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Companies that provide or promote training programs to workers must also ascertain ROI. Employing the means to measure efficiency of training programs is helpful, if not utterly essential.

Training programs are one of the largest investments of companies wanting to improve the performance of employees, especially those in the bottom line of the organizational hierarchy. However, there may be questions in the efficiency and effectiveness of training programs. It is important then to measure the efficiency of training programs to ascertain the return of investments of companies cashing out for production improvement for the attainment of organizational goals.

Efficiency is defined as the capacity or power to produce the desired result at a minimum amount of time or resources. In accounting, it refers to the costs of inputs per outputs produced. For instance, a production facility is deemed efficient in making a particular product when it meets the budgeted amount of input or less to produce the required units of output. In training programs, it may seem efficient when the management has seen a rise of productivity level of workers in correspondence to the training budget and the actual amount of expenses and the time duration of training programs.

Moreover, a training program can be considered efficient when the revenues of the enterprise increase and that the program is within the means of the training budget.

Some companies may also measure the efficiency of training programs by comparing the productivity level of an individual worker to the training budget per employee. The company checks the result of the training program by evaluating the performance of the individual worker before and after the performance-enhancement program.

Cost is also one of the determinants of efficiency measurement of training programs. Companies that provide training programs to employees can see the worth of their investments by comparing the actual cost of the training to the training budget with the production output and revenue after the training program.

There are certain tools used to measure the efficiency of training programs. They may be within the scope of production management and accounting. Accountants, particularly management accountants, measure the costs of training budget and actual expenses, as well as the return of investment of the business-improvement programs, aside from capital acquisitions. The roles of the accountants and managers have certain significance to the decision-making and performance evaluation in the management level. The HR department also has important roles in the training of employees.

Training programs are perhaps one of the viable investments an enterprise can avail. It is not only for the betterment of the company, but also for the benefit of the employees. It is important then that business owners and managers, as well as HR personnel, to relay to employees the effects and benefits of training programs.

What are the tools used to measure efficiency of training programs?

Accountants may calculate the return of investments of training programs. The HR department may also take part in measuring the performance of employees that have undergone training programs. The management level checks and evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the employee-improvement programs using different relative factors.

There are traditional measurement tools used by different departments of an enterprise to determine the return of investment, efficiency, and effectiveness of training programs. The electronic tools can help in delivering the measurement data. However, electronic means cannot be considered replacements to the existing tools of measurement used for training programs evaluation. Instead, they are regarded as supplements in providing the accurate or closer to precise measurement for evaluation.

Tools used to measure efficiency of training programs may vary or are somewhat similar in every company that considers training programs as vital for the achievement of organizational goals.

Cost, time and quality are common factors and criteria in deriving the certain metrics to measure efficiency of hire programs. How important are they then?

There are metrics involved in measuring the efficiency of hire programs.  HR departments of companies may use different measures in hire programs to assess the worth of HR activities and to determine the classification of expenditures of certain activities. Quality, as well as time and cost per hire, can be used to measure efficiency of hire programs.

The hire programs of companies may incur cost and expenses, which may be seen as inevitable. However, expenses and costs must not be too much that they can become overbearing and wasteful if the needed result is not accomplished nor realized. Moreover, company owners and people in the HR department must be decisive and resourceful so the objectives of hire programs can be achieved. Though costs and expenses may be inevitable, they must not be sacrificed nor should they be higher than the required budget to meet HR deliverables. That is where the efficiency measurement comes in hire programs.

Cost per hire is a common measure in assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of hire programs. Cost per hire is regarded by many in the HR field to be simple. To derive the amount of the measure, certain costs can be taken into account. These may include advertising fees, agency fees, employee referrals, travel expenses, internal recruiter costs, and other costs associated with the hiring of a certain position. Because of different positions, the HR department may have different costs per hire for every position. Nevertheless, the average cost per hire can be calculated to assess the measure in hiring costs of the HR department.

Cost per hire is indeed seen as a valuable tool. However, since it does not take into account the quality of the hire and time length taken in filling the position, it can’t be considered the only basis in measuring the efficiency of hiring programs.

Some companies in the recruitment field use an improvised cost of hire measure of hiring efficiency. Known as efficiency per hire, this measure takes into account the total compensation of hire individuals aside from the total cost to hire with the number of candidates hired.  The efficiency per hire is derived by dividing the total cost to hire by the total compensation of candidates being hired.

Time per hire is another measure in hiring program efficiency. Ironically, time is one of the important factors in hiring activity that is not included to derive the cost per hire. Hence, it is important that the time of hiring activity for a certain position must be taken into account to assess the efficiency of the HR department in filling up the position required to be in the production, to increase or meet revenue estimates, and to attain the company goals.  With these in perspective, measuring time in hiring activity is indeed an important criterion in determining the efficiency of the HR department and its people.

Quality is another factor in measuring the efficiency of hire programs. It is one of the essential criteria; however, it is neither easy to calculate nor to estimate. Companies may use different measures and equation to assess the quality factor of the HR department and its hire programs.

Companies may use other metrics to measure efficiency of hire programs. They may include send-outs and hire by recruiters and candidate quality by sourcing channels. HR departments can use different metrics as well. What important are for the common elements to include cost, time, quality, and person or persons involved in the hiring process.

One of the more important functions of performance management is to be able to determine how an employee is performing in terms of certain performance metrics. After performance evaluation had been made, strategies could be adopted to improve their productivity. While these may sound simple, they may be difficult to implement. Measure and improve employee performance tips will provide managers more insight on what they need to do.

Performance management is one of the vital functions of managers within a business organization. This is so crucial that getting to know some measure and improve employee performance tips could spell the difference between business success and failure.

A business organization’s manpower is one of its most powerful assets. It is the responsibility of top-level management to ensure that the overall productivity of employees will help the company achieve its objectives. Performance management requires keeping track or monitoring of employee performance, evaluating job performance or fulfillment of duties, and communicating relevant feedback.

Generally, performance assessment is done regularly within an employment relationship. Some managers do this annually while others conduct this more often. While this is something that generally occurs in organizations, there are several managers who are still not able to fully grasp the rationale of such action. In fact, many remain uneducated about the legal concerns associated with the conduct of these performance evaluations.

Basically, these are mainly done to help employees improve their performance and increase their productivity in relation to corporate goals.  Through this activity, managers help their employees identify their individual strengths and weaknesses. These formal performance evaluations also serve as a written record or documentation of the employee’s performance within a certain period of time. In evaluation, five important categories are usually taken into consideration. These include job knowledge and skill, interaction, communication, quality concerns and productivity.

Communicating performance feedback is just as important as doing performance assessment. This process allows employees to become aware of what the other people in the organization think of the job he or she is doing. When doing performance assessment, managers should make sure that any feedback, especially negative ones, should not border on a personal attack. Rather, it should be kept impersonal and should only be based on the working behavior perceived by both manager and co-employees.

The feedback should, in fact, be acceptable to the concerned employee for him or her to accept and integrate it into his or her working routine. In contrast, if a feedback is found to be unacceptable, the concerned employee will develop resentment and will no longer be motivated in doing better. Sometimes, providing good feedback is just not enough. Deserving employees have to be rewarded as proof that their efforts are recognized by the organization. By rewarding performance, companies will be able to show their employees that they are important to them.

Conducting performance assessments is also one way of identifying the current skills of employees and the important skills that they need to develop to become more productive. The managers should be able to determine the skill gaps in the organization and should be able to develop an appropriate training and development program that will narrow this gap.

Performance management styles may differ from one company to another depending on the unique attributes of firms. However, performance management, in general, is seen as a strategic approach to maximize the productivity of the entire workforce. Browsing through websites that give measure and improve employee performance tips should be advantageous for managers.

Control employee performance tips help managers learn from other experienced managers on how to effectively manage employee performance. Fortunately, with the development of the Internet, having access to these is no longer a big problem.

For inexperienced managers, control employee performance tips are necessary inputs that will aid them in decision-making.

Performance management is a crucial aspect in the operation of every business organization. This involves the process of successfully channeling and managing employee knowledge and skills so that overall company objectives are achieved. Some of the most important managerial functions include assessing employee performance and providing employee feedback. In performance assessment, it is important that managers are able to develop an evaluation system that would take into consideration metrics that truly matters. In the assessment stage, five categories of job performance are usually measured namely; interaction, communication, productivity, job skills and knowledge, and quality concerns.

After an assessment has been made, the manager must be able to communicate to the concerned employee his or her feedback. An effective feedback needs to be specific, credible, timely, behavior-based and purposeful. It should provide positive reinforcement and should help employees identify what it is that they are doing well and what needs to be improved. Also, negative feedback or criticism should pertain to the working attitude or performance and should not be a personal attack. Or else, the feedback becomes an instrument of prosecution.

Another important aspect of controlling employee performance is to assess the skills that employees currently have and to identify what skills they need to develop or improve for future use. Once skill gaps or limitations have been identified, it is now time to develop a training and development program that would best address the needs of employees. Creating an individual development plan for employees or team members is also a good way of keeping track of employee performance. From these plans, management would have a better idea of the more immediate training and development needs of their workforce.

While it is important to recognize the limitations of employees in terms of their performance, it is equally important to recognize their efforts in helping the company achieve its goals. Awards, rewards or recognition are very effective incentives for good work. Good managers should know how to motivate their employees or subordinates, instead of manipulating them. The difference between both lies with the fact that motivation looks upon positive reasons for hard work while manipulation involves the use of punitive or coercive measures to make people do their jobs.
Employee performance problems naturally occur in organizations.

These stem from the fact that there are different personalities in an organization. Employees have different principles, priorities, values, work attitude and are affected differently by motivational factors. Therefore, meeting such problems should not be a cause of alarm. What is important is that managers should be able to address such problems as soon as they arise. Otherwise, employees would perceive their superior to be ineffective.

To address employee performance problems, managers should ask for suggestions from the concerned employees to prevent reoccurrence of such roadblocks. Since the employees themselves came up with a possible solution to their problems, they will develop a sense of responsibility or commitment to overcome their performance dilemma. For more control employee performance tips, managers can rely on the Internet as a resource tool.

The performance of the HR department should be monitored. There are tips to improve productivity of HR department that one can keep in mind.

The HR department is very important in the complete success of a certain company’s operations. A company just cannot do without having a productive HR department in its support system. This is exactly why it is important to monitor the productivity of the HR department itself. This is quite difficult, simply because this department has so many functions and responsibilities to handle. First and foremost, the department handles all aspects pertaining to recruitment and selection. This department also handles compensation and benefits packages for the company. And these are just some of the major responsibilities! Thus, there is indeed a need to monitor the productivity of a company’s HR department.

There are actually a lot of tips to improve the productivity of HR department. But one particular tip is very efficient that it begs to be discussed in detail. This tip actually involves the installation of an efficient computer system, more like, a database for all the data and information that any HR department would acquire about their employees and such over the years. This database is actually a piece of software that installed onto the system. Now, this can be costly. But if you think about it, the benefits would definitely outweigh the costs entailed in the long run. Imagine the bulk of information any HR department collects about its employees over time. That much information can then be organized by means of this database, which entails much convenience for any company.

This concept is not new at all. There was indeed a time when the basic tasks HR departments handle would be stored right onto main frame computers. These were the only computers at the time that could handle that much data for the whole system. However, being main frame computers, the operation and maintenance of such required the skills of many IT professionals and such, just to make sure the system is up and running. This is very costly, so this practice was cut short.

Today, however, HR departments can now enjoy the benefits of what are known as client server HR management systems. These systems primarily focus on the main responsibilities of HR departments, which are payroll issues, time management, labor management, compensation and benefits packages, and HR management issues. Because these are the only aspects a client server HR management system focuses on, then running such a system would not be that costly anymore.

There are actually many software applications that you can choose from today. The important thing to keep in mind here is to put into context the nature of your business, and the needs of your HR department. This way, your needs would be prioritized and the applications would be made to fit your needs.

There is even one such software application that allows you to gather all kinds of HR information and data that you need for your system. Once you are done collecting such data, all of these are then converted into a single format, so that the process of inputting them is made easier as well. The relevant information can then be weeded out from those that are not relevant, and then processed accordingly.

The convenience this brings is indeed a tip that can do wonders in improving the productivity of HR departments. You just might want to consider getting one of these software applications for your company now.

When hiring employees, it is important to ensure you hire the right people. Thus, it’s better to keep in mind certain tips on how to hire employees.

If you think about it, no man or woman would rush into a marriage without knowing his or her partner inside and out. The same analogy can be used when it comes to hiring the right people for your company. You have surely heard the expression of a person being married to his or her job. This implies that the person is very serious about and dedicated to his or her job, much like he or she would be to the married partner in question. Thus, it is quite an imperative to make sure that the employees you would hire for your company are indeed as serious and dedicated to their jobs, as they would be to their own husbands or wives.

It does not take a genius to do just that at all. There are certain tips on how to hire employees that you can keep in mind. And it is very important to keep these tips in mind because you are actually forming a professional relationship with all of your employees.

The first tip to remember is to know the position or the job. You should do this before you put out an advertisement for the open position. To know the job, you should conduct an inventory on the skills that would be needed, as well create a description of the position. You should also set your requirements as to job experience. If you are not so sure how to go about the skill inventory, then you can interview employees in your company who have held the position before. This way, you will have an idea on what skills are required for the job.

Another tip to remember is to have interview questions ready. Now, this is very important because the applicant’s answers to your questions will serve as a gauge of his or her personality and attitude towards work. There are so many questions that you can ask, but make sure to stay within the legal bounds as well. You can ask about his or her age, living conditions, citizenship, health status, previous employment experiences, organizations they belong to, their hobbies, and such. You can also ask them if they have plans to get married and have children anytime soon. This actually provides you leeway, in case you need to hire replacement employees, should your applicants be expecting any children soon.

A popular misconception companies have is that the interview should be conducted just once. This is actually not recommended. In fact, it is recommended that the interview process be done in two stages, at the very least. The first stage should be a short one, just of the technical kind. In this stage, you are just out to know whether or not an applicant has the required technical skills for the position. The applicants who can perform the job tasks successfully then move on to the second stage.  In this stage, you should then try to feel out the applicant, if he or she would indeed fit in the work setting. Not all applicants here would fit right in the office setting, you know. You need to feel out the attitude and the social skills of the applicants. Try to see if the applicant has what it takes to mingle well with his or her fellow workers. This should be treated with equal importance as well.

In January 28, 2008 AKS-Labs has released a new version 1.5 of Balanced Scorecard designed. Starting the previous version 1.4, the software was able to manage performance information for selected dates. Now, Balanced Scorecard Designer has a new function which allows representing this information as an easy readable htm file.

More over, the program will generate nice-looking graphics which will help to analyze the dynamic of performance.

The html report is a great mean to analyze and share Balanced Scorecard information with co-workers.

Check other features of this product at official web-site.

Training is inevitable in businesses belonging to all sorts of industries. To ensure the success of such sessions, it pays to keep these tips about employees training handy.

In any office setting, regardless of the industry you belong to, there is that inevitable need for your employees to undergo training. Of course, you would want to ensure that your employees get the most of these training sessions, especially if you are on a tight budget. Thus, it is very important to keep in mind certain tips about employee training. This way, you are sure to get your money’s worth when it comes to training your employees.

If you think that the foundation and operations of your company are so strong that your employees do not really need any form of training, then you are definitely in for a surprise. Whether or not the need arises in just a short period of time, there will definitely be a need for training. There is always room for improvement, as the famous clichй goes. And the office setting is not exempted from this. Training is indeed needed for any business to grow, as well as for any employee to achieve career growth. What’s more, training is the best avenue for companies to get up to speed with the latest in terms of methods and techniques employed in the industry.

But what should you consider when going about employee training? There are actually a number of things to keep in mind. The first thing to do is to conduct an analysis on which aspects and facets of the business are in need of improvement. Is it the production side? Or the marketing aspect perhaps? Careful analysis is the key in determining the needs of the business here.

After this is determined, the kind of training to be given to the employees should also be considered. The needs of the business should be placed at the top of priorities here. But when you are determining how to go about training your employees, you should also determine the results that you expect after such training takes place. This way, you can properly direct the course of the training to be given. Improvement on job performance is a common goal many businesses want as an end result from giving training sessions.

Of course, training your employees is costly. This aspect is actually what makes a lot of companies hesitant about conducting such training sessions. However, by keeping the costs at reasonable rates, you are sure to reap the rewards of conducting these sessions soon. With this in mind, returns of investment would be quite strong.

One of the very important tips about employee training is the need to get the support of all levels of the management. With the support of all management levels, you are sure to get the ball rolling, and have whatever resources or funds you may need once training sessions start taking place. Instructional materials, as well as the instructors themselves, should be of the utmost quality, to ensure high quality training sessions. This step does not have to be costly at all. It’s just a matter of looking for people and resources in all the right places. Keeping these tips about employees training in mind can definitely ensure the success of these sessions and overall improvement for your company and your employees as well.

For a company to be successful in its operations, the performance of its HR department should also be monitored. There are aspects to remember in measuring such performance.

In any company, regardless of the industry you belong in, there are actually a lot of departments in existence. This is because there are many responsibilities and functions entailed in running a business, so you can never do without a little bureaucracy these days. And the performance, as well as the productivity, of each and every department is constantly monitored. This is to ensure the overall success of the company. When it comes to performance and productivity, it is actually the HR department that is responsible for assessing these. But even the HR department is not exempted from being monitored. This is because the performance of the HR department is also assessed.

A lot of people may think that the HR department is not one of the major departments in any company. But this is quite the opposite of what’s true, you know. The HR department primarily focuses on hiring the very people that would make up the workforce of the company. If this department is not productive or not performing up to par, then the mere act of hiring and recruiting will be questionable for any company. Thus, the HR department is indeed vital in the overall performance of the company.

There are certain aspects to keep in mind in measuring the performance of HR departments. These aspects are also known as indicators. One of these is workforce productivity. Now, it is very important to note here that how companies view workforce productivity can be different from one another. This is inevitable because companies have different visions, operations, and goals, to begin with. But when your employees are very productive, then your HR department is indeed performing well in this aspect.

Another aspect that you should bear in mind is employee engagement. This actually refers to the professional relationships your employees have amongst themselves, as well as with the different levels of management. If the score for this aspect is high, then this is a strong indicator that your employees do hold their jobs as very important. Employee satisfaction is the key concept here. For an employee to perform well at his job, he should be satisfied with everything his job entails. To determine the level of satisfaction of your employees, you can actually conduct surveys and interviews. These are the perfect avenues for your employees to share whatever thoughts they have.

Recruitment is an important thing to consider as well. To monitor this, you have to check out the performance appraisal scores of the employees that have been hired. It would be so much better if you see that a lot of your employees have been promoted to higher positions at a reasonable timeframe. This way, you are sure that your HR department is recruiting the right people for the job.

Employee retention is the last aspect to appraise. You should determine the turnover rate that your company experiences on the average. It cannot be helped because there are always better opportunities in the world of business and trade. But if your company’s turnover rate is low, this means that the employees hired are dedicated to their jobs and to the company itself. Low turnover rates actually mean that the HR department is performing satisfactorily.

If you are a human resources manager, you should always make sure you are doing your job more effectively. There are several tips that would help you realize your goals.

Managing a human resource unit is never an easy task. If you are into HR management, you should be aware that the key to employing the right people for a company as well as retaining the useful and reliable personnel also relies on your ability to manage human resources well. The tediousness and the complexity of the tasks of each human resource managers make such professionals among the most sought after in the global job market scene.

To be an effective HR manager, you should focus more into hiring the best and most promising potential employees for the company. It is a common knowledge that there is a current shortage of skilled and highly knowledgeable workers. When aiming to hire the best candidates there are for some job vacancies, it would be imperative if you focus on two job-hiring activities, namely, short-listing and interviewing candidates.

As an HR manager, you could make the short-listing activity easier if you would learn the necessary skills on how you could read between the lines in every application form. Looking at and evaluating resume and curriculum vitae of a job applicant may seem easy but in truth, it is never as easy as people would think. Here are some practical tips for the HR manager for him or her to better assess an applicant based on preliminary data from the application form.

* Application forms that are filled with spaces should be suspicious enough. As a manager, you should bear in mind that blank spaces in application forms could initially indicate that the applicant is hiding something from the company. And that is an unlikely factor for a potential future employee.
* Do a little research about the former companies of the applicant. By doing so, you could have a quick hint of what kind of employee the applicant is. If he or she is coming from a very reputable multinational firm that is known for paying high salaries, then, the applicant must have done something or wrong, or might not have done enough to please the former employer.
* Application forms with character references are reliable and are eliminating instant suspicions. Those forms without references are arousing speculations like the applicant must have done wrong deeds that led him or her to burn bridges with the former employer.

When conducting a job interview with the job applicant, it would be better if you would follow the following guidelines.

* Conduct a series of job interviews with each short-listed applicants. Usually, the first short listed interview is about basic job qualifications, while the second job interview is about behavioral characteristics and reference citations.
* When running an interview, there should be a standard script adopted especially in the preliminary stage of such an interview. In the middle of the interview, find out how the subject is carrying himself or herself in terns of such occasions.
* When asking questions, strive to ask open-ended questions. Such interrogative statements are often troublesome and insignificant, but are known to extract the truth from their interviewer. Open-ended questions call for more details and answers.