RETENTION AND APPLICATION OF TRAINING INPUTS …pezzottaitejournals.net/pezzottaite/images/ISSUES/V4N2/IJOBMPV4N... · If that does occur, ... As the employees record their perceptions

Volume 4, Number 2, April – June‟ 2015

ISSN (Print):2279-0950, (Online):2279-0969

PEZZOTTAITE JOURNALS SJIF (2012): 2.9, SJIF (2013): 5.071, SJIF (2014): 5.97

International Journal of Organizational Behaviour & Management Perspectives © Pezzottaite Journals. 1698 |P a g e

RETENTION AND APPLICATION OF TRAINING INPUTS INCLUDING JOB SKILLS

AND RULES BY EMPLOYEES OF SOUTHERN RAILWAYS

Dr. D. Joseph Anbarasu8 Dr. Victor Lazarus9

ABSTRACT

Job skills of the trainees are tested on three occasions namely, Pre-training period, Post-training period and in the field. The

population of the study has been the total number of employees being trained in the Zonal Railway Training Institute of

Southern Railways at Tiruchirappalli over two years. About 1500 probationers were trained during the study period of which

236 trainee employees were interviewed at three stages like pre-training period, post-training period and in the field. The field

results have been obtained approximately six months after the training. The new methods adopted in training for the front line

staff of Indian railways have made the staff to learn and suit themselves to the latest technological advancements. The

consensus analysis indicates an impact of training. The findings also indicate long-term impact on employees in remembering

the skills learnt and the tendency to apply such skills when demanded. It is found that various skills imparted have impact on

trainees with various levels, which have been revealed by the CNS analysis.

KEYWORDS

Training Inputs, Consensus Measure (CNS), Retention, Application etc.

INTRODUCTION

Southern Railways is one of the biggest railways in the world. Indian Railways is the largest transportation network operational

under a single management that has a work force of nearly 1.4 million employees. Nearly 20 million people or roughly 2 percent

of the Indian population travels on Indian railways every day. It is difficult to visualise conglomeration of nearly 600 crore

passengers per year attached, dependent and patronized by a single system of transportation. Indian railways also transports more

than one third of India‘s total freight traffic. More than 1.4 million employees are on the job. In Indian Budget, it is proposed that

about 100000 more employees are to be hired in 2012-2013. Thus the role played by the employees of Indian railways in the

economic development of the country is very vital. Therefore the main concern should be to harness and exploit the mental and

physical capacity of the employees and put it in right direction for achieving organisational objectives. Several training modules

are designed to meet the requirement of respective group. Do these training programs bring about desirable results from the

trainees? That is the research question of this study.

There are several components constituting the module of the training program of Zonal Railway Training Institute. Learning rules,

independently handling their jobs, dealing with complex issues on the job, application of their learnt skills in the field, ability to

correlate theory with actual work, satisfaction in handling complex issues independently, ability in retaining rules and regulation,

impact of job rotation on the learned skills, rating the theory imparted, ability in updating the rules learnt are focus areas of the

training program. Therefore, this study is an attempt to describe systematically the status of learnt skills at the pre, post period and

after fairly long period, problem of imparting the skills, phenomenon influencing the skills, programme contents, or providing

information about, say, job condition of a trained employees and describes attitudes of them towards an issue. Thus, it is a

descriptive study or survey.

The Strength of Consensus Measure

Group decision-making dynamics is called the Consensus measure, is also called the Measure of agreement. The more each

member within one group can agree that they performed well, the higher the consensus. Consensus is a term used to describe a

group‘s shared feelings toward a particular Issue. It is a simulated set of four groups of employees, each group composed of

employees ranging from fifty to seventy. Hence the Consensus scale was applied.

The mean value can ―float‖ the entire length of the Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree depending on the values

of pi. One has to assess each group of employees based on the individual employee‘s perception of the overall quality of their

group as described by the set of questions each employee must answer. Thus, for each employee there is an individual Likert scale

for each question. It is possible that the average perception for the employee to be any value between SA and SD, the extreme

points on a Likert scale, and each group can have a different mean value. This Complexity essentially prevents us from comparing

the groups. One has to calculate a measure based on the same focal point, i.e., a generally accepted central value from which the

consensus can be measured. It is arbitrarily decided to use strongly agree as the focal point, and it is also insisted that each Likert

scale question be written in a positive tone. It is expected that each employee in each group would ideally like to strongly agree

8Associate Professor (Commerce), Bishop Hebe College, Tamil Nadu, India, [email protected] 9Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, Bishop Heber College, Tamil Nadu, India, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]





with each question. Thus, given a statement ―The team worked well together,‖ it is most desirable to have the entire team

membership check the strongly agree bubble. If that does occur, then all members are in 100% consensus on that particular item.

Realistically, the team members can select any combination of Likert scale values.

By assigning the mean value to a focal point such as strongly agree, the consensus value is focused with respect to that point.

Thus, instead of a meandering weighted mean value as currently exists, the original consensus measure, the focal point is required

to always be strongly agree and assigned a value of 1. Thus, SA = 1, A = 2, N = 3, D = 4, and SD = 5. If the weighted mean was

calculated, as in the regular consensus measure, the value would be contained in the range 1 to 5 with very little opportunity being

given to either extreme value. As the employees record their perceptions of the team activity, the data can be tallied to determine

an overall team score. Essentially, using the consensus measure, the SA, A, etc. scores are replaced with a single real number that

captures the meaning of the Likert values. Thus, if the majority of the scores centre on neutral or disagree, the focal point (SA)

will be a greater distance from the category values and the resulting strength of consensus will be less (closer to 0). However, if

the majority of the employees are in strong agreement or agree, then the strength of consensus will be close to 1

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Since this study is basically a descriptive one, the starting point is from the studies in the area of training programs in general and

retention of training input in particular. Several studies have been made in this area erstwhile in the world. Similar studies in

Indian context are not much to be reviewed or cited. Therefore, studies in the global context have been cited as the reviews in this

study barring few studies in India. Judith Scully Callahan, et al (2003) expressed that training the older learner has been the topic

of considerable discussion but there is no consensus on which instructional methods are associated with higher observed training

performance. Wentland D (2003) made a theoretical framework incorporating both the need for employee training and the

organizational constraints restricting the amount of training available. Tan J A, Hall R J, Boyce C (2003) found that both affective

and cognitive/intentions correlated with the learning measures and the supervisor assessments of behavior. Aragon-Sanchez A,

Barbra-Aragon I, Sanz-Valle R (2003) concentrated on Kirkpatrick‘s model of training evaluation – which analyses four aspects

of training, employees‘ attitudes towards and satisfaction with the training, employees‘ learning from the training, employees‘

behaviour changes following training, and the effects of training on business results.

Byrnes (2002) noted that there are five essential steps for a company to develop an effective retention strategy related to values

and vission. Newstrom and Pierce (2002) agreed: ―Companies are being stymied…often by their own structure. McKinsey studied

a company where the new product process required 223 separate committees to approve an idea before it could be put into

production‖. Van der Klink MR, Streumer J. N (2002) pointed out that the majority of Dutch organizations frequently use on-the-

job training to train their staff. Reports research that assessed whether on-the-job training is effective and which asked if there are

characteristics among the trainees, workplace and the training that make it effective. Schalock (2001) defined effectiveness of

evaluation as the determination of the extent to which a program has met its stated performance goals and objectives.

Stufflebeam's (2001) noted that the definition of evaluation was used to assess the methods of evaluation found in this literature

review. Belfield, Hywell, Bullock, Eynon, and Wall (2001) considered the question of how to evaluate medical educational

interventions for effectiveness on healthcare outcomes using an adaptation of the Kirkpatrick Model with five levels. Kennedy

L.A (1994) conducted a study on HRD for the executives of BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) Tiruchirappalli. The study

aimed in identifying the training needs and the process of conducting performance review. About 50 respondents were selected

through systematic random sampling and the findings revealed that majority of the executives felt that training is an art of

conducting performance review.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

They are:

To understand how well the employees of Southern Railway are using the skills in their jobs,

To identify whether the employees of Southern Railways are benefited out of the training programs by the Zonal

Training Centre,

To analyse the input imbibing mechanisms in the training programme with special reference to short and long-term

programme conducted,

To evaluate the longitudinal retention skills of the trained personnel during the work period, and

To suggest, if possible, the suitable ways to present the training programs in the context of longitudinal impact

METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH

Sample Design

About 1500 personnel have been trained during the period between 2009 and 2010 in the Zonal Railway Training Institute located

at Tiruchirappalli. The trainees were personnel from various levels across the organizational hierarchy of Southern Railways.

Thus, the type of the sampling technique used in the data collection was stratified random method. The respondents were mainly





station masters, booking clerks (both current & advance booking) and ticket checking staff. These three groups were given

training separately and the selection of samples also became easy. They were selected at random from each group in equal

numbers. The groups have also further been divided on the basis of qualification the trainees, income level, gender and Marital

Status. The sample size was determined as 235, which would constitute approximately 15 per cent of the total respondents under

study. This has been justified in the context of time limitation of training period and the lapse of six months period soon after

training.

Tools Used

Consensus is a term used to describe a group‘s shared feelings toward a particular issue. Currently, such an endeavour would be

difficult at best, for the measures available are inappropriate and incomplete for the most part. We approach this task by fixing the

mean value of the team members Likert scale evaluations to a predetermined focal point and then calculate the consensus.

Training inputs can be assessed with Likert scale. Likert scale generally consists of ratings strongly agree, agree, neural, disagree

and strongly agree. The new mathematical measure is tested and proved to be valid in arriving result from Likert scale. Using the

Shannon (1948) entropy:

The consensus measure is defined as:

)1()(log)()(1 2

n

i ii xpxpXH

Where x is the set of n categories under study, and pi is the probability of each xi, a new measure of dispersion has been

developed (Wierman and Tastle, 2005). However, this entropy measures do not rank x values in order. Therefore, every

permutation of values brings the same value, and that is the demerit of employing this entropy measure in assessing the Likert

scale. Therefore, the new measure is required by which ordinal scale data can be assessed with respect to its dispersion around an

average. The measure can be improved by fixing the mean value to a predetermined focal point and then calculating the measure.

Extending the consensus measure to analyse the ordinal data with respect to extreme (Jennifer M. Tastle, William J. Tastle, (2005)

has been introduced. According to them, the consensus measure is defined as:

)2(1log1)(1 2

n

ix

xi

id

XppXCns

Where X is the Likert scale, pi is the probability of each x, dx is the width of X, Xi is the particular Likert value, and mx is the

mean of X (Wierman and Tastle, 2005). The mean, mx is the expected value,

n

i iI xpXE1

)()(

The mean value, however, can ―float‖ the entire length of the Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree depending on

the values of pi.

The strength of consensus is simply the variation of the consensus measure (Tastle and Wierman, 2005: Wierman and Tastle,

2005). It is obtained by increasing the system width dx, to 2(dx), an fixing ux to 1.

)3(2

11log1)(

1 2

n

ix

i

d

XpXsCns

The resulting equation permits us to calculate the strength of consensus, sCns. The original consensus measure failed when the

focus was either extreme.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The aim of an evaluation is to determine whether or not the training achieved the desired objective. Since the objectives of the

study have been very precise, the results have been drawn with strong base. This brings about the results of assessing training

needs. This evaluation of training will help show how effective it was at meeting the objective. This study assures that objectives

of the training are met but then there are areas to be strengthened.





ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table-1: CNS of Pre-Test

Skills Tested CNS (%)

IA Relevancy of Rules, Regulation in Training 79.39

IB Presentation of rules 78.54

IC Trainer effectiveness 75.52

ID Training module and its impact on understanding 75.45

IE Facilities provided 76.75

IF Training schedule its appropriation 78.74

IG Knowledge gained, applicability in job 80.67

IIA Effect of training on rule retention skills 79.21

IIB Memory retention of rules taught and its applicability 75.76

IIC New skills taught, enhancement of proficiency 79.07

IID Long-term memory retention of skills, achieving set target it 76.32

IIE Overall training in improving productivity 78.43

IIIA Improvement on quality and performance 78.13

IIIB Benefit in improving application of rules and interpersonal communication 76.13

IIIC Good return on investment 74.00

IIID Work without personal loss 71.42

Sources: Authors Compilation

Table-1 shows the percentage of consensus shown by the four categories of employees while answering the questions on the skills

expected by them before undergoing the training program. The rating shows the measure of agreement among the employees

since, the more each member within one group can agree well, the higher the consensus.

Table-2: Pre Test








IID Long-term memory retention of skills, achieving set target it 76.32









IG Knowledge gained, applicability in job 80.67


Table-2 shows the pre-training test questions ranked from lowest to highest in percent showing the consensus among the

employees in rating the various training skills. The lowest skill, the employees are able to work flawlessly applying all the rules

meticulously without personal financial loss in terms of short collection of fare and freight while issuing current and advanced

tickets to the rail travel passengers and while collecting penal money from the irregular passengers by the ticket checking staff is

rated as 71.42%. The knowledge gained by the employees and its impact on applicability of the same in their daily work is rated at

80.67%.

Table-3: Cut off Rate of Pre-test

Maximum 80.67%

Minimum 71.42%

Range 9.24%

Mid-range 4.62%

Cut-off Rate 76.05%






Table-3 evaluates the entire pretest training skills and depicts the minimum and maximum range of the skills taught during the

training sessions. The minimum is 71.42% and the maximum 80.67%. Based on the range and mid-range the cut-off rate is fixed

as 76.05%. The cut-off rate would help to segregate, analyze and effectively concentrate the training skills falling below it.

Graph-1: CNS based about the Skills - Pretest


Graph-2: CNS Based on the Rating


Graph-2 graphically represents the pre training skills. Of the sixteen training skills tested for its consensus, four skills needs

attention since it falls below the cut-off 76.05 percent. The skills like work without personal loss, good return on investment,

training module and its impact on training, trainer effectiveness and retention of skills taught for longer period of time needs

immediate attention as majority of the employees belonging to all the four categories taken for this study agree in consensus.

Table-4: CNS of Post-test I








IG Knowledge gained ,applicability in job 80.53




IID Long-term memory retention of skills ,achieving set target it 76.17







66.00%

68.00%

70.00%

72.00%

74.00%

76.00%

78.00%

80.00%

82.00%

IA IB IC ID IE IF IG IIA IIB IIC IID IIE IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID

66.00%

68.00%

70.00%

72.00%

74.00%

76.00%

78.00%

80.00%

82.00%

IG IA IIA IIC IF IB IIE IIIA IE IID IIIB IIB IC ID IIIC IIID






expected out of them after undergoing the training program. The rating shows the measure of agreement among the employees

since, the more each member within one group can agree well, the higher the consensus.

Table-5: CNS of Post-test II



















Table-5 shows the post- training test questions ranked from lowest to highest in percent showing the consensus among the

employees in rating the various training skills. All the four categories of employees namely, the current and advanced ticket

booking clerks, ticket checking staff and the stationmasters have rated the least for the facilities available in the training institute

as 73.18 percent. Among the skills tested for consensus, the training module and its impact on understanding has been rated the

maximum percentage of 81.09.

Table-6: Cut-off Rate of Post Test

Maximum 81.09%

Minimum 73.18%

Range 7.91%

Mid-range 3.96%

Cut-off Rate 77.14%


Table-6 evaluates the entire posttest training skills and depicts the minimum and maximum range of the skills taught during the

training sessions. The minimum is 73.18% and the maximum 81.09%. Based on the range and mid-range the cut-off rate is fixed

as 77.14%. The cut-off rate would help to segregate, analyze and effectively concentrate the training skills falling below it.

Graph-3: CNS based about the Skills – Post Test


68.00%

70.00%

72.00%

74.00%

76.00%

78.00%

80.00%

82.00%

IA IB IC ID IE IF IG IIA IIB IIC IID IIE IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID





From table 10, it is found that the various skills are evaluated based on the CNS algorithm. It is noticed that few items are falling

below the cut-off rate. In graph-4, the skills are arranged according to their rating arrived with the help of CNS algorithm. For

example, IA takes fifth place from the first places.

Graph-4: CNS Based on the Rating of Post Test


Graph-4 graphically represents the post training skills. Of the sixteen training skills tested for its consensus, seven skills needs

attention since it falls below the cut-off 77.14 percent. The skills like facilities provided in the center for training, work without

personal loss, good return on investment, classroom presentation of the rules by the trainers, trainer effectiveness and retention of

skills taught for longer period of time needs immediate attention as majority of the employees belonging to all the four categories

taken for this study agree in consensus.

Table-7: CNS of Field Test I

Questions CNS %

IVA Relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the theory 44.31

IVB Training module, its applicability after training 59.37

IVC Retention of skills and applicability of rules 76.54

IVD Correlation of theory with actual work 65.04

IVE Improvement in quality and performance without external assistance 70.53

IVF Knowledge gained in training in facing day to day problems 65.29

IVG Application of rules, interpersonal communication and self-motivation 74.38

IVH Retention of rules in memory 65.79

IVI Updating of rules by remembering the basic training inputs 70.47

IVJ Return on investments on the efforts taken by the administration 58.23

IVK Facilities and exposure given 68.73

IVL Design of the module in updating and job-rotation 72.26



experienced by them after undergoing the training program at their work spot. The rating shows the measure of agreement among

the employees. The more each member within one group can agree well, the higher the consensus.

Table-8: CNS of the Field Test II

Questions CNS %

IVA Relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the theory 44.31

IVJ Return on investments on the efforts taken by the management 58.23


IVD Retention of skills and applicability of rules 65.04

IVF Knowledge gained in training in facing day to day Problems 65.29




IVE Improvement in quality without external assistance 70.53


IVG Application of rules, interpersonal communication etc. 74.38



68.00%

70.00%

72.00%

74.00%

76.00%

78.00%

80.00%

82.00%

ID IG IIIA IIIB IIE IA IIC IIA IF IC IIB IID IB IIIC IIID IE





Table-8 shows the field (work spot) test questions ranked from lowest to highest in percent showing the consensus among the

employees in rating the various training skills. All the four categories of employees namely, the current and advanced ticket

booking clerks, ticket checking staff and the stationmasters have rated the least for the relevancy of rules taught in the training

institute and the practical applicability of the same in the work place as 44.31 percent. Among the skills tested for consensus, the

retention of skills taught and the applicability of the rules taught has been rated the maximum percentage of 76.54.

Table-9: Cut-off Rate of Field Test

Maximum 76.54%

Minimum 44.31%

Range 32.23%

Mid-range 16.12%

Cut-off Rate 60.43%


Table-9, evaluates the entire field applicability skills at the working place of the employees and depicts the minimum and

maximum range of the skills taught during the training sessions and their real time applicability in their daily work.

The minimum is 44.31 percent and maximum 76.54 percent. Based on the range and mid-range the cut-off rate is fixed as 60.43

percent. The cut- off rate would help to segregate, analyze and effectively concentrate the training skills falling below it.

FIELD-TEST

Graph-5: CNS based about the Skills of Field Test


Graph-6: CNS base on the Ratings of Field Test


0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

IVA IVB IVC IVD IVE IVF IVG IVH IVI IVJ IVK IVL

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

IVC IVG IVL IVE IVI IVK IVH IVF IVD IVB IVJ IVA





Graph-6 represents the impact of the trained skills at the field. Of the twelve training skills tested for its consensus, three skills

needs attention since it falls below the cut-off 60.43 percent. The skills like relevancy of rules taught in the training program and

their practical applicability, good return on the investment made by the Railway administration and the impact of the training

module in its applicability after training in the field needs immediate attention as majority of the employees belonging to all the

four categories taken for this study agree in consensus.

Table-10: Pre-CNS below cut off

Questions CNS %







Table-10 explains the training skills likely to fall below the cut-off range of 76.05 percent. All the four categories of employees

chosen for the study are called as front line service staff as they directly serve the customers of Indian railway transportation

sector face to face. They have perceptions about the training program that they may not be in a position to work in their work spot

without personal financial loss as these categories of people are engaged in issue of tickets to the journey performing passengers

by collecting money in return. During the transaction of issue of tickets by the ticket booking clerks or the ticket checking staff,

they have to apply the appropriate rules learnt meticulously; otherwise, short collection of money would make the employee to

pay back to the organization either immediately or from their salary. Excess collection of fare may lead to public complaints from

the customers, which would lead the administration to punish the employees. Area like training module, its impact on the

individuals understanding, effectiveness of the training program and the long-term memory retention of the skills taught are the

skills expected by all the employees belonging to the four categories in their training at the institute.

Table-11: Pre-CNS above cut off Rate

Skills Tested CNS IN %













Table-12: Post-CNS below cut off Rate










Table 11 explains about the skills falling below the cuf-off level of consensus. All the four categories of staff rated the facilities

available in the centre as inadequate and emphasises the need for its improvement. The rules taught required to be presented in a

better way,thrust should be given for improving the teaching methodologies which would inturn improve the trainer effectiveness.

The rules taught should have impact on the practical applicability in the field work.





Table-13: Post-CNS above cut off

Skills Tested CNS in %











Table-14: Field-Cns below cut off


IVA Relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the theory in field 44.31




Table 14 explains the skills requiring immediate attention in the work spot of the field staff of Railways. There is not much

relevancy seen between the rules taught in the training center and its practical applicability in the field. There is also an immediate

requirement to revamp the training module to suit the employees to apply what they learn practically in the field. The railway

administration may not be able reap the return on investment made on training the staff and placing them to work in the front line

service area.

Table-15: Field-CNS above cut off


IVD Retention of skills and applicability of rules 65.04

IVF Knowledge gained in training in facing day to day Problems 65.29




IVE Improvement in quality and performance without external assistance 70.53


IVG Application of rules, interpersonal communication and self-motivation 74.38



Table-16: Point of Incidence in Pre and Post Tests

Skills Tested CNS %






Table 15 shows the area requiring utmost attention with respect to the consensus test analysis between the pre and posttests four

hypotheses need improvement. Skills like teaching methodology, trainer effectiveness in inculcating the rules and regulations to

the employees needs further improvement.

Table-17: Point of Incidence in Pre Test only








In Table 17, it is found that in the test conducted prior to the training the four categories of employees chosen for this study

aspired that the training module should be appropriate enough to cater to the understanding capacity of the individual employees.

POST ONLY

Table-18: Point of Incidence in Post Test only




IID Long-term memory retention of skills ,achieving set target 76.32


In table-18, it is found that three hypotheses in the posttest required attention. The immediate concern should be for enhancing

presentation of rules in a simple way as to reach the employees more effectively. The facilities available in the training institute

have to be revamped to help various categories of employees to have a better stay. All the four categories of employees considered

for this study rated in consensus about the need for long-term retention of the skills learned at the training institute, which would

help in achieving the set target of the organization.

Table-19: Point of Incidence in Field Test only


IVA Relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the theory in field 44.31




From Table-19, it is found that three hypotheses need to be addressed .All the four categories of employees agree that there is no

relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the same in the field. The training module should be appropriately modified as to

suit to the real time applicability in the work place. The consensus test revealed the fact that only 58 percent employees there is

return on investments on the efforts taken by the Railway administration.

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

CNS of Pre-Test

The percentage of consensus is shown by the four categories of employees while answering the questions on the skills

expected by them before undergoing the training program. The rating shows the measure of agreement among the

employees since, the more each member within one group can agree well, the higher the consensus.

Pre Test Ranking

The knowledge gained by the employees and its impact on applicability of the same in their daily work is rated at 80.67

percent.

The minimum is 71.42 percent and the maximum 80.67 percent. Based on the range and mid-range the cut-off rate is

fixed as 76.05 percent.

Of the sixteen training skills tested for its consensus, four skills needs attention since it falls below the cut-off 76.05

percent. The skills like work without personal loss, good return on investment, training module and its impact on

training, trainer effectiveness and retention of skills taught for longer period of time needs immediate attention as

majority of the employees belonging to all the four categories taken for this study agree in consensus.

CNS of Post-test

The percentage of consensus shown by the four categories of employees while answering the questions on the skills

expected out of them after undergoing the training program. The rating shows the measure of agreement among the

employees since, the more each member within one group can agree well, the higher the consensus.

CNS of Post-test Ranking

All the categories of employees namely, the current and advanced ticket booking clerks, ticket checking staff and the

stationmasters have rated the least for the facilities available in the training institute as 73.18 percent. Among the skills

tested for consensus, the training module and its impact on understanding has been rated the maximum percentage of

81.09.

The minimum is 73.18 percent and the maximum 81.09 percent. Based on the range and Mid-range the cut-off rate is

fixed as 77.14 percent. The cut- off rate would help to segregate, analyze and effectively concentrate the training skills

falling below it.





Of the sixteen training skills tested for its consensus, seven skills needs attention since it falls below the cut-off 77.14

percent. The skills like facilities provided in the center for training, work without personal loss, good return on

investment, classroom presentation of the rules by the trainers, trainer effectiveness and retention of skills taught for

longer period of time needs immediate attention as majority of the employees belonging to all the four categories taken

for this study agree in consensus

CNS of Field Test

The CNS algorithm shows the percentage of consensus shown by the four categories of employees while answering the

questions on the skills experienced by them after undergoing the training program at their work spot. The rating shows

the measure of agreement among the employees. The more each member within one group can agree well, the higher

the consensus

CNS of the Field Test Ranking

All the categories of employees namely, the current and advanced ticket booking clerks, ticket checking staff and the

stationmasters have rated the least for the relevancy of rules taught in the training institute and the practical applicability

of the same in the work place as 44.31 percent. Among the skills tested for consensus, the retention of skills taught and

the applicability of the rules taught has been rated the maximum percentage of 76.54.

The minimum is 44.31 percent and maximum 76.54 percent. Based on the range and Mid-range the cut-off rate is fixed

as 60.43 percent. The cut- off rate would help to segregate, analyze and effectively concentrate the training skills falling

below it.

Of the twelve training skills tested for its consensus, three skills needs attention since it falls below the cut-off 60.43

percent. The skills like relevancy of rules taught in the training program and their practical applicability, good return on

the investment made by the Railway administration and the impact of the training module in its applicability after

training in the field needs immediate attention as majority of the employees belonging to all the four categories taken for

this study agree in consensus.

Pre-CNS below cut off

The CNS algorithm explains the training skills likely to fall below the cut-off range of 76.05 percent. All categories of

employees chosen for the study are called as front line service staff as they directly serve the customers of Indian

railway transportation sector face to face. They have perceptions about the training program that they may not be in a

position to work in their work spot without personal financial loss as these categories of people are engaged in issue of

tickets to the journey performing passengers by collecting money in return.

Post-CNS below cut off Rate

The CNS algorithm explains about the skills falling below the cut-off level of consensus. All the four categories of staff

rated the facilities available in the center as inadequate and emphasize the need for its improvement. The rules taught

required to be presented in a better way, thrust should be given for improving the teaching methodologies, which would

in turn improve the trainer effectiveness. The rules taught should have impact on the practical applicability in the

fieldwork.

Field-CNS below cut off

The CNS algorithm explains the skills requiring immediate attention in the work spot of the field staff of Railways.

There is no relevancy found between the rules taught in the training center and its practical applicability in the field.

There is also an immediate requirement to revamp the training module to suit the employees to apply what they learn

practically in the field. The railway administration may not be able reap the return on investment made on training the

staff and placing them to work in the front line service area.

Point of Incidence in Pre and Post Tests

The CNS algorithm shows that the area requiring utmost attention with respect to the consensus test analysis between

the pre and posttests four hypotheses need improvement. Skills like teaching methodology, trainer effectiveness in

inculcating the rules and regulations to the employees need further improvement.

Point of Incidence in Pre Test only

It is found that in the test conducted prior to the training the four categories of employees chosen for this study aspired

that the training module should be appropriate enough to cater to the understanding capacity of the individual employees

Point of Incidence in Post Test only

It is found that three hypotheses in the posttest required attention. The immediate concern should be for enhancing

presentation of rules in a simple way as to reach the employees more effectively. The facilities available in the training

institute have to be revamped to help various categories of employees to have a better stay. All the four categories of





employees considered for this study rated in consensus about the need for long-term retention of the skills learned at the

training institute, which would help in achieving the set target of the organization.

Point of Incidence in Field Test only

It is found that three hypotheses need to be addressed .All the four categories of employees agree that there is no

relevancy of rules taught and the applicability of the same in the field. The training module should be appropriately

modified as to suit to the real time applicability in the work place. The consensus test revealed the fact that only in 58

percent employees there is return on investments on the efforts taken by the Railway administration.

CONCLUSION

The analysis brought out the findings that there is impact of training on the employees. The results also proved that the training

has long-term impact on employees in remembering the skills learnt. The Consensus scale identified the areas to be strengthened

in the future programs. It concludes that though the training programs today achieved the results, few segments of employees are

not fully reached due to the influence of decay. The training may be given to each segment in separate centers to avoid decaying

impact.

REFERENCES

1. Aragón-Sánchez, A., Barba-Aragon, I., & Sanz-Valle, R. (2003). Effects of training on business results. International

Journal of Human Resource Management, 14, 956−980.

2. Atkins, S., & Gilbert, G. (2003, June). The Role of Induction and Training in Team Effectiveness. Project Management

Journal, 34(2).

3. Chiaburu D. S., Marinova S. V. (2005). What predicts skill transfer? An exploratory study of goal orientation, training

self-efficacy and organizational supports. International Journal of Training and Development, 9(2), 110-123.

4. Chiaburu D. S., & Tekleab A. G., (2005). Individual and contextual influences on multiple dimension of training

effectiveness. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29(8), 604-626.

5. Darren, C. Short, & Lyle, Yorks. (2006). Analyzing Training from an Emotions Perspective Advances in Developing

Human Resources February 2002, 4, 80-96.

6. Fred. W. Nickols. (2005). Training Evaluation: Knowing More Than Is Practiced Advances in Developing Human

Resources November 1, 2006 8, 528-539.

7. Jellema, F. (2006). Measuring change in work behavior by means of multisource feedback. International Journal of

Training and Development, 10(2), 121-139.

8. Judith, Scully Callahan, D., Scott Kiker, & Tom, Cross. (2003). Does Method Matter? A Meta-Analysis of the Effects

of Training Method on Older Learner Training Performance. Journal of Management, 29, 663.

9. Lorber, Laura. (2008, April 10). Executive Coaching – Worth the Money? The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12

November 2008.

10. Margaret, C. Lohman (2006). Factors Influencing Teachers‘ Engagement in Informal Learning Activities. Journal of

Workplace Learning, 18(3), 141–156.

11. Noreen, Heraty, & Michael, J. Morley. (2003). Management development in Ireland: The new organizational wealth?

Journal of Management Development, 22(1), 60–82.

12. Pierce, J. L., & Newstrom, J. W. (2003). Leaders and the Leadership Style (3rd Edition), pp. 3-10, 61-64, 161, 189-

193. New York: McGraw-Hill.

13. Sahinidis, A. G., & Bouris, J. (2008). Employee perceived training effectiveness relationship to employee attitudes.

Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(1), 63-75.

14. Schalock, R. (2001). Outcome based evaluations (2nd Edition). Boston: KluwerAcademic/Plenum.

15. Schonewille, M. (2001). Qualitative Study of Transfer of Training of Student Employees in a Service Industry. Journal

of Hospitality & Tourism Research, February 2005 29, 42-66.





16. Stothard, C., & Nicholson, R. (2001). Skill Acquisition and Retention in Training: DSTO Support to the Army

Ammunition Study (Report DSTO-CR-0218). Edinburgh, South Australia: Defense Science & Technology

Organization: Electronics and Surveillance Research Laboratory.

17. Stufflebeam, D. L. (2001). Evaluation models. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

18. Subedi, B. S. (2006). Cultural factors and beliefs influencing transfer of training. International Journal of Training

and Development, 10, 88–97.

19. Tastle, William J., Mark, J. Wierman, & U., Rex Dumdum. (2005). Ranking Ordinal Scales Using The Consensus

Measure: Analyzing Survey Data. IACIS 2005.

20. Tews, M. J., & Tracey, J. B. (2007). Enhances formal interpersonal skills training through post-training supplements

(CHR Reports). Ithaca. Cornell University. NY: The Center for Hospitality Research.

21. Tracey, J. B., & Tews, M. J. (2005). Construct validity of a general training climate scale. Organizational Research

Methods, 8, 353-374.

22. Tziner, A., Fisher, M., Senior, T., & Weisberg, J. (2007). Effects of Trainee Characteristics on Training Effectiveness.

International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 167–174.

23. Vivek, Bhatia, & Vikram, Chhachhi. (1996, January). How to Train for Total quality. Business Today, 7(21), 204-209.

24. Warr, P., Bird, M., & Rackcam, N. (1978). Evaluation of management training. London: Gower.

25. Weinberg, Bella H. (1997). The Earliest Hebrew Citation Indexes. Journal of the American Society for Information

Science, 48, 318-330.

26. Wentland, D. (2003). A new practical guide for determining expatriate compensation and, Compensation and Benefits.

Review, 35(3), 45 – 52.

27. Wexley, K. N., & Baldwin, T. T. (1986). Post-training strategies for facilitating positive transfer: An empirical

exploration. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 503-520.

28. Wierman, M. J. & Tastle, W. J. (2005). Consensus and Dissension: Theory and Properties. In North American Fuzzy

Information Processing Systems Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.

29. Ibid, 28.

30. Williams, L. A. (1996). Measurement made simple. Training and Development, 50, 43-45.

31. Retrieved from

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228458727_Extending_the_consensus_measure_Analyzing_ordinal_...

32. Retrieved from http://proc.isecon.org/2005/2322/ISECON.2005.Tastle.txt

33. Retrieved from http://isedj.org/4/72/Tastle.j.txt

*****

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228458727_Extending_the_consensus_measure_Analyzing_ordinal_...

http://proc.isecon.org/2005/2322/ISECON.2005.Tastle.txt

http://isedj.org/4/72/Tastle.j.txt

Documents

RETENTION AND APPLICATION OF TRAINING INPUTS …pezzottaitejournals.net/pezzottaite/images/ISSUES/V4N2/IJOBMPV4N... · If that does occur, ... As the employees record their perceptions