Training typically focuses on providing employees with specific skills or helping those correct deficiencies in their performance. It is a short-term learning process that involves acquiring knowledge, sharpening skills, concepts, and rules, or changing attitudes and behaviors to enhance the performance of employees.
After an employee is selected, placed, and introduced to an organization, he must be provided with training facilities to perform his job efficiently and effectively.
Training is an activity leading to skilled behavior, teaching employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs. The heart of a continuous effort designed to improve employee competency and organizational performance.
Training is a continuous social process of increasing employees’ skills, knowledge, attitudes, and efficiency for better organizational performance.
Definition and Meaning of Training
Training is increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for performing the job assigned to him. Different scholars of management have defined training. Some important definitions of training are as under.
According to Garry Dessler, “Training is the process of teaching new employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs.”
Jack Halloran states, “Training is the process of transmitting and receiving information related to problem-solving.”
Edwin B. Flippo Said, “Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job.”
In the words of Dale S. Beach, “Training is the organized procedure by which people learn knowledge and improve skill for a definite purpose.”
In the words of Michael J. Julius, “Training is a process by which the aptitudes, skills, and abilities of employees perform specific jobs are increasing.”
According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skill of an employee for doing a particular job.”
Training simply provides the employee’s ability to perform a specific job. Thus, the art, knowledge, and skill to accomplish a specific job in a specific way are called training. Training simply provides the employee’s ability to perform a specific job.
Thus, the art, knowledge, and skill to accomplish a specific job in a specific way are called training.
Training and development programs are needed at all levels of the organization to make qualitative improvements in the employees’ work.
3 Objectives of the Training program
The manager’s main aim of formal education is to increase his ability to learn from experience. The second aim is to increase his ability to help his subordinates to learn from experience.
Three objectives of any training program;
Acquiring Intellectual Knowledge
An electrical engineer may need more knowledge than he now possesses about circuit design. A new employee may require knowledge about company policies.
Knowledge acquisition is fairly straightforward, provided the individual wants the new knowledge.
A supervisor may require information about the new provisions in the labor agreement. It can be made available to him in several ways.
However, if he does not want the knowledge, getting him to learn it is difficult. In industry, attempts should be made to create a ‘felt need’ for new knowledge.
Acquiring Manual Skills
The acquisition of a manual skill requires practice or experience accompanied is feedback.
Pure trial and error method learning can be speeded up by guidance, but the individual cannot learn unless he performs and receives cues that tell him about the success of his efforts.
The necessary effort will be expended only if there is a felt need on the part of the learner.
Acquiring Problem Solving Skills
Much of the manager’s work is solving problems. These include organizing his and his subordinate’s activities, planning, and a wide range of other decision-making activities.
These are diagnosing problems, interpreting relevant data, assessing alternative solutions, and getting feedback on the solution’s effectiveness. x
These skills can be improved, and classroom education is one method utilized for this purpose.
As with any skill, practice and feedback are essential for learning. The case method is the most widely used classroom method for improving problem-solving skills.
In the hands of a skillful teacher, it can be highly effective.
It has been rightly said that man-to-man coaching on the job constitutes 80% of all training.
Besides being timely and related to the concrete day-to-day experience, it has the special advantage of meeting the specific needs of each subordinate in a special situation.
5 Steps in Training Process/Phases Or Stages of Training
Step 1: Decide If Training is Needed
To compete effectively, firms must keep their employees well trained. The first step in the training process is a basic one, to determine whether a problem can be solved by training.
The first step in the training process is to determine Training needs.
The overall purpose of the assessment phase is to determine if training is needed and, if so, to provide the information required to design the training program.
Training is conducted for one or more of these reasons:
- required legally or by order or regulation,
- to improve job skills or move into a different position,
- for an organization to remain competitive and profitable.
If employees are not performing their jobs properly, it is often assumed that training will bring them up to standard.
This may not always be the case. Ideally, training should be provided before problems or accidents occur and maintained as part of quality control.
The assessment consists of three levels of analysis: organizational, task, and person.
- Organizational Analysis: It examines the problems an organization is experiencing and where they are located within it.
- Task/Operational Analysis: An operational analysis identifies the skills and behaviors required of the incumbents for a given job and the standards of performance that must be met.
- Personnel Analysis: The personnel analysis examines how well individual employees perform their jobs.
Training should be given to those who need it.
Assigning all employees to a training program, regardless of their skill levels, is a waste of organizational resources and creates an unpleasant situation for employees who do not need training.
The training objectives must be clarified, related to the areas identified in the task analysis, and should be challenging, precise, achievable, and understood.
Step 2: Determine What Type of Training is Needed
The employees themselves can provide valuable information on the training they need. Just ask them! They know what they need/want to make them better at their jobs.
Also, regulatory considerations may require certain training in certain industries and/or job classifications.
Once the kind of training needed has been determined, it is equally important to determine what training is not needed.
Training should focus on those steps in which improved performance is needed. This avoids unnecessary time lost and focuses the training on meeting the needs of the employees.
Step 3: Identifying Goals and Objectives
Once the employees’ training needs have been identified, employers can then prepare for the training.
Clearly stated training objectives would help employers communicate what they want their employees to do better or stop doing!
Learning objectives do not necessarily have to be written, but they should be clear and thought out before the training begins to be as successful as possible.
Step 4: Implementing Training
Professionals should conduct training with knowledge and expertise in the given subject area.
Nothing is worse than being in a classroom with an instructor who does not know what they are supposed to teach! Use in-house, experienced talent, or an outside professional best option.
The training should be presented so that its organization and meaning are clear to employees. An effective training program allows employees to participate in the training process and practice their skills and/or knowledge.
Employees should be encouraged to participate in the training process by participating in discussions, asking questions, contributing their knowledge and expertise, learning through hands-on experiences, and even role-playing exercises.
The targeted group of employees and methods such as on-the-job or off-the-job training should be selected first to make the training program effective.
The capacity and knowledge of trainers and their acceptance by the participants are of secondary importance.
- On the job: Training is administered at the actual work site using the actual work equipment
- Off the job: Training is administered away from the actual work site. It may be any prominent hall room or auditorium, but the required training environment equipment and materials should be available or arranged.
The training program that results from the assessment should directly respond to an organizational problem or need. Approaches vary by location, presentation, and type.
Step 5: Evaluation of the Training Program
One way to ensure that the training program accomplishes its goals is by evaluating the training by both the trainees and the instructors.
Training should have, as one of its critical components, a method of measuring the effectiveness of the training.
Evaluations of the training program will help employers or supervisors determine the amount of learning achieved and whether or not an employee’s performance has improved.
Assess the program’s success or failures. The credibility of training is greatly enhanced when it can be shown that the organization has benefited tangibly from such programs.
Organizations have taken several approaches to determine the worth of specific programs.
In this phase, the effectiveness of the training is assessed.
Effectiveness can be measured in monetary or non-monetary terms. It is important that the training is assessed on how well it addresses the needs it was designed to address.
Evaluating Participants’ Opinions
Evaluating a training program by asking the participants’ opinions is inexpensive and provides immediate responses and suggestions for improvements.
The basic problem with this type of evaluation is that it is based on opinion rather than fact.
In reality, the trainee may have learned nothing but perceived that learning experiences have occurred.
Evaluate What Participants Learned In The Training Program
Some organizations administer tests to determine what the participants in the training program have learned. The pretest, posttest, and control group design is one evaluation procedure that may be used.
Behavioral Change
Tests may accurately indicate what has been learned but give little insight into desired behavioral changes.
The Accomplishment of Training Objectives
Another approach to evaluating training programs involves determining the extent to which stated objectives have been achieved.
Benchmarking: Benchmarking utilizes exemplary practices of other organizations to evaluate and improve training programs. It is estimated that up to 70 percent of American and recently European and Indian firms engage in benchmarking.
A Case for Simplicity: Value is the measure of impact and positive change elicited by the training.
10 Advantages of Training Programs
Training brings about benefits/ advantages both to the organization and employees.
How does a Company Benefits From Training Programs?
Goldstein and Gilliam also outlined six reasons companies believe training investments can help them gain a competitive advantage.
Increased efficiency of employees: An effective training program can make the company employees work effectively. With training, people gain confidence, seen in the output and results.
Reduced supervision
An employee needs to be supervised when he works.
When the employee has sufficient training, the amount of supervision required is less, as mistakes are less. This reduces the workload of the supervisor.
Less wastage
The amount of wastage by an employee reduces a lot due to training; therefore, if we consider the amount of wastage, we find that the company has saved a lot of money.
Reduced turnover
Proper training improves the chances of obtaining promotions, and employees are happy because they have better opportunities. This will lower employee turnover intention and hence labor turnover in the company.
Helps in better functioning of the organization
Training always benefits employees, whether old or new. In the case of new employees, training helps them a lot.
This is because new employees may not be aware of the organization’s functioning, and training helps them gain knowledge and insight into the company’s work.
Better labor-management relations
Labor-management relations are essential for any organization.
When companies introduce training programs and prepare employees for future jobs and promotions, they send out a message to the unions interested in employee welfare.
Due to this, the unions also adopt a positive attitude, and labor-management relations improve.
How do Training Programs Benefits The Employees?
The benefits of employee training and development are;
Self-Confidence
Training leads to an increase in employee self-confidence.
The person can adjust to his work environment and doesn’t feel humiliated in front of his seniors. This confidence leads to better efforts in the future of the employees.
Increased Motivation Levels
Training brings a positive attitude among employees and increases the employees’ motivation levels in the organization, thereby improving the organization’s results.
High Rewards
An effective training program helps an employee benefit from the reward systems and incentives available in the company. Thus the employee can get these rewards, increasing his motivation levels.
Group Efforts
An effective training program teaches an employee how to do his work and trains him to work as a group. Thus training program improves group efforts.
Promotion
Effective training programs increase performance and the chances of obtaining promotions.
Many employees even opt for a certain program to help the employee improve their chances of promotion and obtain higher positions in the organization.
Principles of Training
The training must be a continuous process, planned systematically to accomplish the desired results efficiently and benefit the organization and employees.
According to Littlefield, C. I. and Rachel, R., for the training program to be effective, the following principles must form the basis of training programs:
- Training is most effective when the learning experience occurs under conditions identical to the actual conditions that occur on the job.
- Training is most effective if the supervisor, who is training the employees, is responsible for the candidate’s progress and the training program’s overall results.
- Training is most effective if the learner is given helpful, friendly, and personal attention and instruction. This would create self-confidence in the employee and the desire to do better.
Identifying the Training Needs
Training needs analysis seeks to answer the questions which, if any, need training.
And what training do they need?
The questions may be straightforward, but getting good answers to these questions constitutes one of the most difficult steps in the total training process.
A training need exists when an individual lacks the knowledge or skills to execute an assigned task satisfactorily.
Therefore, the training needs an identification exercise to identify the gap between required and actual competencies to determine the training that would help bridge the gap.
It is important to assess whether there is a need for training.
Two elements need consideration in carrying out a training needs analysis: job requirements and personal requirements.
At the same time, Robbins and Decenzo suggest that management can determine the training needs of an employee by answering four questions:
- What are the organization’s goals?
- What tasks must be completed to achieve these goals?
- What behaviors are necessary for each job incumbent to complete his assigned tasks?
- What deficiencies do incumbents have in the skills, knowledge, or attitudes to perform the necessary behaviors?
These questions demonstrate the close link between human resources planning and the determination of training needs.
A training program should be followed naturally based on the determination of the organization’s needs, the type of work to be done, and the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the work.
Need for Training Policy
To ensure consistency in training and development function, the HR department of each organization develops a suitable training policy, defining the scope, objective, philosophy, and techniques.
Such a training policy serves the following purposes:
- It defines what the organization intends to accomplish through training;
- It indicates the type of persons to be responsible for training functions;
- It identifies the formal and informal nature of training;
- It spells out the duration, time, and place of training;
- It indicates the need for engaging outside institutions for training;
- It embraces and includes training about the labor policies of the organization.
Methods for Determining Training Needs
HRM experts have identified the different methods for the identification of training needs.
These methods are briefly discussed below:
- Observation and analysis of job performance;
- Management recommendations;
- Staff conferences and recommendations;
- Analysis of job requirements;
- Consideration of current and projected changes;
- Surveys, reports, and inventories;
Once it has been determined that training is necessary, training goals must be established. Management should state what changes or results are sought for each employee.
These goals should be tangible, measurable, and verifiable. Goals should be clear to both management and employee. Both should know what is expected from the training effort.
What Is the Difference between Training and Education?
Training and education are majorly the same, and the difference is that training is undertaken to acquire a particular skill.
In contrast, education aims at increasing one’s knowledge about something.
We were to go to school to get an education but y we can get training anywhere relevant to what we want to be trained at. Training and education are both different facets of learning.
At first, it may be difficult to tell the difference between them, especially in today’s school system, but there are major differences in training and education.
Their purpose, history, and methodology are all vastly different. The training was initially practiced through guilds.
Youngsters would be apprenticed to a master baker or builder and work under him to learn his trade. This was considered the proper learning method for the lower and middle classes.
Education has its origins in the medieval university system. Young men from wealthy families would complete a course in theology or philosophy before studying their chosen profession.
The education theory also played a large role in the concept of the Renaissance man.
| Attribute | Education | Training | Determining Factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose of the Learning Experience | Acquire or deepen mindset or profession | Acquire new skills and knowledge | Do 1 want to be transformed into a different person or be more skillful? |
| Evidence of Learning Success | Course grades, GPA | Testing, Certification, Job Performance | How will others and I know I was successful with my learning experience? |
| Credentials | Degrees, Graduate Certificates | Certificates and Licenses | Do I want to get a degree or a certificate? |
| Difficulty to Learn | Harder | Easier | Am 1 ready to undertake a lengthy and hard learning process, or can I just do something quickly? |
| Length of the Learning Process | One to three years | Typically from one to five days or several weeks | How long do I expect the learning process to take? |
| Persistence of the Learning Outcome | Lasts a lifetime | Short half-life, five years on average | How long should I expect the results of this learning to last or remain current? |
| Style of Learning | Draw out, mentoring by an instructor | Drill in, develop skills and habits, and practice | What can 1 expect my educational experience to be like? |
| Behavior After Learning Took Place | Acting after deep thought and analysis; broad | Acting out of new habits and skills, narrow | How will I behave after this learning experience? |
| Change | Skillful at thinking Transformational deeper, more radical | Skillful at doing, shallower, more superficial | What kind of change am I looking for? |
| End Result | It makes you different from others, thoughtful and mindful, educated | Make you the same as others with the same training, measure up | What am I looking for as a result of mine? Learning experience? |
| Institutions, Providing, Learning, Experience | Colleges and Universities | In-house seminars, training companies, self-taught | Where can I obtain this learning experience? |
| Examples | Colleges courses and degree programs | Training seminars, job training | What are some examples of education and training? |
Conclusion
In the age of globalization, knowledge is becoming a reliable source of sustained competitive advantage. It is becoming a basic capital and the trigger of development.
Modern organizations, therefore, use their non-HR resources (money, time, energy, information, etc.) for permanent training and development of their human resources.
Since organizational knowledge is largely located inside the human mind, i.e., the head of employees, human resources are becoming the key factor of business success as carriers of knowledge and activities.
Organizational development is always conditioned by human knowledge and skills. This is why; contemporary organizations pay more and more attention to the development of their employees.
Thus, employee education and training are becoming an optimal answer to complex business challenges, and human resources management is central to modern management.
Employees are hired based on their current knowledge. As time goes on, knowledge becomes obsolete. New employees may not be able to perform their assigned job satisfactorily.
Often they must be trained for the duties they are expected to do. Even the experienced employees in a new job need training to improve their performance.
Through employee training and development, human resources management provides constant knowledge innovation, creates conditions for mutual knowledge and experience exchange, and proactive behavior- contributing to competitive advantage and satisfaction of all participants in business procedures.
Training is not a luxury; companies must participate in the global electronic marketplaces by offering high-quality products and services.
Training provides required skills to the employee for doing the job effectively, skillfully, and qualitatively.
Generally, training is given by an expert or professional in a related field or job. Training of employees is not continuous, but it is periodical and given at a specified time.
Thus, training is a process that tries to improve skills or add to the existing level of knowledge. It bridges the gap between the employee has and the job’s demands.
The employee is better equipped to do his present job or mold him to be fit for a higher job involving higher responsibilities.
Training is required at every stage of work and for every person at work. Training is vital in keeping one updated with the fast-changing technologies, concepts, values, and environment.
Training programs are also necessary for any organization to improve the quality of the employees’ work at all levels. It is also required when a person is moved from one assignment to another of a different nature.
