Greetings of the day, I would like to know about the learning curve in individuals. How this can be linked with career-building let’s say for the promotion of an individual.
From India, Bangalore
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1From India, Bangalore
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Learning curve for a progressive person should be positive and going up at all times.
As the years pass by, new learnings should get added to one’s resume. It will enable an individual to rise in his career.
Suppose a person keeps on doing the same job for many years he is not really adding anything new to his experience. We can just say it is one year learning repeated many times.
New learnings show new experience gained.
A person rises in his career on this basis taking higher responsibilities.
V Raghunathan. Chennai
From India
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As the years pass by, new learnings should get added to one’s resume. It will enable an individual to rise in his career.
Suppose a person keeps on doing the same job for many years he is not really adding anything new to his experience. We can just say it is one year learning repeated many times.
New learnings show new experience gained.
A person rises in his career on this basis taking higher responsibilities.
V Raghunathan. Chennai
From India
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The above post from Mr. V. Raghunathan is good and realistic. During my start of career in the mid-70s, I worked with one organization, namely Guest Keen Williams Ltd (GKW), an MNC, as a diploma mechanical engineer. The organization recruited graduate engineers every year from Shibpur BE College, Jadavpur Engineering College, and IIT Kharagpur, including candidates who ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, as well as 10th, 15th, etc.
After 2-3 years, a lower-ranked student (10th/15th rank) received a promotion. The students who ranked 1st and 2nd became very upset. At that time, I was a training officer, and my boss was the training manager, who was also a member of the promotion committee. The upset employees met the training manager to inquire why they were not promoted. The Training Manager explained nicely. The employees' argument was that they had successfully completed all tasks assigned to them, so why not a promotion.
The Training Manager explained that scoring 100 out of 100, which is excellent in an academic setting, only qualifies for a normal increment in the industry. To earn a promotion, one would need to score 120 or 130 out of 100. Additionally, the Training Manager elaborated on the reason behind promoting a Tool Room Engineer to Assistant Manager, despite being academically ranked 12th. This employee effectively managed the production of press tools (blanking, piercing, forming tools, etc.) and also acquired skills in operating specialized machines like jig boring, jig grinding, profile grinding, and contributed by enhancing operational procedures in those areas.
In my opinion, the above scenario depicts the learning curve necessary for career development. In my current role, I engage with many HR professionals, categorizing them into two groups: those with superficial knowledge, unaware of their limitations, and those possessing in-depth knowledge, eager to learn new concepts. I have learned valuable insights from both categories. Unfortunately, a considerable number of HR professionals operate reactively, lacking proactiveness and a genuine interest in continuous learning, focusing more on power dynamics and promotions.
Continuous learning is essential for self-improvement, career advancement, and organizational alignment.
S. K. Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah) CEO-USD HR Solutions +91 98310 81531 skb@usdhrs.in USD HR Solutions – To Strive towards excellence with effort and integrity
From India, New Delhi
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After 2-3 years, a lower-ranked student (10th/15th rank) received a promotion. The students who ranked 1st and 2nd became very upset. At that time, I was a training officer, and my boss was the training manager, who was also a member of the promotion committee. The upset employees met the training manager to inquire why they were not promoted. The Training Manager explained nicely. The employees' argument was that they had successfully completed all tasks assigned to them, so why not a promotion.
The Training Manager explained that scoring 100 out of 100, which is excellent in an academic setting, only qualifies for a normal increment in the industry. To earn a promotion, one would need to score 120 or 130 out of 100. Additionally, the Training Manager elaborated on the reason behind promoting a Tool Room Engineer to Assistant Manager, despite being academically ranked 12th. This employee effectively managed the production of press tools (blanking, piercing, forming tools, etc.) and also acquired skills in operating specialized machines like jig boring, jig grinding, profile grinding, and contributed by enhancing operational procedures in those areas.
In my opinion, the above scenario depicts the learning curve necessary for career development. In my current role, I engage with many HR professionals, categorizing them into two groups: those with superficial knowledge, unaware of their limitations, and those possessing in-depth knowledge, eager to learn new concepts. I have learned valuable insights from both categories. Unfortunately, a considerable number of HR professionals operate reactively, lacking proactiveness and a genuine interest in continuous learning, focusing more on power dynamics and promotions.
Continuous learning is essential for self-improvement, career advancement, and organizational alignment.
S. K. Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah) CEO-USD HR Solutions +91 98310 81531 skb@usdhrs.in USD HR Solutions – To Strive towards excellence with effort and integrity
From India, New Delhi
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Hello Sap_hrm,
Learning is one of the dynamics of individual behavior critical to determining an organization's current as well as future performance. While highly respected colleagues wishfully state that the learning curve should 'always go up,' the reality is different. The fact is, learning is expressed as a 'curve' which goes up and eventually does come down. Therefore, the HR professional's challenge is to understand how the learning curve is shaped for the individual, for teams, and for the organization, and based on that understanding, design interventions that help the organization align its functional strategy implementation (e.g., recruitment strategy, sales strategy, retention strategy, and so on) with it.
Where does the concept 'learning curve' come from? It has its origin in the lives of engineers at work, who observed, for example, how much time was taken by a worker to assemble a product. A new worker at the job would initially take longer, but then as the worker learns, the time taken for performing the same task would come down - but it will never be 0. On the other hand, if other context factors such as negative politics and conflict between workers and management, worker's fatigue, and boredom, etc., are present, then the time taken to perform the same task may actually rise.
As we can understand, the lesser the time taken, the greater is the learning, so there is an inverse relationship between the two, and therefore, we expect a curve (showing time taken to perform a task) rising and then falling. We would like to see a lot of falling here :)
So, what an HR professional can do is as follows:
1. Observe the learning curve and add training and development interventions to accelerate learning. So, the natural speed of learning can be enhanced.
2. Observe the rate at which the reduction in time taken to perform a job occurs and introduce refresher training initiatives so that the rate of learning does not decelerate.
3. Look for points that disrupt the downward movement of the curve and remove negative grapevine, politics that are not pro-excellence, and simmering conflict that manifests in deviant behavior. OD interventions, culture-building interventions, strengthening systems, and moving towards the creation of a differentiated workforce are some examples of what HR professionals can do.
Some interventions work best at the entire system level, while some are for the teams, and yet others are for individuals. So, the HR professional has to carefully choose which interventions to choose, how to schedule them, and ensure they are well-aligned. Interventions at only one level hardly help.
Now, that you wish to relate the learning curve with the individual career building, here is what comes to our minds:
1. Make career management and succession planning linked with recruitment. Hire individuals with learning preferences and pace that match with what your organization's strategic needs.
2. Filter individuals who can have a future with your organization, sort them by their learning pace (organization needs both, fast and slow learners).
3. Integrate HRD and OD systems with HR systems.
4. Carry out career assessment (in terms of potential) for individuals and carry out performance and potential assessment using assessment centers.
5. There are various frameworks that explain career progression. Choose and design a framework for your organization, which states how careers are expected to progress.
6. Make sure that the performance management system is well-integrated with the communication system, reward system, and retention system, so that during the stages of career building, the focus is on learning, that when the person is accomplished, there is accelerated learning, that the learners are not punished for mistakes made in the early stages, that there is organizational support, and that when the person is in the stage of 'giving back,' there is a match between what they can contribute with what the organization needs.
7. Finally, make sure that there is a balance between performing and learning and that the people can clearly 'see' what they are expected to perform and what learning will be instrumental in their goal achievement.
There's more, but we can share more if you found this early background suitable.
Best wishes, Team HRM For Non-HR Managers
Email: cec22-mg17@cec2.swayam2.ac.in
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hrfornonhr.gu.1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrm4nonhrmanagers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cec22M
From India
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Learning is one of the dynamics of individual behavior critical to determining an organization's current as well as future performance. While highly respected colleagues wishfully state that the learning curve should 'always go up,' the reality is different. The fact is, learning is expressed as a 'curve' which goes up and eventually does come down. Therefore, the HR professional's challenge is to understand how the learning curve is shaped for the individual, for teams, and for the organization, and based on that understanding, design interventions that help the organization align its functional strategy implementation (e.g., recruitment strategy, sales strategy, retention strategy, and so on) with it.
Where does the concept 'learning curve' come from? It has its origin in the lives of engineers at work, who observed, for example, how much time was taken by a worker to assemble a product. A new worker at the job would initially take longer, but then as the worker learns, the time taken for performing the same task would come down - but it will never be 0. On the other hand, if other context factors such as negative politics and conflict between workers and management, worker's fatigue, and boredom, etc., are present, then the time taken to perform the same task may actually rise.
As we can understand, the lesser the time taken, the greater is the learning, so there is an inverse relationship between the two, and therefore, we expect a curve (showing time taken to perform a task) rising and then falling. We would like to see a lot of falling here :)
So, what an HR professional can do is as follows:
1. Observe the learning curve and add training and development interventions to accelerate learning. So, the natural speed of learning can be enhanced.
2. Observe the rate at which the reduction in time taken to perform a job occurs and introduce refresher training initiatives so that the rate of learning does not decelerate.
3. Look for points that disrupt the downward movement of the curve and remove negative grapevine, politics that are not pro-excellence, and simmering conflict that manifests in deviant behavior. OD interventions, culture-building interventions, strengthening systems, and moving towards the creation of a differentiated workforce are some examples of what HR professionals can do.
Some interventions work best at the entire system level, while some are for the teams, and yet others are for individuals. So, the HR professional has to carefully choose which interventions to choose, how to schedule them, and ensure they are well-aligned. Interventions at only one level hardly help.
Now, that you wish to relate the learning curve with the individual career building, here is what comes to our minds:
1. Make career management and succession planning linked with recruitment. Hire individuals with learning preferences and pace that match with what your organization's strategic needs.
2. Filter individuals who can have a future with your organization, sort them by their learning pace (organization needs both, fast and slow learners).
3. Integrate HRD and OD systems with HR systems.
4. Carry out career assessment (in terms of potential) for individuals and carry out performance and potential assessment using assessment centers.
5. There are various frameworks that explain career progression. Choose and design a framework for your organization, which states how careers are expected to progress.
6. Make sure that the performance management system is well-integrated with the communication system, reward system, and retention system, so that during the stages of career building, the focus is on learning, that when the person is accomplished, there is accelerated learning, that the learners are not punished for mistakes made in the early stages, that there is organizational support, and that when the person is in the stage of 'giving back,' there is a match between what they can contribute with what the organization needs.
7. Finally, make sure that there is a balance between performing and learning and that the people can clearly 'see' what they are expected to perform and what learning will be instrumental in their goal achievement.
There's more, but we can share more if you found this early background suitable.
Best wishes, Team HRM For Non-HR Managers
Email: cec22-mg17@cec2.swayam2.ac.in
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hrfornonhr.gu.1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrm4nonhrmanagers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cec22M
From India
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