UNIT 1

OVERVIEW OF

TRAINING

&

DEVELOPMENT

Abg Izhar Abg Ahmad

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

Define the concept of training and development.

Identify the fundamental elements and steps of the

training process.

Describe the training policies and practices in some

organizations that are familiar to you.

Explain some of the purposes of training and

development.

Interpret the relationship of training to other human

resource management functions.

Describe some of the organizational factors affecting

training and development.

Why T & D?

Dramatic changes making T&D activities crucial:

Global competition

Rapid change in technology

Total quality management

Use of new quality processes and technologies

Young people with conventional qualifications

People who are laid off by some organizations

Women wishing to return to work

A. Concept of Training & Development

Definition of Training and Development

Training defined as that organized process of acquiring

knowledge and skill to be used or to improve

performance on the present job, or for the maintenance

of existing capability to do the present ongoing tasks.

Development is the process of acquiring knowledge and

skill that are not related to the present job or tasks but

that are beneficial to the individual for personal and

character building.

This knowledge and skills help the person to grow both

physically, mentally and spiritually.

Training Processes

Fundamental elements:

Accountability (ownership)

Identification of stakeholders

Definition and documentation of the process

Checkpoints

Responsibility for the steps of the process

Continuous improvement of the process

a. Accountability & responsibility

somebody has to be accountable and

responsible.

The accountable person is the one who is in

charge of the whole process to make sure

that nothing goes wrong.

The training manager is accountable for the

training process.

b. Identifying the stakeholders

A stakeholder is a person who has vested

interest in the outcome of the training

process.

i.e: managing directors, heads of

departments or managers of other units, and

human resource managers.

c. Defining & documenting TP

Establishing the boundaries of the process

Beginning of the process is where you take

over control from someone else.

End of the process is where you hand over

control to another person.

Training Process

1. Need Analysis

3. Formulating Strategies

4. Developing Curriculum

2. Developing Objectives

5. Select Methods

7. Pre-Course Administration

6. Manage Location & Resources

9. Post-Course Administration

10. Evaluate Training

8. Deliver Course

i. Training needs analysis

The process start off by identifying the organization,

division, and individual needs and translating these

needs into training objectives.

ii. Developing training objectives

Clear and concise performance or learning objectives

should be developed to ensure that appropriate

learning experiences will be provided to the learners.

iii. Formulating effective teaching

and learning strategies

3 main questions are of interest:

Is the individual trainable?

How should training program be arranged to

facilitate learning?

What can be done to ensure that what was

learned during training will be retained and

transferred to the job?

iv. Development of the training

curriculum

Identify suitable courses.

Make the choice to either use existing

company course, buying-in external course,

or developing a new course.

May also think of recruiting trainers, select

them and developed them.

v. Selecting appropriate

training methods

Appropriate training methods should be selected to

provide learning experiences to the learners.

Various methods are available, which can be

classified into on-site and off-site.

vi. Managing training location

and resources

Ensure that appropriate locations and resources are

available.

Knows how much it is going to cost to meet the

training need.

vii. Pre-course administration

Should do booking of location and accommodation,

and foods and refreshments.

Should ensure that the identified people get to the

right place at the right time.

viii. Deliver the course

Implementing or delivering the course to the

participants.

ix. Post-course administration

After the training has been completed, attendance

should be noted and training records should be

updated.

x. Evaluate training

Should have a method of ensuring that the process

has had the desired effect.

B. Training Policies &

Practices

Policies are related to practices – general

statements that guide practices.

A general statement by management of how it

wishes all questions and problems of a

certain general type to be approached.

Statement of practice tells you what to do.

1. Importance of Training Policy

It reflects the management’s general attitude

Helps in the formulation of practicable rules.

In training terms, the policies:

1. Constitute the mandate under which the training

specialist works;

2. They define not only the areas and situations in

which action has to be taken, but also the authority

which is given to the training specialist, to

managers and supervisors and to employees in

taking that action.

2. Examples of training policy

Policy 1: It is the company’s policy to provide training

for any employee faced now, or in the foreseeable

future, with new work or new organization, or a new

work environment, to enable him to deal competently

with his work.

Policy 1 implies:

The training given must be to certain

standards;

There must be sufficient prior planning;

The instruction must be given by a competent

person;

Training must result in work performance of a standard acceptable to management; and

Training given because of new tasks or

techniques and changes in the organization,

relationships, communication systems, etc.

Policy 2: It is the company’s policy to provide

opportunities for employees to maintain their flexibility

and potential, with a view to making any later

changes in work content or work environment easier

to accommodate.

Policy 2 implies:

The maintenance of job performance and products

standards does not in itself ensure that individual

adaptability and learning ability are sustained or

developed;

Where relevant, opportunities must be provided for

people to deal with new ideas and practices, either on

or off the job.

Policy 3: The employee must be involved in planning,

the progressing and the evaluation of his own

training.

Policy 3 implies:

Some early discussion and some consultation with the

employee concerned must be made regarding their

needs and interests for training;

Employee feels that his contribution is recognized and

is likely to be motivated to be responsible and

participate in the training program.

C. Purpose of Training &

Development

1. To improve an individual’s level of self-awareness :

Self-awareness involves learning about oneself.

one’s roles and responsibilities in the organization,

recognizing differences between one’s actual and

espoused managerial philosophy, understanding

how one is viewed by others, and learning how one

actions affect other people’s action.

2. To increase an individual’s skill in one or

more areas of expertise:

What is traditionally considered to be

training and development deals with

increasing an individual’s skills.

Training program is based on the

assumption that it will increase

employee’s ability to perform effectively on

the job.

3. To increase an individual’s motivation to perform

the job well:

The goals of some training and development

programs are to maximize the employee’s desire

to perform the job well:

e.g. job rotation used to sharpen employee’s career

aspirations and commitment to the organization, and

help them to develop their managerial skills in the

process.

Some training programs - sole objective is to

increase a person’s managerial motivation.

D. Relationship of Training to

Other HRM Functions

The other functions: Human Resource Planning,

Staffing, Compensation and Benefits Management,

Performance Appraisal, Safety and Health, Employee

and Industrial Relations.

Specifically, we look at how training and development

relates to task analysis, staffing, performance

appraisal, and organization development.

1. Relationship of T&D to Task

Analysis

to provide information about the duties involved in

performing a job and the skills and knowledge

required to do the job well.

Answer the “ what must a trainee be taught in order

to perform the job effectively?”

Provides information use to systematically

determine the appropriate content of training and

development program.

2. Relationship to Staffing

If people have been carefully selected, they may

not need an extensive training and development

program.

Conversely, what will happen if the procedures

are weak?

3. Relationship of T&D to

Performance Appraisal (PA)

PA is used to measure employee performance.

Affect T&D in four basic ways:

a. determining the training needs for

various organizational units;

b. ROI;

c. Identifying employee weakness;

d. Improving proficiency.

4. Relationship of T&D to

Organization Development

OD involves both changes in grouping of people

(structure) and changes in methods of communication

(process).

By improving the competence of the units comprising

the entire organization.

Have to undergo training and development to cope up

with the changes in structure and process.

E. Organizational Factors Affecting

Training and Development

Large variations exist in the scope and organization of training functions across organizations.

Managing training unit.

Training staffs’ accountability

Training staffs’ involvement in training employees

Training staffs’ use of training programs

Training staffs’ functions

What are the factors that cause these variations?

1. Corporate Strategy

Unfortunately, there are still many organizations

that view training traditionally.

Training has no real linkage to the

organization’s business strategy.

Training manager has no influence on the

formation of the corporate strategy.

Training is seen by high-level executives as

being peripheral to the real work of the

organization.

More progressive organizations, training manager

participates in the formation of the business’s

strategic planning.

Training manager understands the short- and

long-term business objectives of the

organization

In a position to formulate a training plan that

can support the organization’s business

strategy.

2. Organization Structure

Some organizations have centralized group that

controls all training programs.

Other organizations place trainers in key locations

who are free to operate independently of corporate

headquarters.

It is advisable to have both corporate and a regional

training staff.

Role of the corporate people should be primarily one of

advising and coordinating.

The central training staff can be used to develop special

training programs.

3. Technology

Some organizations are involved in rapidly

changing technologies;

These require continual retraining of both

employees and managers.

Difficulty in finding persons in the job market to

meet their needs; continually upgrade their

people via specialized training programs.

4. Attitude Toward Training

Attitude of the key persons within the

organization.

The CEO and the executives in charge of the

various divisions are the main source of the

organization training philosophy.

Thank You