Assignment on Training and Development within Vodafone

Human Resource Management (HRM), a relatively new term, that emerged during the 1930s. Many people used to refer it before by its traditional titles, such as Personnel Administration or Personnel Management. But now, the trend is changing. It is now termed as Human Resource Management (HRM). Human Resource Management is a management function that helps an organization select, recruit, train and develops.

Human Resource Management is defined as the people who staff and manage organization. It comprises of the functions and principles that are applied to retaining, training, developing, and compensating the employees in organization. It is also applicable to non-business organizations, such as education, healthcare etc. Human Resource Management is defined as the set of activities, programs, and functions that are designed to maximize both organizational as well as employee effectiveness

Scope of HRM without a doubt is vast. All the activities of employee, from the time of his entry into an organization until he leaves, come under the horizon of HRM.

The divisions included in HRM are Recruitment, Payroll, Performance Management, Training and Development, Retention, Industrial Relation, etc. Out of all these divisions, one such important division is training and development.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT is a subsystem of an organization. It ensures that randomness is reduced and learning or behavioral change takes place in structured format.

TRADITIONAL AND MODERN APPROACH OF TRAINING AND DEVLOPMENT

Traditional Approach – Most of the organizations before never used to believe in training. They were holding the traditional view that managers are born and not made. There were also some views that training is a very costly affair and not worth. Organizations used to believe more in executive pinching. But now the scenario seems to be changing.

The modern approach of training and development is that Indian Organizations have realized the importance of corporate training. Training is now considered as more of retention tool than a cost. The training system in Indian Industry has been changed to create a smarter workforce and yield the best results

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of training and development division is to make sure the availability of a skilled and willing workforce to an organization. In addition to that, there are four other objectives: Individual, Organizational, Functional, and Societal.

Individual Objectives

help employees in achieving their personal goals, which in turn, enhances the individual contribution to an organization.

Organizational Objectives – assist the organization with its primary objective by bringing individual effectiveness.

Functional Objectives – maintain the department’s contribution at a level suitable to the organization’s needs.

Societal Objectives – ensure that an organization is ethically and socially responsible to the needs and challenges of the society.

Role of HRD Professionals in Training

This is the era of cut-throat competition and with this changing scenario of business; the role of HR professionals in training has been widened. HR role now is:

1. Active involvement in employee education

2. Rewards for improvement in performance

3. Rewards to be associated with self esteem and self worth

4. Providing pre-employment market oriented skill development education and post employment support for advanced education and training

5. Flexible access i.e. anytime, anywhere training

The HR functioning is changing with time and with this change, the relationship between the training function and other management activity is also changing.

About Vodafone

Vodafone Group Plc is the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States through the Company’s subsidiary undertakings, joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments.

The Group’s mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name ‘Vodafone’. In the United States the Group’s associated undertaking operates as Verizon Wireless. During the last few years, Vodafone Group has entered into arrangements with network operators in countries where the Group does not hold an equity stake. Under the terms of these Partner Market Agreements, the Group and its partner operators co-operate in the development and marketing of global products and services, with varying levels of brand association.

At 30 September 2009, based on the registered customers of mobile telecommunications ventures in which it had ownership interests at that date, the Group had 323 million customers, excluding paging customers, calculated on a proportionate basis in accordance with the Company’s percentage interest in these ventures.

The Company’s ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Company’s American Depositary Shares (‘ADSs’) are listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The Company had a total market capitalisation of approximately £71.2 billion at 12 November 2009.

Vodafone Group Plc is a public limited company incorporated in England under registered number 1833679. Its registered office is Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2FN, England.

Vodafone – Training and development

We provide training and development opportunities to help our employees gain new skills and experiences, and encourage them to reach their full potential. Vodafone offers a wide range of online courses related to specific aspects of the business or key skill sets.

Performance Dialogues

All employees complete an annual Performance Dialogue with their line manager, enabling them to review their performance annually and set clear goals and development plans for the year ahead. The process ensures our people can make a clear connection between their goals and Vodafone’s business objectives.

Development Boards

Vodafone employees with key skills are discussed at an annual Development Board, where their line managers rate their performance and potential. We use this information to identify employees with leadership potential in each local operating company. These employees are encouraged to complete leadership development training, such as Inspire.

Inspire leadership development

Inspire is a global programme designed to identify and develop high potential employees and accelerate their progression into leadership roles. Participants take part in a three-month international rotation and receive commercial training and personalised leadership development through Imperial College, Oxford Said Business School and the Hay Group. They also gain from exposure to and learning from members of our Executive Committee. The programme promotes cross-cultural understanding within Vodafone and encourages employees to take advantage of the breadth of experience across the Group.

Promoting career opportunities within Vodafone

We want people to develop at Vodafone and promote recruitment from within. This encourages people to progress their careers within the company, either through promotion or a change of role to broaden their experience. All vacancies across Vodafone are advertised on the job-posting page of our global intranet, which encourages the transfer of talent across the Group.

Equal opportunities and diversity

We believe employee diversity is an asset to our business. Men and women of various ages from different backgrounds and cultures, with a range of different experiences, help us understand and serve our customers around the world.

We have a strategy to improve diversity and inclusion across the Group. It aims to ensure Vodafone’s workforce reflects its diverse customer base, and that the company has an inclusive working environment that embraces the benefits diversity brings.

Vodafone aims to create a working culture that respects the value of differences among colleagues and encourages individuals to contribute their best within an environment that is inclusive, open, flexible and fair. We will not tolerate discrimination or unfair treatment on any grounds. Employees must act with integrity and respect for their colleagues and customers. We are committed to helping talented people from diverse backgrounds meet their potential at all levels of the company.

Gender diversity

We are working to improve gender diversity at Vodafone, as part of our diversity and inclusion strategy. This includes carrying out senior leadership training on inclusion and diversity. At Group level, we instruct our recruitment consultants to recommend a minimum of one credible female candidate for interview for every vacancy we advertise at management level.

We recognise that women can often be more affected by family commitments than men and encourage flexible working to help employees balance their work with their family commitments.

Cultural diversity

With operations worldwide, Vodafone is not only multinational but multicultural. We encourage our managers to gain experience working in different countries and almost half our senior managers have international experience. International rotation is a key part of our Inspire programme for employees with high potential. See Training and development.

Employees with disabilities

We are conscious of the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities, and make every effort to ensure access to the Group’s facilities and services.

Disabled people are assured of full and fair consideration for all vacancies for which they offer themselves as suitable candidates. We do our best to meet their needs, particularly in relation to access and mobility. Where possible, modifications to workplaces are made to provide access for the disabled.

Every effort is made to continue the employment of people who become disabled during their employment, through the provision of additional facilities, job design and appropriate training.

Reward and recognition

We aim to provide competitive and fair rates of pay and benefits in each market where we operate. This helps us attract and retain the best employees. Pay and benefits vary in each local operating company.

Vodafone rewards employees based on their performance, potential and contribution to the success of the business. We want to ensure that our people feel their efforts are recognised. Our global short and long-term incentive plans reward performance.

Health, safety and wellbeing

The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees is a priority for Vodafone. We believe all incidents and injuries are preventable and we are committed to ensuring that our people can do their work safely. And we understand that employee wellbeing is vital for a healthy and effective workforce.

Our wellbeing framework tackles significant issues such as attendance and stress management, as well as helping our people understand the importance of work-life balance and the benefits of healthy lifestyles. Many of our operating companies run programmes which aim to keep their employees healthy and free from stress, including flexible working initiatives. Flexible working enables employees to balance work and family commitments better and helps us to attract and retain the best people, as well as use space more efficiently.

Our health, safety and wellbeing principles apply equally to Vodafone employees, our service providers, contractors and suppliers. We set consistently high health and safety standards across the Group, and have robust management systems to ensure these are implemented.

Our Group Health and Safety Policy covers health and safety management, radio frequency fields and health, and driving safety. Each local operating company must comply with this policy and implement a health and safety management system that is consistent with local operating conditions and legislation. We also provide health and security advice for employees travelling abroad on business.

Our Group Health, Safety and Wellbeing Board oversees implementation of health, safety and wellbeing management by local operating companies. Operating companies share information and advice through our Health, Safety and Wellbeing Network and at annual conferences.

Employee volunteering

Many of our employees give their time as volunteers to support good causes. This benefits charities and communities but also allows our employees to learn new skills.

We encourage employee volunteering and help to raise additional funds from third parties. Most of our local operating companies have programmes to encourage employees to volunteer in working hours.

Examples of employee volunteering programmes include:

Refurbishing a residential care home for young children, by Vodafone Malta to mark its seventh annual ‘Corporate Responsibility Day’.

Distributing blankets, clothes and food supplies to 10,000 needy families. Over 160 Vodafone Egypt employees volunteered three hours each on average to the cause.

Giving blood at Vodafone Albania’s Blood Donation Day, in co-operation with The Red Cross. Donors are urgently needed in Albania because 8% of the population carries Thalassemia, a blood condition that can be treated with blood transfusions.

Vodafone Australia’s Beyondyou programme, to help employees make a personal difference to their community and the environment. Beyondyou offers individual and team volunteering, as well as career development opportunities with community partners. Employees can take one additional day of paid leave each year to volunteer.