Toyota's All-Out Drive to Stay Toyota

Assignment #3 - Business Week Case: Toyota's All-Out drive to Stay Toyota

Question 1: Discuss which of the four approaches to employee development are described in the case. Identify any approaches that are missing.

One of the four approaches Toyota described in their employee development is the Formal Education. Management instructs their white collar employee to attend global training so that they can apply the same principles that has worked in other manufacturing companies. Noe, Hollenback, Gerhart & Wright, states various formal educations such as; workplace or off-site programs, that includes workshops design for the organization's employees and courses offered at consulting firms or universities.

The approaches I believe Toyota is missing are assessment and performance appraisals. The company launched a slew of educational programs for their employees. However, Toyota should also use assessment to identify managers with the potential to move into higher-level positions and also to use to identify their employee's strength and weaknesses. Most Management can be instructed to participate in educational programs, but are they actually management material? That is why assessment and performance appraisals are important because it can avoid promoting employees or managers in higher positions. (Noe, Hollenback, Gerhart & Wright. page 250).

Question 2: Discuss three advantages and disadvantages related to Toyota's use of retired employees to coach people who are new in their positions?

Coaching is for people who are willing to stretch themselves and go beyond what they could achieve on their own. The three advantages Toyota used retired employees to coach new people is the opportunity to work one-on-one with an employee, as when giving feedback. Helping employees learn for themselves such as; finding experts and teaching them to received feedback from others. The third advantage is providing resources such as; mentors, courses, or job experiences. Coaching also helps managers to improve by identifying areas for improvement and setting goals. (Noe, Hollenback, Gerhard & Wright, page 262).

The disadvantage is that the new employee can sometime become totally dependent on the coach to the point they may not feel comfortable doing a good job. Another disadvantage is an employee may not agree with the way they are being trained and may have a problem discussing it with the manager. Another disadvantage is the cost to hire a retired employee to coach people who are new in their positions. Most companies pay less if they hire retired employees which can become a problem.

Question 3: How do you see these development programs contributing to Toyota's strength as an automaker committed to continuous improvement and high quality?

The four categories; Formal Education, Assessment, Job Experiences and Interpersonal Relationships