the performance opportunities, as well as employees’ potential to be promoted at a career ladder. Additionally, the employee will learn about the standards of full assessment, as well as provide the year of service at the current grade (Borrego & Johnson, 2011). The knowledge of the promotion criteria will also demonstrate the employee’s ability to carry out task at a satisfactory level. Promotion opportunities are provided as soon as you complete 80 hours of professional training. As soon as the employee is integrated into a training and developmental process, it will be possible to understand how the leadership competencies can be applied in practice, as well as predict what other measures should be taken to help the employee successfully accomplish his/her duties and responsibilities. In addition to the above-presented elements, the employee should also learn about the social package she can receive after she takes the position. The benefits should be provided in accordance with the labor laws and regulations; they should be deprived of any display of gender discrimination. The task of the mentor is to take control of the situation to eliminate any instances of discrimination or stereotyped attitude towards the new employee.
Due to the fact that the potential candidature is a young woman from a single-parent family, the attention should be paid to the gender discrimination laws that would protect the employee from any display of inadequate behavior or attitude. There are a number of recommendations for a person with no experience in the sphere, but with a high level of theoretical knowledge (Borrego & Johnson, 2011). To begin with, the employee should immediately resort to real-to-life problems and decisions. While taking the leading positions, the mentor should encourage him/her to organize meetings for familiarizing herself/himself for the personnel and developing his/her own strategic vision that would coincide with that of the company he/she works with. Hence, during the stage of training and professional development, the employee can focus on such aspects commitment to the organizational culture and readiness to generate innovative ideas. These leadership skills are crucial at the preliminary stage of the employee integration into the working team.
During the stage of individual development plan, the emphasis should be placed on personal and character traits that contribute to the enhancement of leadership competencies such as discipline, accuracy, willingness to learn, or charisma. These aspects should be analyzed by a mentor who should provide the corresponding activities and assessment test that would make the employee recognize the advantages and potential gaps of her character and personality. Furthermore, the psychological assessment will also help her define the identity and provide new routes for professional development and self-determination.
The training process should contribute to the increase in the job satisfaction, as well as achievement of equality and transparency (Singh, 2013). In particular, the attention should be paid to the interpersonal skills of leaders who are emotionally intelligent. The latter is of great value because it is an integral component of job satisfaction for employees and their organizations. The productivity could be promoted in case employees’ needs were associated by the employees. With reliance on these assumptions, the assessment of emotional intelligence approaches should also be introduced to increase effectiveness of employee’s engagement into the working team (Borrego & Johnson, 2011).
Performance management is among the most important stage during which such skills as problem solving, decision making, and ethical codes are developed and enhanced. Therefore, performance management is associated with constant self-evaluation that contributes to ethical decision-making. Performance management is also about the development and monitoring appropriate behavioral patterns which can contribute to the competencies and professionalism of the employee (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2013). It can also provide new incentives for the new employee to generate creative ideas and organize meetings to practice brainstorming activities. Additionally, problem solving skills are essential for ensuring efficient communication. Therefore, performance management should also deal with the organizational culture. The latter should be taken into consideration by the employee in case he/she wants to be promoted and become a successful leader.
As it has been mentioned before, promotion can be encouraged in case the new employee is able to reveal sufficient awareness of duties and responsibilities. There should also be tangible shifts and improvement during practical activities. For instance, the employee must be engaged in real-life situation to solve organizational problems, such as high turnover rate or retention culture to be able to contribute to the mission and vision of the company. More importantly, the potential employee should also adhere to the social corporate responsibility initiatives to be able to encourage other stakeholders and members of the team to promote ethical decision making, as well as introduce values and virtues in the workplace. The ability to motivate others is the major skill which should be possessed by each leader. Therefore, the new employee should develop motivation and create incentives for the personnel. In this respect, it is highly recommended for the mentor to create a favorable environment that would encourage leaders to search for new approaches and opportunities that would increase performance and productivity of the working team. The emphasis should be placed on personal preferences and incentives, such as opportunities for promotion, rewarding and bonus schemes, or availability of projects that can ensure self-development. Similar opportunities should be provided to the personnel. The task of the future leader is to be able to inform her team about new possibility for professional development and promotion. She should be able to create a healthy competition among other employees, as well as provide new motivation for increasing performance. Sustaining an organizational culture is among the incentives which would stimulate the leader and his/her followers.