Achieving Organizational Competitive Advantage through Learning & Talent

Achieving the Organizational sustainable competitive advantage through Learning & Talent Development
Abstract
The knowledgeable talent people becomes the most organizational competitive
advantage so to be differentiate in the competitive market it is essential to have
learning strategy throughout the organization to ensure talent development and
retention so business enhancement can be achieved by the Capable Human Capital.
This research conducted to examine the Learning and talent development process in
the different sector in the kingdom of Bahrain and how learning and development
supporting on maximizing the potential of the Human Capital, retaining talent and
strengthen the business performance.
The research used three questionnaires addressed to three categories: the senior
managers, the line managers and Talent staff in different sectors: Public sector, Global
/ Multinational companies are based in the kingdom of Bahrain and local companies.
The study concludes that the key organizational success is to have a capable
knowledgeable Human capital by continues learning and developing to ensure
achieving the sustainable competitive advantage.
It conclude by making recommendation to the Top management on having a strategy
to have learning culture, develop organizational human capital, motivate, Engage and
retain them to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
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Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background
Learning and Development is crucial to the ongoing development of the people may
employed and their retention and success, According to the CIPD 2009 Learning is an
environment where individuals 'learn to learn ' and obtain the capabilities that enable
them to build their skills and help their organization retain competitive advantage,
CIPD 2009.
It is the Learning edge that gives companies the advantage today. "An organization
that relies on learning to enhance its workers' abilities to contribute, produce results,
and lead will create a competitive advantage for itself", Calhoun and Lu (1993).
As operating in a competitive climate the organizations need to think on the best way
to achieve the competitive advantage or they could not survive on this market. The
business in usual cases is a piece of cake either to know how to get some of those
pieces or some body else will get them.
To compete you need to have a "Talent" Human capital can understand the business
and compete to boost business opportunities to increase and develop business.
There are various factors leads to achieve the organizational sustainable competitive
advantage, the studies and research proof that Developing Talent Human capital is the
key factor for organizational success.
The author strongly believes that investing on human capital by learning and
developmental opportunities is the key factor to achieve its sustainable competitive
advantage.
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1.2 Dissertation Aims:
This Dissertation will aim to examine the Importance of Learning and Talent
Development in different sectors and how Learning and Development supporting on
maximizing the potential of the Human Capital, retaining Talent and strengthen the
business performance.
It will point out the Learning Organization and Learning Management concepts and
how both enhance the organizational performance by develop learning culture and
knowledge transfer.
This Dissertation will highlight the Learning and Talent development challenges
facing the organizations and how to address those Challenges and prepare to tackle
them.
This study will be beneficial to both Human Resources professionals and the
company's top management to allowing them to get better insight on how develops
and retains talent in the companies to ensure organizational development.
The Objectives of this dissertation is to:
1. Examine the Importance of Learning organization and Knowledge
Management In the organizational development.
2. Explore the role of Learning in the organization and how Learning enhances
the individuals and business performance.
3. Determine the factors of high turnover level and measure the alternatives to
reduce this turnover, i.e. cost of new hires, cost of trainings.
4. Consider the Learning and Talent Developmental challenges facing the
organizations and how to prepare to tackle them.
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1.3 Structure of dissertation
The research will include six chapters. Starting with the introduction and moving to
the literature review chapter, then the methodology chapter, as well as the finding
from the research method and the discussion chapter discussing the finding in contrast
with the literature review chapter, ending by the conclusion with the recommendation
from this research.
After the Introduction, the second chapter is the Literature review which explore,
contrast and critic the previous researches and studies in this topic.
The Third Chapter is the Methodology chapter which the author will introduce the
strategy in conducting this research with highlighting of other strategies/approaches
and will point out strengthens of the selected approach; the chapter will include the
data collection methods used in this study and the administrating approach. This
chapter will extract the result of the pilot testing, the research ethics and the
restrictions limitation of this research.
On the third chapter the author will introduce the finding as the outcome from the data
collection methods used as primary data for this study. Followed by the fifth Chapter
"the Discussion Chapter" which is the author here will discuss and contrast the
finding from this study with the previous researches and studies pointed out in the
Literature Review chapter.
Finally, the Sixth chapter which is the conclusion followed by recommendation from
this study.
This dissertation will include the appendixes which contains the questionnaire used on
this study and some other documents.
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Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.1 Preparing for Learning:
Individual Learning in organizations has been seen as critical to the capacity of the
organizations to change and survive (Crossan, 1999; Marsick and Watkins, 1996;
Nonaka, 1994; Senge, 1990).
An organization's capacity to learn as per Rowden (2001) may be the only true source
of competitive advantage, Rowden (2001, p. 12). To develop the capacity to learn,
Senge advise that organizations would turn and develop into learning organizations
(LO), Senge (1994).
The most widely accepted definition for a learning Organization proposed by Peter
Senge, he defines the Learning organizations as an organizations where people can
continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new
ideas are encourages and nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where
people are continually learning to see the whole together, Senge (1994, p.3)
He believes that 'Organizations learn only through individuals who learn'. Individual
learning does not guarantee organizational learning, but without it no organizational
learning occurs, Senge (1990, P. 139).
Senge identifies the dimension that distinguishes learning from traditional
Organization as the mastery of certain basic disciplines or 'component technologies'.
The five disciplines that Senge identifies are said to be converging to innovate
learning Organizations, They are: System thinking; Personal mastery; mental
models; Building shared vision and Team learning. He argues that the organization
cannot learn unless teams learn in the organization and suggests that whilst
Organizational Learning is about superior performance, it also impacts on
commitment and contribution, Senge (1999, P. 33)
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The collective learning from team level to the organizational level as a whole has
been more interesting recently, so learning at all levels seen as essential for
organizations to adapt to major internal and external environmental shifts and
challenges, Hayes and Allinson (1998), Hedberg (1981), Schwandt (1997).
A view strongly maintained by Pedler and Boydell that The Learning Company is
could happen as a result of learning on all organizational levels not only by training
individuals, so the Learning organization is an organization that provide and facilitate
learning for all organizational members and make sure that its continuously
transforms itself, Pedler and Boydell (1991, p. 1).
Furthermore, Wick & Lu note that the employees when they work for a Learning
Organization they have a big responsibility to learn how to do things better and how
to improve what they are doing as well, Wick & Lu (1993)
On the contrary, Belasco believes that there is no "Learning Organization", People
only learn and you can have a group of learners in an organization since you can't
have a group of organizations learn, so no need for spending money and waste time,
Belasco (1998, p. 17). On the other hand Garvin strongly believed that the Learning
Organization play an important role on sharing knowledge since as an organization
obtains and transfer knowledge, and then based on the knowledge this will reflect on
the change of its behavior, Garvin (1993).
Watkins and Marsick provide an integrative model of a learning organization. They
originally defined the concept of the learning organization as “one that learns
continuously and transforms itself, Learning is a continuous, strategically used
process—integrated with and running parallel to work”, Watkins and Marsick (1996,
p. 4).
Yang, Watkins and Marsick pointed out that at the operational level people are
aligned and work together on a common vision and strategy, when Learning concerns
as an organizational approach to deliver its business strategy, so people here
understand and interpret their changing environment and they innovate and create
new knowledge, Yang, Watkins and Marsick (2004).
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They have identified seven necessary actions describes companies working to achieve
these goals, their model confirm three key components: (1) systems-level, continuous
learning (2) that is created in order to create and manage knowledge outcomes (3)
which lead to improvement in the organization’s performance, and ultimately its
value, as measured through both financial assets and non financial intellectual capital.
Learning helps people to create and manage knowledge that builds a system’s
intellectual capital. Their proposed learning organization model integrates two main
organizational constituents: people and structure. These two constituents are also
viewed as interactive components of organizational change and development,
Yang,Watkins and Marsick (2004).
Many authors argue that employers should facilitate and support learning for their
employees because it will benefit both parties. "That is, a more-highly skilled
workforce offers rewards and greater satisfaction for employees while providing the
capacity for organizations to compete rapidly in a global, knowledge" (Hill et al.,
1998; OECD, 2005, p. 1; Senge, 1990; Pedlar et al., 1997).
Watkins and Marsick (1996) identified seven dimensions of a learning organization at
all levels of individual, team, and organizational levels. These dimensions and their
definitions are described as follows:
1. Continuous Learning: The effort of the organization’s to create
continuous learning opportunities for all of its employees.
2. Inquiry and dialogue: The effort by the organization’s in creating a
culture of questioning, feedback, and communication.
3. Team learning: The team spirit by collaboration and put skills together
by effective use of teams, Watkins & Marsick (1996, p. 6).
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4. Empowerment: The process by the organization's to develop and share a
collective vision and get feedback from its members on their view on the
current situation and the new situation.
5. Embedded system: The efforts to establish systems to capture and share
learning.
6. System connection: reflects global thinking and actions to connect the
organization to its internal and external environment.
7. Strategic leadership: the extent to which leaders “think strategically
about how to use learning to create change and to move the organization
in new directions or new markets” ,Watkins & Marsick (1996, p. 6-7).
Argyris and Schon point out, organizations are social constructions. People are
appointed by followers, to act on behalf of a system. Under the right conditions, when
they learn, they take their learning back to the system. Systems learning cannot occur
unless the system as a whole is adequately prepared to absorb and use this learning so
that it becomes shared, easily accessed, and productively employed in the service of
the system’s agreed upon vision. People have no reason to collaborate unless they
share a common purpose, which may be more or less explicit, that ties them together
in a relatively committed and permanent fashion for the sake of common goals, and
that enables them to develop shared rules for organizational life, Argyris and Schon
(1996)
Ultimately the prime purpose of business was to make a profit from a product or
service, as products and services become increasingly knowledge intensive,
Becoming an effective Learning organization will enable making profits and
competing in the marketplace, the only continuous learning that enables growth of
business. Owen (1991) concludes that " the business of business is Learning and al
else will follow.
Continuous learning is essential for surviving in a dynamic and competitive
environments ( De Geus, 1988; Garvin, 1993; Nonaka,1991; Schein, 1990;
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Senge,1990), this strongly emphasized by Carol Gorelick that in the learning
organization everybody continuously engages in new process to acquire, capture, and
store disseminate and reuse of knowledge, Learning is a result of well performance
since learning is transfer process to the individuals, groups and teams to improve and
enhance the organizational performance. knowledge management always support
organizational learning, there is a relationship between individual's learning and the
collective learning of the organization since the Collective learning is the only
required producing the systematic knowledge required for organizational survival and
growth, Carol Gorelick (2005).
Teece et al, argues that learning organization is a “dynamic capability”, it’s a unique
learning process internally that differentiates a firm from its competitors. They extract
that if the organizations has the capability to learn better than others in the same
industry, then the Learning Organization can accelerates others in its performance,
Teece et al (1997).
Organizational leaders and theorists increasingly emphasized that learning is a key
factor in enhancing and maintaining competitive advantage, Armstrong and Foley
(2003).
According to Sandra Kerka (1995) most conceptualizations of the learning
organizations seem to work on the assumption that ‘learning is valuable, continuous,
and most effective when shared and that every experience is an opportunity to learn’
(Kerka 1995). The following characteristics appear in some form in the more popular
conceptions. Learning organizations:
Provide continuous learning opportunities.
· Use learning to reach their goals.
· Link individual performance with organizational performance.
· Foster inquiry and dialogue, making it safe for people to share openly
and take risks.
· Embrace creative tension as a source of energy and renewal.
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· Are continuously aware of and interact with their environment. (Kerka
1995)
A failure on the learning of groups and individuals in the organization will lead to the
disaster in this context, Leadbeater (2000, P. 70) has argued that companies need to
invest not just in new machinery to make production more efficient, but in the
Learning that will sustain their business. Organizations need to be good at knowledge
generation.
Leadbeater differentiate between the visible explicit knowledge and the intangible
tacit knowledge, he suggest that the explicit visible Knowledge could be teachable so
it easy of the competitors to duplicate, while on the other hand intangible tacit
Knowledge which is less teachable, less observable, is more complex but more
difficult to separate from the person who created it or utilize it, so he thoughts that
"Knowledge carried by an individual only realizes its commercial potential when it is
replicated by an organization and becomes organizational knowledge", Leadbeater
(2000, P. 70-71).
There is a growing awareness that productivity, quality, innovation and therefore,
sustainable competitive advantage are directly linked to the organizational learning,
because knowledge is the only of sustainable competitive advantage, Johannessen,
Olaisen (1999)
Gilley & Maycunich defines learning as "the crucial component in the transformation
from the traditional organization to the development organization", Gilley &
Maycunich (2000).
Masick and Watkins added that in the learning organization the individuals identify
the needed skills to develop further in their job for future, give time to support
learning, help individuals to learn and give open feedback to each other, and build a
respect environment, so there will be a reward system for learning to support and
encourage learning, Masick and Watkins (2003).
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2.2 Knowledge Management :
While Knowledge is vital to Knowledge Management for many reasons, the main
focus here is on the issues of employee recruitment, development and retention, Wong
(2005).
Employee development is seen as a way to improve and enhance the personal value of
individuals. The skills and competences of knowledge workers need to be
continuously developed in order for them to produce valuable contributions to a
company. If not, as with other tangible assets, their value will depreciate. Hence,
companies have to provide appropriate professional development activities to their
employees, Wong (2005).
As per Wong (2005) there is a central issue in Knowledge Management is how to
retain knowledge from being lost. This is where the function of employee retention
gains its significance in Knowledge Management. So Brelande and Harman extract
that in order to retain employees to work for a company, it is important to provide
opportunities for them to grow and to advance their career, HR policies and practices
need to be designed to allow them to meet their personal aspirations, Brelade and
Harman (2000), importantly is to offer a conducive working environment in which
employees feel comfortable and to foster job satisfaction among them.
Horak (2001) suggested that for effective KM, skills development should occur in the
following areas: communication, soft networking, peer learning, team building,
collaboration and creative thinking. Likewise, Yahya and Goh (2002) showed that
training related to creativity, team building, documentation skills and problem solving
had a positive impact on the overall KM process.
Besides this, there is a need to foster an innovative culture in which individuals are
constantly encouraged to generate new ideas, knowledge and solutions. Likewise,
Goh (2002) suggested a culture which emphasizes problem seeking and solving.
Stonehouse and Pemberton (1999) emphasized that Empowerment of individuals
should also be permitted to query existing practice and to take actions. This is
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supported by Wong (2005) empowering individuals will give them more freedom and
opportunities to be creative and to explore new possibilities and approaches. The
element of openness is highly important as well whereby mistakes are openly shared
without the fear of punishment. Therefore the reasonable mistakes and failures are not
only tolerated but allowed and forgiven. Wong have very interesting literature that
"Making mistakes should be viewed as an investment process in individuals because
it can be a key source of learning", Wong, K.Y. (2005).
Knowledge an important factor for competitive advantage, the future challenge
depends on the involvement of the speed, quality, innovation, customer-focus and
productivity, Stewart (1997). This is supported by Thurow views that the only
sources of comparative advantage today are Knowledge and Skills, Thurow (1996).
Choo (1999) points out that the Knowledge Management is a framework for
designing an organization's goals, structures, and processes so that the organization
can use what it knows to learn and to create value for its customers and communities.
Drucker (1993) extracts that the crucial different today is that knowledge is not
applied to the physical world or the organizational management or to Knowledge
itself, but to create systematic innovation.
"Innovation, is the application of knowledge to produce new knowledge, its required
systematic efforts, and a high degree of organization" Drucker (1993, p. 173).
The knowledge and innovation is the competitive strength required for successful
companies, Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995)
Similarly with Reid & Crisp view that innovation helps to retain the talent people so
their managers is listening to them and they can add value to the business and he
extract that the talent employees who gives the leadership roles as young leaders are
encouraged to learn how to manage up constructively to use the authority, create and
innovate to improve decision making so they are given the opportunity to manage
change and innovation, Reid & Crisp (2007).
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A view strongly maintained by Thurow "this is an era of man-made brainpower
industries it could be located anywhere in the world", he believes that knowledge is
clearly the new resource and Human capital development is the key for development
and success, the opportunity for development will be for the people who have a
particular knowledge and the people without knowledge will be left behind. Since one
of the most important tasks in organizations today is knowledge Management as
workers are forced to learn new ways and innovate to apply knowledge to knowledge,
Thurow (1996)
Another different view in the Knowledge Management introduced by McElroy, he
and a community of KM practitioners has emerged "second –Generation KM" also
known as "the new Knowledge Management". They describe this processes at an
organizational level as the Knowledge Life Cycle or KLC this is most important
foundation of this new view, its designed to have impact on the KLC and if doesn’t
have any impact then its not Knowledge Management, McElroy(2003).
In addition his view shows that the importance distinction between first and second
generation thinking is the supply side versus demand side. The first KM generation
has concentrated on the supply of existing knowledge and information through out the
organization since the second generation strategies focus on satisfying organizational
demand for new knowledge. There view is that the supply side schemes take the best
organizational thinking, the practical knowledge and supporting information, McElroy
(2000).
Knowledge Management as business Discipline reflects the increasing demand of
knowledge as a corporate asset, Yu (1999).
Davenport and Prusak (1998:5) define knowledge as “a fluid mix of framed
experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a
framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It
originates and is applied in the minds of knower".
Knowledge Management is a systematic approach to capture structure Management
and dissemination of knowledge throughout an organization in order to work faster,
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reuse best practices, and reduce costly rework from project to project ( Nonaka &
Takeuchi, 1995; pasternack & viscio, 1998; Pfeiffer and Sutton, 1999; Ruggles and
Holtshouse, 1999).
As emphasized by O'Dell and Grayson, The goal of Knowledge Management is to
support employees share, utilize and put knowledge and information into action for to
create value and improve organizational performance, O'Dell and Grayson (1998),
Since the increasing performance and creating a competitive advantage through
learning this will lead us to know the relationship to the Knowledge management,
Knowledge Management is recently known since people in the organizations should
learn and share the knowledge together.
According to (Hill et al., 1998; OECD, 2005, P.1; Senge, 1990; Pedlar et al., 1997)
Facilitates Learning for the employees make them highly skilled workforce and offer
them reward and greater satisfaction, in the same time it’s a mutual benefits since
providing the capacity for the companies to compete more readily in a global that can
respond to the competitive challenges of global markets.
Talcottt Parsons (1951) developed an Organizational Learning model, integrating
performance and learning that we use as the basis for our organizational learning
model and Knowledge Management system, to allow an organization to survive in a
changing environment Parsons describes the General Theory of Social Action as a
combination of performance and learning process that both performance and learning
processes can produce changes in a social system.
Organizations are entities for information processing that can interpret information
through a network of inter subjectively shard meanings that are sustained through the
development and use of a common language and daily social interactions, Walsh and
Ungson (1991, P. 60), so these meanings are also assumed to be linked to
organizational learning and performance and to the organizational change which
resulting from learning and performance (Schwandt, 1997).
Zack (1999) emphasized the importance of concentrating on the unique capabilities
not only focusing in production of goods or services, This concentration on
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capabilities and not on goods and services is also supported by Long and Vickers-
Koch (1995) who argue that organizations who wish to improve their performance
need to understand and then develop underlying skills and know-how and channel this
into process improvements.
Schumpeter (1934) urged that focusing on goods and services can provide short term
advantages only because the organizations who engage in innovation in a continual
cycle which render current products and services.
According to Quinn (1992) the usual keys to building up these skills and know-how
will come from looking at areas like superior employee selection, training and
retraining, culture, networking, motivation, empowerment, incentives, flexibility,
short deadlines and good databases and the building up of these internal human
capital related capabilities will result in competitive advantage which will be
sustainable, because of the difficulty in copying competencies based on knowledge,
skills and attitudes, built into processes and developed over time into working
combinations in a particular organizational context, Long and Vickers-Koch (1995).
The more unobservable these competitive advantages are the more sustainable they
will be and this particularly applies to competitive advantages which are based on
developing and exchanging information and knowledge through the firm’s human
capital, McEvily and Zaheer (1999).
The human capital approach analyze the cost-benefit of investment in learning and its
efficiency in the amount of investment to maximize the return on investment, HRD
views humans as resources to be trained, educated, and developed within the system
of an organization for the purpose of enhancing the productivity of the organization
through the expertise of its workforce, Zidan (2001).
As Cunningham summarize this view that there is a correlation between Learning and
development with organizational development and he believes that Learning and
Development and organizational development both are about change – individual
change and organization change as well, furthermore that they may going together,
Ian Cunningham (2008).
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The Learning and Development is the key role of line managers and supervisors as
per the CIPD 2008 survey, it's highlighted that they are as a key stakeholder in the
Learning and Development process in organizations, CIPD survey (2008).
As per CIPD's 2007 and 2008 Learning and Development surveys reflects in some
ways more positives situations, the introduction of new programmes to develop the
roles on line managers was the most significant change reported in the 2008 survey,
which also show that internal knowledge sharing events were being used in more than
40% of respondent's organizations. Thus job rotation, secondments and shadowing –
all important methods of informal learning and knowledge development.
Evidently companies that managing knowledge most effectively – motivate its people
to continuously share and apply their knowledge in ways practically help the business,
are those where their knowledge Management programs are an intrinsic part of their
overall business strategy, their Human Resources and Information Technology
policies support information sharing but work to an organization knowledge, their
management policies are clear and regularly shared and well communicated to all
employees, and they have a corporate culture that encourages people to share what
they know, Skapinker (2002 p. 3)
Ultimately, the organization’s success depends on the speed of generating and
capturing knowledge and then use this knowledge to develop capabilities that cannot
easily be copied by competitors. This ability to create knowledge and to continue to
learn from it can become a competitive advantage because innovative knowledge
developed today will become the core knowledge of tomorrow, Zack (1999).
2.3 The Organizational Challenges on Retaining Talent:
There are big challenges facing the companies and they need to think seriously about
and be a well prepared for them. It should be a rigorous, strategic and objective target
not a big surprise. The attraction and retention of high quality employees is more
important nowadays than any time before. Since the following trends are came up, the
globalization, increase in knowledge work, accelerating rate of technological
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advancement. Make the organization think seriously on attract and retain the human
capital, Hinkin and Tracey (2000).
According to a new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD), 40% of employers are reducing the number of new recruits
hired in 2009 compared with 2008, and 56% of organizations are preferring to focus
more on retaining than recruiting talent.
Another challenge you will face is that the certain kinds of executives experience
talent in emerging markets not easy to attract, so maybe the best solution is to have a
proper development plan to your internal talent, Hay's report (2002)
According to Hay report (2002) the only one way to nurture good people is to
recognize that high achievers require a job that stretches their talents. New job
assignments are a great means to develop people. Having a strategic talent plan
important to complement companies impressive business plan, establishing a sound
recruitment process is to pair in mind that the top executive's pool is insufficient; with
the management top efforts you can't stop talent to leave the company to pursue other
opportunities, Hay's report (2002).
Arguably, Pfeffer Jeffrey is extracts that companies can win the talent retention game
by treating its people the best not by paying the best. He believes that organizational
performance is essentially the contribution of bunch of individual performances it is
not the individual performance that make you win in the competitive market. The
fighting war for talent can create issues with the other large portion of the employees
so they will be de-motivated and maybe will decide to quit and will produce arrogant
attitude that make it hard to learn or listen. Fighting for the war of talent will cause
the company to focus on getting better people from outside instead of fixing the
culture and system in the organization, this is mainly will be hazardous to an
organization's health, he also argues that people who join company for money is
leaving for money as well and the money is the most available of all rewards and any
organization can offer it, Pfeffer Jeffrey (2001)
Ultimately, Reid & Crisp highlight very important literature on the talent retention
that it is quid pro quo is: the organizations want innovation, productive and business
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result. On the other hand employees want to develop and get the opportunity to
contribute to the success of the business and to have a life, so paying attention to
engage and retain talent people as a mutual benefits and will reflect mutual value.
And deciding on the career development for the talent should be clear link to the
compensation and promotions, Reid & Crisp (2007)
2.4 Managing Talent Turnover:
When turnover occurs, HR professionals can share the knowledge and experience
accumulated of the departing employees, during the exit interview a skilled
interviewers can record a departing employee's knowledge. Thus, exit interviews can
be used to capture a departing knowledge base before walks out the door, Ralph
Berndt (2000).
Hewitt Survey indicates that majority of the firms still focusing on top talent, with
nearly half the companies planning to sustain or increase learning and development
expenditures, Hewitt Survey (2008).
Developing talent internally is still makes more sense because it always cheaper that
new hire and it is less disruptive, Cappelli (2008)
Hay’s 2002, report shows that employees are most likely to leave when their skills or
talents are not properly developed or when managers fail to take an interest in their
career development and the report identified that pay is not the major factor
underlying employee dissatisfaction.
Mitchell (2000) has point out that lack of recognition scheme for doing a good job
seems to be an endemic problem for many organizations. This is supported by
Griffeth view that low pay triggers turnover, Griffeth et al., when the employee's
efforts are not rewarded so the employees be will be remaining dissatisfied.
Boudreau & Ramstad (2005) Point out that Talent is a strategic business challenge
and a critical driver for organizational performance.
Ready & Conger (2007) found that organizations generally emphasized the
importance of obtaining and maintain the best people as a business priority.
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Bux and Tay found that engaging talent employees is noted as a initiative of retain
talent employees, the concept of Engagement use as a concern of senior leaders who
drive high performers by engaging employees, retaining the right people as a long-term
business strategy. The key to enhance employee's productivity and achieving the
business objectives is the Talent Engagement by engagement and retention of the best
employees, Bux and Tay (2010).
Rutledge (2005) identified engaged employees as future competitive advantage and
the engine of this power should be within every employee. His opinions supported
Hamilton and Norrie (2003) views on his statement “People are attracted to
possibilities. They commit to committed leaders. And when I have freedom to
perform at my best, authority commensurate with my responsibilities, and when I’m
trusted to be capable professional, then I’ll be fascinated with my work.”, Hamilton
and Norrie (2003).
Wasmuth and Davis (1993) found that most managers understood that turnover is
costly but because the Managers are not in place to determine the turnover impact on
the bottom line therefore there is no clear strategy to manage turnover.
2.5 The cost of Turnover:
Holtom, Mitchell, Lee & Inderrieden (2005), they conclude that the voluntary
employee's turnover is very expensive and the companies that successfully planned to
retain its talent and the best employees save money.
To calculate the cost of Turnover Hinkin and Tracey (2000) emphasized a major challenge
in many human resources departments is the difficulty in measuring the impact of an
intervention or program, which then makes it harder to convince upper management
of their value.
Based on the work of Hinkin & Tracey (2000) create a model consisting of five major
cost categories as follows:
1. Separation cost (Exit interviewer, Employee exit interview, Paperwork
processing, Severance pay).
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2. Recruiting/Attracting Costs; (correspondence, telephone, FedEx), HR pre-employment
administrative functions.
3. Selection Costs; (HR interview, Managerial interview, Applicant travel,
Background/Reference checks, Medical exam, HR administrative
functions, Managerial administrative functions.
4. Hiring Costs; (HR administrative functions, Managerial administrative
functions, Relocation costs, signing bonus, Orientation, Formal Training,
On-the-job training, Uniforms, Security, Informational literature.
5. And Productivity loss cost; each category comprised of formulas that when
combined would make a total cost of turnover.
Ultimately Yarnall point out that reducing turnover is one of the most financial
benefits by career strategy management. He shows us in Sum the following example:
A company pays high potentials in the acceleration pool 55000 bounds p.a on an
average, there are 100 people in the career pool and it takes 6 months to train
someone new to fill a position if 5 people (5%) choose to stay with the company
rather than leave in any given year, they will have saved 5 x 2750 bounds = 137500
bounds plus any selection cost which will be higher if the company needs to go to the
external market, Yarnall (2008).
2.6 Managing Talent and Career Development:
In 2008 the Boston Consulting Group and World Federation of Personnel
Management Association conducted a survey to find out the top future people
challenges and how they expected to tackle them. Managing Talent appears as the
most important, involving the development and retention of the best employees and
using techniques of talent management that included improved leadership
development and managing work-life balance, Strack and Krincks (2008).
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Talent consists of those individuals who able to make a difference to organizational
performance, by their direct contribution to the business or in longer term through
their high potential, Tansley et al (2007: xi), and he extract the "Talent Management
is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/retention and
deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an
organization".
The corporate business level talent and career Management should be part of business
strategy and planning and it’s the direct role of all management team. By this way will
be a full commitment to developing integrated policy to implement throughout the
organization, Harrison (2009).
A new research by CIPD has recommended that Embedded a culture of career
management within organizations can retain the best employees, Stevens (2010). The
CIPD's Career Management guide draws on HR research the important role of the
career management system that can play in enhancing organizational performance
through improving levels of employee trust, retention and engagement with the
organization's purpose and goals, CIPD (2009).
In addition, there is a challenges facing the talent management as Bersin and
Associates (2007) emphasized from their recent high impact talent management
industry study of HR executives and managers indicates that there are two challenges
the companies are face, firstly the need to fill gaps in the leadership pipeline caused
by a lack of mid – managers to be available for and prepared to assume leadership
positions. Secondly the talent challenge, it’s the need to create a "performance driven
culture" because of the need to stay ahead of competition in growing markets, Bersin
and Associates (2007)
It is very clear that if human resources practices influence the organizational
profitability, so it's also impact on human assets retention. Therefore the most
important reason for employee's retention effective human resources practices and the
supportive work environment provide all development opportunities to the talent
people, this is one example. Yet many managers are unconvinced, unwilling or unable
to view employees as an asset to the organization, Hinkin and Tracey (2000).
07220146 21

Participating in developmental activities will enhance the participant's job satisfaction
level and commitment; there is a correlation between employee's participation in
training and development activities and their job satisfaction and organizational
commitment, Birdi, Allan and Warr (1997).
The successful talent management requires good leaders and good managers. The
roles and responsibilities, for the leader's in Talent Management are critical but
ensuring succession of people looking to move forward is the key to success, Dave
Bullock, Managing Director, Private Client Group, Russell Investments Canada
highlight that they have close to zero turnover because their compensation and
benefits combination qualifies them as a top 100 employer for two factors their
compensation and benefits combination qualifiers them as a top 100 employer and on
the other hand they try to give people project responsibility out side the scope of their
day to day jobs projects initiated by them or by the management, to move both them
and the business forward, Reid & Crisp (2007).
2.7 The Government's Projects on supporting Learning and Development:
For economic development, any developing country will need to develop, educate,
and train its human resources, Zidan (2001).
Zidan (2001) All the countries around the world, both developed and developing,
seem to realize that the road to economic growth and development is tied to the skill
formation of their human capital; they must improve the productivity of the labor
force, thus raising the living standards of the population. Further, Thurow (1996)
posits that countries wishing to develop and succeed in the future must begin to make
long-term plans and commit major resources as investments in the education and the
high skill formation of their society.
Marshal and Tucker (1992) extracts that the future belongs to organizations who
organize themselves for learning. What we know and can do holds the key to
economic progress just as command of natural resources once did. . . . The prize will
go to those countries that are organized as national learning systems, and where all
07220146 22

institutions are organized to learn and to act on what they learn, Marshal and Tucker
(1992, p. xiii).
The Kingdome of Bahrain Economic vision 2030 is aspiring to shift from an economy
built on oil wealth to a productive, globally competitive economy, shaped by the
government and driven by a pioneering private sector.
The labour fund has launched the Career Progression program (CPP), a program
created to support human capital development of the national workforce of the private
sector in the kingdom of Bahrain.
The Career Progression Program designed and fully funded by the Labour Fund. The
CPP is specifically designed to address underemployment or skills deficiencies that
hinder career progression opportunities for Bahraini workers in the private sector.
The Chairman of the Labour Fund H.E. Dr. Nazar Al Baharna said: “This program
comes as an interpretation of the vision of His Highness the Crown Prince Shaikh
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, in developing human resources and the belief that the
tripartite equation consisting of training and development, the appropriate working
environment and financial reward will lead to achieving higher productivity rates that
would benefit both sides, the employee and the employer.
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction:
The author in this chapter would be ready to think about planning the overall
approach of collecting data through secondary or primary data collection. the author
on this stage has to understand all the various ways of collecting data so would be
decide which methods to be use either to use quantitative data which is numbers and
statistics or qualitative data which is usually words or text and the researcher need to
be able to justify and evaluate the methods used so it’s a good idea to put efforts on
planning this chapter very carefully.
In this chapter the author will highlight the primary methods selected and the
justification of using these methods.
The author would be describing the methodology that has guided the dissertation
which attempts to explore the Learning and Development and the extent to which
Learning Enhance the individual's and business performance.
3.2 Research Philosophy / Approach:
The research philosophy adopted contains important assumptions about the way in
which you view the world. This assumption will support your research strategy and
the selected methods as well as part of that strategy (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill
2009, p.108).
As business and management researcher we need to understand the philosophical
commitment on our choice of research strategy since this has significant impact not
only on what we do but on understanding what we are investigating as well (Johnson
and Clark , 2006)
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There are two major ways of thinking about research philosophy: Ontology and
epistemology. Each contains important differences which will influence the way in
which you think about the research process (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill 2009,
p.109).
Epistemology is a branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge. It
aims to provide answers to the question, can we know how and what?' it about
involves thinking of the nature of knowledge itself, about its scope and about the
validity and reliability of claims to knowledge. Research methods provide the
researcher with ways of approaching, and would be answering our research questions.
Research methods can be described as 'the way to the goal (Kvale, 1996a:278).
Indeed we need to identify our research goal and be able to justify our decision on the
research method. Having a clear objectives of our research and we need to have a
sense of what kinds of things it is possible for us to find out. So we need to adopt an
epistemological position (Willig, 2001).
The author in this study would need to be clear about the theory from the beginning of
the research project whether using the deductive approach which is needed to develop
theory and hypothesis and design a research strategy from that or the inductive
approach which is would collect data first and from the analysis of collected data
would be the formulation of a theory.
The emergence of the social sciences in the 20th Century led social science researchers
to be wary of deduction. They were critical of an approach that enabled a cause –
effect link to be made between particular variables without an understanding of the
way in which humans interpreted their social world. Developing such an
understanding is of course the strength of an inductive approach (Saunders, Lewis,
and Thornhill 2009, p.126).
Thus the author on this study decided to use a quantitative study by induction
approach in which collect data through questionnaire which from analysis of the data
collected will develop theory of the research.
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3.2.1 The strength of the induction approach:
1. To understand better the nature of the problem.
2. Enable the cause – effect link to be made between particular variables
without understanding of the way in which human interpreted their social
world.
Since on the other hand the followers of the induction approach would criticize the
deduction approach because of the following:
1. It tends to construct a rigid methodology which is not allowed alternative
explanations of what is going on.
2. The study of a small sample of subjects is likely to be more convenient
than a large number as with the deductive approach, it would be
particularly concerned with the context in which such events were taking
place.
Here the differences between qualitative and quantitative data developed from Dey
(1993); Healey and Rawlinson ( 1994); authors' experience.
Quantitative Data Qualitative Data
· Based on meanings derived from
numbers
· Based on Meanings expressed
through words.
· Collection results in numerical and
standardized data
· Collection result in non-standardized
data requiring classification into
categories
· Analysis conducted through the use
of diagrams and statistics
· Analysis conducted through the use
of conceptualization
Sources: developed from Dey (1993);Healey and Rawlinson ( 1994)
3.3 Selecting Research Methods:
There is a different between 'method' and 'methodology'. Indeed, refer to different
aspects of doing research Silverman (1993:1) suggests that methodology identifies a
general approach to studying research topics, since on the other hand 'method' refers
to 'a specific research techniques'. (A further distinction can then be made between
07220146 26

methods of data collection and methods of data analysis; it is useful to differentiate
between a general approach to studying research topics and specific research
techniques).
Many researchers used a questionnaire to collect data without considering other
methods such as examination of secondary sources, observation, and semi-structured
or unstructured interviews (Lewis, Thronhill, 2009). "They work best with
standardized questions that you can be confident will be interpreted the same way by
all respondents" (Robeson, 2002).
Therefore the questionnaire used for descriptive or explanatory research. Descriptive
research, i.e. using attitude and opinion questionnaires and questionnaires of
organizational practices, will give the opportunity to identify and describe the
variability in different phenomena. In the other hand the explanatory or analytical
research will allow examining and explaining the relationships between variables, the
cause and effect relationships. "These two purposes have different research design
requirements", Gill and Johnson (2002).
Furthermore questionnaires if worded correctly normally required less skill and
sensitivity to administer than semi-structure or in-depth interviews (Jankowicz, 2005).
The author is more interested in action research so it's useful to select a questionnaire
as a data collection method. As identified what want to find out from the
questionnaire and accordingly decided the best way to obtain information.
The proposed method of data collection will be starting with primary method by
Human Resources Managers, the functional line managers in the selected companies
and the Talent staff. The twelve (12) selected organizations in the Kingdom of
Bahrain are from different sectors and fields which would add value to this research
more to have a full view of the process of Learning and Talent development and their
assessment of this process in term of Return on Investment. Therefore considering a
qualitative methodology by using questionnaire as a primary data collection methods
as part of this study through internet – mediated questionnaire.
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This will give a clear view of how the effective Learning Planning support on
maximizing the potential of individuals and talent retention. Generally the study will
mainly focus on use of a Questionnaire with over 36 respondents as HR / Training
Managers from different sectors, Regional Functions line managers and Talent staff
by internet – mediated questionnaires through emailing the target group. This will
give the opportunity to possibly investigate what organizations doing in term of
developing and retain talent people as well and how this practice is supporting and
developing business.
3.4 Administrating the questionnaire:
It is important to have a clear timetable that mentioned the list of people needs to be
emailed and the tasks to be done. The response expected is always depends on the
recipient being motivated to answer the questionnaire and to forward it back to the
sender. The covering email and the design of the questionnaire will reflect on the
response received from the participants (Dillman, 2007). Internet – and intranet
Mediated questionnaires are usually administrated in one of two ways: via email or
via a website (Hewson et al. 2003). So the author decided to use the email to
distribute the questionnaire to the participants and the response was via email as well.
The following are the steps followed by the researcher on distributing the
questionnaire:
1. Emailed the questionnaire to the all contact people in the field to get their
participation each individual with an attachment letter by their names.
2. Received two responses from 63 emails after one week so thanking email
send to the respondents and the second reminder are arranged to the
remaining participants.
3. Another 6 responses received after two weeks so the researcher send the
third reminder to the participants since the response rate is low.
07220146 28

4. By the fourth week 36 responses fully answered questionnaire obtained
from 12 organizations after several reminders by emails and some of them
by Telephone calls.
3.4 The relationship between philosophy, theory and research methods:
The relationship between research philosophy and research method is an important
one, as highlighted by Easterby-smith et al, (2002), as give the opportunity for the
following:
1. Allow the researcher to take a more informed decision about the research
approach;
2. Decides on the more useful methods for the research;
3. To think about restrictions which may hit on the research.
The relationship between philosophy and methods can be described according to
Mutch 2004 "if one thinks that the social world is constructed by narrative and that
there is no means of discriminating either between story and reality or between
different stories, then one can't (logically) employ methods that assume an external
reality. There would be no point, as one does not believe there is such a reality to be
counted or categorized. The only outcome of this would be to write narratives that
appear more persuasive.
3.5 Pilot testing and assessing validity:
Testing questionnaire before you administration will help find out if participant will
understand the questions, if the questions mean the same thing to all participants, if it
provides you with the data you need, and how long it takes to complete. Testing the
questionnaire could be with a small group who are similar to the intended participants.
As part of the pilot testing should check each completed pilot questionnaire to ensure
that respondents have had no issue understanding or answering questions and
following all instructions correctly (Fink 2003b)
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For any research project there is a temptation to skip the pilot testing. We would
endorse Bell's (2005:147) advise, however pressed for time you are, do your vest to
give the questionnaire a trail run', as without a trail run, you have no way of knowing
whether your questionnaire a trial run' as, without train run, you have no way of
knowing whether your questionnaire will succeed.
Prior to using the questionnaire to collect data the researcher pilot tested the
questionnaire on 25th January 2010 and the feedback received on 27th January 2010.
Some feedback received on unclear and ambiguous questions and amended
accordingly since the purpose of the pilot testing is to refine the questionnaire so that
respondent will have no problem in answering the questions and there will be no
problem in recording the data.
3.6 Assessing the validity and reliability of the data:
3.6.1 Validity:
According to Cooper and Schindler (2008) discussing the validity of a questionnaire
is often refers to content validity, criterion-related validity and construct validity.
Assessing the questionnaires internal validity refer to the questionnaire ability to
measure what as a researcher aim to measure (Saunders, et.al, 2009, p.373).
Therefore Considering validity is refers to the researcher up to what extent would the
researcher have access to the participant's knowledge and experience, the high level of
validity that is possible in relation to non-standardized qualitative interviews that are
conducted carefully is due to the questions being able to be clarified (Saunders, et.al,
2009, p.327).
Assessing the validity of the questionnaire is usually refers to the ability of the
questionnaire to measure what as a researcher trying to measure on by this method. So
the main concerned as the output from the questionnaire is represent of what you are
measuring and this guide to a problem as if you knew what as a researcher were
measuring here. Therefore would be no use of using a questionnaire as a primary
07220146 30

method to collect data. The fact is that the researcher trying to look for other relevant
evidence that supports the answers found using the questionnaire, relevance being
determined by the nature of their research questions and their own judgment
(Saunders, et.al, 2009, p.372 - 373).
3.6.2 Reliability:
The findings as an outcome from using non-standardized research methods are not
necessarily intended to be repeatable since they reflect reality at the time of collection,
in a situation which maybe subject to change (Marchall and Rossman, 1999) Since the
circumstances as a researcher intended to be explored are complex and dynamic so
decided to be used this type of research method, so the flexibility of the value of
using non- standardized interviews is extract from the flexibility that you may use to
explore the complexity of the topic (Saunders, et.al, 2009, p.327 - 328).
The reliability is concerned with the strengths of the questionnaire and the process of
producing consistent findings at different conditions such as with different samples or
in the case of interviewers – administrated questionnaire with different interviewers.
The reliability of the questionnaire is to be valid it must be reliable, so the respondents
may consistently interpret a question in your questionnaire in one way (Saunders,
et.al, 2009, p.373).
3.7 The Research Ethics:
Ethical concerns would come up as you plan your research, pursue access to
organizations and individual, collect, analyze and report the collected data. In the
context of research, Ethics refers to the appropriateness of your behavior in relation to
the rights of those who become the subject of your work, or are affected by it. Cooper
and Schindler (2008:34) define ethics as the 'norms or standard of behavior that guide
moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others'.
Research Ethics relates to the questions about how we formulate and clarify our
research topics, research design; gain access, data collection, data processing and
07220146 31

storing, data analysis and writing up our research findings in a moral and responsible
way.
Merely the author would have to make sure that the research design in both
methodologically sound and morally defensible to all those who are involved. So
what is morally defensible behavior as author will be affected by broader social norms
of behavior (Zikmund, 2000).
A study is unethical if it is scientifically unsound, causes undue offence or trauma,
breaches confidentiality, or wastes people's time or money.
3.8 Restriction Limitation of the research:
The limitation of this research is mainly on the response of the questionnaire, Its
challenging to get three responses from each selected company, for the senior
mangers preferably in HR, line managers and Talent staff. As the main challenge that
the researcher faced is the Senior managers responses since the Seniors feel that they
do not have time and when they had glance them they give the impression that its time
consuming and this will not work. Since on the other hand the HR professional who
believe on the Learning and Development they are really glad to have this kind of
research in the Kingdom markets.
The other limitation is the time available on conducting the research is very limited
and following up and chasing the participant to fill the questionnaire is not an easy
task. But in general was very interesting experience to the researcher to understand
the different people mentalities and the cooperatives of each participant.
Finally that the questionnaire conducted in English and gets the government sector
participation was very hard since the communication skills a barrier here.
07220146 32

Chapter Four
The Research Findings
4.1 Introduction:
In this chapter the author represents the findings from the primary research method by
questionnaire and will analysis the findings from the Questionnaires. The findings
approves that the used approach was the best fit for this research study.
4.2. Findings from the Questionnaires Data:
The author has used three types of questionnaires to the three categories on each
selected company. To go back to the main aim of the dissertation is to examine how
important is the Learning and Development to each selected organization and how
this process are support to achieve the organizational objectives and to improve the
individuals / Talents in maximize their potentials and on the other hand to explore and
assess the importance of nurturing talent and develop their potential to strengthen the
business performance.
The author selected a variety of sectors to contrast the process in each sector and to
explore the importance of development and retention of their talent employees and its
impact on business development.
The main focus will be on three sectors: A. the government sector, B. the
Multinational – Global companies and C. the Local companies. This questionnaires
address to three categories in different sectors, the categories are as follows: 1. The
Senior Managers, 2. The Line Managers, 3. The Talent Staff.
4.2.1 The first Category questionnaire is directed to the Senior Managers / Training
and HR Managers, the following is the findings:
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A. The Government sector Senior Manager's believe on the importance of
Learning and Talent Development as it is part of their organizational
objectives since without people development the organization can't reach
its master objectives.
The senior manager in the participated ministry is strongly agrees that
the Learning consider as investment since knowledge means power and
to be strong you should be a knowledgeable.
The senior managers are highly involved in the formulation of the
Learning and people development budget through workshops, seminars
and conferences. They considers the people with exceptional
achievements are talents and the turnover of the talent in the government
sector are high because they think that lack of Learning and
Development opportunities for the talent is a major cause of the
turnover.
Through performance indicators the senior managers can convince the
top management on the benefit of retaining talent within the organization
as they don’t have record for the new hire costs of replacing talent that
leave their organization.
They strongly agree that the talent is the most competitive advantage and
the most challenge they are facing to retain talent is the incentive system
in the government sector.
B. The Multinational / Global companies Senior Manager's
believe that the Learning and Development is a high priority for their
organizations and the people development is part of their organizational
Objectives because their companies globally believes on investing on
their people to develop them to their full potential.
One of the firms participated in this questionnaire is a global Audit firm,
the senior management considered the Learning and Development as an
07220146 34

investment by investing in their people as the firm can get the maximum
commitment from them and it is viewed as one of the most essential
areas for an employer of choice.
It is the Head of Learning and development duty to ensure that every
employee in the firm receives a minimum of 42 hours per annum as part
of the firm global requirements so they have their online training plan,
on the job training and external training as well in light of this a training
calendar is prepared, approved by the senior management and offered to
the staff.
They believe that Learning can enhance both organizational and
individual performance so they have learning and development team
manages the function and is involved in the facilitation of the trainings
for all staff. They have regular meetings with the senior management to
keep them updated on the training hours that their staff has accrued for
each quarter and whether all the staff meets the minimum target or not.
Talent means to them is people who have skills to perform their duties in
the organization, they believe that all their staff comprise of the
organization's talent, every one who is employed by them has a special
role to play in the day to day activities of the organization's operations
and success.
The development is the main cause of turnover so they have just
implemented a Learning and Development framework effective October
2009 therefore its very early to assess whether they have met the
expectations of the talent people or not.
It would be good to record the cost of replacing talent that leave their
organization however they are at present not conducting any such
exercise and they will be looking into putting a framework for the same
as it would be useful to demonstrate to their senior management that
retention is a cost effective method of retaining the talent.
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At the end of the year, as a Head of the Learning and Development
would provide the senior management the total cost of recruitment per
functional level against the training provided during the year and the
number of people who are still in the organization including the new
joiners so that a direct comparison can be made.
They believe that the talent are the company's most competitive
advantage as people normally speak to their friends when they have
returned from a specialized training related to their career growth and it
helps in retaining them as well as help to reduce the recruitment cost.
One more example, for technical insurance Management point of view
that because they are operate a business that relies in skilled/ experienced
and decision making by individuals so they need to hire, develop and
motivate talented people to perform at their best. They think the
Learning and Development as a cost and investment because it's very
easy to measure the cost but very difficult to objectively measure the
benefit.
The participant here is a senior manager and he thinks there are mixed
views on this around the company. At the moment it is probably viewed
as an expense which has a level of investment linked to it. The
technical training for example is clearly viewed as an investment as the
knowledge is required to do the core element of a job. The skills and
behavior development is not viewed in quite the same way as they have
not articulated clearly how this can be viewed as investment and this has
not stopped them delivering development in this area but has probably
acted as a constraint on the amount of development undertaken. Also
when expense pressures have been particularly strong the training budget
has been cut.
07220146 36

There is an underlying belief that the learning can enhance both
organizational and individual performance by identification of needs,
prioritizations, cost estimation and submission on to the annual
budgeting process. They have several Learning methods, on line
Learning, Training programs internally and externally, coaching,
mentoring, on the job training, assignments to projects, conferences
internally and externally and peer review.
In reality the amount of resource and budget available to implement
enhancements is limited. This can lead to enhanced creativity in the
approach and means that there is clear prioritization. Development is
linked to needs in the current job or targeted at people with potential to
go further.
As the company has a lot of experienced people in its technical areas so
the internal expertise is utilized a lot in either developing course content
or in delivering presentations to other employees. This helps to ensure
relevance for the organization. Regions are able to operate with a lot of
autonomy so that the local needs are met there is no strong dictate from
the centre.
The participant defines talent as both potential and putting that potential
into action. People who are skilled and looking to learn / do more (in
whatever filed) are the key drivers of organizational success.
Currently they do not break out the turnover rate for people identified as
talent in a rigorous way, they have made a start on this and it would
appear that where they have invested in the development of the talented
people, the turnover rate is lower than the general turnover rate. As the
participant senior Manager in Human resources think that the more
talented employees recognize the need to have development to be able to
progress in a company and therefore if they do not receive this in a
timely manner they are more likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.
07220146 37

They are recording all new hire costs but have not separated out the costs
linked to people identified on their Talent Radar. However they would
estimate the costs of replacement as higher than the investment made to
date in learning and development linked to these individuals. The
participant recommends that it would be useful to have both data
available and will start work on this!
By show the top management the figures we can convince them of the
benefits of retaining talent, the people is doing business therefore we
have to do as much as possible to retain our talented people – they
provide the basis for a competitive advantage. In terms of retaining
talent they have pressures from a compensation perspective in parts of
their business and the ability to meet career expectations as the company
operates a flat structure so there are not incremental steps on a regular
basis but big leaps occasionally! As the company has a good reputation
their talents are always targeted by other companies to recruit their staff.
The main challenge they are facing to retain the talent is to develop a
positive culture so people feel they are valued and growing with the
business as Learning and Development is a key elements of this.
From a view of a Global Bank in the kingdom of Bahrain the participant
senior manager believe that the People are a company defining asset and
one that is hardest to replace especially in the finance industry, the
product / services are essentially the same. Whilst companies may have
a technological or distribution advantage, these are advantages which
can be eroded over time as competitors grow and expand. What
competitors will find very difficult to replicate is the amount and quality
of human capital.
They believe that Learning and Development is an investment in
people's future and up skilling and considered a necessary outlay.
07220146 38

Learning and Development is implemented through a team of trained
professionals which come from both a professional training background
and practical business background. Numerous learning academies are
being run globally to ensure a consistent quality and up skilling of
learning and development across the company so they have a wide
variety of depth of e-learning courses, Internal classroom based courses,
external classroom based courses ran by third party providers, Online
internal resource library available and on the job training.
Talent defines in their views as top performers who are seen as leaders of
an organization and will driving change and adding value. They make a
concerted effort to ensure top performers as there are many programs
aimed at top performers to drive their development both in terms of
skills and from a leadership perspective so they believe that the Learning
and development are not the major cause of the turnover in the bank.
They think it would be good to have figure and quantify as it reinforce
the importance of retaining people and how incremental investment
could save more money in the long term, however the costs would need
to be viewed with perspective as I don not believe many employees
choose to leave a company purely based on a lack of Learning and
Development activities therefore using the cost metric mentioned
includes qualitative impacts with associated costs in terms of lost
opportunities, knowledge.
Surprisingly, the author have found very strange situation in a
multination firm which the participants Senior Managers believe that the
people development is part of the organizational objectives but as
strategic plan only and unfortunately the people development in this firm
is considered as a overhead spending, as their annual Learning budget is
very limited to the government levy scheme as the Ministry of Labour is
charging all companies 4% of total expat employees income to utilize for
the Training purpose for the Local Bahrainis employees only so the
budget for Learning is very limited.
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In term of the Learning Methods utilize in this firm is limited as well by
external learning and coaching methods and its limited as well to the
operation department only.
The senior managers theoretically believe that the learning can enhance
both organizational and individual performance but unfortunately not
implemented in a systematic way.
Talent means to them outstanding skills that raise up during a task, a
talented staff is considered as an assets to the organization, staff who are
directly involved with the customer and those who are directly involving
in achieving the business objectives.
They believe that the lack of systematic Learning and Development
procedures and the lack of motivations are major cause of a high
turnover rate of the talent people which is annoying the Operations
departments.
This firm unfortunately has no system to record the cost of Learning and
development of exit talent that left the organization and no record for the
new hire cost of replacement talent that left them so they think that it is
very useful to have both data for the Learning and Development strategic
planning and maintaining such record will be as initial stage to be a self
explanatory to represented the fact in figures "Cost Rate", Hence the
participant Senior Manager here believe that the talent is company's most
competitive advantage and the Market demand for the talent staff plus
the healthy work environment, career development planning with
financial reward as well the most challenges they are facing to retain
their talent employees.
C. The Local organizations senior Managers participate in this
questionnaire believed that the learning and development is high priority
for their organizations and its part of their organizational objectives.
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The Learning and Development Head of one of the biggest local groups
with branches and presents in varies countries in the Middle East with
5800 employees within the group given a big priority on the Learning
and Development of its employees and they are considers the Learning
and development a compulsory obligation commitments towards the
local capital and believes that it’s part of the community developments.
As much as invests on learning and people development this will reflect
on the individual's performance and business development as well
through allocating a big budget for Learning and development of all
employees Locals and expat in different functions by on job training,
internal and external training, coaching, delegation by line managers.
The author impressed on real examples of two local's employees has
started their career with this group from very joiner level and now both
are in a supervisory level.
The first real example is for a Bahraini cashier who started her career in
1996 with secondary school certificates and she is now a supervisor with
Bachelor degree which she is managing team and identifying her team's
learning and developments needs and of course still looking for more
development opportunities for her as well.
One more real example is for a Bahraini who started his career with the
same group before 14 years ago as a driver and now he is an outlet
supervisor. The company provides them with a learning opportunities
and a great career development as the company usually announce for any
internal vacancies so always they will get a good promotions within the
group. Apart of that, the innovative environment provided in the
workplace and the freedom to generate ideas plus the delegation and
empowerment are all key factors lead to the people development and
enhance their productivity.
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Both are real talent example as they have a potential to grow and
develop, they are both adding value to the business, they are loyal to the
company as they are always targeted by the competitors but they feel
that they like the environment in their work which is the most important
factor even if they are looking for more pay which may the competitor
try to attract them.
The top management in this local group of companies believes that their
talent people is the most competitive advantage and the competitor can
offer them maybe better packages but they can't provide them with the
healthy environment and a learning and development opportunities and
from the experience that there is some employees has decided to leave
the group for better pay but latter they have decided to come back mainly
that the elements of satisfaction is not there.
4.2.2 The second Category directed to the Line managers on each selected
organization, the following is the findings:
A. The line Managers in the Government Sector emphasize on the
importance of the Learning to improve the work efficiency and quality.
Learning and development opportunities given to all employees, the
participants believes that talent people are the high performers and the
line managers support and develop them through nominate them for
training and recommend higher paid for them as well.
The participant line managers believed that the talent people in the
Government sector are not satisfied because of the Learning and
development opportunities offered to them and the financial reward as
well not up to their expectations.
The line managers here are not in a position to identify the challenge
faced them to retain the talent people and even they don't know how to
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convince the senior management of the benefits of talent retention and
they think that the Talent are not the most competitive advantage to them
so its not a big deal to retain them.
B. In the Multinational / Global companies the Line Managers
participated on this questionnaire, the following are their views:
The line managers in the Global Audit firm revealed that the people
development is part of their Performance objectives as they are involving
in their Learning and developments planning by identifying the training
and on-the-job exposure required by individuals. They recommend
learning opportunities to all employees based on their requirements as
they exhibited that every body has talent and its line manager's
responsibility to utilize this talent and try to provide them with career
enhancing opportunities.
The line manager here in this case is not very sure that his team are
satisfied with the exist plan for the Learning and career development and
not sure as well about their loyalty as they faced challenge to manage the
employee's expectations in term of compensation and career progression
so they believe that the management need to consider this factors or
other wise they will loose the talent people as they believes that the
talent are the company's most competitive advantage but on the other
hand as line managers they don't know how to convince the top
management on the importance of talent retention.
From insurance Global company view the line managers can see that the
people development is part of their performance objectives as a team in
order to achieve the departmental objectives as a whole, there are various
deliverables that need to be completed in a timely and accurately
manner. Without having well trained people it is not possible to achieve
these objectives. The line managers are involve in their team's Learning
and Development planning by the assessment of the areas and skills need
improvements.
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The line manager emphasize that the team's Learning and career
development important to him in order to achieve an organizational short
and long term goals so possess a good human resources can be well
developed through continuous learning.
He believes that the God has gifted all human beings with a talent and
the key point is to find it out and use it accordingly so can see that every
individual is talented in their organization. The line manager in this case
trying to keep himself well informed about his team members financially
and about their social needs and try to resolve any issues.
As a company they are trying to provide equal learning opportunities to
all employees and he believes that if the employees social and financial
needs are fulfilled the talent employees remain loyal to the organization.
In term of challenges facing them to retain talent people the line
managers revealed that its sometimes difficult to manage their
compensation expectations due to the organizational policies and other
factors so this cause dissatisfaction among the employees and their
loyalty is questioned.
The line managers in the selected global bank emphasized that the
people Development is part of their performance objectives as a team
leader and it is mandatory in their job description, however the
development of the people is key in every department since it will
increase the knowledge and will give the person more ability in handling
day to day activities.
Since they are involved in their people's Learning and development
planning by providing opportunities to the staff to be involved in
meetings, projects, and even by liaising with the HR department to
nominate the best courses and training available.
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The Learning and Development of their teams it really important to them
as they considered to be an important tool to run the unit, since it will
remove a burden from the line mangers and the more people learn the
development of the organization will be more recognized so they have to
provide the Learning and Career development to all employees as it is
important to have a consistent treatment among the team members and to
give opportunity to every one since the full team are involved to reach
the unit goal.
Talent means to the line manager a positive behavior and outstanding
work quality and of course they have a talent people in their team and as
line manager it is easily noticed the talent people because of the work
quality and willingness to do an extra miles in order to get the job done,
and to get customer satisfaction.
The line manager here is playing a big role in supporting their retention
by given them more opportunities to explore their talent, involve them
more in projects and recognize them in management meetings.
Talent People are not really satisfied with the Learning and career
development opportunities as the talent staff are always needs more,
however the issue that all are facing work pressure which makes
sometimes the Learning opportunities are limited.
The level of loyalty is higher with the people who received a regular
positive feedback from the management and they are recognized
financially, since on the other hand the people who have a standard work
level and are not very much recognized by the management their loyalty
level is lower.
The most challenges facing the line managers here in identifying and
retaining talent is the availability of the development opportunities
within the department and the banks as well.
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The line managers can convince the top management on the benefits of
retaining talent by proves the outcome that can affect the bank as they
believe that the talent is the bank's most competitive advantage so it is
not an easy task to retain them however if the staff was recognized and a
proper plan of carrier development was set up and shared for this
talented staff so this will assist in retaining the talent staff.
The author has explore on the earlier part of this chapter on the senior
managers findings in the Global and Multinational firms about the
strange situation in a multinational firm who are not series in Learning
and career development so here is the line manager view and on the last
finding of the talent staff part will include the finding of the talent staff
as well.
So the line managers here as an operations manager can see that the
people development is part of their performance objectives and one of
his objective is to continuously develop his people, therefore in order to
be able to identify the areas of development in his department he
normally conducting a training need analysis or due to lack of resources
he and the supervisors collect feedback from the team leaders on the
requirements of their teams which normally pin points the gaps and need
for training.
In addition to that as part of the on going people development process
they have implemented the monthly one to one coaching and feedback
sessions between team leaders, supervisors and managers and their direct
subordinates.
The line manager is highly involved in the team's Learning and
Development planning by conducting on the job training and one to one
coaching sessions, so he emphasize that his team's Learning and
Development is important to him as it will enable him to identify the
good and ambitious people who want to establish a career for themselves
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in the company and therefore as a line manager can provide them with
the necessary training skills that will help them develop to the next level.
The learning and career development opportunities are provided to all
people as he believed that the personal and professional development of
staff is an investment in their future. On going education is crucial in
today's long term care environment where the unique and ever changing
needs of customers are becoming increasingly complex so learning is
important to enhancing care, service and quality of life for both
customers and staff.
Talent can be seen as recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior
that can be productively applied so all the middle managers in his
organization are the people who comprise the organization's talent. In
supporting the retention of the organization talent people his role is to let
them make an impact and develop their skills, help to plan their careers,
show them trust and trust them, keep them in the loop and motivate
them.
Unfortunately his talent people are not satisfied with the Learning and
career development opportunities and they are loyal to the organization
up to certain degree due to the recent world financial crisis and the job
redundancies in the market, it has become very difficult for anyone to
leave their job without securing themselves somewhere else, and as a
result he believe that this is the main factor that secures their loyalty.
When identifying talent as a line manager normally faced with the
challenge of creating the time to develop that talent. In most cases when
any of his team members is offered another/ better job opportunity he is
unable to retain them due to the limited job opportunities and slow
growth in the company so he believe by doing a small calculation of cost
between retaining talent within the organization and the cost of new hires
he will be able to convince the senior managers that keeping talent is
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cost effective but unfortunately they are unable to retain their talent staff
due to lack of opportunities within the company.
C. The line managers in the selected Local organizations believes
that people development is part of their performance objectives so as a
line manager needs to make sure that the team members are up to the
standards and developing people will develop the business so developing
them will get better result.
The line managers are total involved in their people's learning and
development to acquire plus helping them to be more productive and
efficient as their team's learning and career development is important to
them because developing a creative and motivated team is a competitive
advantage for the organization.
The Learning and development is provided to all staff because
everybody should get the opportunity to learn more and develop
themselves.
The talent means to the line manager in the selected local group is being
creative in their performance and everybody should be talented in a way
so the line manager is supporting talent retention by brainstorming
sessions to encourage them and motivate their creativity.
Here the line manager mentioned that the talent people among his team
are not the same as some of them are satisfied but some of them believe
that increments and bonuses are the only recognitions they seek as a
result of this some of them are loyal and some are believes that financial
support is always the key to retain them.
Consequently, the line manager is facing a financial challenge to retain
talent people especially the salaries in the market compared to the
investments market as emphasized that it is a bit difficult to convince the
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top management on the benefits of retaining talent as the line manager
believe that the talent is the company's competitive advantage so the
main challenge they are facing to retain them is the compensation and
financial reward.
4.2.3 The Third Category directed to the talented staff on each selected
organization:
A. The talent staff in the Government organizations are aware of
the key organizational objectives and they have their own performance
objectives and as a talent staff involved to some extent to own
objectives.
The direct supervisor is responsible of setting the employees personal
Development planning since the talent here are participating in the
identifying their Learning and Development needs.
The talent of staff has developed further by talent themselves and the
direct manager so the talent believes that the learning can enhance their
performance to some extent but it not only depends on learning.
When it comes to the organizational performance in the public sector as
per the talents that many professionals and talent people are leaving the
public sector to the private sector because of the financial incentives and
this will reflect on the organizational performance.
The Career Planning development in the public sector is not clear as
none of the talent participated on this questionnaire have an idea about
their career planning.
In term of satisfaction of the organization's reward and recognition they
are not satisfied in comparison with the private sector so the talent staffs
are not loyal as they are trying to get more professional qualification to
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enhance their curriculum vitae to get better opportunities in the private
sector.
B. The Talent staff in the Multinational / Global Companies
participated on the questionnaire of this research, will start with the
talent staff in the insurance company, they are aware of their own
performance objectives and targets and they know the key business
objectives as the talent employee in this example is able to identify own
performance objectives by sharing the idea with the direct line manager
and after fair discussion will set objectives by direct recommendation
and suggestion, therefore the talent staff here feels that have been fairly
involved in setting those objectives.
The responsibility for Personal Development Planning is indeed upon
talent staff that there are four entities that are responsible for the
Personal Development Planning, are the staff and direct manager who
are directly responsible for the same, the HR Manager and the Managing
Director who are indirectly interfering in the final stage, so these four
entities are all coordinating together for a successful personal
Development planning.
In identifying the Learning and Development plan this is shared between
the direct manager and the staff, the talent staff could identify the same
upon experience and the manager setting the plan for current and future
needs. Although the talent could point out some areas where need
further development as general needs but the manager was strictly
focusing on the talents needs that directly relates to the talent role.
Each and every employee of this company as per the participated talent
staff are contributing to the organizational business objectives, therefore
setting own performance objectives on annual basis would serve meeting
the key business objectives.
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Achieving Organizational Competitive Advantage through Learning & Talent

Achieving Organizational Competitive Advantage through Learning & Talent

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