INLS 131
Management of Information Agencies
Fall 1999

Getting Ready for Class of Oct. 27, 1999

STAFFING: TRAINING AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT

We will spend the next few classes on staffing issues: Job design; issues of recruitment, hiring and firing; training and staff development; evaluation and performance evaluation; conflict management.

Wednesday's class will be focused on job design and training issues. First, look over the notes on reward systems. Then for a reading, you have a choice, please read either:

Kern, Harris, et al., "The Politics of People, Process, and Technology," Chapter 4 (pp. 23-41) of Building the New Enterprise: People, Process, and Technology. Palo Alto, CA: Sun Microsystems Press, 1998.

or:

Stueart, Robert D. and Barbara B. Moran, "Training and Staff Development," pp. 193-207 of chapter 4, Staffing, in their Library and Information Center Management. 5th ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. (on reserve) [Note: The follow-on pages (pp. 207-221) on performance appraisal are also useful.]

These two readings are not exactly parallel but close. I like the Kern reading because of its emphasis on customer satisfaction (what we call in the library world, "service orientation"). The section on training and staff development is meatier in the Stueart/Moran reading; it focuses on the library context whereas Kern focuses on the IT context. Anyway, take your pick.

Some questions for reflection:

  • What kind of training programs have you experienced? How would you evaluate them? If you have never been in a training program, think of the orientation you received when you entered SILS. What were the positive and negative features of the orientation as you experienced it?

  • Do you have a mentor? or more than one? How has the mentor helped you? If you were to deliberately to try to seek out a mentor in a new job situation, what kind of person would you look for?

  • How important is a staff development program for you in a job situation?

  • What kind of reward systems have you experienced either in work, family, or volunteer organizations? In your opinion, what works best?

  • We will discuss some ways of working with volunteers. What motivates you as a volunteer? Is it different than what motivates you in a work for pay situation?