Training and Development

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

UNIT – 1 (TRAINING CONCEPTS)

Introduction: Training is essential for organizational productivity. Though it is a type of education, training is job oriented. It is skill learning. Education is wider in scope and general in purpose whereas training is organization specific and practice based.

Core competencies and expertise give the organizations an edge over their competitors and training plays a vital role in developing and strengthening these competencies. Change of technology demands that employees update their knowledge, skills, abilities and technical expertise. Jobs are becoming more interdependent demanding high interpersonal and problem solving skills, which can be acquired only through training.

Training is a continuous and perennial activity. Human evolution itself is a part of history of training. The Stone-age people got themselves trained to fulfill their basic needs. The metal-age people learnt the art of use of metals and cooking. Thus every page and stage of human civilization will contain training in the backdrop. Even in the monarchical era, the kings used to send their wards to gurukul, which is nothing but a form of residential training. Even today, in the area of skill training we can see apprenticeship as a form of training.

As Alvin Tofler puts it ‘only change is permanent’. In our century the great issue facing not only the developed nations but also the developing nations is the problem of change and adapting to change is the main concern of present day. Change that is induced through science and technology development demands rapid individual and social adjustment. The above two challenges are met mainly by manpower training and development programmes.

The quest for knowledge for enlightenment is universal. So change is fundamental for the progress of a dynamic society. Every change is a challenge to be met and knowledge provides the strength to convert these challenges into opportunities. But to do so, knowledge needs to be transformed into skills and this is a function of training. Training is an investment in ‘knowledge capital’. This capital resource is subjected to obsolescence. It needs to be continuously updated an expanded. Training is a continuous process and has become an important function in the development and management of human resources.

Dale S. Beach defines training as the organizational procedure by which people learn knowledge and / or skill for a definite purpose.Edwin B. Flippo defines training as the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job.Randall S. Schuler defines training and development as “any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employees ability to perform through learning, usually changing the employees attitude or increasing his or her skill and knowledge.” The need for training and development is determined by the employee’s performance deficiency and is computed as:

Training & Development need = standard performance – actual performanceHesseling defines training as “a sequence of experiences or opportunities designed to modify behavior in order to attain a stated objective”.Hamblin defines training as ‘any activity which deliberately attempts to improve a person’s skill on a job’ as opposed to education which is mainly concerned with personal development and not related directly to the job.

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The word ‘training’ consists of eight letters, to each of which could be attributed significant meanings in the following manner:

T – Talent and Tenacity (strong determination)R – Reinforcement (something positive to be reinforced into memory and system again and

again, until it becomes a spontaneous affair)A – Awareness (with which one can easily take long strides of progress)I – Interest (which is invariably accompanied by excitement and enthusiasm)N – Novelties (the new things the like of which would sustain our interest)I – Intensity (the training instilled into the trainee’s mind must acquire experience oriented

intensity)N – Nurturing (it does refer to continuous nurturing of talent, which otherwise would remain

dormant)G – Grip (a fine grip over the situation solves multiple problems and enables one to acquire a

practical and programmatic approach)

Evolution of Training and Development

There are many examples of effective functioning of HRD throughout the history. A glance into the history of the profession will help to understand the HRD field in a better way in the present day context.The evolution of HRD can be discussed in two stages: 1) a global perspective and 2) an Indian perspective.

Reasons for HRD evolution in global perspective are:1. Emergence of apprenticeship training program and collective bargaining mechanisms;2. Emergence of vocational training program and factory schools;3. Training programs for semi-skilled and unskilled workers; and 4. Emergence of training as a profession.

1. Emergence of apprenticeship training program and collective bargaining mechanisms: During the 18th century in America, small shops were operated by skilled artisans. They produced almost all household articles like utensils, furniture, shoes, clothing etc. it was a one man show at the beginning. Later, when the demand for the products increased, these shop owners appointed additional workers. As there were no schools available to train the workers the shop owners themselves had to educate the workers. Thus the skilled artisans, who were the shop owners, also turned into trainers and trained the trainees or apprentices who learned the craft for very little wages.

Apprentices who mastered all the crafts were considered as “yeomen”. At this stage, they could leave the shop owners and start their own shops if they wished. The growth in business led to the development of number of yeomen by the craftsman. In order to tackle the growing number of yeomen master craftsmen established “craft guilds” to regulate aspects relating to working hours, wages, and apprentice testing procedures, etc. These craft guilds also grew in power, making it still more difficult for the yeoman to establish their own craft shops.

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Yeomen, on the other hand, counter – balanced the powerful craft guilds by establishing “Yeomanry’s”. The yeomanry served as a collective voice in negotiating higher wages and better working conditions from the craftsmen.

2. Emergence of vocational training program and factory schools: Dr. W.H. Clinton, in 1609, established the first recognized privately funded vocational school in New York to provide occupational training to unskilled young people who were either unemployed or had criminal records.

These schools were the prototype for the vocational education of the present day. Later, in the late 19th century, with the advent of industrial revolution machines began to replace the hard tools of the artisans. Scientific management principles gained importance in this period. The products produced by semi-skilled workers using machines were more in quality and quantity than that of products produced by skilled workers in a small craft shop.

Due to the growth of factories, there was demand for skilled workers, engineers, mechanics and skilled mechanics to design build and repair the machines. The supply of skilled workers from the vocational schools was not sufficient for the growing demand for the workers from the factories. So to meet the growing demands, factories created factory schools that offered mechanical and machine training programs.

3. Training programs for semi-skilled and unskilled workers: In the year 1913, Ford motor company came up with mass production using an assembly line to manufacture affordable to a larger segment of public. This resulted in greater demand for these cars, thereby forcing increased production. This led Ford to design more assembly lines. This expansion required more number of semi skilled workers.

Another significant event which helped in the training of semi-skilled and unskilled workers was the outbreak of the First World War. This demanded the factories to support the war effort. Charles Allen, director of training of the US shipping board, introduced a four step instructional training method called as “show, tell, do and check”. Later this technique was called “Job Instruction Training” (JIT).

4. Emergence of training as a profession: First World War gave rise to the JIT programs for the semi and unskilled workers. With the out break of Second World War US government established Training Within Industry (TWI) service to coordinate training programmers across defense related industries.

In 1942, the American Society for Training Directors (ASTD) was formed to establish some standards within the emerging training profession. Slowly, there was transformation during 1960’s and 1970’s in the role performed by the professional trainers. They realized that their role is not only to train employees but also to coach and counsel employees. This additional enhancement of role led to the renaming of the society as American society for Training and Development (ASTD).

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Reasons for HRD evolution in Indian perspective are:

In India, state intervention to protect the welfare of workers was felt necessary soon after the completion of First World War. Emergence of Trade Union movement and finally Trade Union Act of 1926 gave a formal recognition to the worker union and labour welfare activities introduced in factories. Tata group implemented employee welfare measures like provident fund and leave rules. This can be considered as the beginning for HR as a field in India. Factories Act 1948 was introduced making it mandatory for factories to have welfare officers in factories.

In the early 70’s, two consultants Prof. Udai Pareek and Prof. T.V. Rao from the Indian Institute of Management were approached by L&T for a review exercise of their performance appraisal system. They recommended that performance appraisal, potential appraisal, feedback and counseling, career development, career planning and training and development get distinct attention as unique parts of an integrated system which we call the Human Resource Development System. This is resulted in development of HRD function.

The recommendations were taken up and L&T created a separate HRD department. Later the system is adopted by State Bank of India and its associates.

The establishment of a separate ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in 1986 was a logical symptom of the realization of the importance of developing human factor by the Government of India.

In the year 1985, The National HRD Network was conceived to develop networks among HRD professionals to facilitate learning from one another.

This later gave birth to the Academy of Human Resources Development in the year 1990. This was the first family tree of HRD in India. This was established as an academic centre for training, research and extension services in the field of HRD.

Scope of Training

Traditionally, training has been seen as an event or program to develop specific explicit knowledge and skills. But mangers and trainers and human professionals have begun to recognize the potential contribution to business goals of knowledge that is based on experience and that is impossible to teach in a training program, and thy have broadened the role of training to include learning and designing ways to create and share knowledge.

Learning refers to the acquisition of knowledge by individual employees or groups of employees who are willing to apply that knowledge in their jobs in making decisions and accomplishing tasks for the company. Knowledge refers to what individuals or teams of employees know or know how to do as well as company rules, processes, tools and routines. Knowledge is of two types Tacit knowledge and Explicit knowledge.

Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that can be formalized, codified and communicated. i.e, it can be found in manuals, formulas and specification.

Tacit knowledge refers to personal knowledge based on individual experience that is difficult to explain to others because tacit knowledge is difficult to communicate; it is passed along to others through direct experience.

Well designed traditional training courses can successfully help employees learn explicit knowledge. But to learn tacit knowledge requires interpersonal interaction and experiences that are usually not found in training programs.

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The organizations find themselves compelled to organize some training activities because many new entrants lack basic skills. Considerable amount has been spent by employers on formal training.

A single training event or program will not provide a competitive advantage to the company because explicit knowledge is well known and programs designed to teach it can be easily developed and imitated. However, tacit knowledge developed through experience and shared through interactions between employees still is impossible to imitate.

Training of a company’s workforce results in an increase of productivity and reduces wastage. It is corporate prudence and cost effective practice to retrain workers for new jobs than releasing them and hiring new ones.

As training enhances the competency of the workforce, it will result in increased morale. A large number of different kinds of activities will be positively impacted if training systems are well designed.

Training can pave way for increased quality both in the production and service sectors. Training can facilitate employee retention and faster customer service. If designed and delivered well it will facilitate achievement of organizational objectives – the main purpose of organizational existence.

In treating training there are three types of organization. Some organizations regard training as an unnecessary and time wasting activity. They feel that the cost of training is high and is not commensurate with the benefits derived from it.

The second type of organizations treats training as a continuous activity. They make every superior in organization responsible for training which invariably results in learning updates either in technology, methodology or behavior.

There are some organizations where training is used as a tool to deal with specific problems. In these organizations training happens only when there is a problem which needs to be solved. They take up training with a limited objective and discontinued once the problem is solved.

Company’s selection and promotion policies have a definite bearing on training. However, certain recent changes in perception have done a lot of good to corporate training.1. More and more sills are taught and learnt and fewer skills are regarded as inborn.2. The change of technology is advancing at faster pace making skills of today obsolete tomorrow, thus making training and re-training imperative.3. Globalization has resulted in diversity in lifestyles, attitudes of people, working environment, etc. compelling employees to get trained in various skills like foreign languages, negotiation techniques, telephone skills, etc.

Objectives of Training

The training objectives are formulated in line with the companies’ goals and objectives. The major objectives of the training may be enumerated as follows:1. To train the employees in the companies’ culture and ethics.2. To prepare the employees both newly recruited and already employed to meet the present as well as the future requirement of the job and the organization.3. To train the employees in order to improve the work methods and skills so as to increase quality and quantity of output.4. To prevent obsolescence.

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5. To prepare employees for higher level responsibilities.6. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of employees by updating them on latest concepts and techniques.7. To facilitate succession planning i.e. to build up a second line of competent employees.8. To reduce supervision, wastage and accidents.9. To ensure economical output with high quality.10. To develop inter-personal relations.11. To foster individual and group morale with positive attitude and cordial relations.

Benefits from Training

Training offers innumerable benefits to both employees and employers. It makes the employee more productive and more useful to an organization. Training brings about a lot of changes in the mindset and attitude of employees.

Benefits to Organization / Employer:- Trained workers can work more efficiently.- They use machines, tools, materials in a proper way. Thus wastage is eliminated.- Accidents can be reduced.- Leads to improved profitability and / or more positive attitude towards profit orientation.- Improves the job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organization.- Improves the morale of the workforce.- Helps people identify with organizational goals.- Helps crate a better corporate image.- Fosters authenticity, openness and trust.- Improves relationship between boss and subordinate.- Helps in organizational development.- Learns from the trainee (Peer level learning).- Helps in preparing guidelines for work.- Helps in understanding and carrying out organizational policies.- Provides information for future needs in all areas of the organization.- Organization gets more effective decision-making and problem-solving skills.- Helps in development for promotion from within.- Helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitude, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display.- Helps in increasing productivity and / or quality of work.- Helps in keep costs down in many areas, e.g. production, personnel, administration, etc.- Develops a sense of responsibility to the organization for being competent and knowledgeable.- Improves labour-management relations.- Reduces outside consulting costs by utilizing competent internal consultation.- stimulates preventive management as opposed to putting out fires.- Eliminates sub-optimal behavior.- Creates an appropriate climate for growth, communication.- Helps in improving organizational communication.- Helps employees adjust to change.- Helps in handling conflict, thereby helping to prevent stress and tension.

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Benefits to Individual / Employee:- Helps the individual in making better decision and effective problem solving.- Through training and development, motivational variable of recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility and advancement are internalized and operationalised.- Helps in encouraging and achieving self-development and self-confidence.- Helps a person handle stress, tension, frustration and conflict.- Provides information for improving leadership, knowledge, communication skills and attitudes.- Increases job satisfaction and recognition.- Moves a person towards personal goals whole improving interactive skills.- Satisfies personal needs of the trainee.- Provides the trainee an avenue for growth and a say in his / her own future.- Develops a sense of growth in learning.- Helps a person develop speaking and listening skills also writing skills.- Helps eliminate fear in attempting new tasks.- Training helps an employee to move from one organization to another easily.

Benefits in Personnel and Human Relations, Intragroup and Intergroup Relations:- Improves communication between groups and individuals.- Helps in orientation for new employees and those taking new jobs through transfer or promotion.- Provides information on equal opportunity and affirmative action.- Provides information on other government laws and administrative policies.- Improves interpersonal skills.- Makes organizational policies, rules and regulations viable.- Improves morale.- Builds cohesiveness in groups.- provides a good climate for learning, growth and co-ordination.- Makes the organization a better place to work and live.

Importance / Significance of Training

Training is a systematic process of changing knowledge skill and behavior of employees to improve their performance on the job as per the goals and objectives of the organization.

Training and development focus on the improvement of the knowledge, skill and abilities (KSA) of the individual. Training involves a process of providing KSA’s specific to a particular task or job. Development activities in contrast have a long-term focus on preparing for future responsibilities while increasing the capacities of employees to perform their current jobs.

Training is important for new as well as old employees.1. Training is an attempt to improve current or future performance.2. It is a systematic process of altering the behavior of employees in a direction that will achieve organization goals,3. A formal training programme is an effort by an employer to provide opportunities for the employee to acquire job related skills, attitude and knowledge.

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Skill: It is the general capabilities to perform a set of tasks developed as a result of training and experience. A person skill is reflected by how well he is able to carry out specific action like interacting with customers, operating a machine and implementing a strategy.

Skills are dependent on the knowledge in the sense the person must know ‘what to do’ and ‘when to do it’. Sometimes a gap may exist in knowing about things and from actually being able to do them. Skill is a proficiency at doing something beyond just knowing about it.

Acquisition of a skill can be said to have two stages. At the first stage it is called as compilation (lower level) and second stage is called as automaticity (higher level).

When skill is learned recently then he is said to be in the compilation stage. Here the process needs to think about what he is doing while performing the task. Ex: If a person learnt to drive car recently will have to think of the steps and procedures while driving.

A person who masters the skill and uses it often reaches the automaticity stage. As specified in the above example, the person after repeated usage masters the skill of driving and so drive without thinking about steps or process.

Knowledge: Knowledge consists of these elements:Declarative – The information we acquire and place into memoryProcedural – How information is organized for use into what are already knownStrategic – Our understanding of how, when and why information is used and is useful

Declarative knowledge is the store of factual information about a subject matter. Facts are those that are verifiable blocks of information, such as procedures for hiring employees in organization, leave rules, etc. Factual learning exists when the learner is able to recall blocks of information.

An individual understanding about how and when to apply facts already learnt by him is a procedural knowledge.

Strategic knowledge consists of a person’s awareness of what he knows and the internal rules learned for accessing the relevant facts and procedures to be applied towards achieving some goal.

Attitudes: Attitudes are the employees’ belief and opinion that support or inhibit behavior. The belief and opinion the person holds about objects or events (such as management, union and training) create positive or negative feelings about these objects / events. Thus, changing the person’s belief / opinion can change the desirability or feeling of the person towards the said object / event.

Problems of Training

1. Training is not a panacea (sanjeevini) for all organizational ills. Sometimes trainers fall into the trap that many problems can be solved by a training solution. If training is not the best solution it will not address the root cause of the problem and organization may loose time, money, effort, image and credibility.2. Mismatch between objectives and needs may make the training programme useless.3. If the intervention methodology is chosen properly the training will be ineffective and incomplete.4. While initiating training efforts the difference between results based training and activity based training is to be recognized.

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5. Sometimes training is conducted on what’s “nice to know”. Instead training should be focused on what learners must learn and use on the job.6. Sometimes programmes that no longer meet work related needs are conducted for the sake of numbers. Such programmes are to be avoided.7. Trainer’s competencies are not properly assessed while mounting a training programme. This may defeat the very purpose of the training programme, as delivery may not lead to learning.

Factors arising need for training / Factors influencing working and learning

- Globalization- Need for leadership- Increased value placed on intangible assets and human capital- Focus on link to business strategy- Attracting and retaining talent- Customer service and quality emphasis- Changing demographics and diversity of the workforce- New technology- High performance models of work systems- Economic changes

Globalization: Every business must be prepared to deal with the global economy. Global business expansion has been made easier by technology. Many companies are entering international markets by exporting their products overseas, building manufacturing facilities in other countries, entering into alliances with foreign companies, and engaging in e-commerce. Competition for local managers exceeds the available supply. As a result companies have to take steps to attract and retain mangers. Beside, training and development many companies are sending employees and managers to work in international location. Cross-cultural training is important to prepare employees for overseas assignments.

Need for leadership: The aging of workforce and globalization mean that companies will need to identify, train and develop employees with managerial talent. Executive, administrative and managerial occupations will experience the greatest turnover due to death or retirement. This will result in a significant loss of managerial talent. Many companies do not have employees with the competencies necessary to mange in a global economy. For example 85% of Fortune 500 companies believe that they do not have enough employees with global leadership skills. To manage the global economy successfully, managers need to be self-aware and be able to build international teams, create global management and marketing practices, and interact and manage employees form diverse cultural backgrounds.

Increased value placed on intangible assets and human capital: Today more and more companies are interested in intangible assets and human capital as a way to gain an advantage over competitors. Training and development can help a company’s competitiveness by directly increasing the company’s value through contributing to intangible assets. A company’s value includes three types of assets:

Financial assets (cash and securities) Physical assets (property, plant and equipment) and

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Intangible assetsIntangible assets consist of,Human capital refers to the sum of the attributes, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, energy and enthusiasm that employees invest in their work.- Tacit knowledge - Knowledge- Work related know-how - Work relate competenceCustomer capital refers to the value of relationships with persons or other organizations outside the company for accomplishing goals of the company.- Customer relationships - Brands- Customer loyalty - Distribution channelsSocial capital refers to relationships in the company.- Corporate culture - Management philosophy- Management practices - Informal networking systems- Coaching / Mentoring relationshipsIntellectual capital refers to the codified knowledge that exists in the company.- Patents - Copy rights - Trade secretsIntangible assets have been show to be responsible for a company’s competitive advantage. Training and development has a direct influence on human and social capital because it affects education, work related know-how and competence and work relationships. Training and development can have an indirect influence on customer and intellectual capital by helping employee’s better serve customers and by providing knowledge to create intellectual property.

Focus on link to business strategy: Given the important role that intangible assets and human capital play in a company’s competitiveness, manages are beginning to see a more important role for training and development as a means to support a company’s business strategy, that is, its plans for meeting broad goals such as profitability, market share, and quality. Managers expect training and development professionals to design and develop learning activities that will help the company successfully implement its strategy and reach business goals.

Attracting and retaining talent: Retention is an important part of talent management. Talented employees are looking for growth and a career path. Training and development is a key to attracting and retaining talented employees. A recent survey on changes in the American workforce in the context of ongoing social change identified that a large group of workers are more concerned with opportunities for mentoring and growth than job security and stable employment. According to survey conducted by career systems international, the top two reasons for staying at a job are 1) exciting work and challenge and 2) career growth, learning and development. At well point, a California based health care company, employee attitude survey results suggested that the reason for turnover was lacking of training.

Customer service and quality emphasis: Customers can judge quality and performance. Customer driven excellence includes understanding what the customer wants and anticipating future needs customer driven excellence includes reducing defects and errors, meeting specifications and reducing complaints.

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Due to increased availability of knowledge and competition, consumers are very knowledgeable and expect excellent service. This presents a challenge for employees who interact with customers. Customer service is a strategic training and development initiative.

Changing demographics and diversity of the workforce: Companies face several challenges as a result of increased diversity in the workforce, skill deficiencies, and changes in work place. Companies are facing not only the issues of race, gender, ethnicity and nationality to provide a fair workplace, but they must also develop training programs to help immigrants acquire the technical and customer service skills required in a service economy.

New Technology: Technology has reshaped the way we play (eg: games on internet). Communicate (eg: cell phones), plan our lives (eg: electronic calendars) and where we work (eg: laptop). The internet has created a new business model – e-commerce in which business transactions and relationships can be conducted electronically. Technology also allows companies to use contingent workforce such as independent contractors, on call workers, temporary workers. So advances in technology demand for potential training applications.

High performance models of work system: New technology causes changes in skill requirements and work role and often results in redesigned work structures. For example, computer – integrated manufacturing uses robots and computers to automate the manufacturing process.

Work teams involve employees with various skills who interact to assemble a product or provide a service. Work teams may assume many activities. To give teams maximum flexibility, cross training is required. Cross training refers to training employees in a wide range of skills so they can fill any of the roles needed to be performed on the team.

Economic changes: Global competition, changes from a manufacturing to a service economy, increased merger and acquisition activity, and company downsizing all means that many employees who were able to earn high wages in low skilled factory jobs may have to turn to service jobs with less security and fewer benefits. Also, companies are struggling with the rise in health care costs, retirement benefit costs, and pension costs. The political unrest across the globe causes on economic uncertainty and affects investment decision in physical and human capital. New technology combined with economic uncertainty will lead to training that is developed on an as needed basis.

Current Training and Development Practices in Indian Perspective

The Indian corporate sector did not evince much interest in training and developing in human resources until 1991. The new industrial policy resolution brought out in 1991 liberalizing, privatizing and globalizing the Indian corporate sector. As a result HRD function as a whole received greater recognition and importance in newly emerged market.

According to study conducted by Yadapadithaya P.S on HRD policies and practices in Indian industries, some of the findings bring out the trend in Indian industries.1. Training and development policies and practices vary across industries depending upon their nature, size.2. Organizations have shifted their focus from target-based to need-based training.

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3. Training expenditure is slowly being recognized as an investment in human capital.4. Some of major objectives of training and development reported by sample organizations are,

Prevention of organizational obsolescence Modification of desirable knowledge, skills and attitudes Promotion of value towards quality Transformation of organization vision, mission and goal Adoptive strategic adjustment with social and technological changes

There are a few institutions and organizations which play a major role in the development of training and development. Indian society for training and development (ISTD) started in 1970 is a national professional non-profit society with membership of institutions involved in training and development.

All India management association (AIMA) is an association of leading management schools. It conducts customized in-company training programs, management development programs and workshops.

The national institute of industrial engineering (NISE) was established in 1963 by the government of India. It engages in conducting short-term executive development programmes in the area of industrial engineering and management.

HRD in public sector: Public sector plays vital role in India which contributes most towards national economy. Most of these organizations use costly technology and equipments. Therefore, HRD in these organizations assumes greater importance to improve their efficiency.

HRD is a process by which an individual learns and develops creativity and help the organization it also includes mechanism like performance appraisal feedback and counseling assessment of training and development needs, designing suitable programmes, evaluation of programme and feedback.

A number of central and state level institutions Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of National Academy, Administrative staff college of India, Hyderabad, Institute of public enterprise, Hyderabad, Academy of administration, Bhopal have started conducting HRD programmes for civil administrative and public sector organizations.

HRD in private enterprises: The private sector is on the growth path in India. The private sector is now going for employee stock ownership scheme, grater representation t the employees on the board and professionalization. But it is to be admitted that the status of management development and training in private enterprises is not better than public enterprises. Some big business houses such as Tatas (Tata management centre), Birlas (Birla management centre), and Reliance (Reliance management academy) have their own academics. Though there is a technology boom in India and the TMT (Technology Media-Telecom) business is on the rise. It has not led to any increased commitment to the management development and training. Even Infosys, Wipro, Bharathi Telecom, Zee Tele etc. have no academies of their own.

Current Training and Development Practices in International Perspective Training in Singapore: Singapore is probably the best known prototype (example) of a nation that has successfully up skilled its workforce over the last 40 years. For the fifth consecutive year, the world economic forum has rated Singapore’s labor force first in terms of computer literacy and second in the world in terms of availability of skilled people as well as worker

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motivation. The global competitiveness report 2000 rated Singapore’s education system first in terms of its ability to meet the needs of a competitive economy. And various executive-opinion surveys reported that Singapore is ranked first amongst all developing nations in terms of a number of human resource dimensions, including the availability of skilled people, equal opportunity, industrial disputes, worker motivation, attitude of the work force and competitive values. On both education and training dimensions and national human resource development, therefore, Singapore’s achievements are excellent.Factors contributing to the success of the Singaporean skills development system:

The linkage between skills development and economic development The EDB’s evolving model of technology transfer Foreign investment and skills development Skills development fund Long term skills development: Education policy

Training in United States: US primary and secondary education varies greatly in quality, as does vocational training. Company sponsored training focuses on managers and technicians but the quality varies. US automobile plants provide an average of 30 hours of training annually.

Training in Germany: Germany’s major strength is that primary and secondary schooling is closely integrated with subsequent training programs and in general educational programmes have high quality but Germany is best known for its apprenticeship programme. More than half of the German workforce has completed apprenticeship programme.

Training in Japan: Employers in Japan are well regarded for their significant and long-term commitment to developing the skills of their employees. Japanese employee development is a key factor in its economic advantage. Once employed, Japanese workers receive extensive, ongoing, company sponsored training. Workers in Japanese automobile plants receive an average of 90 hours of training annually.

Training in Canada: Canada’s training and education system is quite similar to the US primary and secondary education. Companies provide relatively little training.

Training in Korea: Korea’s training and educational system has made great strides in the last few years. A strong primary and secondary school system has increased the quality of workers’ basic skills and vocational education has become remarkably strong in Korea. However, company sponsored training programmes are scarce, and their quality is generally poor.

Training and Development

Lawrence S. Kleiman defines training and development as planned learning experiences designed to provide workers with the competencies needed to perform their current or future jobs.

Training is referred to as teaching specific job related skills and behavior. Whereas development is more general than training and it is oriented towards individual development besides fulfilling organizational needs. The development provides knowledge and understanding

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to individuals so as to enable them function more effectively in organizations through problem solving, inter personal relations and decision making.

Training Development1. Training focuses on technical, mechanical oriented operations.

1. Development focuses on theoretical skill and conceptual ideas.

2. Training is concerned with specific job skills and behavior.

2. Development is concerned with related enhancement of general knowledge and understanding of non-technical organization functions.

3. Training is mostly for non-managers. 3. The development is for managers and executives.

4. Training focuses on current jobs. 4. Development prepares for future jobs.5. Training focuses on short term gains. 5. Development focuses long-term gains.6. The training is job oriented process and is vocational in nature.

6. The development is general in nature and strives to inculcate initiative, enterprise, creativity, dedication and loyalty amongst executives.

7. Training is one shot deal. 7. Development is a continuous on going process.

8. Training may result in enhancement of a particular job skill.

8. Development may result in personal growth and development of overall personality.

9. Training is the result of organizational initiative and hence motivation is extrinsic.

9. In development motivation is intrinsic.

10. Training can be classified into 2 major types a) on the job training b) off the job training.

10. No such classification is possible.

11. Training is usually imposed. 11. Development activities, such as those supplied by management. Development programmes, are generally voluntary.

12. The staff members may have no clear perception of the relationship between learning and career development.

12. Here, the staff members have experience and knowledge; a clear, direct relationship between self development and career success.

13. Evaluation for training is considered to be essential.

13. No evaluation is possible for development.

Training and Education

The purpose of education is to teach theoretical concepts and develop a sense of reasoning and judgment that any training and development programme must contain an element of education is well understood by human resource specialists.

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Training Education1) Although training is concerned with the future of an individual, still his / her past and present provide a crucial frame of reference.

1) Education is mainly directed towards the future of an individual and any reference to his / her present state is incidental.

2) The scope of training is limited, determined by the training objectives.

2) The scope of education is broad.

3) It is specific and highly structured. 3) It is not targeted towards specific behavior.4) It has relatively short term perspective of the future of the individual.

4) Education has long term perspective of individual’s life.

5) Transfer of learning can be monitored and assessed.

5) Difficult to monitor and assess how the learning acquired is being used by the individual.

6) The organization and event training agency can exercise greater control on the process.

6) Educational institution virtually has no control on the situation and circumstances of individual.

7) Training has less emphasis on ideology and social values as it stresses development of competencies.

7) Education is firmly rooted in the culture of he society. One of the key concerns of education is the inculcation of socially accepted values in an individual.

8) Societal forces play a less role. 8) Social institutions like state, family and the community play an important role in the education of an individual.

9) In training, the group comes together for a specific purpose and disperses after the programme objective is achieved.

9) In education, the group is more enduring and there is sustained interaction over a long period of time.

Training Process

Training can be viewed as a set of integrated processes in which organizations and employee’s needs are analyzed and responded to in a logical rational and strategic manner leading to organization’s improvement, which will result in further investing in training.

The goal of training is to contribute to organization goals. Managers should keep watchful eyes on the organizational goals and strategies and orient training accordingly. Unfortunately, many organizations never make the correction between their strategic objective and their training programme. Instead, fashion or what the competitor is doing can sometimes be the main drivers of an organization’s training agenda. As a result, much of the organization’s investments can be wasted, which will affect the organization’s overall performance.

To make sure that investment in training and development has maximum impact on individual and organizational performance, the following process could be followed:

Organization performance deficiency (OPD) occurs when the actual organization performance (AOP) is less than the expected organizational performance (EOP). In such cases, organization believes that training may be a solution to overcome this deficiency and the training process is initiated. So the training process starts with some type of triggering event.

The training process consists of five main phases namely analysis phase, design phase, development phase, implementation phase and evaluation phases.

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Training Process Model

Analysis phase: Organizations that are able to meet the changing needs of the customers and the markets are the ones that are effective. Similarly, an effective training process is one which begins with the determination of customers needs in the Need Analysis phase. Here the customers are the organization and the employees.

Needs may be identified in the form of performance deficiency. It would be indicated by lesser profitability, lowering of customer satisfaction, more wastage or more idle time of machine or employees etc. this deficiency may be the current state of the organization.

Next at the employee level if he is not able to perform as per the expectations then also deficiency exists. Also, anticipated performance deficiencies may be identified for future handling of the employees.

Once performance deficiencies are identified, the cause must then be determined. If deficiency is due to lack of KSA then training is the way to solve it. Problems like motivation or equipment may be solved through training. So performance deficiency to be addressed by training is then prioritized.

The process of doing such analysis is termed as Training Needs Analysis (TNA). This TNA is normally carried out in three phases namely organization analysis, task analysis, or person analysisOrganization analysis Analysis of environment, strategies and resources to determine when to

emphasize training.Task analysis Analysis of the activities to be performed in organization to determine

the KSA needed.Person analysis Analysis of knowledge and skills in order to determine who needs

training.

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Triggering event

Need analysis

Design Phase

Development Phase

Implementation Phase

Evaluation PhaseOutcome evaluation

data

Process data

Design Phase: Organizational and operational analysis are carried out to get additional inputs on aspects like1. Constraints placed on training and areas of expected support like organizational plan, resources and business cycle etc.2. Input from the theories of learning which will help in designing the training programme for effective training and proper transfer of learning.

Training objectives are formulated as part of the design phase by examining the training needs in relation to the identified organizational constraints and support. The training objective specifies the employee and organizational objective that should be achieved as a result of training.

The second part of the design process is identifying the factors needed in the training programme to facilitate learning and transfer back to the job, including the method of instruction. These become the inputs for the development phase of the training system.

Development Phase: Instructional strategy like order timing and combination of elements used for training programme are carried out to meet the training objective. The output of the development phase forms the input for the implementation phase.

Implementation Phase: A pilot training group consisting of small number of trainee’s representative of the large population can be tried so that many opportunities may be available to influence the effectiveness of the training programme.1. Trainee reaction to training2. How much they learn3. Process evaluation data

All these allow trainees to identify areas of self-improvement. Also, pilot group evaluation input will also be helpful. Once these refinements are made, the training is ready for full implementation.

The output of the implementation phase is the actual training that is conduced, the trainee’s responses, their learning, their behavior and the effect on key organizational outcomes. They form the input for the evaluation phase.

Evaluation Phase: Evaluation objectives that are the output of the design phase organizational constraints, time, money and staff all are input for training evaluation. Two types of evaluation are carried out namely process evaluation and outcome evaluation.

Process Evaluation: Each phase of the training process model constitutes a process with input and output. Evaluation of the process is concerned with the determination of how well a particular process has achieved the objectives; for this collecting and analyzing process data can provide warning of potential problems in the training programme.

Outcome evaluation is conducted at the end of training to determine the effect of training on the trainees, like job and the organization using the training objectives as the standard. This can be used to improve the training process. Outcome evaluation when combined with process evaluation data will serve as a powerful tool in improving programmes.

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Systems Approach to Training

Training is a sub-system of the organization because the departments such as, marketing & sales, HR, production, finance, etc depends on training for its survival. Training is a transforming process that requires some input and in turn it produces output in the form of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs).

A System is a combination of things or parts that must work together to perform a particular function. An organization is a system and training is a sub system of the organization.

The System Approach views training as a sub system of an organization. System Approach can be used to examine broad issues like objectives, functions, and aim. It establishes a logical relationship between the sequential stages in the process of training need analysis (TNA), formulating, delivering, and evaluating.

There are 4 necessary inputs i.e. technology, man, material, time required in every system to produce products or services. And every system must have some output from these inputs in order to survive. The output can be tangible or intangible depending upon the organization’s requirement. A system approach to training is planned creation of training program. This approach uses step-by-step procedures to solve the problems. Under systematic approach, training is undertaken on planned basis. Out of this planned effort, one such basic model of five steps is system model.

Organizations are working in open environment i.e. there are some internal and external forces, that poses threats and opportunities, therefore, trainers need to be aware of these forces which may impact on the content, form, and conduct of the training efforts. The internal forces are the various demands of the organization for a better learning environment; need to be up to date with the latest technologies.

The three models of training are:1. Systematic Model2. Instructional System Development Model3. Transitional Model

Systematic ModelThe systematic model consists of five phases and should be repeated on a regular basis to

make further improvements. The training should achieve the purpose of helping employee to perform their work to required standards. The steps involved in System Model of training are as follows:1. Analyze and identify the training needs i.e. to analyze the department, job, employees requirement, who needs training, what do they need to learn, estimating training cost, etc The next step is to develop a performance measure on the basis of which actual performance would be evaluated.2. Design and provide training to meet identified needs. This step requires developing objectives of training, identifying the learning steps, sequencing and structuring the contents.3. Develop- This phase requires listing the activities in the training program that will assist the participants to learn, selecting delivery method, examining the training material, validating information to be imparted to make sure it accomplishes all the goals & objectives.4. Implementing is the hardest part of the system because one wrong step can lead to the failure of whole training program.

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5. Evaluating each phase so as to make sure it has achieved its aim in terms of subsequent work performance. Making necessary amendments to any of the previous stage in order to remedy or improve failure practices.

Instructional System Development model or ISD trainingThis model was made to answer the training problems. This model is widely used now-a-

days in the organization because it is concerned with the training need on the job performance. Training objectives are defined on the basis of job responsibilities and job description and on the basis of the defined objectives individual progress is measured. This model also helps in determining and developing the favorable strategies, sequencing the content, and delivering media for the types of training objectives to be achieved.

The Instructional System Development model comprises of five stages:1. ANALYSIS – This phase consist of training need assessment, job analysis, and target audience analysis.2. PLANNING – This phase consist of setting goal of the learning outcome, instructional objectives that measures behavior of a participant after the training, types of training material, media selection, methods of evaluating the trainee, trainer and the training program, strategies to impart knowledge i.e. selection of content, sequencing of content, etc.3. DEVELOPMENT – This phase translates design decisions into training material. It consists of developing course material for the trainer including handouts, workbooks, visual aids, demonstration props, etc, course material for the trainee including handouts of summary.4. EXECUTION – This phase focuses on logistical arrangements, such as arranging speakers, equipments, benches, podium, food facilities, cooling, lighting, parking, and other training accessories.5. EVALUATION – The purpose of this phase is to make sure that the training program has achieved its aim in terms of subsequent work performance. This phase consists of identifying strengths and weaknesses and making necessary amendments to any of the previous stage in order to remedy or improve failure practices.

The ISD model is a continuous process that lasts throughout the training program. It also highlights that feedback is an important phase throughout the entire training program. In this model, the output of one phase is an input to the next phase.

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Transitional model This model focuses on the organization as a whole. The outer loop describes the vision,

mission and values of the organization on the basis of which training model i.e. inner loop is executed.Vision – focuses on the milestones that the organization would like to achieve after the defined point of time. A vision statement tells that where the organization sees itself few years down the line. A vision may include setting a role mode, or bringing some internal transformation, or may be promising to meet some other deadlines.Mission – explain the reason of organizational existence. It identifies the position in the community. The reason of developing a mission statement is to motivate, inspire, and inform the employees regarding the organization. The mission statement tells about the identity that how the organization would like to be viewed by the customers, employees, and all other stakeholders.Values – is the translation of vision and mission into communicable ideals. It reflects the deeply held values of the organization and is independent of current industry environment. For example, values may include social responsibility, excellent customer service, etc.

The mission, vision, and values precede the objective in the inner loop. The objective is formulated keeping these three things in mind.

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Unit 2 - Career Management

Introduction: Career development is important for companies to create and sustain a continuous learning environment. A study conducted by price water coopers of companies in finance, online services, hospitality, real estate and high-tech industries suggests that companies that are successful at managing the employees growth that accompanies business expansion and increased demand for their products and services focus on recruitment, career development, culture orientation and communications. These companies emphasize that employees are responsible for career management. They also provide company resources that support careers, such as career counselors, development opportunities, mentoring and managerial training in how to coach employees.

Another factor influencing the concept of careers is the growing use of teams to produce products and provide services. Career management can help employees to satisfy the needs, such as affiliation, achievement, power and growth, career management is becoming important because workplace is an area in which social equality, work place diversity and personal liberation can be achieved. With the increased use of contingent employees such as independent contractors and temporary employees, career management has become more of a challenge.

Career management is not something that companies do for employees. Rather, employees have to take initiative to manage their career by identifying the type of work they want, their long term work interests, and the skills they would like to develop.

Career management is the process through which employees Become aware of their own interests, values, strengths and weaknesses Obtain information about job opportunities with in the company Identify career goals Establish action plans to achieve career goals

Importance of career management:From the company’s perspective, if the employer fails to motivate employees to plan

their careers it can result in shortage of employees to fill open positions, in lower employee commitment, and in inappropriate use of money allocated for training and development programs.

From the employee’s perspective, lack of career management can result in frustration, feeling of not being valued in the company, and being unable to find suitable employment feelings of not being valued in the company, and being unable to find suitable employment when a job change is necessary due to mergers, acquisitions, restructuring or downsizing.

Career:According to Raymond A. Noe “career means advancement. It is described a sequence of

promotions or upward moves in a company during the person’s work life.”According to D.T. Hall “a career refers to the individual sequence of attitudes and

behavior associated with work related experiences and activities over the span of the person’s life.”Protean career:

A protean career is based on self-direction with the goal of psychological success in one’s work. Protean employees take major responsibility for managing their careers.

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Ex: an engineering employee by interest takes managerial position for a period of one year. This assignment is to develop managerial skills as well as to evaluate whether he like managerial position better than engineering.

Comparison between Traditional Career and Protean Career:

Dimension Traditional career Protean careerGoal Promotions, salary increase Psychological successPsychological contract Security for commitment Employability with flexibilityMobility Vertical LateralResponsibility for Mgt Company EmployeePattern Linear and expert Spiral and transitoryExpertise Knowhow Learn howDevelopment Heavy reliance on formal training Greater reliance on relationships

and job experiences

Psychological contract:A psychological contract is the expectations that employers and employees have about

each other. Traditionally, the psychological contract emphasized that the company would provide continued employment and promotions if the employees remained with the company and maintained a high level of job performance. Pay increase is linked directly with the promotions in the company.

In modern times, the psychological contract between employees and employers has changed because of the change in organizational structure. Structure is made of few layers of management, authority is decentralized, and employee’s responsibilities are organized on a project or customer basis rather than functional basis. As a result, employees are expected to develop a wide variety of skills. Another reason for psychological change is increased domestic and global competition as well as mergers and acquisitions, companies cannot offer job security and may have to downsize. Instead of offering job security, companies can offer employees opportunity to attend training program that can increase their employability.Ex: Blue collar work has always meant manufacturing work, but technology has transformed the meaning dramatically. Traditional assembly line jobs required little skill and less education. Today’s blue collar workers are more involved on customized manufacturing. Despite the lack of guaranteed life time employment, many blue collar jobs are safer and better paying than they were 10 years ago.

Psychological success:The goal of the protean career is psychological success. Psychological success is the

feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes from achieving life goals that are not limited to achievements at work. Psychological success is under the control of the employee. Psychological success is self-determined. It is prevalent among the new generation of persons entering the workforce.

Career DevelopmentCareer development is the process by which employee’s progress through a series of

stages, each characterized by a different set of developmental tasks, activities and relationships.

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Career Development ModelThe life cycle models suggest that employees face certain developmental tasks over the

course of their careers and that they move through distinct life or career stages.The organization based models also suggest that careers proceed through a series of

stages, but these models propose that career development involves employees learning to perform certain activities. Each stage involves changes in activities and relationships with peers and managers.

The directional pattern model describes the form and shape of careers.Below model incorporates the important contributions that the life cycle, organizational

based and directional pattern model to understand the concept of career development. These models suggest that employees make decisions about how quickly they want to progress through the career stages and at what point they want to return to an earlier career stage.

In traditional manner employees will have a linear career because they plan on staying in a job or occupation their entire lives and moving with in the occupation (linear shape).

The spiral career form is increasing as many employees work on projects or in jobs for a specific period of time and then take a different job or project with in or outside their current employer. Some times they may accept job in another functional area that is lower in status than their current job in order to learn the basic skills and to obtain the experiences needs to be successful.

Exploration Establishment Maintenance DisengagementDevelopmental tasks

Identify interests, skills, fit between self and work

Advancement, growth, security, develop lifestyle

Hold on to accomplishments, update skills

Retirement planning, change balance between work and non work

Activities Helping, learning, Following directions

Making independent contributions

Training, policy making

Sponsoring, phasing out of work

Relationship to other employees

Apprentice Colleague Mentor Sponsor

There are four career stages: exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement. Each career stage is characterized by developmental tasks, activities and relationships.

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Exploration stage: In the exploration stage, individuals attempt to identify the type of work that interests them. They consider their interests, values and work preferences and they seek information bout jobs, careers and occupations from co-workers, friends and family members. Once they identify the type of work or occupation that interests them, individuals can begin pursuing the needed education or training. Typically, exploration occurs in the mid teens to early to late 20’s. Exploration continues when the individual starts a new job. At this stage, orientation and socialization help new employees to get comfortable. The new employee is considered as ‘apprentice’. He works under the supervision and direction of colleague or manager.

Establishment stage: In the establishment stage, individuals find their place in the company, make an independent contribution, achieve more responsibility and financial success, and establish a desirable life style. Employees at this stage are interested in being viewed as contributors to the company’s success. Employees who have reached the establishment stage are considered to be ‘colleagues’. Colleagues are employees who can work independently and produce results. They are less dependent. They learn how the company views their contributions from informal interactions with peers and mangers and from formal feed back received through performance appraisal system.

Maintenance stage: In the maintenance stage, the individual is concerned with keeping skills up to date and being perceived by others as some one who is still contributing to the company. Individuals in the maintenance stage have many years of job experience, much job knowledge. Employees in the maintenance stage can be valuable trainers or ‘mentors’ for new employees. A mentor is an experienced employee who teaches or helps less experienced employees.

Maintenance stage employees may be asked to review or develop company policies or goals and with their opinions about work processes, problems and important issues that the work unit facing may be solicited. The company needs to ensure that employee’s skills do not become obsolete.

Disengagement stage: In the disengagement stage, individuals prepare for a change in the balance between work and non work activities. They may take a role of ‘sponsor’. A sponsor provides direction to other employees, represents the company to customers, initiates actions, and makes decisions. Disengagement typically refers to older employees electing to retire and concentrate entirely on non work activities such as sports, hobbies, traveling or volunteer work.

For many employees disengagement phase means a gradual reduction in work hours. Phased retirement programs help both employee and the company. The company can take advantage of the experienced employees knowledge and specialized skills, which might be difficult to replace, while reducing the costs related to hiring and training a new employee. The company’s might offer part time or consulting work.

Career Management Systems / Career Planning Systems

A career management system helps employees, manager and the company to identify career development needs. Career management system provides employee with career advice and help them in improving job performance.

Career management system includes four components: self assessment, reality check, goal setting and action planning.

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Self assessment: Self-assessment refers to the use of information by employees to determine their career interests, values, aptitudes and behavioral tendencies. It often involves psychological tests. Test may also help employees to identify the relative value they place on work leisure activities. Self assessment can help the employees to consider where they are now in their careers, to identify future plans, and how their career fits with their current situation. Career counselors are often used to assist employees in the self assessment process and interpret the results of psychological tests.

Reality check: Reality check refers to the information employees receive about how the company evaluates their skills knowledge and where they fit into the company’s plans (potential promotional opportunities). Usually, this information is provided by the manager as part of the performance appraisal process. For example, in coca cola USA’s career planning system, employees and managers have a separate meeting after the annual performance review to discuss the employee’s career interests, strengths and possible development activities.

Goal setting: In goal setting, employees develop short and long term career objectives. The goals usually relate to desired positions, level of skill application, work setting or skill acquisition. These goals are usually discussed with the manager and written into a development plan. Development plans usually include descriptions of strengths and weaknesses of development activities for reaching career goals.

Action planning: In action planning, employees determine how they will achieve their short and long term career goals. Action plans may also involves enrolling in training courses and seminars, conducting informational interviews, or applying for job openings with in the company. Fresh assignments allow employees to take advantage of their existing skills, experiences, and contacts while helping them to develop new skills.

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Self Assessment Reality Check Goal Setting Action Planning

Design factors of effective career management system:

1. System is positioned as a response to a business need or supports a business strategy.2. Employees and managers should participate in development of the system.3. Employees are encouraged to take active roles in career management.4. Evaluation is ongoing and used to improve the system.5. Business units can customize the system for their own purposes.6. Employees need access to career information sources.7. Senior management supports the career system.8. Career management is linked to human resource practices such as performance management, training, and recruiting systems.9. System creates a large and diverse talent pool.10. Information about career plans and talent evaluation is accessible to all managers.

Role of employees, managers, human resource managers and company in career management

Employees, their managers, human resource managers and the company share the responsibility for career planning.

Employee Manager Company HR managerSelf assessment Coaching Develop systems to

support career mgtInformation and advice

Self development action plan

Counseling Develop culture that supports career mgt

Specialized services (testing, counseling and workshops)

Create visibility through good performance and relationships

Communicating

Seek challenge Request information form other company resources

Employee’s Role: Companies with effective career management systems expect employees to take responsibility for their own career management. The employees must also approach their manager to initiate career related discussion as part of the personal development planning process.Employee engagement in career management activities:

Take the initiative to ask for feed back from managers and peers regarding their skill strengths and weakness.

Identify their stage of career development and development needs. Seek challenges by gaining exposure to a range of learning opportunities. (Sales

assignments, product design assignments and administrative assignments) Interact with employees form different work groups inside and outside the company. Create visibility through good performance.

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Manager’s Role: Manager’s play a key role in the career management process. The employees approach their manager’s for their career advice. Managers are often the primary source of information about position openings, training courses, and other developmental opportunities.To help employees deal with career issues, managers need to be effective in four roles:

Role ResponsibilitiesCoach Probe problems, interests, values and needs

ListenClarify concernsDefine concerns

Appraiser Give feedbackClarify company’s standardsClarify job responsibilitiesClarify company needs

Advisor Generate options, experiences, and relationshipsAssists in goal settingProvide recommendations

Referral agent Link to career management resourcesFollow up on career management plan

Company’s Role: Companies are responsible for providing employees with the resources to be successful in career planning. These resources include specific programs as well as processes for career management:

Career workshops (seminars on such topics as how the career management system works, self assessment, goal setting, and helping mangers understand and perform their roles in career management).

Information on career and job opportunities (places such as a career center or newsletters, electronic databases, or websites where employees can find information about job openings and training programs).

Career planning workbooks (printed guides that direct employees through a series of exercises, discussions and guidelines related to career planning).

Career counseling (gets advice from a professionally trained counselor who specializes in working with employees seeking assistance with career issues).

Career paths (plans job sequences and identifies skills needed for advancement within and across job families, such as moving from technical jobs to management jobs).

The company also needs to monitor the career planning system to 1) ensure that managers and employees are using the system as intended and 2) evaluate whether the system is helping the company meet its objectives.

HR Manager’s Role: Human resource managers should provide information or advice about training and development opportunities. Also, human resource managers may provide specialized services such as testing to determine employee’s values, interests, and skills; preparing employees for job searches; and offering counseling on career related problems.

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Unit 3 – Training Function

HR and the Training Function

Human Resource ManagementHuman Resource Management is defined as the people who staff and manage

organization. It comprises of the functions and principles that are applied to retaining, training, developing, and compensating the employees in organization. It is also applicable to non-business organizations, such as education, healthcare etc. Human Resource Management is defined as the set of activities, programs, and functions that are designed to maximize both organizational as well as employee effectiveness.

Scope of HRM without a doubt is vast. All the activities of employee, from the time of his entry into an organization until he leaves, come under the horizon of HRM.The divisions included in HRM are Recruitment, Payroll, Performance Management, Training and Development, Retention, Industrial Relation, etc. Out of all these divisions, one such important division is training and development.

Training and Development:Training and Development is a subsystem of an organization. It ensures that randomness

is reduced and learning or behavioral change takes place in structured format.

Traditional Approach – Most of the organizations before never used to believe in training. They were holding the traditional view that managers are born and not made. There were also some views that training is a very costly affair and not worth. Organizations used to believe more in executive pinching. But now the scenario seems to be changing.

The modern approach of training and development is that Indian Organizations have realized the importance of corporate training. Training is now considered as more of retention tool than a cost. The training system in Indian Industry has been changed to create a smarter workforce and yield the best results.

HR Functioning:The HR functioning is changing with time and with this change, the relationship between

the training function and other management activity is also changing. The training and development activities are now equally important with that of other HR functions. Gone are the days, when training was considered to be futile, waste of time, resources, and money. Now a days training is an investment because the departments such as, marketing & sales, HR, production, finance, etc depends on training for its survival. If training is not considered as a priority or not seen as a vital part in the organization, then it is difficult to accept that such a company has effectively carried out HRM. Training actually provides the opportunity to raise the profile development activities in the organization.

Functions of HRM:

Human Resource Planning / Manpower Planning: Manpower Planning which is also called as Human Resource Planning consists of putting right number of people, right kind of people at the

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right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the achievement of goals of the organization.Recruitment and Selection: Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between the two are: The recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.Training and Development: In the field of human resource management, training and development is the function concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups.Performance management: Performance management (PM) includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service.Compensation Management: Compensation is an integral part of human resource management which helps in motivating the employees and improving organizational effectiveness. The components of compensation management are: Job analysis, pay structures and salary surveys.Occupational health and safety: Occupational health and safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational health and safety programs is to provide a safe work environment.Employee and labor relations: Labor and Employee Relations is responsible for collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance administration and maintaining discipline.

Functions of Training Department:

Orientation: New employee orientation is an important part of the hiring process. It prepares the employees for new roles, and inducts them in to the company. Employees who go through an orientation process feel more connected to their job.Compliance: This encompasses workplace violence, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol, and ensures safety in the workplace. This training assures employees know how certain situations are handled. Policies and procedures are outlined, and the consequences are clearly spelled out. Offering this type of training puts employees on alert, and helps the company avoid costly lawsuits.Leadership / Succession Planning: Offering leadership training helps the workforce grow. It prepares employees for the challenges of management, and begins the succession planning process. Succession planning helps fill high-level positions by molding current employees.Career Planning: Training and development also deals with employee career planning. Counseling employees is an effective way to determine their career goals, and can help them remain a part of the organization for many years.Career Development: Career Development and Training are two related processes that increase the capacity of employees to contribute to organization’s mission. The main challenge is to continually find ways to invest in the development of employees while balancing the requirements of current work.Research: A large component of the HR training function is research. Skill development programs are ever-changing. Conducting research should be an on-going training activity.

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The strategic training and development process

As companies recognize the value of training and development and view it as part of a broader learning strategy, seven key capabilities are needed, according to a survey by Accenture learning. These capabilities are:1. Alignment of learning goals to the business goals.2. Measurement of the overall business impact of the learning function.3. Movement of learning outside the company to include customers, vendors, and suppliers.4. A focus on developing competencies for the most critical jobs.5. Integration of learning with other human resource functions such as knowledge management, performance support and talent management.6. Training delivery approaches that include classroom as well as E-learning.7. Design and delivery of leadership development courses.

Below, model shows that the process begins with identifying the business strategy. Strategic training and development initiatives that support the strategy are chosen. Translating these strategic training and development into concrete training and development activities is the next step of process. The final step involves identifying measures or metrics. These metrics are used to determine if training helped contribute to goals related to the business strategy.

Mission Diversify the learning portfolio

Use web based training Learning

Vision Expand the trained people

Make development planning mandatory

Performance improvement

Values Improve customer service

Develop websites for knowledge sharing

Reduced customer complaints

Goals Accelerate the pace of employee learning

Increase amount of customer service training

Reduced turnover

Capture & share knowledge

Employee satisfaction

Using performance support systemProviding development opportunities

1. Identify the company’s business strategy2. Identify strategic training and development initiatives that support strategy3. Provide training & development activities linked to strategic T & D initiatives4. Identify and collect metrics to show training success

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Business strategy

Strategic training & development initiatives

Training & Development activities

Metrics that show value of training

1. Identify the company’s business strategy:Three factors influence the business strategy. First, the company’s mission, vision, values

and goals help to determine the strategy. These are usually determined by the top management team.

The Mission is the company’s reason for existing. The Vision is the picture of the future that the company wants to achieve. The values are what the company stands for.

Second, a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) involves an analysis of the company’s operating environment (e.g. product, market, new technologies) to identify opportunities and threats as well as an internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses including people, technology and financial resources.

Third, the company has to consider its competition i.e., how will the company successfully compete?The questions to be answered by a company about how to compete to reach its goals:1. Where to compete?In what markets (domestic, international, industries and products, etc) will we compete?2. How to compete?On what outcome or differentiating characteristic will we compete? (Cost, quality, reliability, delivery, innovativeness)3. With what will we compete?What resources will allow us to beat the competition? How will we acquire, develop and deploy those resources to compete?

To use human capital to gain a competitive advantage requires linking the company’s human resource practices to the business strategy.

2. Identify strategic training and development initiatives that support strategy:Strategic training and development initiatives are learning actions that a company should

take to help it achieve its business strategy. The strategic training and development initiatives vary by company depending on a company’s goals, resources, and capabilities. The initiatives are based on the business environment, an understanding of company’s goals and resources, and insight regarding potential training and development options. They provide the company with a road map to guide specific training and development activities.

Diversifying the learning portfolio means that companies may need to provide more learning opportunities than just traditional training programs. These learning opportunities include informal learning that occurs on the job through interactions with peers; new job experiences; personalized learning opportunities using mentors, and use of technology.

Expand trained people refers to the recognition of importance of training and extending the training and development to consumers, suppliers and employees. To provide better customer service to consumers, companies need to distribute information about how to use the products and services they offer. Dissemination of information will come under training of consumers. Companies are beginning to train suppliers to ensure that the parts that suppliers provide will meet their customer’s quality standards. Employees are given training because employees are often the customer’s primary point of contact.

To be successful, companies have to be able to deal with changes in technology, customer needs, and global markets. Training needs have to be quickly identified and effective training should be provided. I.e. companies have to accelerate the pace of employee learning.

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Companies are relying on electronic performance support systems that provide employees with immediate access to information, advice, and guidance. Because customers now have access to websites and have a greater awareness of high-quality customer service, they are more knowledgeable, are better prepared and have higher service expectations. Employees must be prepared to provide the best possible customer service. Employees have to be knowledgeable about the product or service; they need to have customer service skills and decision making skills.

Providing development opportunities and communicating them to employees is important to ensure that employees believe that they have opportunities to grow and learn new skills. Such opportunities are important for attracting and retaining talented employees.

Creating and sharing knowledge ensures that important knowledge about customers, products or processes is not lost if employees leave the company. Giving employees access to knowledge that other employees have may quicken response times to customers and improve product and service quality.

A supportive work environment is necessary for employees to be motivated to participate in training and learning activities, use what they learn on the job, and share their knowledge with others.

3. Provide training & development activities linked to strategic training & development initiatives:

After choosing strategic training and development initiatives related to its business strategy, then the company identifies specific training and development activities that enable the initiatives to be achieved. These activities include developing initiatives related to use of new technology in training, increasing access to training programs for certain groups of employees, reducing development time, and developing new course offerings.

Training the company’s customer service representatives is especially important because of the breadth of the job requirements. The customer service representatives have to be able to discuss the content of specific products as well as handle transactions of these products over the phone with customers.

4. Identify and collect metrics to show training success:The company can determine whether training and development activities actually

contribute to the business goals by identifying and collecting outcome measures or metrics. The metrics that are typically used to identify training success or effectiveness include trainee’s satisfaction with the training program; whether the trainee’s knowledge, skill, ability or attitudes changed as a result of program participation; and whether the program resulted in business related outcomes for the company.

The business related outcomes should be directly linked to the business strategy and goals. Business-related outcomes could evaluate, for example, customer service, employee satisfaction, employee turnover, number of product defects, time spent in product development, number of patents.

Some companies use the balance score card as a means of performance measurement that provides managers with a chance to look at the overall company performance or the performance of departments or functions from the perspective of internal and external customers, employees and share holders.

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Balance score card considers four different perspectives: customer, internal process, financial, innovation and learning.

Customer (response time, quality, performance, service, cost) Internal process (processes that influence customer satisfaction) Financial (profitability, contribution to the growth, share holder value) Innovation and learning (operating efficiency, employee satisfaction, continuous

improvement)Emerging trend is that companies expect employees to initiate the training process.

Companies with a greater acceptance of a continuous learning philosophy require more development planning. Companies will support training and development activities such as tuition fee reimbursement and the offering of courses, seminars and workshops but will give employees the responsibility for planning their own development. Training and development planning involve identifying needs, choosing the expected outcome, identifying the actions that should be taken, and creating time table for development. To identify strengths and weaknesses and training needs, employees need to analyze what they want to do, what they can do, how other perceive them and what others expect of them.

Training needs in different strategies

1. A concentration strategy: A concentration strategy focuses on increasing market share, reducing costs, or creating and maintaining a market niche for products and services.2. An internal growth strategy: Internal growth strategy focuses on new market and product development, innovation, and joint ventures.3. An external growth strategy: External growth strategy emphasizes acquiring vendors and suppliers or buying businesses that allow the company to expand into new markets.4. A divestment strategy: Divestment strategy emphasizes liquidation and divestiture of business.

Implications of business strategy for training:Strategy Emphasis How achieved Training implications

Concentration - Increased market share- Reduced operating costs- Market niche (position from which entrepreneur earns profit in the market) created or maintained

- Improve product quality-Improve productivity or innovate technical processes- Customize products or services

- Team building- Cross training-Specialized programs- Interpersonal skill training- On-the-job training

Internal growth - Market development-Product development- Innovation- Joint ventures

- Market existing products / add distribution channels- Expand global market- Modify existing products- Create new or different products

- High quality communication of product value- Cultural training- Development of organizational culture that values creative thinking and analysis

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- Expand through joint ownership

- Technical competence that being used in jobs- Manager training in feedback and communication- Conflict negotiation skills

External growth(Acquisition)

- Horizontal integration- Vertical integration-Concentric diversification

- Acquire firms operating at same stage in product market chain (new market access)- Acquire business that can supply or buy products- Acquire firms that have nothing in common with acquiring firm

- Determination of capabilities of employees in acquired firms- Integration of training systems- Methods and procedures of combined firms- Team building- Development of shared culture

Disinvestment - Retrenchment- Turnaround- Divestiture- Liquidation

- Reduce costs- Reduce assets- Generate revenue- Redefine goals- Sell off all assets

- Motivation, goal setting, time management, stress management, cross training- Leadership training-Interpersonal communication- Job-search skills training

Organization and Management of Training FunctionThere are five models to organize the training department: faculty model, customer

model, matrix model, corporate university model and business-embedded model. The review of these structures will help to understand that the organization of the training department has important consequences for how the training department contributes to the business strategy. The models are being adopted as companies begin to value human capital and view training as part of a learning system designed to create and share knowledge.

Models of organizing the training department:

1. Centralized training: Centralized training means that training and development programs, resources, and professional are primarily housed in one location and those decisions about training investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from that department.

A centralized training function helps drive stronger alignment with business strategy, allows development of a common set of metrics or score cards to measure and report rates of quality and delivery, helps to streamline processes, and gives the company a cost advantage.

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Finally, a centralized training function helps companies better integrate programs for developing leaders and managing talent with training and learning during times of change.

2. Faculty model: Training departments organized by the faculty model look like the structure of a college. The training department is headed by a director with a staff of experts who have specialized knowledge of a particular topic or area. Ex: sales trainers are responsible for sales skills training, computer experts provide training on topics of computers, internet, e-learning, programming.The faculty model has several strengths,

Training staff are clearly experts in the area they train in The training department’s plans are easily determined by staff experts

Disadvantages: The trainer’s expertise may not meet the needs of the organization. Trainer may not be aware of business problems so the needed programs or courses may

not be offered.To overcome, these disadvantages of the faculty model, managers need to frequently

survey trainings customers to ensure the appropriateness of training programs.Faculty model

3. Customer model: Training departments organized according to the customer model are responsible for the training needs of one division or function of the company. For example, trainers might be responsible for programs related to information systems, marketing or operations. The trainers might also be human resource generalists whose job responsibilities include a broad range of human resource functions such as training, performance management, hiring and benefits. In this model, training programs are developed more in line with the particular needs of a business group rather than on the expertise of the training staff. Trainers in this model are expected to be aware of business needs and to update courses and content to reflect them. Materials provided by a training staff organized by this model are likely to be meaningful to trainees.Disadvantages of customer model:

Trainers have to spend considerable time in learning the business function before they can be useful trainers.

Large number of programs covering similar topics may be developed by customers. It may be difficult to training director to oversee each function. In the customer model, trainers are likely to be employees from the functional area who

have great expertise instructional design and learning theory.

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Training specialty areas

Director of Training

Safety training Quality training Technology & computer systems

Leadership training Sales training

Training specialty areas

Director of Training

Safety training Quality training Technology & computer systems

Leadership training Sales training

Customer model

Matrix model: In the matrix model, trainers report to both a manager in the training department and a manager in a particular function. The trainer has the responsibility of being both a training expert and a functional expert.

For ex: sales trainers report to both the director of training and the marketing manager. One advantage of the matrix model is that it helps to ensure that training is lined to the needs of the business. Another advantage is that the trainer gains expertise in understanding a specific business function because trainer is also responsible to the training director; it is likely that the trainer will stay professionally updated. A major disadvantage of the matrix model is that trainers likely will have more time demands and conflicts because they report to two managers; a functional manager and a training director.

Corporate university model: The corporate university model differs from the other models in that the client group includes not only employees and managers but also stake holders outside the company including community colleges, universities, high schools and grade schools. Training function organized by the university model tend to offer a wider range of programs and courses than functions organized by the other models. The university model centralizes training to make sure that “best training practices” that may be used in one unit of the company are disseminated across the company. Also, the corporate university enables the company to control costs by developing consistent training practices and policies.

Corporate university Xchange surveyed corporate universities at 170 different companies to know the effectiveness of corporate universities. The top five organizational goals of corporate universities were to improve customer service and retention, improve productivity, reduce costs, retain talented employees and increase revenue. The survey found that measuring business impact was a high priority. 70% of the companies surveyed measure business impact through product and service quality and customer service, and more than 50% measure reductions in operating costs and increased revenues.

Creating a corporate university involves several steps.1. Senior managers and business managers form a governing body with the responsibility of developing a vision for the university.2. The vision statement is linked to the business strategy.3. The company decides how to fund the university. The university can be funded by charging fees to business units.

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Business functions

Director of Training

Information systems Marketing Production & Operations Finance

4. The company determines the degree to which all training will be centralized. Many universities centralize the development of a learning philosophy, core curriculum design and policies and procedures related to learning.5. It is important to identify the needs of ‘university customers’ including employees, managers, suppliers and external customers.6. Products and services are developed.7. The company develops a strategy for using technology to train more employees, more frequently and more cost-effectively.8. Learning which occurs as a result of a corporate university is linked to performance improvement.

Business embedded model: The business-embedded model is characterized by five competencies: strategic direction, product design, structural versatility, product delivery and accountability for result. Strategic direction includes a clearly described goal and direction to the department as well as a customer focus that includes customizing training to meet customer needs and continuously improving programs.

A business-embedded training function not only views trainees as customers but also views managers as customers who make decisions to send employees to training and views senior level managers as customers who allocate money for training.

A business embedded training function is customer focused. It takes more responsibility for learning and evaluating training effectiveness, provides customized training solutions based on customer needs, and determines when and how to deliver training based on customer needs.

Comparison between a business-embedded training organization and traditional training department:

Traditional training department Business embedded training departmentStrategic directionLeaves objectives unstated or vagueAssumes only participants are its customersLimits offerings to predetermined coursesContinues to supply products that are no longer usefulTries to mandate training

Broadly disseminates a clear missionRecognizes that customer base is segmentedProvides customized solutions to its clients needsUnderstands product life cyclesOrganizes its offerings by competencies

Product designUses rigid and cumbersome design methodologies

Uses benchmarking and other innovative design strategies to develop products quickly

Structural versatilityEmploys trainers who serve primarily as facilitators and classroom instructorsOperates with fixed number of staffRelies solely on training staff to determine the department’s offerings

Employs professionals who serves as product managers and internal consultantsLeverages resources from many areasInvolves line managers in determining direction and content of the training

Product deliveryDistributes a list of coursesOffers courses at a fixed place, schedule

Offers menu of learning optionsDelivers training at the work site

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Accountability for resultsBelieves that company manages employee careerEnds its involvement with participants when courses endConsiders the instructor the key player in supporting learningRelies on course critiques as its primary source of feedbackVaguely describes training outcomes

Believes individual employees must take responsibility for their personal growthProvides follow-up on the job to ensure that learning takes placeConsiders the manager as the key player in supporting learningEvaluates the strategic effects of training and its bottom-line resultsGuarantees that training will improve performance

Roles, Responsibilities and Challenges of Training Manager

The trainer is expected to perform multiple roles. All the managerial roles are performed by the trainer without fail. However, certain roles become prominent and relevant depending upon the situation and the demands of the program. Many a time the trainer is called upon to carry out more than one role.a. Trainer as planner: The primary role played by the trainer is planning the training program. He renders technical help in planning process.b. Subject matter expert: The trainer is expected to have high degree of subject proficiency and high level of competence. He should be able to clarify the doubts of the participants on the subject concerned. Professional commitment, thorough preparation, continued interest in the subject and strong desire to excel will pave way to becoming an expert in the subject.c. Facilitator of learning: He is responsible for crating a learning environment and for stimulating and motivating participants to learn.d. Developer: The trainer takes the role of developer, as he is responsible for enhancing the knowledge and developing competencies of the participants. He should take the responsibility for the personal growth and development of the trainees.e. Leader: It is the responsibility of the trainer to achieve the program objectives and at the same time maintain the morale and cohesiveness of the trainee group. The trainer should provide direction and support to the trainees.f. Counselor: The trainer should counsel the trainees, so as to encourage them for the expected level of performance and participation.g. Trainer as a continuous learner: The trainer should be ready to take the role of learner as well and he should willingly make use of the opportunities and should be open to learning.h. Mentor: The trainer should provide guidance and support to individual participants and should play the role of mentor at least during period of training. However, the trainer should take care that the dependency of the trainee is not unduly prolonged.i. Change agent: The trainer plays the role of change agent in designing and helping in implementation of organizational change strategies. They not only implement the change intervention but also ensure that the newly gained competencies of trainees or use to the fullest extent in the organization.j. Manager and administrator: The trainer should be capable of conceiving designing and delivering effective training programs. In the process they have to manage staff, materials, facilities, logistics, budget, etc.

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Role of training in organizations

Challenges of Training Manager:

• Managing the trainings needs of the new flexible workforce – Temporary, contract, flexi-timing employees

• Managing the ambitions of the Gen Y employees• Managing the new emphasis of ‘soft skills’ in managers• Technical Challenge – Keeping up the new technologies• Strategic Challenge – Monitoring expected changes• Professional Challenge – Keeping pace with continuous professional changes • Internal Consultant/ Information Coordinator – ‘new age’ Training Manager

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Needs and demands of organization environment

Enhanced organization performance

Enhanced product or

service

KSA, motivation and

performance

Training

Preparing budget procuring equipment

& selecting staff

Organization needs

Employee needs

Unit 4 – T&D Organizations and Policies

Training Centers in Organizations / In-house Training CentersThe competitiveness of your business can often rest on the quality and skills of your

employees. Training can improve the performance and productivity of your staff and ensure they have the skills that your business needs.

Effective training may be crucial when you hire new recruits or when you change business practices or add new products. As your business grows, the skills needed for it to remain successful may change. Some employees may have the right time for training, for example, employees who have not reached a minimum standard of education.Small businesses often decide that in-house training is the most cost-effective way to improve the skills of their employees. This is because:

training can be scheduled at their convenience training is more focused, consistent and relevant to their needs travelling and accommodation costs are reduced or even eliminated

Trainer: An existing senior employee or an external person will be hired. In most of the cases an existing employee will be pulled off from their core duties for the duration of the training.

Options for In-House Training:

On-the Job Training Options: On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools,

equipment, documents or materials that trainees will use when fully trained. On-the-job training has a general reputation as most effective for vocational work.

Off-the Job Training Options:

Job shadowing involves one person showing another all the aspects of a particular job and can cover a lot of ground. It is suitable for training new employees as part of the induction process.Coaching involves regular reviews of an employee's progress. It is typically carried out by line managers who advise employees on how to improve their performance. It provides employees with feedback and can be used to introduce new tasks or responsibilities.Mentoring is typically used for employees at senior management and chief executive level and is a personal way to coach and advise senior staff. The role is best carried out by someone other than a line manager, possibly someone from outside of the company, who has the skills and experience to guide the employee and suggest practical solutions.Passing on training involves one employee going on external training and returning to pass on their knowledge to other employees. It helps to keep costs down but is more suitable for skills such as IT.Knowledge banks, eg a reference book or CD-Rom library, intranet and handbooks are an effective way of providing basic information that employees can access at their convenience. They are a way of holding information on office procedures and how to do basic tasks.

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The advantages of in-house training:

convenience and less disruption - courses can be scheduled according to your business' day-to-day activities and held in-house, so employees don't need to travel

confidentiality and direct relevance if courses are tailor-made value for money - there are no travel and accommodation costs, and you are charged per

event rather than per person time savings - you don't need to design a course and, if you use an external trainer, you

don't need to train trainers freedom of expression - employees can talk openly in the knowledge that competitors

are not present better interaction and effective learning - because all relevant employees will learn

together, there is more scope for them to interact, which can lead to more effective learning during and after the course

Disadvantages of In-house training:

Passing on existing inefficiencies or perpetuating poor business practices External training is more expensive Core business activities get affected Employees not taking it as seriously, eg they may not attend because they think it can be

done another day The need to provide training facilities such as PCs, rooms, etc Employees not being entirely honest about problems and difficulties It is a time consuming activity to train the trainers

Skills required by an in-house trainer:

presentation/speaking skills generating rapport/interest dealing with difficult students types of learning course and session design/planning skills evaluation, monitoring and feedback skills measuring the effectiveness of training setting up support for employees after training conducting training needs analyses

Checklist for setting in-house training center:

1. Analyze your business needs - consider if any parts of your business would benefit from improvement and how training can contribute to this2. Get your employees involved by asking them which types of training would improve their productivity

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3. Consider requests from employees for time to complete training that will improve their performance or the performance of your business - for more information see our guide consider time for training4. Plan the training carefully5. Involve senior members of staff in identifying training needs or materials specific to the business6. Set SMART training objectives, ie specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based7. Keep training objectives in line with wider business goals8. Select the most appropriate type of training for your business - for more information, read our guide on how to fit the training to your needs9. Choose your trainer carefully, whether you select an existing employee or hire someone specifically for training10. Draw up personal development plans for each employee - treat training as a continual process11. Train employees who are keen to learn first, and allow them to demonstrate the benefits to more skeptical staff12. Evaluate training by asking for feedback from employees, eg via questionnaires13. Analyze questionnaire results in order to improve training the next time around

Role of External Agency in Training / Training as OutsourcingThe focus on Business Process Outsource (BPO) over the last several years has had quite

an impact on the way companies do business.Outsourcing all training means comprehensive, end-to-end outsourcing—from the

management of the training function to the design, delivery and reporting. Training BPO refers to the transfer of management and execution of one or more complete ongoing training and development processes or the entire training function to an external services provider.

Organizations now are using a unique approach to provide training internally by Outsourcing their training departments. This they have found is a way that reduces costs improves productivity and relives them from the need of constant up gradation. Handing over the organizations training function over to “experts” in many ways also improves the quality of training. These experts have a lot of advantages; they are constantly upgrading themselves to differentiate themselves from the competition and add value to their clients, by virtue of the multiple clients they serve - they have an upfront feel of the best industry practices; training costs can be tracked more objectively and can help align your trainings with your strategic objectives in a far better manner.

Benefits of Outsourcing:

1. Produce cost savings: The potential for cost savings is the initial reason most companies investigate outsourcing. “The supplier reduces costs through consolidation of services, re-engineering of processes, automation of administration and delivery, leveraging economies of scale across multiple clients, and driving deeper vendor discounts.2. Deliver high-quality, efficient services and products: By outsourcing training, companies can focus resources on improving their products.3. Provide cutting-edge technology: Another benefit of this narrow focus is that the BPO provider stays on the cutting edge. With recent improvements in technology, there are a lot of

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different ways to provide knowledge. “It’s hard to stay abreast of all of the changes when you’re a small internal group.”4. Focus can remain on core business activities: After all, every company has a limited number of human resources. These resources should be focused on servicing your customers and improving your product, not implementing training systems. That’s the job of a company whose core capability is implementing the respective business process. So, the responsibility of training programs is to be assigned to outsourcing company whose core business is to ‘provide training’.5. World-class solutions and expertise are accessed: World class design teams with expertise will work on training programs. It is inevitable to get the world class solutions in a cost effective manner. It is difficult to an internal trainer to keep abreast of new training methods where the outsourcing agency is updated with the new interventions.6. Competitiveness is enhanced: The firm’s competitiveness can be increase by the way that the organization can look into core business activities while the outsourcing agency can provide training on improving the KSA’s.7. Cost structure becomes variable: The internal trainer provides the same training with in the same environment for years so ultimately the cost structure would be fixed irrespective of training needs. But the cost structure becomes variable with change in training needs the needs can be better identified by out side agency rather than internal trainer.8. Unutilized funds can be made available: It is people, with their skills, relationships and values, who drive and take the company forwards. It is better to invest considerable sums in the development and training of our human resources within management, knowledge sharing, communication and development of personal and professional potential.9. Operating expenses are reduced and controlled: The internal trainers who are not experts in preparing training policy, training budget and training schedule are incapable of controlling the cost exertion. Where the training agencies are specialized in the above said activities can minimize the cost which brings about the cost advantage.10. Activity is better managed: The activity is better managed by training agency because they are experts in conducting training programs. They can create interest among the participants by using ice breakers. It is human tendency to think that external people who are totally new to us can perform well. 11. New ideas are acquired: Internal trainers after observing the training methodology followed by external agency they also try to develop the skills required for conducting programs. Also, finds new method of training.12. Risk is reduced: Total responsibility lies with the external agency resulting to the reduced risk for the company.

Where Do Internal Trainers Go?Outsourcing the entire training function means the vast majority of the training department staff will lose their jobs. In the best-case scenario, your trainers will become employees of the outsourcing company.

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Training as ConsultancyThe word consultant is derived from Latin word “consultare” – means ‘to discuss’ from

which we also derive words such as consul or counsel.Consultant is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area of expertise.

(Ex: management, accountancy, medicine, law).

Benefits of training as consultancy:

1. Initial consultation: In the initial consultation both are involved in discussions and decision making. It is a meet arranged to express the problem and ask for a solution.2. Training Needs analysis: The purpose of training need analysis is to determine whether there is a gap between what is required for effective performance and present level of performance.3. off the shelf training: It is the customized training program which is given in the form of material in written or audio format or video format according to organization needs.4. Quality training: The training is concentrated on improving the quality and performance of work force.5. Professional team: A professional team will work together in order to evolve team spirit in workers.6. Training evaluation: The process of examining a training program is called training evaluation, report on purpose, process and techniques of evaluation.7. Lasting results: The entire effort is carried to ripe the lasting results which remain the workforce updated.

Training services that are offered by consultancies:

1. Management DevelopmentConflict managementManaging diversity

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Client Company Consultant Consultancy / Billing Company

Project managementStress managementTime management

2. SalesNegotiable skillsSales techniquesCustomer service skills

3. Human resourcesHR administrationInduction trainingRecruitment and selectionSuccessful appraising

4. Personal developmentAssertive skillsBuilding confidenceCoping with change

Importance of training consultancies:

It helps in enhancing company’s image It helps in strengthening the team spirit It helps in applying knowledge for developing core competencies It helps in improving work relations It helps in developing focused and inspired staff It helps to greater chances of success

Ex for training consultancy: TV Rao Learning Systems Pvt Ltd, India. Site: www.tvrls.com

Services provided by T.V. Rao Learning Systems Pvt Ltd:

Performance management system 360 degree feedback and leadership development Career development and succession planning Retention management Psychometric testing Personal consultancy for CEO’s Assessment and development centers Competency mapping Designing HR systems HR audit Organization climate and employee satisfaction surveys Organization restructuring

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