Training And Development

Chapter Ten

Training, Development, and Organizational

Learning

10 - 2

Chapter Outline

• Purposes of Training and Development

• New Employee Orientation

• Assessing Training and Development Needs

• Designing Training and Development Programs

• Training and Development Techniques and Methods

10 - 3

Chapter Outline (cont’d)

• Management Development

• Organizational Development and Learning

• Evaluating Training and Development

10 - 4

Chapter Objectives

• Identify and describe the purposes of training and development.

• Discuss new employee orientation.

• Describe how training and development needs are assessed.

• Discuss common training and development techniques and methods.

• Discuss the unique considerations in management development.

10 - 5

Chapter Objectives (cont’d)

• Discuss how organizations, as well as individuals, can learn and develop.

• Describe how organizations can evaluate the effectiveness of their training and development programs.

10 - 6

Purposes of Training and Development

• Employee training– A planned attempt by an organization to

facilitate employee learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors

• Development– Teaching managers and professionals the

skills needed for both present and future jobs

10 - 7

The Nature of Training

• Training usually involves teaching operational or technical employees how to do their jobs more effectively and/or efficiently.

• Responsibilities for training are generally assigned to the HR function.

• In general, training is intended to help the organization function more effectively.

• Managers must be sure that productivity can be increased through training and that productivity gains are possible with existing resources.

10 - 8

The Nature of Development

• Development is generally aimed at helping managers better understand and solve problems, make decisions, and capitalize on opportunities.

• Development is often considered a HR function.

10 - 9

Learning Theory and Employee Training

• Learning– A relatively permanent change in behavior

or behavioral potential that results from direct or indirect experience

• Learning organization– An organization whose employees

continuously attempt to learn new information and to use what they learn to improve product or service quality

10 - 10

Learning and Employee Trainingand Development

10 - 11

New Employee Orientation

• Orientation– The process of introducing new employees

to the organization so that they can become effective contributors more quickly

• Goals of orientation– To reduce anxiety and uncertainty for new

employees– To ease the burden of socializing

newcomers for supervisors and coworkers– To provide favorable initial job experiences

10 - 12

Basic Issues in Orientation

• Content of orientation– Policies and procedures– Work hours, compensation, schedules,

who can answer questions– Overview and introduction to the business

• Length of orientation– Depends on content– May include initial orientation and follow-up

• Who will conduct orientation– HR, managers, union officials, employees

10 - 13

Sample New Employee Orientation Schedule

10 - 14

Assessing Training and Development Needs

• Needs analysis– The assessment of the organization’s job-related

needs and the capabilities of the current workforce

• The manager must carefully assess the company’s:– Strategy– Resources available for training– General philosophy regarding training and

development

• Decision must be made about training employees for current jobs versus for future jobs

10 - 15

Setting Training and Development Goals

• The organization should know in advance what it expects of its employees prior to training.

• The HR manager planning the training must look at the current state of affairs, decide what changes are necessary, and formulate these changes into specific training development goals.

• Goals should be objective, verifiable, and specific.

10 - 16

In-House Versus Outsourced Programs

• In-house training or development program– Is conducted on the organization’s

premises primarily by the organization’s employees

– Content can be tailored to the organization– Scheduling can be flexible

10 - 17

In-House Versus Outsourced Programs (cont’d)

• Outsourced training or development program– Involves having people from outside the

organization perform the training– Cost can be lower than in-house training– Professional trainers assure quality– Program may be generic rather than

tailored to the organization

10 - 18

Designing Training andDevelopment Programs

• The first steps are outlining and defining training and development program content.

• Then define the content, which specifies the material that is intended to be taught.

• Another approach is to focus on what is to be learned.

• More complex training requires a more complex definition of content.

10 - 19

10 - 20

Selecting Training andDevelopment Instructors

• The most common choices regarding instructors are whether to use full-time professional trainers (who might be hired from an external firm or are part of an in-house training staff) or use operating managers.

• These individuals may be experts on the task to be taught, but poor instructors.

• Professional trainers is the other choice.

10 - 21

Training and DevelopmentTechniques and Methods

• Work-based programs– Tie the training and development activities

directly to the performance of the task– On-the-job training

• Having employees learn their job while they are actually performing it

– Apprenticeship• A combination of on-the-job and classroom

instruction

10 - 22

Training and DevelopmentTechniques and Methods (cont’d)

• Work-based programs (cont’d)– Vestibule training

• A work-simulation situation in which the job is performed under a condition that closely simulates the real work environment

– Systematic job rotation and transfer• Systematically rotating or transferring the

employee from one job to another

10 - 23

Training and DevelopmentTechniques and Methods (cont’d)

• Instructional-based programs– Approach training and development from a

teaching and learning perspective– Lecture or discussion approach

• A trainer presents the material to those attending the program in a descriptive fashion

– Computer-assisted instruction• A trainee sits at a personal computer and

operates software that has been developed specifically to impart certain information to the individual

10 - 24

Training and DevelopmentTechniques and Methods (cont’d)

• Instructional-based programs (cont’d)– Programmed instruction

• The material to be learned is prepared in a manual or training booklet, which the individual studies at his or her pace

10 - 25

Computer-assisted instruction

Team-building and group-based methods

Video teleconferencing

Interactive videos

TrainingTechnology

10 - 26

Special Needs for Management Development

• Rather than attending a single training program, managers may need to participate in different programs that span a long time.

• Management development may be subject to different opportunities and limitations regarding materials, training methods, and modes of instruction.

• The learner may need to be an active participant in a development program.

10 - 27

Special Techniques for Management Development

• In-basket exercise– The trainee must play the role of manager

in dealing with a hypothetical in-basket of letters, memos, reports, phone messages, and e-mail messages.

• Leaderless group exercise– A group of trainees are placed together in

a group setting and told to make a decision or solve a problem.

10 - 28

Organizational Development

• An effort that is planned systemwide and managed from the top of the organization to increase the organization’s overall performance through planned interventions

• Relies heavily on behavioral science technology

• Techniques: diagnostic OD, survey feedback OD, third-party peacemaking, process consultation

10 - 29

Organizational Learning

• The process by which an organization “learns” from past mistakes and adapts to its environment– Begins with individual learning and change– Depends on social processes and sharing

• Organizational memory– The collective, institutional record of past

events

10 - 30

Evaluating Training and Development

• Performance before training should be measured.

• When training has been completed, all trainees should be able to demonstrate capabilities from the training.

• For management development, organizations can rely on evaluations completed by the trainees after a particular training program.

10 - 31

Design of Training Programs

• General training– Providing trainees with skills and abilities

that can be applied in any organization– May result in increased turnover

• Specific training– Providing trainees with skills or information

that is of use only to the present organization