Impact of Training and Development on employees

performance and productivity

LITERATURE REVIEW

OVERVIEW OF TRAINNING AND DEVELOPMENT

One major area of the Human Resource Management function is effective use of

human resources which is training and development. People nowadays considered

the value of training as a major control on the success of an organization.

Employees are an essential, but useful resource.

In order to keep up economic growth and valuable performance, it is important to

optimize the role of employees through training to the aims and goals of the

organizations. The importance of training as a inner role of management has long

been known by leading writers. According to Drucker, the one contribution by a

manager is uniquely expected to make others vision and ability to perform in a

specified way.

The general movement towards downsizing, flexible structures of the organizations

and the temperament of management moving towards the delegation of power to

the workforce give increasing emphasis to an environment of coaching and support

could only by training and development. Training is necessary to ensure an

adequate supply of staff that are technically and socially proficient and capable of

career development into various departments or management positions. IT is

therefore a repetitive need for the process of staff training and development fulfills

an important part of employment carrier growth. Training should be viewed

therefore as an important part of the process of total quality management.

(Armstrong 2000 )

The aim behind training employees is “achieving cost effective high performance”

and good performance makes quality, higher quality implies lower costs and

increased productivity, which in circle provides the firm with a greater market

share and enhanced competitiveness levels. (deming, 1982). This idea supports the

conclusion reached in a number of empirical studies dedicated to manufacturing

and service organizations (Flynn et al., 1995; Kaynak, 2003; Heras, 2006).

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

“HRM is the policies and practices involved in carry out the people’s actions‟ or a

human resource aspects of a management position, including screening, recruting

rewards programs, trainings and appraising. These policies and practices include

conducting job analysis, selecting suitable and required candidates, orienting new

employees, plans and implementation of training and developing, managing

salaries, providing employees‟ benefits and awards etc. The administrative

discipline of recruiting and developing employees so that they become more

valuable and important to the organization. (Dessler 2006,)

Training has significant and direct relationship with the employees’ performance.

Fundamentally training is a formal & organized modification of behavior through

learning which resulted if education, instruction, development, growth & planned

experience (Michael Armstrong, 2000). Because of the realistic implications of

training, it is crucial to have training that is effective and efficient. A lot of Studies

have proven that more costly but effective training can save money that is done on

despicable but inefficient training. Essentially, the purpose of human resource

management is to increase the productivity and performance of an organization

successfully by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. (Ginsberg, 1997).

Human Resource Management has emerged as a major function in most

organizations and is the focus for a wide-ranging debate concerning the Nature of

the existing employment relationships.

ROLES OF HRM

Managing human resource is a unremitting process as there are always some

changes in the work force of an organization. It seeks to focus on the people at

work in an organization, facilitates the development of such human relationships

so that each employee derives personal satisfaction and contribute optimally

towards understanding of overall goals of an organization. Whatever means are

used, the role of individuals and groups as employees and the ability of

management to effectively deploy such a resource is essential to the interest of

both the employee and organization. Conventionally, Human Resource concerns

itself with recruitment, selection,training,placement, compensation and industrial

relations among others, (Armstrong, 1996 and Dessler 2006).

JOB ANALYSIS

“Job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties of these

jobs and the characteristics of the people who should be hired for them.”

(Dessler,2006)

Job analysis is the basic of all the other departmental activities in which HRM

considers what jobs are needed, job descriptions are written to clarify each job’s

responsibilities, tasks and duties. As well as job specification, the person takes care

of writing job specification should be clear about what kind of knowledge, skills

and abilities are necessary in the work. (Woods 2006)

RECRUITING

According to the job analysis , human resource staff responsible for recruiting

would know how many employees to hire and what kind of people are to be hired.

Recruiting can be divided into internal recruiting and external recruiting, as the

name suggested, HR DEPARTMENT can hire employees from workers inside the

organization , a transfer from a branch, or any kind of promotion etc. Hiring staff

and employees from outside sources is called external recruiting. (Woods 2006)

TRAINING

After successfully chosen new employees, these employees need to be trained to

be on the job, orientation will be organized before starting of their work, and other

kinds of trainings will catch up. (woods,2006)

EVALUATING

It is obligatory to have performance appraisals for employees in a period of time

and it encourages and motivates them to work harder and better in the future, and

also helps them to improve their skills and abilities by compensating, rewarding

and practicing more. (Dessler 2006, 183)

OBJECTIVE OF HRM:

The main goal of Human Resource Management is to close the gap between ideal

requirement and the actual performance of a business to achieve greater

organizational efficacy and success. (Price 2007 ).

HRM is positioning itself to achieve organizational objectives through by a proper

training and development. The basic motive for employees and to make the best

use of employees’ abilities to increase productivity and performance. HRM is

helping the organization to create conditions for employees to innovate, team work

and develop abilities as well as to establish an environment for employees to

express their energy and creativity With the guidance of HRM, individuals will

relate themselves with the success of the company by performing better.

(Armstrong, 1992)

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT IN

HOTELLING INDUSTRY :

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The world is changing rapidly in everyday life. In order to be according to the

world there should be making the best use of the personnel’s abilities became of

tremendous significance in the businesses.

Human Resource Management needs to be carefully considered and implemented.

It should be dealing with the effects of the diversified world of work, which means

the people who work in the Human Resources Department have to be aware of the

implications of globalization, changes in technologies, workforce diversity, labor

shortages, changing skill requirements, the conditional workforce, decentralized

work sites, and employee involvement etc. (Christina Pomoni 2009.)

Training is an essential and indispensable part of Human Resource Management,

which has long been recognized. (Mcclelland 2002)

STAFF TRAINING

Training is the system that provides employees with the knowledge and the

skills required to operate within the systems and standards set by management.”

(Sommerville 2007, 208)

“Training, in the most simplistic definition, is an activity that changes people‟s

behavior.” (Mccleland 2002, 7)

STAFF TRAINING IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

In modern hotel business, it is all about ability in people, and especially the

employees’ s qualities. The quality service depends on the qualities of employees.

The qualities are about skills, thoughts and knowledge which lead to a

hotels survival and development.

Therefore, staff training is essential in many ways; it increases productivity while

employees are armed with experienced skills, professional knowledge and suitable

thoughts. Staff training also motivates and inspires workers by providing

employees all needed information in work as well as helps them to recognize the

importance of their job (Yafang Wang 2008.)

Training and development can be considered as a key instrument in the

implementation of HRM practices and policies. (Nickson 2007, 154-155) Hotels

which are running successful always emphasize staff training as their important

development strategy.

Staff Training in an international perspective

As hotel business is often on an international level, so that Staff training should

also be internationalized. Cross-culture training needed to be taken into

consideration when planning and designing trainings. Language training became

very important in international staff training. (Nickson 2007)

Staff Training in International HRM is through different methods,

attending lectures and courses in different training centers

Since culture is a key factor in HRM, as a result, culture topic is treated more

seriously and carefully, employees should be trained well to deal with possible

cultural misunderstandings or even conflicts. Information should be practiced and

provided during the training, simulations, role play and meetings with foreign

employees will help the trainees to understand better. (Decenzo & Robbinson,

2007)

AIM OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

The commonly techniques includes the analysis of employees’ training profiles for

getting data regarding the nature, type, tenure and other details of training which

has been optimized by the employees. Performance was analyzed by inventories is

also used because the performance inventories are often filled by the supervisors

and contains important data regarding the level of performance, which has been

exhibited by the employees after taking training.

It was investigated the training relationship with remuneration in the

accommodation industry and used training profiles for gathering detail information

regarding the nature and types of trainings of employees of accommodation

industry in order to find relationship of training with remuneration in

accommodation industry. ( Ruth taylor, 2004)

Working on skills and training in the hotel sector of Northern Ireland and studied

the training profiles of hotel employees for getting detail data about the nature and

type of training which has been gained by the hotel employees. (Tom Baum et al.,

2007)

Training is the planned and systematic modification of behavior through learning

events, activities and programs which results in the participants achieving the

levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities to carry out their work

effectively (Gordon 1992). Training is the organized system of altering the

behavior or attitudes and working manner of employees in a direction to increase

the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. This means for any

organization to succeed or win in achieving the objectives of its training program,

the design and execution should be planned and systematic, modified towards

attractive performance and productivity (Pheesey, 1971) .

The admiration of the importance of training in recent years has been heavily

emphasis by the growth of competition and the sucess of the organizations where

investment in employee development is noticeably emphasized. The amount and

evident concern of training are both positively unified to job satisfaction and

moving dedication, and negatively correlated for objective to quit the organization.

(Beardwell and Holden ,1993).

With the development of the technologies and the whole business environment,

employees are requested to be more skilled and qualified, even if you are a good

employee today, you could be out of the line some other day if you do not keep

studying. A company needs organized staff training if wants to be competitive

among others. (Yafang Wang 2008.)

Training is the key task to help employees in the company to be more united and

unified towards their goals to achieve success for their organization. Training of

work tasks is one of the main aspects of staff training, including principles at work,

professional knowledge and skills, by offering employees these essentials. Staff

training helps personal abilities match with business requirements expressing an

understanding of training emphasizes that training should be developed and

operated within an organization by appreciating learning approaches of the training

is to be well understood. (Train, 2009).

The training program’s success depends more on the organization’s ability to

Figure out training needs and the care with which it prepares the program in a way

that can easily be utilized by the employees.

(sharmeen et el, 1996).

Training and development is necessary to organizations such as hotels which seek

to gain a an advantage through a highly skilled and flexible workforce, and want to

be seen as a major element to high productivity and quality performance. As

performance is the major element to achieve the goals of the organization so to

performance increase the effectiveness and effeciancy of the organization which is

a major symptom for the success of employee in an organization. (Steedman and

wagner, 1989)

A skilled workforce can improve a organization’s operative flexibility as they will

be easier to retrain due to their broad knowledge base of multi-skills. This indeed

allows management to be confident in using new technology and provide

employers with progressive adjustment to change in production methods, produce

requirement and technology. An enterprise could hire experienced employees or

train employees to be skilled. When the company trains their own staff, by

providing and forming a harmonious atmosphere, accurate work specification and

the passion of work, team spirit will boost employees and management team within

the process. (Train01, 2009.)

Training and development could be extremely demanding and should be in-depth.

A lack of training or poor training can turn out high employee turnover and the

delivery of imperfect products and services so every organization should develop

its employees according to the need of that time so that they could compete with

their competitors. (Sommerville 2007, 208)

BENEITS OF TRAINING

Training is a major part as well as the key task of Human Resource Management

and Development which plays the crucial path of motivating employees and

increasing productivity in the firm. (Mcclelland 2002, 7)

Training employees is an essential activity for all organizations, they provide

employees with the major knowledge and skills that they need to perform for their

job. Effective training will progress the personal characters and professional

abilities. Not only employees, management and organization would benefit from

staff training and can be used to create positive attitudes through clarifying the

behaviours and attitudes which is expected from the employee. (Sommerville

2007 )

The aim of training is to improve knowledge and skills, and to change

attitudes or behavior. It is the most important potential motivators which can lead

to many possible benefits for both individuals and the organization.

Training can achieve:

1) High morale - Employees who gets training have a high confidence and

motivation which enhances a worker level of skills with a sense of satisfaction.

2) Lower cost Of Production– training reduces risks because trained and personnel

are able to make beneficial economical use of material and equipment and gives

meaningful skills.

3) Lower turnover – Higher turnover can bring a serious danger to employee.

Major benefit of training that it brings a sense of security at the workplace which

reduces labor turnover .

4) Change management- training helps to manage change by increasing the

understanding and involvement of employees in the change process and also

provides the skills and abilities needed to adjust to new situations;

5) Provide recognition, enhanced possibility of increased pay ,promotion and

availabity of a quality of staff

6) Give a feeling of personal satisfaction and achievement, and broaden

opportunities for career progression. (cole,2000)

Krietner in his book The Good Manager’s Guide, no matter how carefully job

applicants are screened, typically a gap remains between what the employee does

know and what they should know. An organization which desires to gain the

competitive edge in its respective industry, needs among other things, extensive

and effective training of its human resources.(krietner 1995)

Training is therefore a key element for improved organizational performance; it

increases the level of individual and organizational competences. Training makes

the employees versatile in operations. Which can be transferred to any job.

Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates prosperity, which is reflected in

increased profits from year to year and helps to reconcile the gap between what

should happen and what is happening .

Although many employers continue to have reservations about the cost and extent

of tangible business . Though no single training program takes all the benefits, the

organization which devotes itself to training and development to enhance its HR

capabilities and strengthens to have a competitive edge.

Economic and technological trends makes, the pace of innovation and uniquness,

change and development are growing faster year-by-year and as a result. It

provides clear signals that training and development are so applicable that both

organizations and individual stakeholders must give a serious attention to. (Casio,

1989)

Training gives job satisfaction to the semployee making their aim towards

commitment and motivation which is highly regarded as important to the training

and development measurement of organizational performance. Employees should

be treated as valued assets, a source of competitive advantage through their

commitment, adaptability and quality of skills and performance (Guest, 1997).

BENEFITS THE EMPLOYEE

Increases job satisfaction with self development and self confidence. It helps

an employee become effective problem solver which will learn the method

of problem solving. Moves employee closer to personal goals by gaining

professional knowledge and getting the opportunity to get to know other

positions, increases the possibilities promotions in the meantime. Allows the

employee to become productive more quickly and familiar with their work

tasks, Training sessions gives advanced knowledge and techniques which

improve their capabilities, increases productivity. (soumerville, 2007)

BENEFITS THE MANAGEMENT

People who are responsible for training will find out those employees during

training, who are quick learners and have better knowledge and skills.

Therefore, different methods of training can be chosen and better results will

be acquired. During the training, employees‟ abilities and personalities will

be easily identified by experienced trainers. Some employees are more

suitable for other positions, organizations can adjust and make best use of

employee knowledge and abilities.

BENEFITS THE ORGANIZATION

Owing to the growth of productivity and better services after training, it is

more promised for the hotel to have more profits in return. Without

organized training and guidance, especially employees who work with

dangerous facilities, accidents are easily occurred, these incide can be easily

prevented. Firms need to develop their technologies and way of working in

order to be competitive, and training assures the competitiveness, because

training will bring good quality, effectiveness and loyal customers to the

firms. Wastage and damages in different departments are commonly found

out in hotel operation, with the help of staff training so unnecessary wastage

and damages can be avoided. Trainings on regular basis can decrease work

pressures and employee turnover, as a result they will be having a less labor

cost wasted and quality service can be achieved. (soumerville, 2007)

TRAINING PROCESS:

Training in an organization involves systematic approach which generally follows

a sequence of activities involving the establishment of a training policy. Process

of training needs identification, training plans and programs design and

implementation, evaluation and training feedback for

further action. (Dole, 1985)

STEP-I (NEED ASSESMENT)

“Need can either be a current deficiency, such as a poor employee performance, or

a new challenge that demands a change in a way firm wants to operate”( DeSimon

and Harris, 1998)

A need assessment is the efficient process of determining goals, identifying

discrepancies between actual and desired conditions, and establishing priorities for

action (cited by Lee & Owens, 2000)

A need of training always results from the difference between act for act for

performances and the actual performances. Trainings can also be provided for

fresh employees to help them get familiar with the work environment and tasks

etc. HR department should believe the related aspects for example job analysis,

performance objectives etc. The techniques are necessary for the data collection

surveys, observations, interviews, and customer comment cards. (lee And Owens,

2000). There are several examples of an analysis outlining specific training needs

are customer dissatisfaction, low morale, low productivity, and high turnover.

STEP-II (DESIGNING OR PLANNING)

Here in this step development of current job descriptions and standards and

procedures. Job descriptions should be clear and concise and may serve as a major

training tool to specify training objectives, designing training program, selecting

training methods. Training goals, method, duration, program structure, location

and selection of trainees etc are the practical problems which is answered in the

planning stage.

STEP-III (DELIVERY)

This step is dependable for the instruction and delivery of the training program.

Once you have selected your trainers, the training techniques should be planned.

One-on-one training, on-the-job training, group training, seminars, and workshops

are the most popular methods and advanced method for delivering.

STEP-1V (EVALUATION)

This step will determine how effective and profitable your training program has

been. Training evaluation is an unavoidable stage in the training process, to get the

feedback helps organizing, adjusting and planning of future trainings.

Evaluation is the ending stage of a training and methods are pre-and post- surveys

of customer comments cards, the establishment of a cost/benefit analysis indicates

your expenses and returns, which results higher customer satisfaction and increase

in profits.

The reason for an evaluation system is simple, without a doubt the most important

step in the training process which indicates the effectiveness of both the training as

well as the trainer.

There are several obvious benefits for evaluating a training program.

First, evaluations will provide feedback on the trainer’s performance, so they

can improve for future programs.

Second, evaluations will show its cost-effectiveness.

Third, that they show an efficient way to determine the overall effectiveness.

(woods 2006 and Nickson 2007)

METHODS OF EVALUATION:

Questionnaires are a common way of analyzing trainee responses to courses

and programs.

Tests or examinations are common on formal courses, especially those

getting a diploma in word processing.

Projects are initially seen as learning methods but they can also provide

valuable information to instructor about the participants’ understanding of

subject matter.

Structured exercises and case studies also provide opportunities to apply

learned skills and techniques under the observation of tutors and evaluators.

Interviews of trainees after the course or instruction period are another

technique for gathering information directly from the learners. These can be

formal or informal, individual or group, face-to-face or by telephone. formal

or informal, individual or group, face-to-face or by telephone.( Beardwell

and Holden, 1993)

PRESENTING THE TRAINING:

KINDS OF TRAINING:

Apprentice training

Apprenticeship programs are sponsored by joint employer and labor groups,

individual employers, and/or employer associations. The sponsor of an

apprenticeship program usually plans, administers, and pays for the program.

commonly, organized labor unions also participate together with these employer to

sponsor apprenticeship programs. Registered apprenticeship, traditionally

associated with the precision, trade in construction, craft and repair.

To introduce hotel general information and basic skills needed at work to new

workers. This training helps building up good relationships between employees

themselves and as well as between employees and management team. Moreover,

it helps employees to set up the right attitude towards work.

Certification training

The courses in this Certification are designed for individuals who wish to develop

a solid foundation of management concepts and skills. Participants gain essential

management skills in the areas of human resource management, marketing,

leadership, financial analysis, and foodservice management. In short, these courses

are designed to build a foundation of skills to help new managers succeed and

progress in their organization.

After this kind of training, employee get professional certificate on practical or

theoretical tests. It aims to improve employees‟ skills and motivates them when

they pass the tests.

Simulation training

Practical training is held with the help of Human Resource Department, aiming to

improve methods of working and increase work effectiveness by simulating the

real workplace. This training is in existence in everyday work, therefore it is long

term. The greatest constraint for many organizations is the ability to attract, retain,

engage and develop talent. At the same time, the practical impact of near

continuous change and complexity in business environments has meant that people

in organizations must constantly adapt.

In order to have good results from this training, department heads play very

important roles by using proper training skills.

Simulation learning offers huge advantages over traditional training methods such

as lectures, handbooks and assessents. It engages participants interactively helping

them to practice, retain and apply what they have learned.

On-the-job training

Employees‟ professional quality is the key of hotel services, the rules and

principles of work are taught in this kind of training, besides, courtesy, manners

and techniques of handling interpersonal relations are taught as well. This kind of

training aims to train employees to learn the best way to do the work in the most

quickly and effective way.

Language Training

Hotel employees are required to be able to speak one or two foreign languages,

for different departments, different work categories or different positions,

language requirements also differ. English as an international used language,

every staff needs to be familiar with. Another language is required or to be trained

depending on the location of the hotel.(walker 2007)

Hotel services and administration training

This training is more focused on a specific subject according to the request of

improving administration and services, including telephone techniques, guest

relations, sales skills, public relations general information and application, safety

and first-aid etc.

Cross training

To ensure the communication among departments and increase the ability of

adjusting to distinguished environments, cross training is used to assist employees

to receive knowledge and skills from other departments.

(Walker 2007 )

Training, Performance and Productivity

The quality improvement of employees and development can be done through

training which can become a major factors in determining long-term profitability

and best possible performance of organizations.(evans 1999)

To hire and keep quality employees, it is good policy to invest in the development

of their skills, knowledge and abilities so that individual and ultimately

organizational productivity can increase. Traditionally, training is given to new

employees only. This is a mistake as ongoing training for existing employees helps

them adjust rapidly to changing job requirements. (Lindsay 1999)

Neo et al. (2000) bemoaned the lack of training and development by employers

in the United States when they stated that statistics suggests that only 16% of

United States employees have never received any training from their employers.

Now organizations are beginning to realize the important role that training and

development play in enhancing performance and increasing productivity, and

ultimately stay in competition. (neo et al, 2000)

A well-trained workforce can output better jobs, be creative, and have higher

motivation, which enhances the long term of the organization’s productivity.

According to training is one of the common problems in the introduction of

technological change in an organization because of the lack of skill needed

workers who work according with a given manner. Rothwell (1984) and

Majchrzak (1988).

Efficient production even of unrelated technically products, benefits from

technically advanced machinery which is operated by a workforce with a high

level of skills. This turns a pre-condition successful for selective of appropriate

trends and its efficient utilization” (Steedman & Wagner, 1989,)

The job satisfaction , employee commitment and motivation are highly regarded as

important to the training and development measurement of organizational

performance. Employees should be treated as valued assets, a source of

competitive advantage through their commitment, flexibility and quality of

performance and skills. (Guest, 1997).

Many organizations assume that employees are more satisfied because they have a

job. Employers as a result, do not attempt to involve other employees with decision

making or motivating them emphasizing more on generating commitment through

communication, motivation and leadership (Storey, 1987)

One of a case study in America on the impact of human capital investments such as

employer-provided training and development which indicated that employer-

provided training and development raises subjective productivity and performance

measure by almost 16%. It returns on training and development investments

increase productivity by 16%. Lynch(1996) citing Bartel (1989)

Human Resource Development

Important job a manager is to manage the employee development which includes

his/her personal growth and career development Linda Maund (2001).

In previous business environments, career planning was handled in the main by the

organization which employed an individual, who was likely to be in that

organization’s employment for life. Nowadays, the work environment is

continuously changing with increasing work mobility which brings about

alternative and potential for almost any employee. (Linda Maund 2001).