CHAPTER TEN

"Training and Developing Employees"

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

CHAPTER OUTLINE

• Employee training and development.
• Why is training and development important?
• A model of a training system.
• Assessing training and development needs.
• Selecting training and development methods.
• Evaluating training and development system.

1. EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training and development consist of planned programmes designed to improve performance at the individual, group, and/or organisational level¹. Often, a distinction is drawn between employee training and development². Broadly speaking, training is conceived of as a learning process whereby people improve their current skills and abilities and/or acquire new skills and knowledge to aid in the achievement of organisational goals. In a more narrow sense, training provides employees with specific, identifiable knowledge and skills for use on their present jobs. Whereas, development is broader in scope and focuses on individuals gaining new knowledge and skills for both present and future jobs.

2. WHY IS TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT?

The need for employee training and development can arise for many reasons³. A major purpose of training and development is to remove performance deficiencies, whether current or anticipated. Training and developing employees to increase productivity represents another important purpose, as research has indicated that by training employees productivity gains more than offset the costs of training⁴. Continuous quality improvement consists a major organisational goal that has been shown to be achieved via effective employee training and development⁵. The pioneers in Total Quality Management believe that it takes a great deal of training and development to create and maintain a quality company. Building an environment that is 'friendly' to TQM requires changed behaviours and much understanding by management of the new leadership skills necessary. Additionally, training and development is particularly important to organisations that are rapidly growing, continuously incorporating new technologies, and therefore continually increasing the likelihood of employee obsolescence. In this type of organisations, workforce flexibility and adaptability is of major importance and can be effected via successful training and development programmes. Furthermore, training and development can increase employee commitment to the organisation , and it can strengthen their perceptions that the organisation is a good place to work. In turn, greater organisational commitment results in less turnover and absenteeism, giving another boost to productivity. And finally, training is key in implementing a company's strategy.

3. A SYSTEM'S APPROACH TO TRAINING

The success of any training can be gauged by the amount of learning that occurs and is transferred to the job. In organisational environments, training and learning will take place anyway - especially through informal groups - whether an organisation has a coordinated training and development effort or not. But without a well-designed systematic approach to training, what is actually learned may not be what is best for the organisation. Figure 10.1 shows the relevant components of the three major phases in a training system⁷: [1] the needs assessment phase; [2] the implementation phase; and [3] the evaluation phase.

Fig. 10.1 "Model of Training System", Mathis and Jackson, p. 278

In the assessment phase, planners determine the need for training and specify the objectives of the training effort. Using these results, implementation can begin. And finally, the evaluation phase is crucial and focuses on measuring how well the training accomplished the planners' objectives.

4. ASSESSING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

Training is designed to help organisations accomplish their objectives. Determining organisational training needs is the diagnostic phase of setting training objectives. Training needs can be identified via three types of analyses⁸: organisational analyses; task analyses, and individual analyses.

o Organisational Analysis of Training Needs.

The first way of diagnosing training needs is through organisational analysis - which considers the organisation as a system. Organisational needs analysis begins with an examination of the short- and long-term objectives of the organisation and the trends likely to affect these objectives. In addition to examining the organisation's objectives, the organisational needs analysis also evaluates human resources, efficiency indexes, and the organisational climate⁹.

Human resource analysis translates the organisation's objectives into specific demands for human resources and the skills and programmes necessary for supplying them. Consequently, training programmes play a vital role in matching the supply of organisational skills with organisational demands.

An analysis of efficiency indexes provides information on the current efficiency of individual employees, work groups and the organisation as a whole. In this regard, useful indexes include: labour costs, quantity of labour, quality of output, wages, equipment use and repairs¹⁰. The organisation can determine standards for these indexes and then use them to evaluate the general effectiveness of the training programme and to locate team training and development needs within the organisation.

Lastly, the analysis of organisational climate describes the quality of the organisation, how the employees perceive and feel about their organisation, and how effective the employees are¹¹. Like the analysis of efficiency indexes, it can help identify where training and development programmes may be needed and provide criteria by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes that are implemented. Measures of the quality of the organisational climate include: absenteeism, turnover, grievances, productivity, suggestions, attitude surveys, and accidents¹².

o Task Analyses.

The second way to diagnose training needs is through analyses of the tasks performed in the organisation. Essentially, this analysis provides information on the tasks to be performed on each job [ contained in job descriptions]; the skills necessary to perform these tasks [ obtained from job specifications]; and the minimum acceptable standards. By comparing the requirements of jobs with the required vs possessed knowledge, skills and abilities of employees, training needs can be identified¹³.

o Individual Analyses

The third means of diagnosing training needs focuses on individuals and how they perform their jobs. A person needs analysis can be accomplished in two different ways¹⁴. The first method is based on the actual, current job performance of an employee, and is therefore used to determine training needs for the current job. The second method is used to identify development needs for future jobs.

Regardless of method, several different approaches can be used to identify the training and/or development needs of individuals¹⁵. The use of performance appraisal data in making these individual analyses is the most common approach. Another way to assess individual training and development needs is by asking employees. Both managerial and nonmanagerial employees can be surveyed, interviewed and/or tested¹⁶. The results can give managers insights into what employees believe their problems are and what actions they recommend.

o What types of skills are to be acquired?

In addition to using appropriate training techniques, the training programme must have content congruent with the types of skills being taught. In general, acquired skills fall into four broad areas¹⁷:

Basic Literacy Skills. Organisations are increasingly concerned about correcting basic literacy deficiencies in grammar, mathematics, safety, and reading, listening and writing skills.

With respect to quality management, companies are realising that almost all employees need a new basic skill: statistics. Knowledge of statistics is fundamental to Deming's approach to quality¹⁸, which is quality improvement by numbers. In TQM, determining causes of any lack in quality is done by statistical process control [SPC]. SPC is the practice of using statistical analysis to improve quality in operating processes. According to Deming it is important to analyse the system statistically to know when a system is not producing products with acceptable reliability. At a minimum a knowledge of means, standard deviations and ranges is required.

Basic Technical Skills. Due to rapid changes in technology and the implementation of automated office, industrial and managerial systems, technological updating and skill building have become a major thrust in training to keep technical skills current¹⁹.

Interpersonal skills. Increasingly in demand are the interpersonal skills in communications, human relationships, performance appraisal, leadership and negotiations²⁰. In fact, these skills top the list of training needs for first and middle - level managers. The development of interpersonal skills is also important for those employees who interface with the public - e.g. receptionists, salespeople, etc.

Conceptual Integrative Skills in strategic and operational planning, organisation design and organisational policy are needed by top management. Adapting to complex and changing environments is often a part of top management responsibilities and conceptual integrative skills help people enlarge their capacities in these areas. Consequently, the development of such skills is at the heart of today's emphasis on creativity and entrepreneurship.

o Setting Training Objectives.

The objectives of a training and development programme should relate back to the training needs identified in the needs analysis. Evaluation of the training programme success should be measured in terms of the objectives set.

Objectives for training can be set in any areas necessary, by using one of the following dimensions²¹:

Quantity of work resulting from training - e.g. number of words per minute typed; or number of applications processed per day.

Quality of work after training - for example, dollar cost of rework, scrap loss, or errors.

Timeliness of work after training - for instance, schedules met or budget reports in on time.

Cost savings as a result of training - that is, deviation from budget, sales expense, or cost of downtown.

5. SELECTING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT METHODS

Once objectives have been determined, actual training can begin. Regardless of whether the training is job-related or developmental in nature, a particular training method must be chosen. Training methods can be classified in three ways²²:

Information presentation techniques include lectures, conferences, correspondence courses, motion pictures, reading lists, closed-circuit TV and videotapes, behaviour modeling and systematic observation, programmed instruction, computer-assisted instruction, sensitivity training and organisational development - systematic long-range programmes of organisational improvement.

Simulation methods include the case method, role playing, programmed group exercises, the in-basket technique, and business games.

On-the-job training methods include orientation training, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, near-the-job training [ using identical equipment but away from the job itself], job rotation, committee assignments, understudy assignments, on-the-job coaching, and performance appraisal.

6. EVALUATING TRAINING PROGRAMMES

Training must be evaluated by systematically documenting the outcomes of the training in terms of how trainees actually behave back on the jobs and the relevance of the trainees' behaviour to the objectives of the organisation²³.. To assess the utility or value of training, answers must be seeked to specific questions, such as²⁴:

• Have trainees achieved a specific level of skill, knowledge or performance?
• Did change occur?
• Is the change due to training?
• Is the change positively related to the achievement of organisational goals?
• Will similar change occur with new participants in the same training programme?

In evaluating training programmes, change may be measured in terms of four levels of rigour²⁵:

Reaction - how do the participants feel about the training programme?

Learning - to what extent have the trainees learned what was taught?

Behaviour - what on-the-job changes in behaviour have occurred because of attendance at the training programme?

Results - to what extent have cost-related behavioural outcomes [ e.g. productivity or quality improvements, turnover or accident reductions] resulted from the training?

Since measure of reaction and learning are concerned with outcomes of the training programme per se, they are referred to as internal criteria. Measures of behaviour and results indicate the impact of training on the job environment and they are referred to as external criteria.

Measures of reaction typically focus on participants' feelings about the subject and the speaker, suggested improvements in the programme, and the extent to which the training has helped them to do their job better²⁶.

Trainee learning , which may focus on changing knowledge, skills, attitudes or motivation, can be assessed by giving a paper-and-pencil test, or through performance testing following skill training²⁷.

Assessing changes in on-the-job behaviour is more difficult than measuring reaction or learning because factors other than the training programme - e.g. experience, supervision or performance incentives - may also improve performance. To rule out these rival hypotheses, it is essential to design a plan for evaluation that includes before and after measurement of the trained group's performance relative to that of one or more untrained control groups. To rule out alternative explanations for the changes that occurred, members of the untrained control group should be matched as closely as possible to whose in the trained group²⁸.

Finally, the impact of training on organisational results is the most significant but most difficult measure to make. Exciting developments in this area have come from recent research showing how the general utility equation can be modified to reflect the dollar value of improved job performance resulting form training²⁹.

CASE: A TRAINING MISDIAGNOSIS OR A MISTAKE?

Sue Campbell, the training representative for the regional office of a large service organisation, is excited about a new training programme. The HR department at the headquarters office had informed her six months ago that it had purchased a speed-reading training programme from a reputable firm and the statistics showed that the programme had indeed proven to be very effective in other companies.

Sue knew that most individuals in the regional office were faced, on a daily basis, with a sizeable amount of incoming correspondence, including internal memoranda, announcements of new and revised policies and procedures, legal reports, and letters from customers. So, a course in speed writing should certainly help most employees.

The headquarters office had flown regional training reps in for a special session on how to conduct the training, and Sue therefore began the programme in her regional office with great confidence. She led five groups [30 employees each] through the programme, which consisted of nine two-hour sessions. Sessions were conducted in the on-site training facilities. Altogether, 1,200 employees in the organisation participated in the training, at an approximate cost to the company of $110 per participant [ including training materials and time away from work]. The programme was well received by the participants, and speed tests administered before and after training showed that, on average, reading speed increased 250 percent with no loss in comprehension.

A couple of months after the last session, Sue informally asked a couple of employees who went through the training whether speed reading was easing their work load. They said they were not using it at work but did use it in their off-the-job reading. Sue checked with several other participants and heard the same story. When Sue asked them about the reading material that crossed their desks daily, the typical response was: 'I never read those memos and policy announcements anyway!'. Sue was concerned about this information but did not know what to do with it.

QUESTIONS

1. Did Sally truly waste valuable training funds?

2. Should Sue now start a programme to get the employees to read the memos and policy announcements?

3. How could Sue have avoided the situation she now faces?

4. What would you advice Sue to do to deal effectively with this situation?

Click here to send your answers

Source: Schuler, R.S. New York University.

NOTES