Training and Development - Cm

8/2/2019 Training and Development - Cm

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PUNJAB COLLEGE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

COURSE NAME: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT (MB-662)

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Sukhjinder Baring

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT:60 INTERNAL ASSESSMENT:40

THEORY LECTURES: 32 ASSIGNMENTS: 4CASE STUDIES:3

TEST: 3

COURSE OBJECTIVE

Competitive advantage makes the difference between success and failure of

organization. To attain this, organizations today require continuous Training

and development of their human resources so as to achieve a level of costeffectiveness and delivery necessary for success.

T&D helps to improve the quality of employees and is part of core

organizational strategies, core HR intervention to enhance potential and

performance of organization.

GRADING FOR COURSE

MSE 15 marks

Assignments 5-7 marks

Tests 5-8 marks

Presentation 5 - 10marks

Participation in Case Studies and Activities 5 -8 marks

RULES THAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW

1. Attendance Criteria 75% (NO COMPROMISES!!)2. You are expected to be class on/before scheduled time. You will be allowed to

enter in class in first 10 minutes of lecture. After that you are welcome to class butwould not be awarded attendance. No excuses please for been late.

3. Make sure you are not absent on Presentation day or Activity day or case study

discussion day or tests. Zero marks would be awarded to absentees. Youll be

informed well in advance about the important deadlines.4. DO NOT COPY ASSIGNMENTS. All the copied assignments and master

assignment would be straight away cancelled.

Lecture

No.

Taken

onDate

Topics Case

Study/Assignment/Test/Activity

1. Training and Development: Process and significance

The goal of training is for employees to

master the knowledge, skill, and

behaviors emphasized in training

programs, and

apply them to their day-to-day


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activities

2. Assignment 1

3. Principles of Learning.

Discuss the five types of learner outcomes.

Explain the implications of learning theoryfor instructional design.

Incorporate adult learning theory into the

design of a training program.

Describe how learners receive, process,

store, retrieve, and act upon information.

4. Principles of Learning.

(continued)

5. Case 1

6. Identification of Training Needs, Evolving Training

Policy.

Discuss the role of organization analysis,person analysis, and task analysis in needs

assessment.

Identify different methods used in needsassessment and identify the advantages and

disadvantages of each.

Discuss the concerns of upper-level and mid-level managers and trainers in needs

assessment.

Explain how person characteristics, input,

output, consequences, and feedbackinfluence performance and learning.

7. Identification of Training Needs, Evolving Training

Policy.

(continued)

8. Training and Development Systems

9. Training Methods, Training Centers1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of

presentational, hands-on, and group building

training methods.2. Provide recommendations for effective on-

the-job training.

3. Develop a self-directed learning module.4. Compare and contrast the strengths and

weaknesses of traditional training methods

with those of methods based on new


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technology.

5. Identify and explain the benefits of newtechnologies that can be used to improve the

efficiency of training administration.

10. Training Methods, Training Centers11. Training Methods, Training Centers

12. Students bringingvarious examples

for different

training method

used in variouscompanies

13. Role of External Agency in Training andDevelopment

Assignment 2

14. TEST 1 From

lecture 1 to 10.15. Training for Change

Become a more effective Change

Agent in introducing and proactively gaining

support for change

Implement and manage change more

quickly, completely and successfully

Smooth change transition and

overcome resistance Manage people during periods of change

more effectively and overcome negativity in

the workplace Structure communications to more positively

facilitate change

16. Resistance in Training

Understand the true reasons why people

resist and fear change

Anticipate employee reactions and plan yourresponses with the "Change Cycle"

Be a more influential role model and catalystfor change in your company

Resistance from Employees/Individuals

Resistance from Teams/ Groups

Resistance from Top Management

Case 3

17. Developing Effective Trainers, Designing training

Programme.


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18. Designing training Programme.

19. Designing training Programme.

20. Assignment 3 andcase 2

21. Approaches to Management Development, Methods

of Development, Designing DevelopmentProgramme

1. Discuss current trends in using formaleducation for development.

2. Relate how assessment of personality type,

work behaviors, and job performance can be

used for employee development.3. Describe the benefits that protgs and

mentors receive from a mentoring

relationship.4. Explain the characteristics of successful

mentoring programs.5. Tell how job experiences can be used for

skill development.

6. Explain how to train managers to coach

employees.

7. Identify the reasons why companies shouldhelp employees manage their careers.

8. Discuss why and how the concept of a career

has changed.9. Explain the development tasks and activities

in the career development process.

22. Management Development (Continued)

23. Team Building Exercises

Explain why these are important

Explain Objectives

24. Management Games

Explain why these are important

Explain Objectives

25. Students

Conductingdifferent games and

exercises learned26. Evaluation of Training and Development, Criteria,

Problems,

Explain why evaluation is important.

Identify and choose outcomes to evaluate a

training program.

Discuss the process used to plan andimplement a good training evaluation.


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Discuss the strengths and weaknesses ofdifferent evaluation designs..

27. Steps involved in Evaluation

Choose the appropriate evaluation design

based on the characteristics of the companyand the importance and purpose of thetraining.

Conduct a cost-benefit analysis for a training

program

Assignment 4

28. TEST 2 open

Book test

29. Emerging Issues in Training and Development in

India.1. Discuss the potential legal issues that relate

to training.

2. Develop a program for effectively managingdiversity.

3. Design a program for preparing employees

for cross-cultural assignments.

4. Identify the future trends that are likely toinfluence training departments and trainers.

5. Discuss how these future trends may impact

training delivery and administration as wellas the strategic role of the training

department.

6. Discuss the implications of a skill-based pay

plan for training.

30. Discussing Livecase developed in

class

31. Discussing Live

case developed in

class

32. Test - Full syllabus

Suggested Readings:

Armstrong M.A., Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice KoganPage, London

Dayal, I Manpoer Training in Organisations, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi

Craig, Robert Training and Development Handbook, McGraw Hill, New York

Tapomony Deb, Training and Development, ASE, India


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Assignments

1. Find training programs conducted in different sectors (at least 3 sectors per

student) like in banking sector following training is given - sales training,team building, customer relationship management, self directed training etc.

2. List few Training and development centers operating in India and Abroad.

Mention what kind of training they provide, including all details of feestructure and duration of training.

3. Develop a Live case study on any of Training and development

topics/issues.

(20 marks)4. Design a 1 day training program in paper for BBA students in order to train

them for Group discussions and Personal Interviews. Elaborate each and

every step and try and include details like forms, Audio video aids used,

Activities to be conducted and purpose of each activity. Also evaluate thetraining program on basis of costs and benefits. (20 marks)

Activities

All the team building games, management development games, various training activities

would be taken from time to time as and when topic is taken up in class

Presentations

Assignment 4 is to be presented.


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QUIZ 1- Chapter 1: Introduction to Employee Training and Development

1. Human Resource Management refers to the policies, practices, and systems that

influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance.

A. TrueB. False

2. In the US economy, the demand for specific skills is being replaced by a need forcognitive skills mathematical, verbal reasoning, and interpersonal skills.

A. True

B. False

3. A changing environment means that only top-level managers must embrace a philosophy

of learning.

A. True

B. False

4. Most job openings between 1998-2008 will occur in executive and administrativepositions.

A. True

B. False

5. By 2005 the median age of the workforce will be:

A. 20

B. 34C. 40

D. 45

6. A global collection of computer networks that allows users to exchange information and

data is called:

e-commerceThe Internet

Six Sigma

The Web

7. US employers spend ___________% of their payroll budget on training.

A. 15

B. 9-10C. 5

D. 1-2

8. Training employees in a variety of skills is known as:

A. virtual teams

B. contingent work force


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C. distributed work

D. cross training

9. The amount of work being done outside the traditional office or factory is known as:

A. contingent work force

B. distributed workC. work teams

D. flextime


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Case 1 - Safe and Sound

"The big work behind business judgment is in finding and acknowledging the facts andcircumstances concerning technology, the market, and the like in their continuously

changing forms. The rapidity of modern technological change makes the search for facts a

permanently necessary feature."Intellectual capital is fast becoming the asset base of companies and their strategies for

growth. In the current global economy when companies are faced with rapid changes, the

ability to continuously seek, adapt and apply new skills would be the order of the day. Insuch a dynamic situation, where the skills and knowledge of people and organisations are

becoming redundant and useless, success in business and its growth would require special

emphasis on learning, education and training that is both flexible and relevant in the current

scenario.The demand for an effective training system for insurance intermediaries emerges not only

from the insurer, or the regulator or the intermediaries but also from the consumer. These

demands will go a long way to making insurance training and education establishments

more accountable and strategic.Intermediaries are seen as the key differentiator of an insurance business, and hence their

selection, training, development and support mechanism must be continuously monitoredand updated.

They are expected to identify customer needs for insurance, help them make the

appropriate choice of product/s, enable the customer to meet the deadlines for renewal ofpayments, and resolve queries and facilitate settlement of benefits in the minimum time

frame possible.

The insurance business is dynamic and changes are rapid, hence intermediaries, being

knowledge workers, require a special learning discipline in order to continue with upgradedknowledge and skills.

Observations of the functioning of intermediaries in the present day insurance industry

show that there is a major gap between what is expected of them and what they actuallydeliver.

These may be attributed to several factors such as:

Insurance products (life) are viewed more as investment and tax-saving products

Insurance solutions are bought and sold on the basis of relationship and referrals

Low productivity expectations from the intermediary

Non-availability of any prescribed/recognised pre-recruitment or post-recruitment trainingfor intermediaries

Low awareness level of insurance requiring customer education

Therefore, for an effective training approach, knowledge of these together with global

factors like changes in communication technologies, peoples expectations and

apprehensions and the current scenario of the privatised insurance sector become anecessity. The present education system for intermediaries should become more

accountable to deliver competencies in a more personalised manner and within a short span

of time. It shouldnt only demand traditional intellect and applications, but also stress


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creative and inventive thinking, knowledge of information & communication technologies

and self-motivation competencies that traditional classroom training fails to achieve.

There is, however, a dearth of professional institutions in India offering practical trainingfor the insurance industry. The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority has

undertaken some training initiative by prescribing 100 hours of pre-recruitment practical

training for every intermediary, to be followed up by a mandatory qualification testconducted by the Indian Institute of Insurance or by the National Stock Exchange. For an

example of effective vocational training, we can look at the UKs use of National

Vocational Qualifications. The central feature of NVQs is the National OccupationalStandards on which they are based. NOS are statements of performance standards that

describe what competent people in a particular occupation are expected to be able to

perform.

They cover all the main aspects of an occupation, including current best practice, ability toadapt to future requirements and the knowledge and understanding that underpin competent

performance. Standard-setting bodies, mainly employer-led National Training

Organisations, develop the standards. Since the insurance business is dynamic and changes

are rapid, it is essential for insurance intermediaries as knowledge workers to be familiarwith the special learning skills required to be successful. Hence there is an absolute

necessity for co-operation and collaboration between private and government agencies inIndia to supply the special learning preferred by the insurer and the government regulator.

In such a scenario, competencies, training and assessment methods are standardised. Lists

of programmes with accredited institutes are published for public information. Institutes areidentified through a selection and accreditation process, and then certified to provide

different qualifications and certificates.

The main purpose of the vocational training system is to supply the insurance industry with

the necessary manpower. It provides motivation to students to learn and also equips themwith a practical and applied understanding of the industry.

It also pays more attention to the skills and knowledge students need for an effective

transition from school to the working environment. The workplace of the future willrequire new and different skills from all workers not just job-specific skills, but also

transferable, generic skills that will help them to acquire further education and training

throughout their careers.In a world of rapidly changing business situation, the ability to respond positively to the

challenges and opportunities are combined responsibilities of the stakeholders of that

industry. In this context of accelerated change and dynamic business in the insurance

industry, training effectiveness for the intermediaries can be provided with excellencethrough the combined effort of the training outfits, which include both the insurers training

department and the institutes, the insurer and the regulator.

It is to this end that educators are working to develop cost-effective and reliable

methods to provide learning, motivate students and achieve results. In this way

there would be further improvement in training effectiveness for intermediaries,

thus adding value to their profession and achievements.


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Case Study 2

1. Is Rajat in needs of Remedial Training?

Rajat Sharma has been employed for six months in the accounts section of a large

manufacturing company in Faridabad. You have been his supervisor for the past three

months. Recently you have been asked by the management to find out the contributions of

each employee in the Accounts Section and monitor carefully whether they are meeting thestandards set by you. A few days back you have completed your formal investigation and

with the exception of Rajat, all seem to be meeting the targets set by you. Along with

numerous errors, Rajats work is characterized by low performance often he does 20percent less than the other clerks in the department. As you look into Rajats performance

review sheets again, you begin to wonder whether some sort of remedial training is needed

for people like him.

Questions

o As Rajats supervisor can you find out whether the poor performance isdue to poor training or to some other cause?

o If you find Rajat has been inadequately trained, how do you go about

introducing a remedial training programme?

o If he has been with the company six months, what kind of remedial

programme would be best?

o Should you supervise him more closely? Can you do this without

making it obvious to him and his co-workers?

o Should you discuss the situation with Rajat?

4. SALES TRAINING AT ABC COMPANY

Few years ago, ABC Company developed a training strategy for training its global sales

force. An important feature of the strategy was to create a master training plan for eachyear. The organizations strategic plans, objectives, and functional tactics would drive this

plan. Once an initial procedure was designed it was then evaluated and critiqued by the top

management, different units, and training council. The input from these stakeholders would

be summarized and transferred into a master training plan.

The major question that was asked by the designers of training program was, what results

do we want from salespeople after the training program is over? The answer to thisquestion becomes the objective of the training program.

Then training content was designed, videos were made. The videos took 3 to 6 months toproduce. Video contains live production plants, clients offices, partner offices, suppliers,


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manufacturers locations, and other locations.

Videos were used to train sales people in various areas, such as:

Market information i.e. about customer profile, market updates, and computerintegrated manufacturing applications, etc

Sales Process i.e. how to deal in the situation of conflicts with customer, coachingon undesirable behavior, supplement skills developed during live courses

Product information, such as, product usage, applications, system description,

product description, comparison with competitors products, etc

Policies and procedures, i.e. about sales contests, incentive plans on achieving

targets, annual bonuses, winners receiving the best salesperson award to motivate

the sales force

Around thousands of sales persons were getting a specific video training. The sales

people were getting training material along with the video. Sales representatives thenwatch video, follow the directions, and refer to the material if faces any problem. When

salespeople feel they have mastered the material, they would take an exam and call atoll-free number to transmit responses to exam.

Salespeople who successfully passed an exam were factored into performance andmerit reviews as well as promotional opportunities. Those who couldnt pass the exam

were asked to go through the material and video again before retaking the exam. If the

salesperson failed an exam again, the reporting manager was notified.

This case gives rise to few important questions. These questions are

In todays technological world, is video still the best way to deliver the

training?

Is video the most effective way to achieve training objectives

What role did cost of development, cost of delivery, and other constraints play

in selection of video delivery system?

Case study 3

Why Employees Resist Change and 6 Things a Manager can do About It

Its Monday morning -- time to diet again. The weekend eating-fest was better than ever.

But its time to buckle down and give up everything you love to eat because the doctor saidyou should lose weight and watch your cholesterol. So Why cheat? Why make excuses

about not exercising or deviating from the plan, when you know youre only hurting

yourself? What would make someone who is so achievement-oriented in other arenas, set a


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goal and continually disappoint themselves in this process, losing hope about ever being

able to change? The short answer? Simply, it is really difficult to change. Changing

ingrained habits and behaviors can be like giving up your identity or your best friend.Sometimes, the more you want it, the more resistant you become, succumbing to an

internal battle that feels like good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, one part of me vs. the other part

of me.The diet mentality is a perfect example of how you know what you need to or should do (in

this case, whats healthy for you), and yet you resist. Even if you go along with the change

for a while, you end up spending more and more of your time thinking about creative waysto break out. Then you justify your resistant behaviors. Fritz Perls, co-author of Gestalt

Therapy; Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality, referred to the dichotomy

between the two parts of ones personality as the topdog/underdog conflict. The topdog, a

demander of perfection, claims to always know whats right and good for you, oftenechoed in the words, You shouldor, You better Coming across as a self-righteous

and judgmental bully, the topdogs main objective is to

get you to change, even if its out of fear. The underdog, whose job is to protect feelings

from getting trampled on, reacts to this bullying and holier-thanthou manner bysabotaging the change effort. Anxious over not measuring up to such high standards, the

underdog assumes a victim mentality and creates reasons and excuses for failure andinaction. The underdog perceives every demand to change as a personal attack of one form

or another:

- Slap in the face (Youre not good enough!)- Power play (You must listen to me because Im the boss!)

- Threat (If you dont change, youre going to be in big trouble)

- Potential loss of identity (I want you to conform and do it just like everyone else!)

Intimidated by the aggressiveness of its counterpart, the underdog finds other means tofight back. It learns how to use every weapon in its arsenal to wiggle out of doing what it

doesnt want to do or doesnt feel competent at doing. Some of the underdogs strategies

include: denying theres a problem, generating brilliant excuses, sidetracking conversationsand well laid-out plans, setting up smokescreens and mirrors, detecting loopholes, and

gathering allies to defend its cause.

What happens when there is a live topdog -- someone who has position power or authorityover you, like a parent or a boss? Consider the following conversation between a manager,

Diane, and her employee, Rick, about a tardiness problem that is affecting Ricks job

performance. Ricks underdog knows that he should be on time but cant quite make the

commitment to do it. In parentheses are some of the defense mechanisms Rick uses to keephimself from having to take responsibility.

Diane: Rick, I need you to get to work by 9:00am sharp. The business requires it and its

critical for your career.Rick: I know but its really hard. I have so much going on at home in the mornings that its

impossible for me to get here on time. (excuses/exaggeration).

Diane: I know how hard mornings are for you. However, we need you here. Customersstart calling at 9:00am and I need you to staff the phones.

Rick: I was here on time, even early a few days last week. I just cant do it every day.

(rationalization)


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Diane: Youre never going to succeed if you keep on making excuses and coming in late.

JUST DO IT!

Rick: Dont think I dont want to; I try but I just cant! My job is very important to me but Icant seem to get my act together. I cant believe how dumb I feel not being able to manage

my life. I am so sorry that Im doing this to you! (self-pity/guilt)

Diane: Rick, people are complaining that they have to cover your workload as well as theirown. Morale is starting to suffer.

Rick: How come you never talk about what I do well? You always dwell on the negative.

My work is always accurate without errors. Why are we focusing on me being a fewminutes late? What about everything else? And everyone else? Im not the only one late to

work, you know (denial/sidetracking)

Ultimately, if Rick wants to keep his job, he will comply with the expected behavior. Yet,you get the sense that he never really buys in to the notion of coming on time. Pushed up

against a wall, he can and probably will show up at 9:00am. However, two weeks later,

when Diane is away on a business trip, you wonder if Rick will revert to his old behaviors.

Another typical scenario would be for Rick to say, I promise Ill be on time from now onand then not follow through, dodging Diane in the mornings. This passive-aggressive

behavior has the underdog smiling and saying, yes, yes, yes on top of the table whenunder the table they are kicking and screaming, no, no, no. The persons words sound

compliant but their actions, body language, and tone of voice, are defiant. It takes a lot of

skill, even for experienced managers, to confront passive-aggressive behavior because thebehaviors are subtle and occur as an undercurrent; you dont always realize whats

happening or that the damage has started to spread. Managers need to remember that if they

play topdog too heavily, they will automatically arouse in their employees an equally

strong and rebellious underdog, especially those with passive-aggressive tendencies. Themore criticized and vulnerable the underdog feels, the more rigidly it will put its stake in

the ground. As with any resistance, the rule of thumb is to get the person to air their

concerns openly so they can be addressed and talked through. If an employee recognizestheir ambivalence about change, and their personal topdog/underdog challenge, they are

closer to acknowledging fear and moving forward with courage.

Six Things a Manager Can Do About Employee Resistance

Here are 6 things a manager can do to encourage an employee to change, while averting a

stalemate with his or her underdog:

1) Lay out the desired behavior change in a calm, objective way.

Avoid sounding like a punishing parent or a preachy sermonizer. Simply discuss thebusiness need and the impact that the change will have on the persons development and

leave out the judgmental voice. If you get too critical or dogmatic, you set yourself up for a

negative reaction.

2) Acknowledge the employees ambivalence about making the change.

Let them know you recognize how hard it can be to make this change and you appreciate

the difficulty of this challenge. Volunteer any strategies you might have used in the past toovercome your own barriers or offer to brainstorm together how to defeat the obstacles.

After that, give them space to figure out how they will solve their problem and make the

necessary adjustments and set a timetable for following up.

3) Continue to hold the person accountable for their job performance.


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Despite any manipulations or sidetracks the person may throw your way, continue to hold

your ground that this is a vital aspect of their job performance and their work will need to

be up to standard. If you accept mediocre or inconsistent results, you will be lowering thebar for that employee, the department, and yourself.

4) Confront the person on their resistance when you see it or hear it.

If you observe the person acting out, dont sweep it under the rug. Privately call themover, let them know what you observed and give them an opportunity to share whats going

on. When people feel they can talk through their discomforts in a safe environment, they

are more likely to give up some of their armor and bring themselves to a less emotional,more rational way of viewing their situation.

5) Put the ball in their court.

Let the person know you care about them and their development, but that you cannot do

this for them. Clearly lay out the goal, offer support, coach them through the transition, butultimately, it will be up to them to do it or not. If they believe that this is all your agenda,

the focus will become about you. If they like you, they might do it; if not, they might resist

more. Take yourself and your personal agenda out of the middle and leave the decision and

the responsibility in the persons own hands.6) Celebrate success.Ken Blanchard, ofOne Minute Managerfame, says to catch people doing things right. Inthe beginning, even when people approximate the correct behavior, they should be

positively reinforced. If you see acceptable progress, dont give up on the employee and

youll teach them not to give up on themselves, either. The long-term answer lies inmaintaining the delicate balance between respectingyour employees resistance while still

expectingthem to make the change. The respect/expect juggling act allows you to support

the human face of change without compromising the rigorous business demands of the

organization.


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Overview of Training and Development

1. Training begins at an elementary level, often teaching basic literacy and

mathematics skills before offering instruction in specific job skills. The nature of

work is changing. We can no longer count on learning one job and keeping it untilretirement.

We must learn to think not only of a single chosen career over a lifetime, but of several

careers from which we master a cluster of skills that must be continually upgraded. Careers

of the future will require lifelong learning, which means that training will become evenmore vital in your working lives than it was for previous generations. Although training

programs are offered for employees at all levels, they are more prevalent for non-college

and non-managerial personnel. Also, formal training programs are typically found only inlarger companies, those with more than 10,000 employees. Training centers are maintained

by IBM, Xerox, General Electric and Avis Rent A Car.

Typical Reasons for Employee Training and DevelopmentTraining and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or

group of employees, e.g.:

When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed To "benchmark" the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement

effort

As part of an overall professional development program

As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change

in role in the organization

To "pilot", or test, the operation of a new performance management system

To train about a specific topic

Benefits from Employee Training and Development

There are numerous sources of online information about training and development. Several

of these sites (they're listed later on in this library) suggest reasons for supervisors toconduct training among employees. These reasons include:

Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees

Increased employee motivation

Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain

Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods

Increased innovation in strategies and products Reduced employee turnover

Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training (not a good reason forethics training!)

Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training


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Cooperative Education Programs

Cooperative education programs: business-sponsored training programs in which college

students alternate periods of full-time college instruction with full-time employment. Alsocalled as work-study programs. Cooperating companies in these earn-while-you-learn

programs hire students to work a portion of each year in their field of study, thus givingstudents money for college expenses as well as valuable job experience. After graduation,

many students are offered permanent jobs with the company they worked for duringcollege.

Training for Disabled Employees

In an attempt to dispel stereotypes and to make all employees sensitive to the problems of

being disabled, training is provided not only for the disabled employees but for the otheremployees who will be working with them.

Training and Fair Employment Practices

Training programs must meet equal employment opportunity guidelines and must beclearly related to job performance before their results can be applied to career decisions.

Objectives of Training Programs

The first step in establishing a formal training program is the precise formulation of

objectives. These objectives must be stated in terms of specific behavioral criteria, the acts

or operations employees must perform on the job and the way they should perform them tomaximize job efficiency. What knowledge, skills and abilities are critical to learning to

perform the job successfully?

Needs Assessment

Needs assessment: an analysis of corporate and individual goalsundertaken before designing a training program to achieve them.

The goals of the training programs should be derived from the needs of theorganization and the employees. There are situations in which the need for a

training program is obvious. For example, a company that automates a

manufacturing process, eliminating a number of jobs, may choose to retrainits employees for other work.

A high accident rate in one department may call for additional safetytraining. Frequent complaints from dissatisfied customers may lead to

employee training in human relations skills.

In the absence of a clear indication that training is needed, it is themanagements responsibility to analyze its operations periodically to

determine if any aspect could benefit from additional training.


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Organizational Analysis

A general organizational analysis can suggest broad training needs thatcan then be translated into specific needs of employees or groups of

employees. The next step is a task analysisto identify the specific tasks performed on

a job and the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for those tasks.

An employee analysis is undertaken to determine which workers needretraining and what kind of training is necessary. These evaluations can beaccomplished by job analysis methods, critical incidents, performance

appraisal techniques, or self-assessments.

Job analysis is the most frequently used technique for determining trainingneeds and objectives.It yields a detailed list of the characteristics needed

to perform a job successfully and the sequence of operations required.

From a job analysis, the company can determine how new training

procedures can improve job performance. The critical-incidents technique which focuses on specific desirable or

undesirable job behaviors, provides information on how employees are

equiped to cope with significant workday events. An analysis of criticalincidents can alert the training director to areas in which additional training

or instruction is needed.

Performance appraisals are an obvious source of information on trainingneeds. They can document employee weaknesses and lead torecommendations for retraining to correct specific deficiencies.

Self-assessment is based on the assumption that the person who isperforming a job well is a good source of information about the skills

needed to do that job and the areas in which training may be desirable.The Training Staff

The most important factor in teaching anything at any level seems to becompetence or expertise in the subject matter. Although competence is

necessary, the instructor must also have the ability to teach, to impart

information in a clear and compelling manner. The same principle holds fororganizational training.

Too often, corporate training is conducted by people who have vastexperience in the task or skills to be taught but no instruction in how tocommunicate that skill effectively to others.

The solution is to use professional instructors, persons trained in teachingmethods and in job skills. Some large organizations maintain full-timeteaching staff equipped to teach a number of subjects or job skills.

The Pre-training Environment

The pre-training environment established by an organization includes thosedecisions and cues, communicated directly or indirectly to employees by

supervisors and peers, that indicate the value management places on

training programs.


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These factors may include organizational policies, supervisor attitudestoward training, resources available for training, and employee participationin needs assessments. These cues influence the effectiveness of training

programs because they tell employees how supportive the company is of

training efforts.

The more training opportunities a company offers, the more likely itsemployees are to believe that training as an important and relevant activity

for their careers.

Trainees are also more likely to regard training as worthwhile and to bemore motivated to achieve in training programs when they know their

supervisors support training, know their post-training skills will be assessed,

and are given a realistic picture of what the training involves.

When these conditions are not met, a training program is likely to berendered ineffective before it even begins.

Pre-taining Attributes of Trainees - A number of psychologicalcharacteristics or attributes of trainees can influence both their desire to

learn from a training program and the amount and kind of material they arecapable of learning from a training program. These attributes include:

individual differences in ability, pre-training expectations, motivation,

job involvement, locus of control, and self-efficacy.

Individual differences in ability - Individual differences in training ability

can be predicted through cognitive ability tests, biographical data, andperformance in an initial training experience, such as a work sample.

Trainability tests, such as work samples or mini-courses, are also valid

predictors of performance in a full course of training. Work samples, whenused as measures of trainability; offer a short period of formal job skill

instruction followed by a test of job performance in a training facility.

A meta-analysis of studies of the work sample approach found that they predict performance in full-scale training programs and subsequent

performance on the job in most situations (Robertson & Downs, 1989).

2. Pre-training Expectations

Employees expectations about the outcome of training can influence theprograms effectiveness.

Psychologists have also found that when a training program fails to live upto trainees expectations, they are less likely to complete the program.

Trainees whose expectations are not met but who do complete the programare likely to be dissatisfied on the job, to have a low sense of commitment

to the organization, and to have a high rate of job turnover.

Trainees whose pre-training expectations were met by the training programdeveloped greater organizational commitment, a higher sense of self-

efficacy, and enhanced motivation to succeed than those whose expectationswere not met.

3. Motivation

The motivation or desire to learn is vital to employees success in an training program.

Learning will not occur unless trainees truly want to learn, regardless of their ability.


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In every occupation we can find examples of people who have achieved success with less

than an optimal level of ability but with a great drive or motivation to succeed.

Research has shown that trainees with higher motivation learn more in training programsthan do trainees with lower motivation. Trainees who are highly motivated are more likely

to complete the program and to apply their training on the job.

Management can increase trainees motivation by involving them in decisions about thetraining program, allowing them to participate in the needs assessment process, and giving

them a choice of training courses. Other research has shown that previous negative events

or experiences can increase motivation to learn.

4. Job Involvement

Trainees who show greater job involvement whose self-identity is closely linked with

their work show higher motivation to learn than do trainees who are less involved. Long-

term career plans are also a factor.Employees with low job involvement have low potential for showing improvement in job

performance as a result of their training.

Pre-training programs to increase job and career involvement may be desirable for some

employees.5. Locus of ControlPeople identified as having an internal locus of control believe that job performance andsuch work-related rewards as pay and promotion are under their personal control

dependent on their own behaviors, abilities and efforts. People with an external locus ofcontrol believe that life events in and out of the workplace are beyond their control dependent on such outside forces as luck, chance or whether their boss likes them.

Employees who have an internal locus of control are likely to be highly motivated to

succeed in a training program because they believe that mastering the job skills is undertheir control and within their capabilities. They are more likely to accept feedback during

training and to take action to correct deficiencies. They show higher levels of job and

career involvement than do employees with an external locus of control.

6. Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief in ones capacity to perform a task; that is, a sense of adequacy,

efficiency, and competence in coping with lifes demands. The relationship between self-efficacy and motivation to learn, and between self-efficacy and actual success in training

programs, has been amply demonstrated.

People high in self-efficacy have strong beliefs about their ability to succeed in trainingprograms and they outperform people who are low in self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy has been shown to increase a persons perception of the value of a trainingprogram. A review of the literature on self-efficacy and organizational behavior concludedthat an employees level of self-efficacy is positively related to job performance (Gist &

Mitchell, 1992). In turn, self-efficacy can be affected by training. Training-enhanced self-

efficacy can have long-term effects beyond the duration of the training program thatinfluence more than just the skills acquired during the program.


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It might have beneficial effects on socialization and adjustment to a new job during the first

year of employment and on such measures as ability to cope, job satisfaction and job

commitment.

Psychological Factors in Learning

Active Practice - For learning to be most effective, trainees must beactively involved in the learning process, not merely be passive recipients of

information. Hands-on practice of the skills required to perfrom the job isimportant.

Mental practice, the cognitive rehearsing of a task prior to performing it,

can have a positive and significant effect on the actual performance of the

task. But not as effective as active performance of the task.

Massed and Distributed Practice - Some tasks are learned more rapidly

when the training program schedules one or a few relatively long practice

sessions (massed practice).

Other tasks require a large number of relatively short practice sessions

(distributed practice).

In general, distributed practice results in better learning, particularly for motor skills. The

research evidence is less clear for the learning of verbal skills. Massed practice may be

more useful, but much depends on the nature and complexity of the task to be mastered or

the material to be learned.Short, simple material can be learned well by massed practice because the sessions do not

have to be too long for the trainees to absorb the content. More difficult material must be

divided into shorter units and learned by distributed practice.

Whole and Part Learning

The concept of whole and part learning refers to the relative size of the unit of material tobe learned. The training course content can be divided into small parts, each of which is

studied individually, or the material can be learned as a whole. The decision depends on the

nature and complexity of the material and the ability of the trainees. More intelligenttrainees are more capable of rapidly learning larger units of material than are less

intelligent trainees. However, when slower learners are offered the chance to learn the

same material in smaller units, they may be able to master it better than when forced toapprehend it as a whole.

Some skills are obviously better suited to the whole learning method. For example, when

learning to drive a car, it serves no useful purpose to divide driving behavior into

component skills and to practice separately the necessary movements. When a task requiresthe initial learning of several sub-skills, the part method is more efficient. Trainees can

practice these various sub-skills until a particular level of efficiency has been achievedbefore integrating the sub-skills into the total behavior or operation.

Transfer of Training

Organizational training often takes place in an artificial setting, a training facility that may

differ in several important ways from the actual job environment.


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This discrepancy between training and job situations must be bridged. The training

program must ensure that there will be a transfer of training a carryover of the skills

mastered during the training program to the job itself.

The issue is one of relevance: is the information provided during the training program

relevant and meaningful to actual job performance? Is there a correspondence between thebehaviors and attitudes taught in the training sessions and the behaviors and attitudes

needed to perform the job successfully? In many instances, the answer to these questions is

no. If there is close correspondence between training requirements and job

requirements, positive transfer will develop.

The material learned during training will aid or improve job performance. The greater the

similarity between the training and work situations, the greater will be the transfer. If there

is little similarity between training situations and work situations, negative transfer

will result.

In that case, the skills learned in the training program will hamper or interfere with job

performance. In negative transfer, these skills or behaviors must then be unlearned or

modified before employees can perform the job in questions. Several conditions in thepost-training environment can facilitate positive transfer. The most important is supervisor

support for and reinforcement of the behaviors and skills taught in the training program.Also influential are the opportunity to apply on the job the skills learned in the training

program and a follow-up discussion or assessment shortly after completing the training

program.Another important factor is the overall organizational culture or climate. The more

supportive it is of training, the greater the opportunities for transfer of training to the work

situation.

Feedback

People learn more readily when they are given a clear idea of how well they are doing.

Feedback (sometimes called knowledge of results) indicates to the trainees their level ofprogress. It is also important in maintaining motivation. If trainees were not provided withfeedback during a training program, they might persist in learning and practicing

inappropriate behaviors and incorrect techniques of job performance.

To be maximally effective, feedback must be offered as soon as possible after the

inappropriate behavior occurs. If a sequence of operations is being practiced incorrectly,

the desired change is more likely to be brought about if the trainees are told immediately.Overall training progress is greater when the program allows for frequent feedback.

The more specific and detailed the feedback, the more useful it will be.

Feedback also influences self-efficacy, which is positively related to learning.

Reinforcement

The greater the reward that follows a behavior, the more easily and rapidly that behavior

will be learned. The reward, or reinforcement, can take many forms.By establishing a program of reinforcement, management can maintain employee

motivation and effectively shape behavior by rewarding only those actions that the trainees

are supposed to learn and display. Reinforcement should be provided immediately after thedesired behavior has occurred. The longer the delay between behavior and reinforcement,


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the less effective the reinforcement will be because the trainee may fail to perceive the

connection between the correct behavior and the reward for having behaved in that way. In

the early stages of a training program, reinforcement should be given every time thedesired behavior is displayed. Once some learning has taken place, continuous

reinforcement is no longer necessary.

Then, a partial reinforcement schedule will be effective for example, one that rewards the

trainees every third or every tenth time they display the desired behavior.

7. Training Methods in the Workplace

Each technique offers advantages and disadvantages, depending on the goals of the training

program, the abilities of the trainees, and the nature of the material to be learned.

On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training:training that takes place directly on the job for which the personhas been hired. One of the most widely used training methods.Under guidance of an

experienced operator, supervisor or trained instructor, trainees learn while working. Theyoperate the machine or assembly process in the production facility and have the

opportunity to develop proficiency while they work.

Advantages: Management asserts that the primary one is economy because the

organization does not have to establish, equip, and maintain a separate training

facility. If workers and supervisors can serve as trainers, even the cost of a

professional instructor is saved. A more obvious advantage is positive transfer oftraining. In terms, of other psychological factors, active practice is provided from

the outset. Motivation to learn should be high because the training situation isclearly relevant to the job situation. Feedback is immediate and visible; goodperformance will elicit praise, and poor performance will show in a faulty part or

product.

Disadvantages: It can be expensive in the long run. Workers and supervisors musttake time from their regular jobs to train new employees. This can lead to an overall

reduction in productivity. Additional costs come with the slower productivity of the

trainees and any damage they cause to equipment or product because of their

inexperience.

On certain jobs, permitting untrained workers to operate machinery may be hazardous not

only to trainees but also to other employees. Accident rates for trainees on the job aretypically higher than for experienced workers.

Using current workers or supervisors as trainers does not ensure adequate training for newemployees. Just because a person performs a job competently or has been on the job for a

considerable time does not mean that person has the ability to teach the job to someone

else.


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Managerial training: On-the-job training is also important at the management level. Much

managerial and executive training and development occurs through informal and

unstructured on-the-job experiences, which contribute more significantly to thedevelopment of managerial ability than any formal classroom instruction.

Vestibule Training

Vestibule training: training that takes place in a simulated workspace.

Using the same kind of equipment and operating procedures as the actual work situation, a

vestibule training program relies on skilled instructors, rather than experienced workers and

supervisors, to teach new workers how to perform their jobs.

Advantages: Because its sole purpose is training, there is no pressure to

maintain a given level of productivity. Trainees do not have to be concernedabout making costly or embarrassing errors or about damaging production

equipment. They can concentrate on learning the skills necessary to besuccessful on the job.

Disadvantages: the greatest one is the cost. The organization must equip the

facility and maintain a teaching staff. This expense is particularly

burdensome when there are not enough new workers to make full use of thetraining facility.

If the training situation does not correspond closely to the work situation, negative transfer

of training will occur, and the trainees may need informal, on-the-job instruction once they

start to work.

This problem can be aggragated by the common business practice of using obsolete

equipment, retired from the production floor in the training facility.

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship: a training method for skilled crafts involving classroom instruction

and on-the-job experience. Perhaps the earliest recorded training method still in use todayfor skilled crafts and trades in private-sector industries such as construction and

manufacturing. It involves extensive background preparation in the craft as well as actual

work experience under the guidance of experts.

Apprenticeships average 4-6 years. The standard procedure is for the trainees to agree towork for a company for a fixed period in return for a specified program of training and a

salary, usually half that earned by skilled and licensed craftspersons. Trainees must

complete the apprenticeship before they are allowed to join a union. Membership in a laborunion is necessary to securing employment. Thus, apprenticeship programs constitute a

joint effort by industry and organized labor to maintain an adequate supply of trained

workers. In recent years, apprenticeships in the public sector have grown in popularity. A

number of federal, state and local government agencies have adopted them for skilled,


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blue-collar jobs in civilian and military programs, such as building maintenance workers,

highway maintenance workers, prison correctional officers and firefighters.

Programmed Instruction

Programmed instruction: a teaching method in which the material to be learned ispresented in small, sequential steps. Involves several techniques, ranging from printed

paper-and-pencil booklets to interactive videotapes, to complex computer software. Alltechniques depend on self-instruction the trainees proceed at their own pace. Detailed

programmed information is presented in sequence to the trainees who are required to make

frequent and precise responses. The material begins at a low level and gradually becomesmore complex. The increments of increasing difficulty are designed to be small so that

slower learners can progress with relative ease. Faster learners are allowed to proceed more

rapidly. The rate of learning is determined by the trainees motivation and cognitive ability.

2 approaches to presenting programmed material are: linear and branching.

In the linear program, all trainees follow the same program in the same sequence.The learning steps are so small and simple that errors are rare, thus permitting

trainees to receive frequent positive feedback.

The branching program takes account of individual differences in ability.

Trainees may skip intervening questions and advance to a more difficult section ofmaterial if they show that they are learning the material well. If they make mistakes

and show that they are not learning well, they are directed for remedial assistance to

a new set of questions on the same or earlier material.

Advantages : programmed instruction provides active participation, immediate andcontinuous feedback, and positive reinforcement, and takes account of individual

differences. It also eliminates the need for an instructor.

In booklet form, the method can be used by trainees wherever they choose; a

training facility and expensive equipment are not required. The course content isstandardized for all trainees, and a complete record of the traineesprogress is

maintained.

Disadvantages: the kind of material that can be taught by programmed instruction is

limited. The method is appropriate for teaching only certain items of knowledge,particularly those that require rote memorization, but it is less effective for teaching

complex job skills. Because instructional material can be costly to develop, it is

usually restricted to training programs that involve very large numbers of traineeswho are required to learn a job within a short time. Initial acceptance of

programmed instruction is usually high, but enthusiasm often fades as trainees

precede robot like through the lengthy series of small steps. Research on learning

effectiveness suggests that programmed instruction provides for faster learning ofcertain types of material, but it does not appear to improve the quality of learning.

Computer-Assisted Instruction


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Computer-assisted instruction (CAI): a computer-based method in which traineeslearn material at their own pace and receive immediate feedback on their progress.

Widely used in private and public-sector organizations.In CAI, the program of instructionwhich is stored on computer disks, serves as the teacher. Trainees interact with the material

on personal computer terminals. Trainees responses are recorded and analyzed

automatically, and the difficulty of each item presented is based on the correctness of theresponse to the previous item. One of the most widespread uses of computer-based training

is to teach computer literacy skills. Another use of CAI is the software used by airlines for

training flight crews.

Advantages: Trainees are actively involved in the learning process and workthrough the material at their own pace. They receive immediate feedback on their

progress and reinforcement for displaying mastery of a skill.

Another advantage of CAI is that it offers considerably more individualized instruction

then does programmed instruction. It is not unlike being tutored privately by an excellentteacher who has a comprehensive knowledge of the subject and never becomes impatient

with the student. The computer responds instantly to the progress of each trainee withoutshowing annoyance, prejudice or error.

CAI also has record-keeping functions and maintains a current performance analysis oneach trainee. CAI can be used with a small number of trainees so that the company does not

have to make them wait until there is a sufficient number to fill a classroom and schedule a

course. It can aslo be provided to a large number of trainees simultaneously in differentlocations. Studies have shown that CAI can decrease training time by as much as 50%

while providing levels of retention and transfer of training equivalent to traditional

classroom instruction.

Behavior Modification

Behavior modification: a training program of positive reinforcement to rewardemployees for displaying desirable job behaviors. Behavior modification

techniques are also effective in dealing with stress.

Performance audit: an analysis undertaken prior to implementing a behavior

modification training program to determine the problems or employee

behaviors that can be modified for more efficient job performance.

Punishments of reprimands are not used.Often, praise and recognition are found tobe sufficient reinforces for improving job performance and for bringing about the

desired behaviors. It is important to reinforce desired behaviors as soon as they

occur and gradually shift from constant to intermittent reinforcement.

Sometimes, employees are required to keep a detailed record of theiraccomplishments so that they can compare their performance with the company

standards and have daily feedback on their progress.


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Job Rotation

Job rotation:a management training technique that assigns trainees to various jobs

and departments over a period of a few years. It is a popular management training

technique. It exposes trainees to different jobs and departments to acquaint them with all

facets of their organization. It is frequently used with new college graduates who are just beginning their working careers. Trainees gain perspective on various aspects of

organizational life. They have the opportunity to see and be seen by higher management in

different departments, and to learn through direct experience where they might best apply

their knowledge, abilities and interests. The rotation phase of a management career maylast several years, taking employees from one department to another, one plant or office to

others in the country and perhaps to offices in other countries as well.

Such changes can promote the development of flexibility, adaptability and self-efficacy as

employees learn to deal successfully with new challenges. Job rotation programs are alsoused for skilled and semiskilled jobs. They allow workers to increase their skill levels in

diverse occupations, and they serve to alleviate the boredom that can result from years ofperforming the same tasks.

Overall, the majority of employees and executives are highly pleased with this technique.Especially younger ones and better qualified ones.

Disadvantages: frequent moves can disrupt family life and interrupt a spouses

career. If the rotation period is too brief, there may not be sufficient time to become

fully acquainted with a particular job. If top management is more interested inmanagement trainees as temporary office help, instead of the rising group of

managers in need of mentors, the trainees will not have the opportunity to acquire

the necessary skills to transfer to upper-management postitions.

Case Studies

Case studies: a method of executive training in which trainees analyze a business

problem and offer solutions.

The method was developed by the Harvard University School of Business and is popular inexecutive training programs. A complex problem is presented to the trainees prior to the

meeting and they are expected to familiarize themselves with the information and to find

additional relevant material. When they meet as a group, each member must be prepared tointerpret the problem and offer a solution.

Through the presentation of diverse viewpoints, the trainees come to appreciate different

perspectives on a problem and, consequently, different approaches to solving it. Usually,

the cases have no one correct solution. The group leader does not suggest an answer. Thegroup as a whole must reach a consensus and resolve the problem.

Disadvantages: it is not related to job requirements. There may be a discrepancy

between the theoretical solution to the case problem and the solution that is

practical for the organization.


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Therefore, actions taken on the basis of the case study solution proposed in the training

program may not transfer positively to actions than can be taken on the job.

Business Games

Business games: a training method that simulates a complex organizational situationto encourage the development of problem-solving and decision-making skills.

More than half of the largest US corporations use business games for management training.Trainees compete in teams, each team representing a separate, hypothetical business

organization. The team companies are given detailed information about the operation of

their organization, including data on finances, sales, advertising, production, personnel and

inventories. Each group must organize itself and assign various tasks and responsibilities toeach member.

As the teams deal with corporate problems, their decisions are evaluated by an instructor.

They may be required to consider additional problems based on the outcomes of theirinitial decisions. Because business problems presented to the trainees are so realistic, manytrainees form an emotional commitment to their company. They gain experience in making

decisions on real-life problems under the twin pressures of time and the actions taken by

rival organizations. For new employees, business games may provide their first exposure tothe actual job tasks and stresses managers face.This type of realistic job preview persuades

some trainees they would be happier in another line of work.

In-Basket Training

Each trainee is given a stack of letters, memos, customer complaints, and requests fromsubordinates and other items that present various problems faced by managers on the job.

The trainees must take action on each item within a specified period. After completing the

tasks, the trainees meet with a trainer to discuss their decisions and receive feedback on theoutcomes.

Role Playing

Management trainees pretend to act out a particular role, displaying whatever behaviorsthey believe are appropriate in a given situation. E.g. they may be asked to imagine

themselves to be a supervisor who must discuss a poor performance appraisal with a

subordinate. They act out these situations in front of a group of trainees and instructors,who offer comments on their performance. Sessions can be videotaped for later analysis.

Many people feel foolish or awkward at first about pretending or acting in front of a group,

but once they begin, most people develop sensitivity for the role and try to project their

feelings and beliefs onto it. Role playing can be a valuable learning device. It enablestrainees to become sensitive to their subordinates views and to the roles the trainees will


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be expected to play as managers. It provides practical experience as well as feedback from

other trainees and instructors. Trainees have the opportunity to practice job-related

behaviors in a situation in which mistakes or inappropriate behaviors will not jeopardizeinterpersonal relations on the job.

Behavior Modeling

Behavior modeling: It involves having trainees attempt to imitate or model their

behavior on examples of exceptional job performance. It is one of the most popular

techniques for teaching interpersonal and leadership skills. It is usually conducted with

groups of 6-12 supervisors or lower-level managers. Sessions may last 2-4 hours a weekfor up to 4 weeks. In the intervals between training sessions, the trainees are on the job,

applying what they have learned, which provides them with feedback form their

subordinates. The usual procedure is for a trainer, using a prepared script, to provide ageneral introduction to the nature of the training. Then the trainees watch a videotape of a

manager who is acting out appropriate procedures and behaviors for handling a particularjob situation with a subordinate.

The trainees engage in behavior rehearsal, practicing the behaviors they saw the model perform. Trainees are not asked to play a role; instead, they are imitating the actual

behaviors they will use on the job, the behaviors the model has displayed. The trainer and

the other trainees provide feedback by telling each trainee how closely s/he imitated themodels behavior and where the behavior diverged.

This social reinforcement helps trainees gain confidence in their ability to display the

appropriate behavior.

Advantages: The interpersonal and leadership behaviors learned by behavior

modelling will transfer to the job. Because the modeled situation between managerand subordinate are actual job situations, the behaviors should carry over to job

performance.

Thus, there is a high degree of relevance between behavior modeling as a training

technique and job requirements, a condition that increases trainees motivation to acceptand apply the training. A meta-analysis of more than 70 management training studies

shows that behavior modeling has been effective in raising employee morale, improving

communication with customers, increasing sales, decreasing absenteeism, enhancing

supervisory skills, improving production quantity and quality, and reducing employee

resistance to change (Burke & Day, 1986).

Diversity Training

The nature of the work force is changing to include more women and ethnic minority

workers. Economic forecasters expect white males to become a minority of the work force


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in the new century. To aid workers in coping with an increasingly diverse work force,

organizations are instituting diversity training programs to teach employees to confront

personal prejudices that could lead to discriminatory behaviors.

Through lectures, videos, role playing and confrontational exercises, employees are

learning, in a way, how it feels to be a female worker being sexually harassed by a male

boss, or a Hispanic worker receiving an unsatisfactory performance appraisal from a Blacksupervisor. Trainees are forced to deal with their own sexist and racial attitudes and to learnto be more sensitive to the concerns and viewpoints of others.

A survey of 785 human resources personnel found that the development of diversity

training programs and their perceived success depended on several factors: support from

management, mandatory attendance, and the size of the organization and the hiring of so-called diversity managers. Larger organizations with strong support from top executives, a

staff of diversity specialists, and required attendance for all employees were the most likely

to have successful diversity training programs.

Some evidence suggests that many programs foster negative reactions as well as charges

that the programs are offered only because it appears to be the politically correct thing todo.

8. Guidelines to Design Your Training Plan

Don't Worry About Whether Your Plan is Perfect or Not -- The Plan is Guide, Not

Law

Don't worry about whether you completely understand key terms in training or whether

your plan is "perfect" or not. The key is to get started. Start simple, but start. Do the best

that you can for now. There is no perfect plan. You're doing the plan according to your ownnature and needs.

Also, it's not important to stick to the plan for the sake of the plan. The plan will likely

change as you go along. That's fine, as long as you've notice that it's been changed and

why.

Remember that Training and Development is a Process

So often when we design a plan, the plan becomes the end rather than the means. The plan

is a general guide -- the real treasure found from implementing your plan is the learning

you achieve. Learning is an ongoing process. Look at learning as a process and you enjoythe long time during the journey rather than the short time at the destination.

Get Some Sense of These Basic Terms

You don't have to be expert at the following terms -- just get a general sense about them.

training goalLearning

objectives

learning methods /

activities

documentation /

evidence of learning

evaluation

overall results what you will be what you will do in evidence produced assessment


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or capabilities

you hope to

attain byimplementing

your training

plan, e.g.,1. passsupervisor

qualification

test

able to do as a

result of the

learning activitiesin this plan, e.g.,

1. exhibit required

skills in problemsolving anddecision making

2. exhibit required

skills in delegation

order to achieve the

learning objectives,

e.g.,1. complete a

course in basic

supervision2. address a major problem that

includes making

major decisions3. delegate to a

certain employee

for one month4. etc.

during your

learning activities

-- these are resultsthat someone can

see, hear, feel,

read, smell, e.g.,1. course grade2. your written

evaluation of your

problem solvingand decision

making approaches

3. etc.

and

judgment on

quality ofevidence in

order to

concludewhether youachieved the

learning

objectivesor not

Determining Your Overall Goals in Training

This section helps you identify what you want to be able to do as a result of implementing

your training plan, for example, qualify for a certain job, overcome a performance problem,

meet a goal in your career development plan, etc. Learners are often better off to work

towards at most two to four goals at a time.

a. Are there any time lines that you should consider in your plan?

Do you have to accomplish any certain areas of knowledge or skills by a certain

time? If so, this may influence your choice of learning objectives and learningactivities to achieve the objectives.

b. Are you pursuing training and development in order to address a performancegap?

A performance gap is usually indicated from the performance appraisal process.The performance appraisal document should already include careful description of

the areas of knowledge and skills that you must learn in order to improve your

performance.

c. Or, is your plan to address a growth gap?

If so, carefully identify what areas of knowledge and skills are needed to reach your

goals in your career. Consider referencing job descriptions, lists of competencies oreven networking with others already in the positions that you want to reach in the

near future.

d. Or, is your plan to address an opportunity gap?

If so, carefully identify what areas of knowledge and skills are needed to performthe job or role that soon might be available to you. Again, consider job descriptions,

lists of competencies or even interviewing someone already in the job or role that

may soon be available to you.

Get feedback from others

Ask for advice from friends, peers, your supervisors and others. They can be a real

treasure for real-world feedback about you! For example, you (and your supervisor,


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is applicable) could work together to conduct a SWOT (an acronym) analysis,

including identifying the yourstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and any threats

to reaching the your desired goals.

e. Should you conduct a self-assessment?

For example, you (and your supervisor, is applicable) could work together to

conduct a SWOT (an acronym) analysis, including identifying the your strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and any threats to reaching the your desired goals.

f. Is a list of competencies, job descriptions or job analysis available to help you

identify your training and development goals?

A competencies list is a list of the abilities needed to carry out a certain role. The

list can be very useful to you when identifying your learning objectives in your

training and development plan

g. Begin thinking about how much money you will need to fund your plan.

You might need money, e.g., to pay trainers, obtain facilities and materials for

training methods, pay wages or salaries for employees during attendance to training

events, etc. Begin recording your expected expenses in the "Budget"

h. Identify your training goals.By now, you should have a strong sense of what your training goals are, after

having considered each of the above steps. It's important that goals be designed andworded to be "SMARTER" (an acronym), that is, specific, measurable, acceptable

to you, realistic to achieve, time-bound with a deadline, extending your capabilities

and rewarding to you.

Determining Your Learning Objectives and Activities

The purpose of this part of your planning is to design learning objectives that ultimatelyaccomplish your reaching your overall training and development goals. You will also

identify the learning activities (or methods) you'll need to conduct to achieve your learning

objectives and overall training goals.

a. Identify some preliminary learning objectives for each new area of knowledge

or skills that you need to learn.

Carefully consider each of your training goals. What specifically must be

accomplished (that is, what objectives must be reached) in order for you to reachthose goals? Which of these objectives require learning new areas of knowledge or

skills? These objectives are likely to become learning objectives in your training

plan. Similar to the nature of training goals, learning objectives should be designed

and worded to be "SMARTER"b. In what sequence should the learning objectives be attained?

Usually, learning builds on learning. It may be useful to learn certain areas ofknowledge and skills before learning new areas.

c. Carefully consider -- When you have achieved all of your learning objectives,

will you indeed have achieved all of your overall training goals?

d. What are the best learning activities (methods) for you to achieve your

learning objectives?

Do the methods match your particular learning style, e.g., reading, doing or

listening? Do the methods stretch your styles, too? Are the methods readily


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accessible to you? Do the methods take advantage of real-life learning

opportunities, e.g., use on-the-job training opportunities, real-life problems that

occur at work, use of projects and programs at work? Note that learning activitiesdo always match learning objectives on a one-for-one basis.

e. Do your learning activities include your ongoing reflections about your

learning?You (and your supervisor, if applicable) will benefit from regularly taking time to

stand back and inquire about what is going on in your training, what are you

learning and how, if anything should be changed, etc. Skills in reflection are criticalfor ongoing learning in your life and work.

f. What observable results, or evidence of learning, will you produce from your

learning activities that can be reviewed for verification of learning?

g. Who will verify that each of your learning objectives were reached?Ideally, your learning is evaluated by someone who has strong expertise in the areas

of knowledge and skills required to achieve your training goals.

h. Now that you know what activities that will be conducted, think again about

any costs that will be needed, e.g., for materials, facilities, etc.i. How will you handle any ongoing time and stress management issues whileimplementing your plan?

Professional development inherently includes the need for self-development, as

well

Developing Any Materials You May Need

The goal of this phase of your planning is to obtain or develop any resources you need to

conduct the activities you selected in the previous phase of the plan.

1. Consider if you need to obtain, or start:

Enrolling in courses, buying books, scheduling time with experts, getting a mentor,scheduling time with your supervisor, etc.

2. Now that you've thought more closely about learning methods and associated

materials, think again about any costs that will be needed, e.g., for materials,

facilities, etc.

3. Should any of your planned learning methods be pretested?Should you have anyone else use the methods and share their impressions about the

methods with you? Have you briefly reviewed the methods, e.g., documentation,

overheads, etc? Did you experience any difficulties understanding the methods?

Planning Implementation of Your Training Plan

The goal of this phase of your planning is to ensure there are no surprises during theimplementation phase of your training.

1. During your training, how will you be sure that you understand the new

information and materials?

Periodically conduct a short test, e.g., everyone once in a while, try recall the mainpoints of what you have just learned, test yourself, etc. If you are confused, tell

your trainer now.


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2. Will your learning be engaging and enjoyable?

3. Where will you get necessary administrative support and materials?

4. During implementation, if any changes should be made to your plan, how will

they be tracked? How will the plan be redesigned? How will it be

communicated and to the right people?

5. Are you sure that you'll receive the necessary ongoing feedback, coaching,mentoring, etc., during your training and development activities?

Planning Quality Control and Evaluation of Your Training Plan and Experiences

The goal of this phase of your planning is to ensure your plan will indeed meet yourtraining goals in a realistic and efficient fashion.

1. Who's in charge of implementing and tracking your overall plan?How will you know if the plan is on track or needs to be changed?

2. Consider having a local training expert review the plan.The expert can review, in particular, whether

- your training goals will provide the results desired by you (and your organization,

if applicable),- learning objectives are specific and aligned with your overall training goals,

- the best methods are selected for reaching your learning objectives, and

- your approach to evaluation is valid and practical.

3. Are approaches to evaluation included in all phases of your plan?For example, are your methods being pretested before being applied? Do you

understand the methods as they're being applied? Are regularly providing feedback

about how well you understand the materials? How will the you (and your

supervisor, if applicable) know if implementation of the plan achieves the traininggoals identified in the plan? Are there any plans for follow-up evaluation, including

assessing your results several months after you completed your plan?

Follow-Up After Completion of Your Plan

This is often the part of the plan that gets neglected. In our society, we're often so focusedon identifying the next problem to solve, that few of us have the ability to acknowledge

successful accomplishments and then celebrate. The design and of this plan has probably

been a very enlightening experience for you -- an experience that brought a perspective onlearning you can apply in a great many other arenas of your life. Congratulations!

1. Are follow-up evaluation methods being carried out?2. Did you (and your supervisor, if applicable) complete a successful experience

to develop and implement a training and development plan? Is this

accomplishment being fully recognized?

9. Evaluating Training and Development Programs

It is necessary that the outcomes or results of training programs be evaluated in systematic

and quantitative terms. One proposed model for assessing the success of a training programmeasures actual changes in cogniti

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Training and Development - Cm