An organization needs to have training programmes to achieve certain objectives that the company needs to progress in the direction to reach the company’s goals that it has set. The training has to be systematic so that it will be effective.
The purpose of a systematic approach to training and development is to access if the training and development has met the training objectives. The other purpose is also to determine if the organization managed to get their return on investment in the training and development.
Training and development is linked very closely to the performance in an organization and it is through this process that the company will be able to meet the current or future manpower needs. In an event that there is a gap in the performance of the employees and the organization goals, that is where training will be needed.
The organizational needs that will cause the management to conduct training include skill shortages due to ageing population, employees performing poorly, company decide to produce new products, apply new technology, or design new jobs because these changes tend to require new skills. At times the company maybe prompted by outside forces, such as customer requests or legal requirements.
The first phase is the training needs assessment phase. In this phase, the training objectives are established. This beginning phase is very important, as it is in this phase that we access what is the direction or mission of the training programmes. In this phase, we will also be able to ensure that the training process will ran smoothly and there will not be any unnecessary delay.
They are sorted into three different levels. The first is the organization level which finds out what is needed to change in the organization and whether the change in that area of the organization will be achievable. You will be able to find out whether the changes need to be executed in areas like quality, sales, production, safety or costs.
The second level is the tasks level. From this level, you will be able to find out if the employee’s abilities, skills and knowledge are still relevant. You will do this through the use of job description and job analysis. In the task level for the assessment of the training needs, you will need job analysis and job description to evaluate how capable the employees are. This is so that you will be able to find out what is the required abilities, skills and knowledge to perform the task needed to meet the organization needs. At the third level which is the person level, you will be able to determine the people who needs the training by using job specification.
Task analysis is an important part of training assessment needs as it helps to ensure the training process will not cause the company to waste time, resources and money. In the training needs assessment, the management will conduct training only if they find out that there are weaknesses in the organisation.
The second phase is the training activity phase which is determined by the training objectives that were identified in the assessment phase. In this phase, the organisation will be considering the training content, training method, training location, trainer and period or timing.
When considering the training, there will be two options to choose from. They are the off-the-job and on-the-job training. Some of the methods of performing off-the-job training and development include, classroom activities, simulation and management training.
In the classroom activities, this method of training is best suited for formal training and it is also the most cost effective way of training groups of people (Stone, 2010, p.350). There are a few room arrangements that are best for training a mass audience, they include the circle, the classic classroom, the squared-off U, the semi-circle and the square arrangement. Hence, the manager has to select the room arrangement that will meet the training environment that they would like to produce. An example can be, the circle arrangement will not be better than square when it comes to the taking of notes. Another example can be, the squared-off U arrangement allows for more communication and it portrays a more professional nature when in comparison with the circle or semi-circle arrangement.
Subsequently, the simulation method of training is practiced so that the training will be of the closest proximity to the actual situation that the trainees has to be prepared for in his line of work. At the same time, this training method is administered in an environment that will be within the control of the trainers. So that the training will be of the lowest level of danger to the trainees. Simulation training can come in the form of machine simulators. Examples of industries that will find this kind of training useful consist of the aviation, the rescue and the automobile industry. Other means of simulation training includes the vestibule training. This form of training is used to allow the trainees to operate equipments that bear a resemblance to the real equipments. The purpose of such a training is to provide the trainees with an environment that gives them the time and space to practice without being pressured to meet the datelines of an actual operation.
The next off-the-job training comes in the form of management training. Management training is used to let the trainees go through the stress and situations that will be a part of being a manager. Some of the practices include using case studies, incidents, role-plays, in-basket exercises, gaming, adventure training and cookery training. This form of training has many advantages and disadvantages. First of all, cases studies can be used to test the capabilities of the trainees in solving problems that are specific to the situation that was discussed in the case study. This method can also allow the trainees and trainers to exchange opinions and ideas that are targeted to the training objectives. However, to make the training effective, the trainer has to ensure that the questions will cause the trainees to think and the whole training process has to involve all the participants.
Next, organizations will consider using adventure training to meet the training needs because such training will cause the trainees to find out more about their own abilities when faced with obstacles that will challenge them mentally and physically. At the same time, such practices bonds the trainees when they come together to overcome situations. Hence, it helps to develop leadership skills that will be useful in the workplace. Unfortunately, there are some evidences that states that this training method can present potential legal and safety pitfalls (Kezman and Connors, 1993, pp.71-4).
In on-the-job training, the trainees are going through training while going through their daily routine at work. This form of training has more advantages when compared to off-the-job training because the transfer of skills and knowledge is real time while the trainees are in their job environment. Some forms of on-the-job training include, coaching, understudy assignment, mentoring, job rotation, project assignments, small site management, secondments and behavior modeling.
Coaching is whereby the trainer will be giving the trainee one-to-one attention. In this type of training, the trainer will provide the trainee with a standard example to follow and the trainer will offer guidance to the trainee along the way. Another training method is job rotation, this type of training provides the trainee with an opportunity to take up different roles and responsibilities in the organization. However, the advantages of job rotation will be lost if the trainee is changing from a unexciting position to another (DuBrin, 2008, p.231).
Next, behaviour modeling is a way that trainees can be taught using other people’s experiences. This form of training is used to change the behavior or skills of the trainee by providing them with a model to follow. Organisations have found that this type of training is useful in imparting customer service, sales and supervisory skills.
Another type of training is action learning. This training will be useful to the organization because, the materials that are used to teach the trainees are cases from the problems that the trainees are going through in their own work environment (Raelin, 1997, p.21). When trainees go through this form of training, they will feel that the knowledge that is passed on to them is just a remodeling of what they already know.
Next method of training that is useful is the competency-based training. This training method is used to identify how competent the trainee as competencies are the skills that will distinguish a low and high performance trainee. This form of training is able to provide the trainees with a very focused approach to their training process as they will be able to find where their areas of improvement as well as their areas of expertise are. Consequently, a training program will be tailor made to their competencies standard.
Another method of training is the apprentice training. Apprenticeships are usually used to train trainees in industries that require skilled labour like electricians, carpenters, mechanics and machinists. However, this form of training has no organized program as it is just based on ‘observation and practice’.
A different kind of training is the supervisory and management training. This training is used to develop trainees from the background of a worker to have a mindset and skills of a supervisor or manager. This includes having the skills in planning, leading, organizing and controlling. In having a manager’s mindset, would mean that the trainee is always focus on the growth of the company as they are the people that will bring the organization to greater heights.
Next, organizations that place great emphasis on the training and development of the employee will use corporate university (Peak, 1997, p.33 and Tesorieo, 2005, pp.50-6). Trainees that go through training from corporate university will end up doing their job more proficiently as the knowledge that they receive will be closely aligned to their job scope and the training will be of the same objectives throughout the organisation. An example is the Hamburger university from Macdonald’s. Another example is the university of Toyota.
Following that, diversity training can be the next consideration for organizations. This form of training is used to address the different age, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, marital status and a range of other factors (Stone, 2010, p.357). This is to ensure that there will be equal opportunities to everyone in the organization.
Next, training technologies is another training activity that can be of concern to the organization. This training consist of computer-based training, audiovisual equipment, multimedia and web-based training. This training method uses the principles of reinforcement theory, hence the trainees will retain the knowledge that they have learnt better. Other advantages of such a training activity include the ease of bringing the learning material around and also the fact that the trainees can have access to the training contents whenever they need it (Schultz, 1998, pp.181-2).
Following that, we will discuss about who is responsible for delivering the training. They include the training departments, training consultancies and the line manager (Beardwell et al, 2004, p.327). The training department is a very important because they have specialized knowledge in the administering of training, hence they can act as consultants to the line managers. Training consultancies are used to provide training programmes if the client organizations do not have training departments within their company particularly small and medium sized companies.
The training evaluation phase is to find out where can improvement be made to improve the training programmes so that the training will only be beneficial to the company and not a waste of company resources. Training evaluation is in place so as to find out if the training activity has met its training objectives. If there is something wrong with the results, you will know that the training objectives are wrong. The evaluation also shows if the training program helps to solve the weaknesses that were previously highlighted in the training needs assessment phase.
However, some evidences states that the training and development are viewed as being an expense to the company as at times it does not deliver the forecasted effects that the training was supposed to have on the organization.
The ways to measure training effectiveness include using reactions, learning, behavior and results. Reactions are usually considered in the process or at the closing stages of the training procedure. The factors that are taken into account include the content, the trainer and the methods used to deliver the training. Behaviour is a form of evaluating the transfer of training in the process of the training. The greater the transfer of training, the more effective the training.
A form of evaluation can be end-of-session evaluation forms, which will be effective to find out information in areas like trainer effectiveness, methodology and material (Nankervis, 2005, p.281).
In conclusion, a systematic approach is useful to create effective training programmes to meet organizational needs. So organization should take high interest to a systematic approach to training and development, as this can raise the level of motivation in the organization.

References

Stone, R.J. (2010). Human Resource Management Seventh Edition. Milton Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
DuBrin, A.J. (2008). Essentials of Management Eighth Edition. USA: South Western Cengage Learning
Beardwell, I. et al. (2004). Human Resource Management A Contemporary Approach Fourth Edition. England: Pearson Education Limited
Nankervis, A. et al. (2005). Human Resource Management Fifth Edition. Southbank Victoria: Thimson
Schultz, D. and Schultz, S.E. (1998) Psychology and Work Today, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 181-2
Peak, M.H. (1997) ‘Go corporate U!’, Management Review, 86(2), p.33; and Tesorieo, M.(2005) ‘Tailored for change’, HR Monthly, April, pp.50-6
Raelin, J.A. (1997) ‘Action learning and action science: are they different?’, Organizational Dynamics, 26(1), p.21.
See Kezman, S.W. and Connors, E.K. (1993) ‘Avoid legal pitfalls in non traditional training’, HRM Magazine, May, pp. 71-4