Training and DevelopmentQ) Meaning and Definition A business' most important asset is often its people. Training and developing them can be one of
the most important investments a business can make. The right training can ensure that your
business has the right skills to tackle the future. It can also help attract and retain good quality
staff, as well as increasing the job satisfaction of those presently with you - increasing the
chances that they will satisfy your customers.
Training and development refer to the imparting to specific skills’ ability and knowledge to an
employee. A formal definition of training and development is:
“… it is any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an
employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by changing the employee’s attitudes or
increasing his or her skills and knowledge.”
The need for training and development is determined by the employee’s performance deficiency,
computed as follows:
We can make a distinction among training, education and development. Such distinction enables
us to acquire a better perspective about the meaning of the terms. Training, as was started earlier,
refers to the process of imparting specific skills. Education, on the other hand, is confined to
theoretical learning in the classrooms.
Training and Development need = Standard performance – Actual performance.
TRAINING AND EDUCATION DIFFERENTIATED :
Training Education
Application oriented
Job experience
Specific tasks
Narrow perspective
Theoretical oriented
Classroom learning
General concepts
Broad perspective
Development refers to those learning opportunities designed to help employees grow.
Development is not primarily skill-oriented. Instead, it provides general knowledge and attitudes,
which will be helpful to employees in higher positions. Efforts towards development often
depend on personal drive and ambition. Development activities, such as those supplied by
management development programmes, are generally voluntary.
THE TRAINING PROCESS
(1) ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES:
The first step in the training process in an organization is the assessment of its objectives and
strategies. What business are we in? At what level of quality do we wish to provide this product
or service? Where do we want to be in the future? It is only after answering these and other
related questions that the organization must assess the strengths and weaknesses of its human
resources.
Organizational Objectives
and Strategies
Assessment of Training
Needs
Establishment of Training
Goals
Devising Training
Programme
Implementation of
Training programme
Evaluation of Results
(2) ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS:
Organizations spend vast sums of money on training and development. Before committing such
huge resources, organizations would do well to assess the training needs of the employees.
Organizations that implement training programmes without conducting needs assessment may be
making errors.
Needs assessment occurs at two levels:
a) Individual
b) Group
Individual:
An individual obviously needs training when his or her training falls short of standards, that is,
when there is performance deficiency. Inadequacy in performance may be due to lack of skill or
knowledge or any other problem. The problem of performance deficiency is caused by absence
of skills or knowledge can be remedied by training. Faulty selection, poor job design, uninspiring
supervision or some personal problem may also result in poor performance. Transfer, job
redesign, improving quality of supervision, or discharge will solve the problem.
Individuals may also require new skills because of possible job transfers. Although job transfers
are as common as organizational personal demands vary, they do not necessarily require
elaborate training efforts. Employees commonly require an orientation to new facilities and jobs.
Recently, however, economic forces have necessitated significant retraining efforts in order to
assure continuous employment for many individuals.
Group:
Assessment of training needs occurs at group level too. Any change in the organization’s
strategy necessitates training groups of employees. For example, when the organization decides
to introduce a new line of products, sales personnel and production workers have to be trained to
produce, sell and service the new products. Training can also be used when high scrap or
accident rates, low morale and motivation, or other problems are diagnosed.
Needs Assessment Methods:
Several assessment methods for are available for assessing training needs. Some are useful for
organizational level needs assessment and others for individual needs assessment.
Benefits of Needs Assessment:
Needs assessment helps diagnose the cause of performance deficiency of employees. Causes
require remedial actions. There are specific benefits of needs assessment.
Trainers may be informed about the broader needs of the training group and their sponsoring
organizations.
The sponsoring organizations are able to reduce the perception gap between the participant
and his or her boss about their needs and expectations from the training programme.
Trainers are able to pitch their course inputs closer to the specific needs of the participants.
(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAINING GOALS:
Once the training needs are assessed, training and developmental goals must be established. With
out clearly set goals, it is not possible to design a training and development programme and, after
it has been implemented, there will be no way of measuring its effectiveness. Goals must be
NEEDS ASSESSMENT METHODS
Group analysis
Organizational goals and
objectives
Personnel/skills inventories
Organizational climate indices
Efficiency indices
Exit interviews
MBO or work planning systems
Quality circles
Customer survey/satisfaction
data
Individual analysis
Performance Appraisal
Work sampling
Interviews
Questionnaires
Attitude survey
Training progress
Rating scales
tangible, verifiable, and measurable. This is easy where skill training is involved. For example,
the successful trainee will be expected to type 55 words per minute with two or three errors per
page. But behavioral objectives like attitudinal changes can be more difficult to state.
Nevertheless, clear behavioral standards of expected results are necessary so that the programme
can be effectively designed and results can be evaluated.
(4) DEVISING THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Every training and development programme must address the following vital issues:
1. Who are the trainees?
Trainees are selected on the basis of:
Self Nomination
Recommendations of the Supervisor
By the HR Department itself
Whatever is the basis, it is advisable to have two or more target audiences. For example, rank-
and-file employees and their supervisors may effectively learn together about a new process and
their respective roles. It also helps facilitate group processes such as problem solving and
decision – making.
2. Who are the trainers?
Training and development may be done by:
Immediate Supervisors
Co – workers
Personnel Staff
Specialists in other parts of the company
Outside Consultants
Industry Associations
Faculty Members at Universities
Who among these are selected to teach, often depends on where the program is held and the skill
that is being taught.
Who are the trainees?
Who are the trainers?
What methods & techniques?
Where to conduct the program?
What principles of learning?
What should be the level of training?
3. What Methods and Techniques of Training should be used?
A multitude of methods and techniques is used to train employees. Training techniques are the
means employed in the training methods. Training methods are categorized into two groups –
on-the-job methods and off-the-job methods. The most commonly used techniques are shown in
the table given below.
On-the-Job Method (OJT):
Majority of industrial training is on the job training type. OJT method is mainly adopted
while orienting new employees, introducing innovations in products & services and in
special skills training. OJT is conducted at the work site and in the context of the job. Often,
it is informal, as when an experienced worker shows a trainee how to perform the job tasks.
Off-the-Job Training Method:
Off-the-job training is mainly adopted for orienting new employees, introducing innovations
in products and services, special skills training, safety education, creative, technical &
professional education and sales, administrative, supervisory and managerial education. The
advantages and disadvantages of some of the important techniques of off-the-job methods are
listed below:
a) Lectures :
Lecture is a verbal presentation of information by an instructor to a large audience. This
method can be made effective when combined with other means of training.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES OF TRAINING
On-the-Job Method Off-the-Job Method
Orientation TrainingJob-Instruction Training
Job RotationCoaching
Simulation LectureFilms & Television
Conference/DiscussionProgrammed InstructionCase Study
VestibuleRole Play
b) Audio-Visuals :
These include television slides, overheads, video-types, films and LCD Projectors.
c) Programmed Instruction (PI) :
Training is offered without the intervention of the trainer. Information is provided to the
trainee in blocks, either in a book form or through a teaching machine. PI involves:
1. Presenting questions, facts, or problems to the learner.
2. Allowing the person to respond.
3. Providing feedback on the accuracy of his or her answers.
4. If the answers are correct, the learner proceeds to the next block.
d) Simulations :
A simulator is any kind of equipment or technique that duplicates as nearly as possible the
actual conditions encountered on the job. It is an attempt to create a realistic decision –
making environment for the trainee. The advantage of simulation is the opportunity to ‘create
an environment’ similar to real situations the managers incur, but without the high costs
involved should the actions prove undesirable.
The other techniques of training are:
Leadership games: exercises to teach different styles of leadership.
Skill Games: Tests to develop analytical skills.
Communication Games: exercises to build bias – free listening and talking.
Strategic Planners: Games to test ability to plan ahead.
Team – building games: Exercises requiring collaborative efforts.
Lateral Thinking: thinking randomly to come up with new ideas.
Cross – cultural training: Programmes to teach specifics of varied cultures.
4. What should be the level of learning?
The inputs passed on to trainees in training and development programmes can be taught at three
basic levels.
Level I The trainee must acquire fundamental knowledge. This means developing a
basic understanding of a field and becoming acquainted with the language,
concepts and relationships involved in it. E.g. Orientation Training
Level II The goal is skill development, or acquiring the ability to perform in a
particular skill area.
Level III Aims at increased operational proficiency. This involves obtaining additional
experience and improving skills that have already been developed.
All the inputs of training can be offered at the three levels. How effectively they are learned
depends upon several principles of learning.
5. What should be the Principles of Learning?
Training and development programmes are more likely to be effective when they incorporate the
following principles of learning:
Motivation:
Motivation to learn is the basic requisite of making training and development programmes
effective. Motivation comes from awareness that training fetches some rise in status and pay.
Employee Motivation
Recognition of Individual Differences
Practice Opportunities
Reinforcement
Knowledge of ResultsGoals
Schedules of Training
Meaning of Material
Transfer of Learning
LEARNING PRINCIPLES
Internal pressures (self-esteem, quality of life, job satisfaction) are the most powerful
motivators. At the same time the individual must also have the ability to learn.
Individual Differences:
Individuals enjoy varying learning stimuli. Ability varies from individual to individual and
this difference must be considered while organizing training programmes.
Practice Opportunities:
People learn best through practice. The trainee should be given the opportunity to practice
what is being taught. Practice is also essential after the individual has been successfully
trained.
Reinforcement:
Reinforcement is anything that
a) Increases the strength of response
b) Tends to induce repetitions of the behavior that preceded the reinforcement.
Reinforcement could be positive and negative. Positive reinforcement strengthens and
increases behavior by the presentation of desirable consequences. The reinforcement consists
of a positive experience for the individual. Example: if an employee does something well and
is complemented by the boss, the probability that the behavior will be repeated will be
strengthened.
In negative reinforcement, the individual exhibits the desired behavior to avoid something
unpleasant. Example: an employee who does something to avoid incurring a reprimand from
his boss. The effect of negative reinforcement is avoidance of learning.
Knowledge of Results (feedback):
Knowledge of results is a necessary condition for learning. Feedback about the performances
will enable the learner to know where he or she stands and to initiate corrective action if any
deviation from the expected goal has taken place.
Goals:
Goal setting can also accelerate learning, particularly when it is accompanied by knowledge
of results. Individuals generally perform better and learn more quickly when they have goals,
particularly if the goals are specific and reasonably difficult.
Schedules of learning:
One of the most well – established principles of learning is that distributed or spaced learning
is superior to continuous learning.
Schedules of learning involve:
a) Duration of practice sessions
b) Duration of rest sessions
c) Positioning of rest pauses
All the three must be carefully planned and executed.
Meaning of material:
A definite relationship has been established between learning and meaningfulness of the
subject learnt. The more meaningful the material, the better the learning process.
Transfer of Learning:
What is learnt in training must be transferred to the job. The traditional approach to transfer
has been to maximize the identical elements between the training situation and the actual job.
This may be possible for training skills such as maintaining a cash register, but not for
teaching leadership or conceptual skills. Often, what is learnt in a training session faces
resistance back at the job. Techniques for overcoming resistance include creating positive
expectations on the part of trainee’s supervisor, creating opportunities to implement new
behavior on the job, and ensuring that the behavior is reinforced when it occurs.
Though, it is desirable that a training and development programme incorporates all these
principles, seldom is such a combination effected in practice.
6. Where to conduct the programme?
A training and development programme can be conducted:
i. At the job itself
ii. On site but not the job – for example, in a training room in the company.
iii. Off the site, such as in a university or college classroom, hotel, a resort, or a conference
center.
(5) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME:
Once the training programme has been designed, it needs to be implemented. Implementation is
beset with certain problems:
a) Most managers are action oriented and frequently say they are too busy to engage in training
efforts.
b) Availability of trainers is a problem. In addition to possessing communication skills, the
trainers must know the company’s philosophy, its objectives, its formal and informal
organizations, and the goals of the training programme. Training requires a higher degree of
creativity than, perhaps, any other personnel specialty.
c) Scheduling training around the present work is another problem.
Programme implementation involves action on the following lines:
a) Deciding the location and organizing training and other facilities
b) Scheduling the training programme
c) Conducting the programme
d) Monitoring the progress of trainees
(6) EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAMME:
The last stage in the training and development process is the evaluation of results. Since huge
sums of money are spent in training and development, how far the programme has been
successful must be judged or determined. Evaluation helps determine the results of the training
and development programme. In practice, however, organizations either overlook or lack
facilities for evaluation.
Need for Evaluation:
The main objective of evaluating the training programmes is to determine if they are
accomplishing specific training objectives, that is, correcting performance deficiencies. A second
reason for evaluation is to ensure that any changes in trainee capabilities are due to the training
programme and not due to any other conditions. Training programmes should be evaluated to
determine their cost effectiveness. Evaluation is useful to explain programme failure, should it
occur. Finally, credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced when it is proved that
the organization has benefited tangibly from it.
Principles of Evaluation:
Evaluation of the training programme must be based on the following programmes:
a) Evaluation specialists must be clear about the goals and purpose of evaluation
b) Evaluation must be continuous
c) Evaluation must be specific
d) Evaluation must provide the means and focus for trainers to be able to appraise themselves,
their practices, and their products.
e) Evaluation must be based on objective methods and standards.
f) Realistic target dates must be set for each face of the evaluation process. A sense of urgency
must be developed, but deadlines that are unreasonably high will result in poor evaluation.
There are various approaches to training evaluation. To get a valid measure of training
effectiveness, the personnel manager should accurately assess trainee’s job performance two to
four months after completion of training.
Two writers have suggested that four basic categories of outcome can be measured.
a) Reaction: evaluate the trainee’s reaction to the programme. Did he like the programme? Did
he think it worthwhile?
b) Learning: did the trainee learn the principles, skills and the fact that the supervisor or the
trainee wanted him to learn?
c) Behavior : Whether the trainee’s behavior on the job changed because of the training
programme?
d) Results: what final results have been achieved? Did he learn how to work on machine? Did
scrappage costs decrease? Was turnover reduced? Are productions quotas have been met?
Questionnaires or structured interviews with the immediate supervisors of the trainees are
acceptable methods for obtaining feedback on training. The supervisor is asked to rate the former
trainee on job proficiency directly related to the training objectives.
Besides, pre-and-post tests be administered to the training groups. Prior to the training, a test
related to the training material is applied, and the results of this pre-test are compared with
results on the same or similar test administered after the programme has been completed.
Q) Objectives of Training and DevelopmentStaying ahead in today's business world is more challenging than ever. Building trust and
promoting teamwork are just two expectations of any business leader.
Training and development programs are designed to keep an organization at the front of its
industry maximize performance and energize every level of the organization. Training and
Development is also seen to strengthen the tie between employee development and strategic
operation objectives.
The objectives of Training and Development are as follows: -
Efficiency: Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees
contribute to the growth of the organization.
Fewer accidents: Accidents, scrap and damage to machinery and equipment can be avoided
or minimized through training. Even dissatisfaction, complaints, absenteeism, and turnover
can be reduced if employees are trained well.
Meeting manpower needs: Future needs of employees will be met through training and
development programmes. Training serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training is
an investment in human resource with promise of better returns in future.
Improves quality: Better-informed workers are likely to make less operational mistakes.
Quality of products or services will definitely increase. This can be well measured through
the reduction in rejections.
Personal growth: Training programmes also deal with personality development of the
employees (through goal setting, motivation, leadership skills, etc.) thus they personally gain
through exposure to training programmes.
Obsolescence prevention: Training and development programs foster the initiative and the
creativity of the employees and help to prevent the manpower obsolescence, which may be
due to age, temperament, or the inability of the person to adapt himself to technological
changes.
Versatility in operations: Training makes the employees versatile in operations. All
rounders can be transferred to any job. Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates
prosperity, which is reflected in profits every year.
Employee stability: Training contributes to employee stability in at least 2 ways.
Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to
the growth of the organization. Growth renders stability to the work force. Further trained
employees tend to stay with the organization.
Q) Effectiveness and Evaluation of Training and DevelopmentEffectiveness of Training
Training and Development programmes are most likely to be effective when they incorporate the
following principles
1.Employee Motivation-motivation to learn is the basic requisite to make training and
development programmes effective. Motivation comes from awareness that training fetches
some rise in status and pay. Motivation alone is not enough; the individual must have the ability
to learn.
2.Recognition of individual differences
Regardless of individual differences, and whether a trainee is learning a new skill or acquiring
knowledge of a given topic, the trainee should be given the opportunity to practice what he is
taught. Practice is essential after individual is successfully trained.
3.Schedule of learning
Duration of practice sessions, duration of rest sessions and positioning of rest pauses are the
three schedules, which must be carefully planned and executed for an effective training
programme.
Besides, Training can be made effective, if action on the following lines is initiated: -
1.It should be ensured that the management commits itself to allocate major resources and
adequate time to training. This is what high performing organizations do. For example XEROX,
invest 300 $ million annually or about 2.5% of its revenue on training. Similarly Hewlet Packard
spends about 5% of its annual revenue to train 87000 workers.
2.It should be ensured that training contributes to competitive strategies of the firm. Different
strategies need different HR skills for implementation. Let training help employees at all levels
acquire the needed skills.
3.Ensure that a comprehensive and systematic approach to training exists, and training and
retraining are done at all levels on a continuous and ongoing basis.
4.Training can be made effective by making learning as one of the fundamental values of the
company. This philosophy should percolate down to all employees in the organization.
5.It should be ensured that there is proper linkage among organizational, operational and
individual training needs.
6.And finally to make training effective a system to evaluate the effectiveness of training needs
to be prepared so that the shortfalls can be easily looked at.
Why Training Fails?
The benefits of training are not clear to the top management.
The top management hardly rewards the supervisors for carrying out effective training.
The top management rarely plans and budgets systematically for training
The middle management, without proper incentives from top management does not account
for training in production scheduling
Without proper scheduling from above, first line supervisors have difficulty in production
norms if employees are attending training programmes.
Trainers provide limited counseling and consulting services to the rest of the organization.
Evaluation of Training
Organizations are under pressure to justify various expenses. The training budget is,
often, not exempted from this purview. There are a number of questions raised on the value
derived from training programmes—both directly and indirectly. Business heads and training
managers are under pressure to prove the effectiveness of training
Thus it can be seen,
The last and one of the most important stages in the training and development process is
the evaluation of results. Since huge sums of money are spent on training and development. how
far the training has been useful must be judged/determined.
Evaluation helps determine the results of the training and development programme.
In practice is however seen, organizations either overlook or lack facilities for evaluation.
Need for evaluation: -
The main objective of evaluating the training programme is to determine if
they are accomplishing specific training objectives, that is correctible
performance deficiencies.
Secondly training programme should be evaluated to determine their cost
effectiveness. Evaluation is useful to explain programme failure, if it
occurs.
And finally the credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced
when it is proved that the organization has benefited tangibility from it.
Principle of evaluation
Evaluation of training programme must be based ob following principles
1. The evaluation specialist must b clear about the goals and purposes of evaluation.
2. Evaluation must be continuous.
3. Evaluation must be specific.
4. Evaluation must provide the means and focus for trainers to be able to appraise
themselves
5. Evaluation must be based on objective methods and standards.
6. Realistic target dates must be set for each phase of the evaluation process. A sense of
urgency must be developed, but deadlines that are unreasonably high will result in poor
evaluation.
Criteria for evaluation.
HR professionals should try to collect four types of data while evaluation training programmes.
I. Measures of reaction.
Reaction measures reveal trainees’ opinions regarding the training programme.
II. Learning
Learning measures assess the degree to which trainees have mastered the concepts, knowledge
and skills of the training.
III. Behavioural change
Behavior indicates the performance of the learners.
IV. Organizational results
The purpose of collecting organizational results is to examine the impact of training on the work
group or the entire company.
Techniques of evaluation
Several techniques of evaluation are being used in organizations. It may be stated that the
usefulness of the methods is inversely proportional to the ease with which the evaluation can be
done.
The following are the techniques of evaluation: -
1.Experimental and control groups.
Each group is randomly elected, one to receive training and the other not to receive training.
The random selection helps to assure the formation of the groups quite similar to each other.
Measures are taken of relevant indicators of success. (E.g.-words typed per minute, pieces
produced per hour etc) before and after training for both groups.
If the gain demonstrated by the experimental group is better than those by the control group, the
training programme is labeled as successful.
2.Longitudinal or time series analysis
Measurements are taken before the programme begins and are continued during and after the
programme is completed. These results are plotted on a graph to determine whether changes
have occurred and remain as a result of training effort. To further validate, that change has
occurred as a result of training and not another variable, a control group can be included.
In order to conduct a thorough evaluation of a training programme, it is important to assess the
costs and benefits associated with the programme. This is a difficult task, but it is useful in
convincing the management about the usefulness of the training.
Some of the costs that should be measured for a training programme include needs assessment
costs, salaries of training department staff, purchase of equipment, programme development
costs, trainers cost during the training period.
The benefits to be compared to the costs are rupee payback associated with the improvement in
trainee’s performance, their behavioral change and the longevity of the period during which the
benefit would last.
Q) Follow – Up of Training
Following-up is the last step in the training process. Here, the training program is already
completed and the trainees go back to their departments or positions and start doing the work
assigned. However, the management feels that training / development is a means and not the
end in itself. Training is essentially for achieving certain objectives. Management will like to
know actual results / benefits of training. For this, follow-up of training in the form of
evaluation training is essential. Management spent huge amount of money on training of
employees and this expenditure should give positive return in terms of higher efficiency,
productivity, high morale, cordial industrial relations and so on. For this, critical evaluation
of training program is essential. This indicates the effectiveness of the training. Even suitable
modification / improvement in the training program is possible after analyzing the results
available from such evaluation. In brief, evaluation helps determine the results of training
and development program. Unfortunately, many organizations overlook this important step in
the training process. In some companies, suitable facilities required for evolution of training
are not available.
Follow-up is the key to ensuring that interventions improve performance. Various follow-up
approaches in the work place are used to support trainers, supervisors, service providers and
others responsible for implementing the performance improvement interventions.
The follow up technique will increase the probability that learning and behavior changes will
"stick" back on the job. These techniques are easy to use, don't require large amounts of time
or organizational integration and cost very little. They can be added on to existing training or
designed with new training.
On the whole, follow–up action is required to ensure implementation of evaluation report at
every stage of training.
Q) Importance of Training and Development
Training and development programmes help remove performance deficiencies in employees. This is particularly true when
(1) The deficiency is caused by a lack of ability rather than a lack of motivation to perform(2) The individual(s) have the aptitude and motivation needed to learn to do the job better,
and(3) Supervisors and peers are supportive of the desired behaviors.
There is greater stability, flexibility and capacity for growth in an organization. Training contributes to employee stability in at least two ways. Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the organization. Growth renders stability to the work force. Further, trained employees tend to stay with the organization. They seldom leave the company. Training makes the employees versatile in operations. All rounder can be transferred to any job. Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates prosperity, which is reflected in increased profits from year to year. Nobody else but well trained employees can contribute to the prosperity of an organization.
Accidents, scrap and damage to machinery and equipment can be avoided or minimized through training. Even dissatisfaction, complaints, absenteeism, and turnover can be reduced if employees are trained well.
Future need of employees will be met through training and development programmes. Organizations take fresh diploma holders or graduates as apprentices or management trainees. They are absorbed after course completion. Training serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training and development is an investment in human resources with a promise and it serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training and development is an investment in HR with a promise of better returns in future.
A company’s training and development pays dividends to the employee and the organization. Though no single training programme yields all the benefits, the organization which devotes itself to training and development enhances its HR capabilities and strengthens its competitive edge. At the same time, the employee’s personal and career goals are furthered, generally adding to his or her abilities and value to the employer. Ultimately, the objectives of the HR department are also furthered.
How to identify training needs?
Needs assessment diagnoses present problems and future challenges to be met through training and development. Organizations spend vast sums of money (usually as a percentage on turnover) on training and development. Before committing such huge resources, organizations would do well to assess the training needs of their employees. Organizations that implement training programmes without conducting needs assessment may be making errors. For ex- ample, a needs assessment exercise might reveal that less costly interventions (e.g. selection, compensation package, job redesign) could be used in lieu of training. Needs assessment occurs at two levels group and individual. An individual obviously needs training when his or her performance falls short of standards, that is, when there is performance deficiency. Inadequacy in performance may be due to lack of skill or knowledge or any other problem. The problem of performance deficiency caused by absence of skills or knowledge can be remedied by training. Faulty selection, poor job design, uninspiring supervision or some personal problem may also result in poor performance. Transfer, job redesign, improving quality of supervision, or discharge will solve the problem. Figure illustrates the assessment of individual training needs and remedial measures.
Assessment of training needs must also focus on anticipated skills of an employee. Technology changes fast and new technology demands new skills. It is necessary that the employee be trained to acquire new skills. This will help him/her to progress in his or her career path. Training and development is essential to prepare the employee to handle more challenging tasks. Deputation to a part-time MBA programme is ideal to train and develop such employees. Individuals may also require new skills because of possible job transfers. Although job transfers are common as organizational personnel demands vary, .hey do not necessarily require elaborate training efforts. Employees commonly require only an orientation to new facilities and jobs. Recently, however, economic forces
Performance Deficiency
Lack of skill or knowledge
Training
Other Causes
Non- training Measures
have necessitated significant retraining efforts in order to assure continued employment for many individuals. Jobs have disappeared as technology, foreign competition, and the force of supply and demand are changing the face of our industry. Assessment of training needs occurs at the group level too. Any change in the organization’s strategy necessitates training of groups of employees. For example, when the organization decides to introduce a new line of products, sales personnel and production workers have to be trained to produce, sell and service the new products. Training can also be used when high scrap or accident rates, low morale and motivation, or other problems are diagnosed. Although training is not a cure-all, such undesirable happenings reflect poorly trained work force.
Needs Assessment Methods: How are training needs assessed? Several methods are available for the purpose. As shown in Fig. 9.4, some are useful for organizational-level needs assessment and others for individual needs assessment.
Group or Organizational Analysis
Organizational goals and objectives Personnel/ skill inventories Organizational climate indices Efficiency indices Exit interviews MBO or work planning systems Quality circles Customer survey/satisfaction data Consideration of current and projected changes
Individual Analysis
Performance appraisal Work sampling Interviews Questionnaires Attitude survey Training progress Rating scales
Benefits of Needs Assessment: As was pointed above needs assessment helps diagnose the causes of performance deficiency in employees. Causes require remedial actions. This being a generalized statement, there are certain specific benefits of need& assessment. They are:
1. Trainers may be informed about the broader needs of the training group and their sponsoring organizations.
2. The sponsoring organizations are able to reduce the perception gap between the participant and his or her boss about their needs and expectations from the training programme.
3. Trainers are able to pitch their course inputs closer to the specific needs of the participants.
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