Training and Development

In the modern organization training and development are essential continuous activities that are
important in aiding the company to achieve competitive advantage. Through training and development
(if done correctly) the organization develops competencies, or knowledge and expertise that, allows it to
rival or surpass its competition. The volatility of the macro and micro environments that the company
faces, such as rapidly changing technology, requires that the organization continually update the
knowledge, skills and ability of its workforce.

Training and development are those activities that a company uses to acclimatize employees to the
operations and culture of the organization as well as activities that foster growth in employees’ skill
levels. As such it starts from orientation and continues based on the developmental needs of employees
and the organization.

Orientation / Socialization Programme (On-boarding)

Orientation is the process by which new employees are formally introduced to the working of the
organization, their job and its requirements and, the working relationships which prevail within the
company. Orientation is geared towards making employees effective company members. To be
successful this process should be introduced in three phases: Anticipatory Socialization, Encounter and
Settling In.

• Anticipatory Socialization: This occurs before the individual joins the company. Individuals
develop expectations of the company: job, working conditions and interpersonal relationships,
through interaction with company representatives and others (mainly through the recruitment
and selection process). It is important that the information provided to potential employees be
realistic.
• Encounter: Even when employees are given realistic information they are still likely to
experience shook and surprise at the new job. Therefore appropriate training must be given to
make them familiar with job tasks, practices and procedures.
• Settling In: This is the stage the employee starts to feel comfortable about the job and social
relationships. The employee may be interested in the company’s evaluation of his/her
performance and potential opportunities within the company.

Socialization that follows these phases can be motivating to employees. It is common that, through this
process employees learn about: the company history; company goals; company language; company
politics; people; performance proficiency.

It is common in many companies in the Caribbean that, the orientation process is informal and becomes
the responsibility of random employees. However, a well structured orientation has many benefits such
as: low turnover; increased productivity; improved employee morale; lower recruiting and training
costs; facilitation of learning and; reduction of anxiety by new employees.

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The Training and Development Process
The training and development process refers to the mechanisms used by the organization to enhance
the performance of employees to make them more effective at their current jobs and future position in
the company

Training interventions would not be successful without first determining whether it is the right solution
for the issue(s) at hand

We will be looking at two training and development processes, the Instructional Design Process, and the
ADDIE Model.

The Instructional Design Process

It is said that training systems that contribute to competitiveness are designed according to the
instructional design process. It is more than just picking the training that is most popular (as many
companies seem to do) but instead it involves: conducting needs assessments; ensuring employees’
readiness for training; ensuring transfer of training; selecting training methods and; evaluating
effectiveness.

Conducting Needs Assessment

When problems in the organization occur, the HR manager has to determine whether training is
necessary to correct it. Not all problems are appropriately corrected using training; therefore, the HR
manager has to assess whether training is the solution or whether other tools are required. The
following areas of concern in the organization, may suggest that training is needed:

• Performance problems
• New technology
• Internal or external customer requests for training
• Job redesign
• New legislation
• Changes in customer preferences
• New products
• An employee’s lack of basic skills

It should be noted that the existence of these concerns does not automatically require that training be
used as a solution. Hence it is required that the HR manager do an assessment. The assessment
programme includes the following three steps:

1. Organization analysis

This involves determining the appropriateness of training given, and is based on:

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 a. The firm’s business strategy – determines whether funds will be allocated to certain
types of training.
b. The resources available for training – whether the company has the budget, time and
expertise for the training.
c. The support given for managers and peers for the training activities – particularly on
how the trainee can use new knowledge and skills learned in the training, on the job.
2. Person Analysis

This involves determining whether or not performance deficiencies result from:

a. A lack of knowledge, skills or abilities

b. A lack of motivation
c. A work design problem
d. A problem identifying who needs training
e. A problem determining employees’ readiness for training
3. Task Analysis

This includes identifying:

a. The important tasks

b. The knowledge
c. The skills
d. Behaviours which must be emphasized in training

Ensure Employees Readiness for Training

Managers play an important role in the learning readiness to their employees. To do so the manager
must ensure that employees are properly motivated to learn. Employees can be motivated if the
manager helps them understand the purpose of the training programme and how active participation
can benefit them. This can be done by:

1. Letting the employee know that the purpose of the training is to improve performance and not
to identify areas of incompetency.
2. Providing information on the training prior to its commencement.
3. Showing proof that the training works by identifying peers/colleagues who took advantage of
similar training.

Ensure the Transfer of Training

The training that employees receive would be of little effect if it is not regularly applied to the working
environment. As said before supervisors and peers play an important role in assisting the trainee in
applying new knowledge and skills to actual work practices. This is called “transfer of learning”; if this
does not take place then the organization not only wastes its resources conducting training, but also

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fails to derive the benefits of such training. These benefits include meeting strategic objectives and
gaining competitive advantage.

To ensure this transfer of training, elements of the training should be in sync with the procedures of the
company. In addition, coaching and mentoring should be available to the trainee, as well as a clear
outline of his/her roles and responsibilities.

Selecting the Right Training Method

The right training method will depend on the information gleaned by the needs assessment exercise
stated above. Training methods are influenced by the company’s strategy and available resources. It also
depends on the personal needs and learning styles of employees, and practicality.

Evaluating Effectiveness

The training or HR manager must evaluate whether the targeted training will be effective in eliminating
the concerns that the organization has. Here an examination of the results of the training and its link to
solving an organizational deficiency must be made. A critical assessment of the training method and
learning transfer is necessary to ensure the overall success of the programme. Success of the training
must be gauged by how well it addresses the organizational concerns (poor performance; new
technology implementation etc.).

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The ADDIE Model
The ADDIE model outlines five Steps of the Training and Development Process

1. Analysis - systematic exploring of the way things are done and the ways it should be done. It
seeks to determine if training is the right solution to correct organization deficiencies by making
assessments at the organization, individual, and task levels. It also explores how to conduct the
training exercise and evaluate its success.

2. Design - deals with learning objectives, assessment instruments, exercises, content, subject
matter analysis, lesson planning, and media selection. At this stage, the learning styles and the
education levels of trainees are considered, as well as the teaching style required of the
presenter and the training techniques to be used.

3. Development is where applicable content from the design stage is created and assembled. It
includes the development of activities, reference material/manuals, and storyboards.

4. Implementation of the training takes place at this stage, procedures for facilitators and the
learners are developed, and the course is delivered to participants.

5. Evaluation is the process of measuring how well the training solution achieved its objective in
developing the needed behaviours and correcting the initial issue. The process seeks to
scrutinize the effectiveness of the various steps of the training process to access their role in the
success or failure of the exercise.

Training Techniques
Here are a few examples of training techniques that can be employed:

1. On-the-job training (OJT): This is a process whereby an employee is working and training at the
same time. Employees experience OJT in different ways. One way is the coaching or
understudying process where the employee (understudy) is guided by a more senior employee
(coach).

Another way is the job rotation method: an employee is moved through the company doing
many different jobs at planned intervals. An employee can also experience OJT through
apprenticeship training, which is a structured process of practical as well as classroom training
by which the employee becomes skilled.

To gain technical experience it might be necessary to train an employee over a period of time. In
addition, training employees while they are working, as opposed to sending them to an offsite
location, increases the chance that learned information will be fully assimilated. On the job
training can also be cost effective to the organization.

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 2. Job Instruction Training (JIT): This is listing each task in a job in order to provide step by step
training for employees. As most jobs have logical steps, the training teaches the job using logical
steps. To begin we list all the steps of the job in sequence, along with key points. The steps show
what is to be done, the key point show how it should be done.

3. The Lecture: This is a quick and simple way to provide knowledge to a large number of trainees,
and permits the trainer to interact with the audience.

4. Audiovisual Techniques: using films, video and audio tapes to conduct training. Audiovisual
techniques are useful when doing organizational wide training and it is too costly to send a
lecturer to the various locations and; where it is necessary to expose trainees to events which
are not easily demonstrable while lecturing.

5. Tele-training: This is a system where the trainer is based at a central location and is able to
conduct training to different territories using satellite.

6. Webinars: training facilitated using the internet.

Each training technique has its advantages and disadvantages. Companies can decide which technique is
best based on:

• The type of job: if the job is a hands-on job like driving a forklift, on the job training may be
required; however, training on taxation for the accounting department can be done as a lecture.

• The type training required: the type of training required will influence how the training is
conducted. Ex. Training to fix machinery may require hands-on (practical) and classroom
sessions.

• The audience or targeted employees for training: The way you train employees varies according
to whether the attendees are new employees, seasoned employees or upper management or
executives of the company.

In addition, the skill level of the audience can influence the method chosen. If employee are not
very computer literate it would make no sense using a computer based training.

• The amount and locations of employees to be trained: if there are lots of people in various
locations requiring training the company has a number of cost effective solutions like audio
visual techniques (dvd training), tele-training and webinars to name a few.

• The objectives of the training: training objectives e.g. team building training may require all
members to be in the same room.

• The availability of technology: technology gives companies cost effective solutions such as
internal training portals (company universities) and webinars.