UNDP Vocational Education AND training project

1. UNDP Vocational Education AND training project Dr. Nicole Vartanian November 2011

2. Management and assessmentof human resourcesin VET institutions

3. Overarching questions • What are the most vital dimensions of effective employee management? • How does an institution develop meaningful and fair employee assessments?

4. Human resource management • Strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture • Enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to institution’s goals and objective • The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today, people must understand why they're working hard. Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different. • Rick Pitino, University of Louisville basketball coach • The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. • Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers football coach

5. Setting the tone • Recruiting • Hiring wrong employee is costly and time consuming • Hiring right employeeyields productivityand positive impact • Defining job clearly saves time for job-seekers and employers • Advertising in range of job sites develops candidate pool • Reviewing applicant materials closely can help identify skills that may be better suited for another open position • Interviewing strategy should be tailored to position and include behavioral scenarios • Offering position should include written confirmation of responsibilities and benefits

6. Creating a collegial work culture • Diversity • Identifying applicants who add unique perspectives to institution is a net positive • Demonstrates value placed on incorporating range of backgrounds into work culture • Motivation • Cooperative work environment facilitates productivity and job satisfaction • Recognition for performance fuels motivation • Empowerment and control of responsibilities inspires excellence

7. Professionalizing the workplace • Compensation • Employees largely feel amount of pay is less important than its perceived fairness regarding inputs and outcomes • Sense of equity maintained if transparent and consistent as possible across departments, jobs, organization • Benefits • Increase the economic security of employees • Can include health care, pension, vacation/sick leave days, sabbatical • Career ladders • Explicit opportunities for vertical promotion demonstrate investment in employee development and retention • Progression to higher levels of pay, skill, responsibility, or authority denotes upward professional mobility

8. Preparing for change • Change management • Structured approach to transitioning organizations from a current state to a desired future state • Can cause anxiety among employees whose responsibilities shift • Most effective when aligns expectations, communicates to stakeholders, integrates constituents, manages professional development • Training • Ongoing professional development central to personal and professional growth of employees • Especially critical during periods of planning and change • Keeps employee skills sharp and current with market trends

9. Managing conflict • Dispute resolution • Employees need clear guidelines and resources available to aid in managing and resolving conflict • Charts and descriptions of who faculty and staff may consult during workplace dispute should be accessible • Labor relations • HR departments work closely with legal and union representatives to sustain a collaborative employee-management environment • Goals are to interpret contracts, resolve grievances amicably and work effectively together

10. Designing meaningful and fair employee assessments • Cultivate buy-in • Agree to value of providing feedback on accomplishments and areas in need of improvement • Encourage employee to complete a self-assessment of prior year and draft goals for the coming year as partial basis for evaluation • Define expectations • Establish mutually understood performance goals • Develop plan for maintaining satisfactory job performance or for improving performance • Address specific performance problems as they occur • Establish trust • Assure dialogue will be open, two-way, fair, confidential • Provide evaluations that are constructive and substantive

11. Ensuring meaningful and fair employee assessments • Model leadership • Embody openness to performance assessment as manager • Design 360-degree evaluations • Request input from managers, peers, and direct reports • Offers helpful data on skills such as listening, planning, and goal-setting and areas such as teamwork, character, and leadership effectiveness • Provide transparency • Follow consistent timelines and procedures for performance evaluations • Establish routine process for all employees to diminish any sense of favoritism or preferential treatment

12. Additional management principles • Comply with all employment laws when hiring and employing personnel • Establish a clear conflict of interest policy • Institute succession plans and other mechanisms to handle transitions in leadership and other key positions • Complete background checks on employees working with financial data or in other sensitive areas • Ensure ongoing evaluation for most effective results • Create a mutually supportive environment for employee and institutional growth