Training is an
organized activity aimed at imparting
information and/ or information and/ or instructions to improve the recipient’s
performance or to help him or her
attain a required level of knowledge or skill.
Difference between Training,
Development, Education
Training is
directed at helping employees perform better on their current jobs, whereas
development represents a future-oriented investment in employees. Training
programs are considered to be designed to limit possible employee responses to
those behaviors preferred by an employer. Education is considered a means by
which the range of possible employee responses is increased rather than
reduced. Education represents a broadening of the individual so that he or she
may be prepared to assess a variety of situations and select the most
appropriate response. Although many unskilled, semiskilled, and skilled
positions primarily require training, supervisory and management positions
require elements of education. Recently there has been a blurring of the
distinction between training and education. Training programs have sought to
broaden and develop the individual through education. For instance, employees
in the service industries may be required to make independent decisions
regarding their work and their relationships with clients. Hence, organizations
should consider elements of both education and training when planning their
training programs.
The Training Process
1.Assess Objectives & Training Needs
An
organization must first assess
its objectives: what business are we in? What product or service do we wish
to provide to customers? At what level of quality do we wish to provide this
product or service? Once an organization has answered these and similar
questions, an assessment of human resource requirements should be undertaken.
Can our human resource provide the skills, knowledge, abilities, and other
personal attributes that are necessary? To the extent that they may lack these
attributes, training may be required. The assessment
of training needs is perhaps
the most important step in the process.
2 Select Trainees and Training Goals
After needs have
been assessed, trainees must
be selected and training goals established. Trainees should be selected
with care, ensuring that they and the organization will benefit from their
inclusion in the training program. The training goals should ensure that the
assessed needs will be served.
3. Select Training methods and Trainers
Once training goals
have been established, it is necessary to determine how to conduct the
training. This includes the selection
of training techniques and trainers for
the program. Additionally, employees’ ability should be considered when designing
the training program.
Great care
must be exercised in choosing effective instructors or trainers. Personal
characteristics (such as the ability to speak well, to write convincingly, to
organize the work of others, to be inventive, and to inspire others to greater
achievements) are important factors in the selection f trainers. HR specialists
or hired outside consultants who report to the HR manager or other top managers
are also used to perform a needs analysis and to conduct the training. Although
much formal training is performed by professional trainers, often operating
supervisors may be the best trainers technically, especially if the training
manager helps them prepare the material. Using operating managers as trainers
overcomes the frequent criticism that “training is OK in the classroom, but it
won’t work on the shop floor or back on the job.”
After that the
program is run. That includes selection of content and methods to be used and
the actual training method. In many situations a combination of instructional
methods are used.
Different methods of training:-
On-the-job training Probably the most widely used method of
training is on the job training. It is estimated that more than 60% of training
occurs on the job. The employees are placed in the real work situation and
shown the job and the tricks of the trade by an experienced employee or the
supervisor. One approach to systematic on the job training is the job instruction training (JIT) system developed during World WarⅡ. In
this system the trainers first train the supervisors, who in turn train the
employees.
Case method One widespread technique is the case method,
which uses a written description of a real decision-making situation in the
organization or a situation that occurred in another organization. Managers are
asked to study the case to identify the problems, analyze the problems for
their significance, propose solutions, choose the best solution, and implement
it. More learning takes place if there is interaction between the managers and
the instructor.
Role-playing Role
playing is a cross between the case method and an attitude development program.
Each person is assigned a role in a situation (such as a case) and asked to
play the role and to react to other players’ role playing. The success of this
method depends on the ability of the players to play the assigned roles
believably. If done well, role playing can help a manager become more aware of
and more sensitive to the feelings of others.
In-Basket Technique Another method used to develop managerial decision-making
abilities is the in-basket technique. The participant is given materials
(typically memos or descriptions of things to do) that include typical items
from a specific manager’s mails, and a telephone list. Important and pressing
matters, such as complaints by customers and a demand for a report from a
supervisor, are mixed in with routine business matters, such as a request to
speak at a dinner or a decision on the date of the company picnic four weeks
hence. The trainee is analyzed and critique on the number of decisions made on
the time allotted, the quality of the decisions, and the priorities chosen for
making them. In order to generate interest, the in-basket materials must be
realistic, job-related, and not impossible to make decision on.
Management Games management games describe the operating characteristics
of a company, industry, or enterprise. These descriptions take the form of
equations that are manipulated after decisions have been made. Management games
emphasize development of problem solving skills. There are so many kinds of
management games, such as computerized management game procedure, Looking
Glass, Simmons Simulator, Financial Services Industry.
Behavior Modeling A development approach for improving interpersonal skills
is behavior modeling, which is also called interaction management or imitating
models. The key to behavior modeling is learning through observation or
imagination. Thus modeling is a “vicarious process” that emphasizes observation.
There are 4 steps in the process: 1. Modeling of effective behavior – often by
use of films. 2. Role playing. 3. Social reinforcement – trainees and trainers
praise effective role playing. 4. Transfer of training to the job.
Outdoor Oriented Programs Cases, games, modeling, and role playing, are still
popular, but an increasingly popular form of development is outdoor or
real-life, action-oriented programs. Leadership, teamwork, and risk-taking are
top-priority items in the outdoor oriented programs.
4. Evaluation
At the same time,
the means to evaluate the program must be established. The means selected for
evaluation must be sensitive to the type of training conducted, the training
techniques used, the training program goals and the initial training needs.
5 Monitoring
As training is
being conducted, provision must be made for ensuring that the program is
proceed as planned. Without monitoring the training process, it is possible
that a well-designed training program may be conducted improperly or otherwise
fail to accomplish its goals.
In sum, formal
training and development have been shown to be more effective than informal or
no training and development.
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