Specifically, what functions did it (not) fulfill? Why?
Morgan Stanley (MS) is one of the leading investment banks in the United States. Since its founding in 1935 by Henry Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company has been transformed into a “One-Firm Company”. The company relied on its employees to achieve the transformation and present itself to its clients and the public in a unified manner.
In the old appraisal system, only the managers of the firm evaluated the employees. In many cases, the evaluation would be done once a year. Many employees viewed the evaluations as unwelcome and awkward paperwork instead of perceiving them as crucial tools for improving both organizational and individual performance. The company later came up with a 360° performance evaluation (Kriiti, 2016, p. 45).
Could it motivate the behaviours that the industry-wide changes demanded from MS? Why or why not?
Organizations are undergoing dramatic changes. In contemporary business environments, diversity is considered a critical business aspect that promotes innovative and new approaches to accomplishing organizational missions and visions. For many years, MS did not have formal performance appraisal systems or career development systems (Kriiti, 2000, p. 56).
What kind of systems and processes are set in your organizations for Training & Development purposes?
The company has programs for the training and development of employees. Ideally, the organization is responsible for training the employees. On the other hand, individual employees and the management are responsible for employee development initiatives. Some of the cost effective ways of training employees include committees that form part of the daily activities within the organization and forums and conferences that are attended by employees. The conferences and forums focus on topics that are relevant to the organization and the positions of individual employees. Classroom trainings encompass seminars, courses, and workshops.
Are there any unique training programs that are being done for individual & leadership development?
The organization has a leadership mentorship program that allows individual employees to learn from their colleagues and their superiors within the organization. It is an effective development program because of its personalized approach to the learning needs of individual employees. The organization also encourages the employees to join professional organizations that give them an opportunity to update their knowledge within their respective fields.
These are costly programs. How do you measure effectiveness of such programs?
ROI (Return on Investment) is means of determining the effectiveness of a company’s training and development program. Observing the way recently trained employees are utilizing their new skills is one of the ways of measuring the effectiveness of the training programs. An organization can also perform a cost-benefit analysis and assessment to establish the effectiveness of the training and development programs.
References
Kriiti, J. (2000). Morgan stanley: Becoming a “one-firm firm”. Harvard: Harvard Business School Press.
Kriiti, J. (2016). Managing People at Work: The Firmwide 360° performance evaluation process at morgan stanley. Harvard: Harvard Business School Press.
