22

BLESS ENGINEERING COMPANY (PVT)

LTD.

Belvin : Because
Life Matters
Training & Development, Assignment 1
Aasia Yousaf

11108226

Submitted
To
Sir Naeem Hayat
25 April 2016

Company Overview

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Belvin is a brand that is owned by Bless Engineering Company that has been around since
1989 and is considered to be one of the professional and well organized manufacturing units.
The companys production capability is divided into two units:

Bless Electronics PVT Ltd.

Bless Engineering Company

The companys mission is

To develop hi-tech, cost-effective and innovative products.

To provide complete support to the customers through continuous improvements

within the business.

To undertake continuous research and efforts for the achievement of new milestones
and sustain such business which leads to leadership within the country and

internationally.
To realize value for the customers, employees and suppliers alike.

The company follows rules and has total quality management system to ensure premium
quality products. They have an entire department in the firm to conduct audits. They have
almost 300 permanent employees (management & labor) currently at Belvin and also hire
contractors.
Organizational Culture
From the interview, we came to know some facts about the organizational culture at Belvin;
they rely vastly on the respect element. The employees are encouraged to follow the
guidelines of their seniors at every level within the company. The employees are promised an
environment where there voice is heard.

Question No: 1

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Explore the concept of learning at the organizational level that how they learn?

The Concept of Learning at Belvin

Learning could be defined as the activity or process of gaining knowledge by studying,
practicing, or being taught, or experiencing something: the activity of someone who learns.
(Merriam Webster). While Organizational Learning could be explained as the process in
which an organization creates, retains and shares knowledge within itself.
For New Employees
According to the interview we conducted we came to know about that company provided an
on-the-job training to its new employees under the probation period of three to six months
that varied with the nature of the job. The new employee was made to assist his/her senior for
the time period of probation so that he learns the task by observing the job he is required to
do. Furthermore, the main focus of hiring the new employee permanently lies vastly on his
attitude and interaction with the seniors as well as junior colleagues; how well he follows the
company policy, how punctual he is, plus his learning about the job is also evaluated by the
person he is assisting.
For existing Employees
The existing employees were offered occasional training programs like if some outside
source (a company that offers training programs) contacts Belvin and informs about an
upcoming training session, the company tends to avail such opportunities if the budget
allowed.
No proper training programs were being conducted by the company itself. They did not
believe much in the development of the employees, they were more outcome oriented. They
wanted the work done, did not care much about who did it. For instance, if an employee
commits mistake, the company fires the employee rather than identifying the problem and
training the employee to perform better.
Learning in teams
Team learning is an activity that provides growing employees to the organizations and
employees have improved capacity for problem solving through better access to shared
knowledge and expertise. In Belvin, there is no such learning environment found. They work
on daily outcome basis and are not concerned with learning environment for the staff.

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Succession Planning
They do not have a formal system for succession planning but do focus on internal hiring
when a person from the top management decides to resign/retires or is fired. They consider
the immediate junior of that person and if the competencies, education, experience and track
record of that person fits, they hire him; if not than they go for external hiring.
Question No: 2
Use the three building blocks proposed in the article.
We have conducted survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews with employees and
asked them open-ended questions as well from the employees. A report on their responses is
as follows:

Building Block 1 (Supportive learning environment)

In this matter we have covered four dimensions which could indicate that whether has Belvin
Electronics supportive environment for learning or not.
I.

Psychological safety

On conducting interviews all interviewees replied that they have freedom to share what is in
their mind. They feel themselves psychologically comfortable when they share things about
their work. When we asked them that whether they can discuss their problems with their
colleagues or seniors, one of the respondents replied like this:
As we are all age-fellows, so we are mentally comfortable and also have strong
collaboration with each other. We can also easily share our problems with seniors
One important thing is that they all are satisfied because their mistakes are seen as Human
error not literally as mistake. But someone when repeatedly made mistakes then Belvin take
action against him after proper inquiry.
II.

Appreciation of differences

Like any other organization, difference of opinions exists here as well. But unlike other
organizations, this difference is taken as positive. According to response of one of the
employee, difference of opinions is highly welcome in this organization. This difference is
handled in such a way that it generates productive outcomes. Rather than direct attack on
someone, good opinions are discussed in meetings and non-productive opinions are discussed

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privately with the person itself. One thing we identified is that there should de consensus on
an opinion in order to put this idea in work. Without agreement of most of people, it is
appreciated but doesnt put into practice.
III.

Openness to new ideas

When we asked interviewees that whether new ideas are welcomed or not here, they replied
Definitely! but every new idea is tested on spot instead of delaying it for too long. When
idea is seemed feasible, it is appreciated and made applicable. Thats why people most of the
time look for better ways of getting things done. This not only increases their efficiency but
also make them valuable in front of their seniors or Boss, as mentioned by an employee. One
thing that was disappointing here was that junior or first-line staff often resists new
approaches suggested by their supervisors but they always try new approaches identified by
them own after getting approval from their head.
IV.

Time for reflection

The responses of interviewees about this section were very optimizing. Although employees
said that they have mild level of stress sometimes due to deadlines or work load, but still they
manage to think about improvements. They also review their work time to time in order to
increase the efficiency of their work and also to become important for their department heads.
They also said that they take deadline pressure positive and use it to increase their speed of
work done. To do that employees need some time away from routine physical work and daily
activities to some time for individual reflection to come up with fresh ideas and unique
solution to organizational problems.

Building Block 2 (Concrete Learning Processes)

I.

Experimentation:

The first part of the concrete is the experimentation. After getting the response from the
respondent they find that the industry is good or using the employees simulation efficiently.
They use new ways of working for experimentation or new ideas and formal process for
conducting and evaluating the experiment.

II.

Information collection:

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They use the two variables for collecting the information collection. The one variable is that
they compare its performance with its competitor and systematically collects the information
from its customers more.
III.

Education & Training:

They give on the job training to the new employees and highly welcomed them when they
join organization.
IV.

Information Transfer:
They arrange the meetings with employees in which they also share information and

communicate with each other. And also get feedback from the customers and clients

Building Block 3 (Leadership that Reinforces Learning)

Majority of the employees state that their leaders do not invite their inputs in the discussions.
Employees believe that their leaders do not recognize their limitations. However, leaders do
ask probing questions from the employees. Leaders listening to the employees attentively and
also encourage multiple viewpoints. Leaders support the reflection on past performances.
Leaders tend to criticize the viewpoints of employees that are different from their own.

Building Blocks

Characteristics
of Building Blocks

Examples

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A supportive Learning

environment

Concrete Learning Processes

Leadership that reinforce

learning

Psychologically
comfortable when they
share things about their
work.
Difference of opinions
is highly welcome
New ideas are
welcomed eager to
learn new ideas,
approaches or methods.
Reflection of time is
required to create new
ideas

Belvin through supportive

learning environment in the
organization specially by
taking majority of employees
ideas on one point and gave
employees reflection of timing
to create new ideas and
thinking on new ideas
developing hi-tech , costeffective and innovative
product.

New ways conducting

and evaluating employs
by experimentation.
Compares with
competitors collects
information from
customers.
Share information in
meetings.
Gathering intelligence
on competitors,
customers, and
technological trends.
Identifying and
solving problems.
The leaders do
reinforce employees by
listening to their issues.
Asking probing
questions to find out
actual problem.
Leaders listen to the
employees attentively
and also encourage
multiple viewpoints.

Belvin through concrete

learning process gathering
information about their
customers and making their
business more growing
through continuous
improvement according to the
customers in the products.
Like making ceiling fans in
different varieties with
excellent quality and design.

Belvin leaders listen actively

to the employees problems and
take quick actions. So
employees conflict are
minimum in the Belvin.
Belvin managers ask probing
question relating work
performance and on other
issues. So that is reason mostly
achieve their assign targets on
time.

Question No: 3
Analyze the data collected from the organization by the survey as well the interview
undertaken, comes with concrete outcome of the activity.

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We met with Mr. Rashid Mehboob (Finance Manager) of Belvin. They do not have a separate
Human Resource Department and all the functions of the HR manager being conducted by
Mr. Rashid. We conduct interview with Mr. Rashid to find out about to what extend Belvin
Company is a learning organization. We also used questionnaires to gather information from
the company employee to assess the depth of learning in Belvin organization.

Methodology
We followed the questionnaire provided in the article Is Yours a Learning Organization by
David A. Garvin, Amy C. Edmondson, and Francesca Gino published in Harvard Business
Review.
The diagnostic survey is mainly we used to find out following two questions:

To what extend is Belvin is functioning as learning organization?

What are the relationships among the factors that affect learning in the Belvin?

It provides data about the organization aligned with the three building blocks of a learning
organization. Each of the building blocks has further three or four subcategory that defines it.
There are three or four questions again each subcategory of the three building blocks in the
diagnostic tool. The data is to be marked against a Likert scale that has seven bands, ranging
from highly inaccurate to highly accurate.
We used convenient sampling to decide the sample for our survey; we gave 15 questionnaires
to the company and got 11 filled. Four of the filled questionnaires were from the employees
of the sales department, three from the accounts, three from the purchases and one from the
admin. We analyzed the data gathered from the questionnaire using Excel. The data was
analyzed using frequency distribution and column charts.

Outcome of Activity
The outcomes are focused on the three building blocks of a learning organization. The three
building blocks of a learning organization according to the article are:

Building Block 1: Supportive Learning Environment

I.

Psychological Safety

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Learning to be psychologically safe refers to the environment where employees do not fear to
express their views when they disagree with their colleagues and seniors.
In the following graphs, the Y-axis represents the number of respondents while X-axis
represents the Likert scale.

6
5
4

Easy to speak about your

mind

Mistake is held against you

Peope are comfortable
talking about problems &
disagreements

2
1

Eager to share information

about what does and does
not work.

Figure 1: Psychological Safety

Result of psychological Safety

Majority of the respondents are from slightly accurate to highly accurate, meaning

thereby the organization supports employees to speak freely.

If we see the response of the employees whether a mistake is held against them, it
could be seen clearly that it is as majority of the responses lie between slightly
accurate to highly accurate and one gave neutral views that concludes that theyre
held accountable for the mistakes.

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For the third question, the respondents affirm that theyre comfortable in talking about
their problems but some employees dont share their problems due to fear of action
against them but they share their ideas if they support the company as we see in first

question.
For the last question, majority of the respondents believe that information sharing is
supported. This is the most essential component for learning organizations.

It could be seen that employees feel free to express their views so that means they have
psychological safety but if someone makes a mistake, that person is held accountable for it
maybe because they follow stick and carrot rule.
II.

Appreciation of Differences

Its about the recognizing and respecting the ideas of others. This component is an essential
for a learning organization.

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7
6
5

Differences in opinion are

welcome

Unless an opinion is
consistent with what most
people in this unit believe,
it wont be valued

3
2

Handles differences in
opinions privately rather
than directly with groups

People are open to

alternative ways of getting
work done.

Figure 1: Appreciation of Differences

Results of appreciation of difference

Differences in opinion are welcome, range from slightly accurate to highly accurate in
the above graph, showing a positive response. Belvin listen employees difference

options.
To the next question, the value of an opinion is only recognized when its been in the
unit for a certain period of time is held true and mostly people in the unit believe it
would not value as the respondents response between slightly accurate to highly
accurate. So, it is true in Belvin when most people consistent with what most people

believe then its valued.

In answer to the third question, there lies a difference of opinion among the
employees as five of them lie at the accurate side and six at the inaccurate, showing

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that majority believes that the differences are handled directly with groups. So, handle

differences of opinion directly with groups.

In the last question, the response lies between slightly inaccurate to highly inaccurate
with only one respondent having neutral view, meaning thereby, that a standardized
way of doing work is supported. So, people are not open to alternative ways of doing
work. They fellow standardize way of doing things.

The differences in opinions are heard but not appreciated individually rather than its in group
opinions. A standardized way of doing work is there at the organization.
III.

Openness to New Ideas

Openness to new ideas cultivates a culture that supports employees to take risks and to
explore new boundaries. Learning does not only mean to correct the old mistakes but it also
means to innovate.
4.5
4
3.5New Ideas are valued
3
2.5
2Unless an idea has been around for a while, no one wants to hear it.
1.5
1
0.5People are interested in better ways of doing things
0

People often resist untried approaches

Figure 2: Openness to New Ideas

Results of openness to new idea

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The value of new ideas is supported in the company as the majority of the response
lies between slightly accurate to highly accurate with only three people considering

the statement inaccurate. So, new ideas in belvin are supported.

The response of the next question conflicts with the first one, here majority of the
respondents agreed with that an idea has to be thoroughly communicated in order to
be heard. Six respondents response is when idea is from a long period of time then

its heard otherwise no want to hear it.

The result shows that employees are interested in better ways of doing work as the
majority response lies between slightly accurate to highly accurate with only one

neutral response. Ten employees response shows they want to work in a better way.
The resistance to untried approaches is high in the company as the majority of the
respondents agreed with the statement with only a few expressing inaccuracy. Mostly
employees show resistance to untried approaches.

The openness to new ideas is there, but the implementation of those ideas is not supports
unless the idea gets approved. Employees are interested in better ways of doing things but
employee often resist to untried approaches.
IV.

Time for Reflection

This aspect explains that the employees should not only be judged by the work they do, how
much time they spend on job that often leads to ignorance of the past mistakes. Thus,
employees find no time to sit back and reflect on the past mistakes so that they could improve
them in the future. A true learning organization cultivates such a culture that allows
employees time and freedom to reflect upon their past performances to improve the future
performance.

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4.5
4

People are overly

stressed

3.5
3

People find time to

review how the work is
going

2.5
2

Schedule pressure
gets in the way of
doing a good job

1.5
1
0.5

People are too busy to

invest time in
improvement

There's simply no time

to reflect

Figure 3: Time for Reflection

Results of time for reflections

People are overly stressed in the company as majority responses lie between slightly
accurate to highly accurate. This shows the high work responsibilities of the

employees.
According to the majority response, people do not find time in the company to review
their work that again explains the stress of time and workload on employees is high.

This could also mean their time management skills are poor.
Five respondents believe that schedule pressure does not get in the way of their
performance while one expressed neutral response and five respondents believed that

it does. So, schedule pressure may or may not get in way of doing things.
The employees are usually too busy to invest their time in improvement as majority of

the respondents agreed with the statement.

Employees believe that there is practically no time for reflection for them in the
company, as eight out of eleven agreed with the statement. This shows the overall
busy schedule and time constraints of the employees and that they are too busy
performing their jobs that they get no time to look back at their work and figure out
mistakes and ways to perform work better and faster.

There is no time for reflection in the company; employees are overly stressed and have high
workload.

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Building Block 2: Concrete Learning Processes & Practices

I.

Experimentation

This involves the culture that supports employees to experiment new ways to do the old jobs.
It also supports the experimentation of ideas to create new products and services.
7
6
5
4
3
2

Experiments
frequently with new
ways of working

Experiments
frequently with new
products/services

Has a formal process

for conducting &
evaluating
experiments

Frequently employs
prototypes for
simulations for new
ideas

1
0
Highly Inaccurate

Figure 4: Experimentation
Results of experimentations

Six out of eleven believe that the company experiments new ways of working. So,
experiments employee with new ways of working but it is against the building block 1
point appreciation of difference in which employees said they used standardize way of

doing things.
Again, majority believes that the company works to experiments with new

products/services depicting their need to innovate.

However, the company does not have a formal system to support the process of
experimentation and evaluation as it could be seen in the graph as nine employees

responds company not have formal system of experimentation and evolution.

The company also does not support prototypes and simulations for new ideas. Thus,
experimentation is not there.

II.

Information Collection

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Information collection explains the systematic and organized method of collecting

information from within and outside the organization. This is one of the major elements of a
learning organization.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Collects information
on competitors
Collects information
on customers
Collects information
on economic & social
trends
Collects information
on technological
trends

Figure 5: Information Collection

Results of information collection

Majority support the statement that the company gathers information about its

competitors and customers.

However, a very large number of employees believe that the company gathers
information about the economic and social trends showing the important of the
economic and social factors on the company. The company also gathers information
about latest technology.

The overall response of the employees to information gathering is quite positive showing that
the companys focus on this aspect. Belvin is frequently compares its performance with
competitors and best in class organization.
III.

Analysis

In analysis company debate on productive conflicts and conduct discussions on underlying

assumptions that might affect key decisions. Pay attention to different view with different
point of views.

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6
5
4
3
2
1

Seeks out dissenting

views during
discussions

Never revisits well

established
perspectives

Frequently identifies &

discusses underlying
assumptions that
might affect key
decisions

Never pays attention

to different views
during discussions

Questions

0
Highly Inaccurate

Figure 6: Analysis
Results for Analysis

Majority believes that company seeks out the disagreeing comments in discussions to
analyze situations. SO, the unit engages in productive conflict and debate during

discussions.
While it is also seen that the company does not believe in changing already built
perspectives as the majority of the response lies between slightly accurate to highly

accurate. So, Belvin never revisit the well-established perspective during discussions.
The company focuses on finding & analyzing the underlying factors that might affect

the key decisions. As seven employees agrees out of eleven employees in the graph.
As five employees that Belvin pays attention to different view while 3 employees
show neutral response and three employees said Belvin never pays attention to
different views in discussions. So, It could also be seen that the company pays
attention to different viewpoints during the discussions

The company does analyzes the options, but have high resistant to change.
IV.

Education & Training

Learning organization provide their employees to education and training that helpful in doing
their current job in the company. Employees are most important asset and their education and
skills directly linked with company performance. So, employees education and training is
very important in building block 2 (Concrete learning process and practices).

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Newly hired employees

receive adequate
training

Experienced employees
receive periodic training
& training updates

Experienced employees
receive training when
switching to a new
position

Experienced employees
receive training when
new initiatives are
launched

Training is valued

Time is made available

for education & training
activities

0
Highly Inaccurate

Figure 7: Education & Training

Results for education and training

The response to the training of new employees conflicts with the words of Mr. Rashid
as he explained that new employees are trained during the probation period while
majority of the respondents disagree with the statement that new employees are given

adequate training (7 employee disagree out of 11).

Majority response lies between slightly inaccurate to highly inaccurate showing that
adequate training is not provided to experienced employees for switching on a new

position or for updating skills.

Majority of the employees affirm that no training is provided to employees when new

initiatives are launched.

There is a neutral response pattern showing the value of training. It could be seen that
the company has little focus on the training and development of the employees as

majority of the responses lie between slightly inaccurate to highly inaccurate.

Time is also not available for education and training activities. Majority of employees
disagree with the statement.

There are no proper systematic methods for training available to employees.

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V.

Information Transfer

Information transfer in which company transfer information with the inside or outside the
network of experts. Company quickly and accurately communicates new knowledge to key
decision makers.
6
Has forums for meetings with experts from other departments, teams, or divisions
5
Has forums for meetings with experts from outside the company
4
Has forums for meetings with customers and clients

3
Has forums for meetings with Suppliers

2
Regularly
conducts post audits & after action interviews

Regularly shares info with networks of experts within the org

1

Regularly shares info with networks of experts outside the org

0

Quickly & accurately communicates new knowledge to key decision makers

Figure 8: Information Transfer

Results for Information transfer

The company does not conduct intra-department meetings as well meetings with
experts from the outside. So, the Belvin does not have meeting with experts from

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other department, teams and divisions or the meeting with the experts from outside

the organization.
Theres a neutral response from employees regarding the meetings with the clients.
A small majority affirms that the meetings with the suppliers are being conducted.
They have a keen focus on post audits and reviews according to the majority of the
respondents. The information sharing with the experts within the organization is
supported. However, the information is not shared with the experts outside the

organization.
The communication of new knowledge to the key decision makers is pretty much
quick and accurate as per the response of the employees.

Communication sharing within the organization is there but they do not share information
outside the organization neither they receive expert advice.
Building Block 3: Leadership that Reinforces Learning
Learning could not be fostered in an organization if the top management or the leaders do not
want it to be instilled. The leaders play an important role in this as they influence the
followers and only the leaders can provide the right direction to the employees. So in order to
practice learning in an organization, the leaders should play their role.

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5
My managers invite input
from others in
discussions

My managers
acknowledge their own
limitations with respect to
knowledge, info or
expertise

My managers ask probing

questions

My managers listen
attentively

My managers encourage
multiple view points

Managers provide time,

resources & venues for
identifying problems &
organizational
challenges.

My managers provide
time, resources & venue
for reflecting & improving
on past performances.

My managers criticize
views different from their
own.

0
Highly Inaccurate

Figure 9: Leadership that Reinforces Learning

Results for leadership that Reinforce learning

Majority of the employees state that their managers do not invite their inputs in the

discussions. Employees believe that their managers do not recognize their limitations.
However, the managers do ask probing questions from the employees.
There is a positive view about managers listening to the employees attentively and

also encourage multiple viewpoints.

Eight out of eleven respondents support that the managers provide time, resources and

platform for identifying problems and challenges.

Managers also support the reflection on past performances.
Managers tend to criticize the viewpoints of employees that are different from their
own.

The managers do reinforce employees by listening to their issues and asking probing
questions although it does lack the true aspect of leadership.
Conclusion

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It could be concluded that for an organization to be the one that fosters learning, it should
have a supportive culture that encourages employees to learn; it should have clear cut
processes and practices for effective communication within and outside the organization and
a supportive top management. Belvin is a struggling company in this regard and is still way
behind in the process of learning and has a room for improvement. The top management is
not committed to support training and development of employees and they dont have a
Human Resource Department.
Question No: 4
Recommend the suggestion to make the organization a learning organization.

Recommendations:
Following are the recommendations for the company to come closer to becoming a learning
organization:

A learning organization does not just hold its employees accountable for mistakes, it
facilitates them by providing effective training and development programs so that

their errors and mistakes could be rectified and they can work as high performers.
Employees are seen to show resistance to new approaches. In order to reduce this
factor, the company should provide proper platform for employees, and a planned
idea evaluation should be carried out under the panel which should include the

departmental heads.
To reveal overly stressed employees, the company should use stress management
techniques like flextime, flex place. They should train employees to effectively
manage their time. They should provide recreational activities on the business like

gym services and games.

The company should encourage employees to do smart work rather than hard work.
Smart goals should be made to relieve employees of the extra burden. A proper
system should be designed to provide employee time-for-reflection after each

milestone/project is achieved.
Total quality management focuses on planning, control and improvement; they
conduct various discussions and design mechanism for the improvement of system
and processes. The company should create a team consisting of top level management
and departmental heads to conduct sophisticated discussions and to formulate
sophisticated mechanisms for the new experimentations.

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The company has its focus on the importance of gathering information about the
customers, competitors and external environment but lacks the effective tools for
information sharing. They should provide open discussions forums to encourage the

information sharing among the members of the organization regardless of their post.
The organization needs to invest money, time and effort in training its new and
existing employees. The company does not have a HR department; it should at least

hire some outside HR experts to conduct formal and informal training sessions.
They should develop a formal communication policy that removes the communication
blocks. It defines the role and responsibility of communication dissemination. The
policies should be displayed openly around the company.

References:
Is Yours a Learning Organization by David A. Garvin, Amy C. Edmondson, and Francesca
Gino (HBR).
Rashid Mehboob, Finance Manager at Belvin (Bless Engineering (Pvt) Ltd.)
Questionnaire and interview question for the Assess the depth of learning taken from
los.hbs.edu (Online diagnostic survey to determine the depth of organization learning)