Aptitude refers to the skills and abilities an employee brings to the job. Training can enhance most inherent abilities and can improve employee performance. An assessment of ability should be made during the job-matching process by screening applicants against the skill requirements of the job. Low ability is generally associated with very difficult tasks, overall low individual ability, evidence of strong effort, and lack of improvement over time. Employees must be given the technical and personnel resources to effectively perform assigned tasks.
Motivation is represented by an employee's desire and commitment and is manifested as effort.
A remedy for a lack of ability is retraining. When accident rates go up, injuries become more severe, or performance drops, retraining may be required. Retraining involves providing additional education or job-related training. The main purpose of retraining is to overcome current limitations that are causing an employee to perform at less than the desired level. Diversity Training Supervisors must understand, interact with, and motivate workers who are increasingly foreign-born, or retain a strong ethnic identity.