Training & Development.

Training & development is the process of ensuring that the organization has the knowledgeable, skilled and engaged work force it needs. It involving the organization facilitating their employees with training, guiding, learning programs & coaching & self-directed learning activities carried out by employers them self (George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell, 2015).

·         Investment in Training

Research shows the organization profitability are positively grow with the more invest of training & development to the employees.  “US Business spend about $50 billion annually by to provide each of their employees with about 40 hours of training annually” (George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell, 2015).

Eg: In addition to above mentioned high budgeted trainings, many Sri Lankan organizations are organizing formal internal training programs time to time, use their experience employee as trainer and he or she share his\her experience with juniors and those trainings are so much effective to deal with their practical day to day works. We called this kind of sessions as brainstorming sessions.

Figure 1.0: Training Expenditure Allocation by Type of Workers

                                       (George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell, 2015)

According to George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell ( 2015), more than 50% of trainig budget is allocated for non executive employee who are directly handling the production. (George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell, 2015)

Eg: In Sri Lankan appreal organizations more than 50% of training bugdet is allocated to train machine operators and head count of machine operators are more than 60% of the total staff. Basically machine operators are directly engaging with production process and entire qulaity of the product is depend on the skills of machine operators.

 

·         Strategic Learning & Development defined

“Strategic L & D is an approach to helping to learn & development that is concerned with how the organization’s goals will be achieved through its human resources by means of integrated L&D strategies, policies & practices” (Armstrong, 2012).

Figure 2.0: Strategic Model of Training.

 

 

                                                            (Armstrong, 2012)

·         Training needs assessment

 

A training needs assessment can be defined as determining the gap between what an employee must be able to do and what he or she can or is currently doing. A training needs assessment (also called a “training needs analysis”) therefore identifies the gap between what the job expects an employee to do, on the one hand, and what the employee is doing, on the other. A training needs analysis discovers whether there is a discrepancy or conflict between what an employee ought to be doing and that which he or she can do (Amna Asrar Mirza Sumaira Riaz, 2012)

 

Eg: Sri Lankan banking sector measures service quality of customer service employees and assess the gap between expected service quality with actual service quality. Results will use to implement relevant trainings to bridge the gap between expected and actual service quality.

 

·         Training Design

The design phase involves the creation of a training and development plan with clear objectives. It is an attempt to determine systematically how to achieve a positive transfer of skills, knowledge, and attitudes from the training situation to the job situation (Elgamal, 1997)

Eg: Enhance customer service skills by conducting a special training for call center staff and this training session should be designed to enhance managing customer complaints and treating customers in very positive manner. 

 

·         Implementation
Implementation is the point where a trainer activates the training plan, or it is the process of putting a training programme into operation. approach to training was pragmatic and realistic, but not necessarily sophisticated. In training implementation HRD primarily focuses on ensuring that agents, team leaders and managers possess the appropriate attitudes and skills to deliver and provide quality service (Thomas N. Garavan et al., 2008).

Eg: On the jobs trainings for bank tellers are more important than off the job trainings. Hence, they need to learn from practical experience to deal with different situations.

 

·         Evaluation

The Kirkpatrick Model is a globally recognized method of evaluating the results of training and learning programs. It assesses both formal and informal training methods and rates them against four levels of criteria: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. Through training evaluation organization can measure ROI of training in both financial and non-financial outcomes (Antonio Giangreco et al., 2010)

Eg: After the customer service training, daily customer complaints reduced from 127 to 68. This is considerable improvement and through training programme employees were learned, changed their behavior and that will lead to reduce customer complaints. Reducing customer complaint is the result.

 

References

Amna Asrar Mirza Sumaira Riaz, 2012. Training needs assessment in Islamic banking sector. Qualitative Research in Financial Market, Volume Vol.4, pp. 142-155.

Antonio Giangreco et al,., 2010. Are we doing the right thing? Food for thought on training evaluation and its context. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Volume VOL 39, pp. 162-177.

Armstrong, M., 2012. Amstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Londan: Kogan Page.

Elgamal, R. M. A.-K. M. A., 1997. A macro model of training and development validation. Journal of European Industrial, pp. 87-101.

George W Bohlander Scott A.Snell, 2015. Principles of Human Resource Management. Delhi: Cengage Learning India Private Limited.

Thomas N. Garavan at all, 2008. Mapping the context and practice of training, development and HRD in European call centres. Journal of European Industrial training, Volume Vol.32, pp. 612-728.